Green Homes Pittsburgh

As I build my business servicing clients that are looking for green and energy-efficient homes I keep bumping into the same problem…I have the interested client, they want a green home and I just don’t have much to show them.

This is especially true for those that are looking for truly green homes, not just energy-efficient homes. I’m talking about homes that use sustainable and low-VOC materials, homes that consider indoor air quality, homes that include ecologically sound features like rain barrels, native landscaping even attention to details like composting areas and recycling space. And of course energy-efficiency, water efficiency and daylighting to reduce energy consumption.

Of course many of these features are available in a custom build home and there are some great green custom builders in the area. But the affordable options are limited. A house here… a development there… but nothing on a wider scale.

When a clients says they are looking for a green home in a specific area most of the time all I can do is explain that the green homes that are available are in specific places in the city, but not in the one they are looking for.

The clients are there, everyday I have requests and no way to fill them. It’s frustrating and that’s why I am writing this post.

If you are a builder, developer and renovator in this city consider making your projects green. Specifically, I am looking for:

• Older green renovated homes with character in walkable communities
• Newer green homes that are priced from $150K to $300K
• Affordable green homes with a more modern style
• And I need them in locations all around the city and out into the suburbs.

If you are building these kind of homes let me know and if you are thinking about creating these kind of homes, I’d love to talk.

There is a great story this morning in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette talking about the real cost of commuting. It’s a cost that is often overlooked but can significantly effect both your pocketbook and your sanity.

According to the story if you look at just housing costs 72 percent of neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area would be considered affordable to those making the median income. But when transportation expenses are factored in, the number drops to 32 percent!

If you are in the market for a new home consider your commute as part of the cost. I have the link on my site that can help you find the best place for you. Click on Cool Relocation Tool to try it out.

Find a great home in the Pittsburgh area. Call Christa Ross from RE/MAX Select Realty, at 724-933-6300 x214 (office) or 724-779-1437 (direct) or visit my website at www.bestpittsburghhomes.com. I specialize in green and energy-efficient homes, for more info go to www.greenhomespgh.com.

photo source :www.freefoto.com

1:00 – 3:30 PM United Methodist Church, 905 Mifflin Ave, at Whitney Ave. (Presentations from 1:30-2:30)

Come join the Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association for our !THIRD! annual Spring workshop with the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh! I’m sure you’ve heard about all those tax credits and rebates out there for improving the energy efficiency of your home–well, we’ve rounded up a nice group of folks who can tell you all about them and help you decide what you should do and what will give you the most bang for your buck. The blurb:

Eastern area neighborhoods are once again partnering with the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh to put on another free workshop for homeowners interested in improving the value of their homes. This year’s workshop will look at making homes more energy efficient. There will be presentations and then open time for participants to talk with the presenters. In addition, volunteer architects from the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh will offer a limited number of individual free “mini-consultations” on selecting the proper windows and doors for your home. So, bring pictures of the outside of your home to show them.

For more information.

If you are looking for a great value on a home in the city, consider a URA-sponsored house. If you are not familiar with the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority), it is the City of Pittsburgh’s economic development agency. Its goals are to create jobs, increase the city’s tax base, and improve the vitality of businesses, neighborhoods, and the City’s livability as a whole.

One of their more popular programs is the Neighborhood Housing Program, which sponsors the construction or rehabilitation of single family homes and then supplies interest-free, deferred, second mortgage financing to qualified buyers. The homes are built in neighborhoods all around the city including the Northside, East Liberty, Lawrenceville and others. Many of these homes also offer 3-year or 10-year tax abatements from the city. For buyers these incentives mean BIG savings on a very nice new home.

For example, I am selling three URA-sponsored homes in Fineview called the Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes. The homes start at $180,000. These brand new, ENERGY STAR, 3 bed, 1.5 bath, single garage homes are within walking distance of Downtown Pittsburgh and the North Shore attractions. The homes are located in a quiet hilltop neighborhood with amazing views of the city. It would be almost impossible to buy a brand new home of this size and quality anywhere in the area for the same price, but the real value is when you start to add up what you will save from the incentives.

The second mortgage from the URA is based on your income. For the Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes, if you are a single person and make less than $43,750 you may qualify for a $35,000 second mortgage from the URA. If you make between $43,750 and $71,900, you may qualify for a $25,000 second mortgage.(Qualification is based on verified income and an application process through the URA. Complete information and the application are available on the URA website.)

