Super Eco

Photo credit: woodleywonderworks, flickr

“Keeping Mortgage” seems a more fitting title for a homeowner help article at the moment than “Green Mortgage,” but thedailygreen had me at “Found Money” anyway. 

The green mortgage 101 post, care of the “green web site for regular people,” couldn’t have come at a better time—for some earth-minded homeowners (and buyers) more than others. Sure, we greenies can reap sizeable greenback tax savings, but reducing our mortgage debt as (not so instant) cash-karma for our energy-efficient diligence is one—perhaps one thousand dollars or more—better. Nice work, Jimmy Carter.

Here’s how you can make that M-word making all the subprime disaster headlines green with envy … and savings:

• Apply for a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) report. They help you prove to green lenders—right down to the kilowatt—just how energy-efficient your home is. The greener your HERS score, the larger and sweeter your green loan could be.

• Apply for an FHA Energy Efficiency Mortgage, a little-known Federal home loan program for energy-efficiency improvements and utility bill savings. One problem: Countrywide, no, Bank of America (who can keep up?!), is one in an ever-changing crop of EEM lenders. Yikes.

• Opt for the FHA Streamlined 203(k) Limited Repair Program Loan. It helps homebuyers finance up to an additional $35,000 in green retrofits and upgrades before they move into a newly purchased home.

• Finance through Mortgagegreen’s Greensave low-interest loans and add a feel-good carbon offset to your loan transaction.

Now for the not-so-feel-good news ... Tree hugger home loans aren’t all green roses. Like any other four-letter L-O-A-N, they can carry extra baggage: sometimes higher interest and mortgage insurance rates. Research like mad before signing the (soy ink?) dotted line ... and, please, whatever you do, lock in a fixed rate!