On these second mortgages you make no payments, pay no interest and will not have to pay back the second mortgage amount until you sell the property. If you live in the home at least 5 years, repayment begins after you have paid off your first mortgage, have recovered your downpayment and the money spent on payments while living in the home. Then, any additional proceeds are divided 75% to the URA payback and 25% in your pocket until the outstanding balance on the second mortgage is paid back, or there are no proceeds left, at which point the remaining balance is forgiven.

The Fineview homes have a 10-year tax abatement on city and school taxes and a 3-year tax abatement on county taxes. In the first year, the tax on the homes is estimated at only $227 a year. That compares to the $5,294 that would be due on a comparable home without the tax abatement. Since taxes are collected as a portion of your mortgage payment, the savings is equal to a reduction of $422 a month over a similar home without the abatement.

When you factor in a $35,000 second mortgage and the 10-year tax abatement on a 30 year mortgage at 5.5% interest with a 10% downpayment, you end up with a monthly mortgage payment of about $858. That’s almost the same as buying a home priced under $100,000 without these incentives – and there is no way you’ll get a comparable brand new home for under $100,000.

Another benefit these homes offer is their energy efficiency. The Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes are ENERGY STAR qualified homes. They are built to have lower utility bills by incorporating high-efficiency heating, cooling, tankless water heaters and state-of-the art insulation techniques. The total utility bills are estimated to be only $151/month, on average. An average comparable home would run you $195/month or more. That’s a savings of $528 a year, good news for your wallet and the environment.

So, let’s see how much money you can save in just 5 years by buying one of the Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes in Fineview vs. another home, without the incentives, elsewhere in the city:*

Of course, the numbers above are what you save while living in the home. It is also helpful to look at what would happen should you decide to sell your home. Let’s say you sell the home, after 5 years, for the exact same price of $180,000 that you bought it for.

You still need to pay back the URA second mortgage at this point, but not before you get your downpayment and equity from payments back. There is no such guarantee on a comparable home, so even if the real estate market is seeing little or no growth, you still can profit. With the comparable home, your downpayment and equity are pretty much gone.

When you add it up, you saved $39,540 on your payments and got back $29,311 at the time of sale for a grand total of $68,851 – and lived in a very nice home for 5 years.

Add on the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers under contract by April 2010 (or $6,500 for those that owned for at least 3 of the last 5 years) and the total savings climbs to $76,851, even without considering the other financial benefits to owning a home.

Want to find out more about how the Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes can be a great place to call home and a terrific investment? Contact Christa Ross, RE/MAX Select Realty at (724) 933-6300 x214 or direct at (724) 779-1437. Email me at christa@greenhomespgh.com or visit www.fineviewhomes.com.

THE DISCLAIMER: The details presented in this story are based on the Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes in Fineview, represented by Christa Ross, RE/MAX Select Realty. All figures presented are estimates. Details on other URA-sponsored homes may vary; speak to your real estate agent for exact details on any home you may be considering.

There is an excellent story in the City Paper about the overgrowth and new “smart growth” development going on in Cranberry Township that is worth a read.

REPLANTING CRANBERRY, PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER

Most of us from the Pittsburgh know that Cranberry may be the poster child for suburban sprawl, but you have to at least give the area credit for trying to get that problem under control by developing new housing options that have less impact on the environment. As someone who grew up in North Pittsburgh I remember the area as rural countryside. Even though I spend a fair amount of time at RE/MAX Select’s home office in Cranberry I am still shocked by the amount of development that has taken place in the last 20 years.

I particularly appreciate Ken’s mention of mountain biking in Cranberry. For those that have been around the Pittsburgh MTB you may remember the Knob Hill Month of Mud course. I think the park is still there, but most of the trails are now underneath a corporate park. Same with the Brother’s Grimm course that is now underneath the Mall at Robinson. Is sort of sad when I think of how much fun we had on trails that are now gone.

Park Place in Cranberry is one of the newest developments in Cranberry with plans for a mixed use residential and retail community, complete with green space. This neighborhood will offer traditional homes starting below $200K with very up to the minute energy efficient features and floor plans.

Find out more about buying and living smart in Cranberry Township, PA. Call Christa Ross from RE/MAX Select Realty, your certified green agent and RE/MAX green specialist at 724-933-6300 x214 or visit my website at www.greenhomespgh.com.

Join me tonight at 1611 Meadville Street in Fineview for an amazing view of the city and a look at these great ENERGY STAR homes!

Fineview City View from the Overlook

Open from 5 to 7 and then you can head down to the Roberto Clemente bridge for the Light Up Night Bridge Party and fireworks at 8:30pm.

For more information go to
www.fineviewhomes.com

or Contact Christa Ross, RE/MAX Select Realty, 724-933-6300 x214 or direct at 724-309-1758.

Interested, you should be, because this is one of the first homes in the Pittsburgh, PA area that is green, energy-efficient, affordable and pretty darn stylish as well. The property is called E lane @ Carnegie and it sits right off Washington Avenue in Carnegie, PA.

E lane @ Carnegie

Because of its orientation to the road it can be easy to miss, but swing up the driveway and you will see an amazing modern prairie-style home that incorporates creative ideas, sustainable materials and elegant, simple living that is good for your pocketbook, health and the environment.

The two homes at E lane (there are plans for nine total) are ENERGY STAR® qualified homes, meaning they have been tested by an independent energy auditor who has assigned a HERS Index to the home. It takes into account things like insulation, air sealing, heating, cooling and other energy usage aspects of a home. In order for a home to be called an ENERGY STAR home if must beat an 85 on the HERS Index, which relates to a saving of at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code, and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes.

Part of any Energy Rating is the report that not only shows the HERS Index score, but also specific details of the construction methods, mechanical systems, lighting, heating, cooling and appliances. A Certified Energy Auditor will test the home with high-tech tools like a blower door and duct blaster. These tools can tell how and where hot and cool air leaks in and out of a home. All this information, and existing utility bills (if any), are fed into a computer program that returns estimates of energy costs and how they can be affected by changes to a home. It also spits out the HERS Index.

Using this report it is possible to compare how one home stacks up against another. I decided to take a look at how E lane @ Carnegie would compare to a typical, older Pittsburgh home. By working with a local Energy Auditor, I was able to secure a rating on a comparable Pittsburgh home.

E lane @ Carnegie is a 1,100 square feet, single floor, 2 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom, and 2 Car Garage Home. It is built using SIP construction; foam air sealed and sits on an insulated crawl space. It is heated with a high-efficiency electric heat pump. Matter of fact, the home is all electric and qualifies for a reduced rate with Duquesne Light. E lane @ Carnegie has a HERS Index of 69.

The comparable home is a typical ranch you see in many local neighborhoods. It is 1,085 sq feet, single floor, 2 Bedroom, 1.5 Bathroom, and 1 Car Garage. It’s an older, brick home that sits on a full basement with the garage integrated. It is heated with a gas, forced air furnace that was new enough that replacement is not recommended. It achieved a HERS Index of 159.

So how did they stack up? Take a look:

E lane is the obvious winner with total energy costs of only $1,141 a year. If you look at just heating, you will see that at $319 a year, your average bill would only be $26.58 a month! The comparable homeowner will spend $4,309 a year on their energy bills, the majority to cover the $2,856 heating bill. Based on the Energy Reports, you could expect to save almost $264 a month on your utilities if you were to live here, rather than buying an older home somewhere else. It’s even more amazing when you think about how that plays out over time. In one year, you’ll save $3,168. In 10 years, you’ll save $31,680, just by making a smart home buying decision.

The story doesn’t end there, because all that energy you don’t use adds up to savings for the environment too. According to the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program an ENERGY STAR home eliminates the emissions from 0.5 vehicles, saves 3,000 lbs of coal, is equal to planting almost an acres of trees and saves the environment 5,800 pounds of CO2 per year. Those are some pretty big numbers.

Of course, there are many other benefits to buying one of these green, energy-efficient homes like comfort, a great walk-able neighborhood, creative, no-maintenance landscaping, an ADA-friendly floor plan and a layout for modern living.

You can find out more going to www.elane.biz or contact me.

Want to see E lane @ Carnegie for yourself? Call Christa Ross from RE/MAX Select Realty, your certified green agent and RE/MAX green specialist at 724-309-1758 or visit my website at

Here is your opportunity to own a great new home in a developing Pittsburgh neighborhood for an amazing price. The Nunnery Hill Overlook homes located in Fineview have a lot to offer potential buyers.

Get More For Your Money. This is your opportunity to own a great new home at a remarkable price. The Nunnery Hill Overlook homes start at an impressive price for a three bedroom, one and a half bathroom home and then get even better with a $35K URA second deferred mortgage. Qualified buyers pay no interest, make no payments and won’t payback the loan until they move. Add the 10-year Act 42 Enhanced tax abatement, which can save up to $6,587 per year then include the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit if you close before December 1,2009 and low utility bills you won’t find a better home for less cost. How low? Your payment could be only $858 a month.

Fresh, Airy, Open Living. Wide open spaces, a raised living area and lots of windows make these homes perfect for contemporary living. A nicely sized master bedroom, upper floor laundry, two decks, one car garage and unfinished bonus room add up to over 2,000 sq feet of comfortable living. Plumbing for an additional bathroom is already in place on the ground level. Kitchen features maple cabinets, ENERGY STAR dishwasher and eat-at bar with tons of room to cook or entertain.

Million dollar views, without the million dollar price tag. Your next home is in Fineview, a distinctive Pittsburgh neighborhood nestled high above the hustle and bustle of the city but still only a 10 minute walk to downtown. These homes give you room to grow a garden, or a family, perched just above the attractions of the North Side while still remaining secluded and green. The Nunnery Hill Overlook homes are perfect if you are looking for a community with spirit, character and a spectacular view of they skyline.

A home that is as good for your wallet as it is for the planet. Quality ENERGY STAR home costs only $61 a month to heat and cool (estimated). CFL lighting, tankless water heater, ENERGY STAR dishwasher, sealed ductwork, High efficiency gas furnace and air conditioner combine to add up to big saving for both you and the environment. Buying an ENERGY STAR home saves over 3,000 lbs. of coal a year, is equal to planting almost an acre of trees and reduces CO2 emissions by 5,800 lbs. a year. Not to mention the thousands of dollars in energy costs you save by making this your next home.

View the Virtual Tour

Only 3 Homes still available. 3 Bedroom, 1.5 Bathroom, 1 Car Integral Garage.

Prices start at $180,000. More Information

Want to see the Nunnery Hill Overlook Homes? Call Christa Ross from RE/MAX Select Realty, your certified green agent and RE/MAX green specialist at 724-309-1758 or visit my website at www.greenhomespgh.com.

E lane @ Carnegie

I recently listed what I think may be the greenest properties available in the Pittsburgh area. One of the things I like best about E lane @ Carnegie is that it proves that green and affordable are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the two condo units which are listed at $204,900 and 194,900, give buyers more for their money than other home choices.

Green is beautiful. The homes have a wonderful, zen-like quality. Materials used throughout the homes like cork, bamboo, rain glass and beech countertops are both attractive in their own right while being better choices for the environment. Simple, minimal style makes the home a peaceful retreat from the world. The open floor plan makes the space bright and airy. These 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom units are filled with light from windows, full view doors, solar tubes, and smoked glass interior doors that give privacy, but still let the light shine through.

E lane @ Carnegie

These homes save you money on heating and cooling. E lane @ Carnegie are Energy Star™ certified homes. With a HERS rating of 69 they perform at least 31% better than a traditionally built home. Each unit is approximately 1,100 sq ft and built with SIP construction. SIP, which stands for Structural Insulated Panels, are oriented strand board (OSB) on each side with a thick layer of foam insulation between. The result is a building system that is extremely strong, energy efficient and cost effective. The SIP construction provides insulation on the roof of R-50 and R-27 in the walls. The home was then sealed with expanding foam and Energy Star™ windows and doors were added. All this adds up to a home that is tight and well built. Want proof? It costs just $319 a year to heat the house, as estimated by a professional energy auditor. That’s less than $26 a month! Cooling is even less at just $31 a year. When you consider that an older Pittsburgh home of the same size could easily cost over $3,000 a year to power and you start to realize how quickly your cost savings will add up.

Rain Barrel and Natural Landscaping

Save time for something better than maintenance and yard work. The homes are built with sustainable, durable and energy-efficient materials like a metal roof and Hardiboard™ siding, both of which will last 50 years or more before they need attention. The roof can even be recycled after it has run its course. The native landscaping is both edible and beautiful, and grows without the need for continuous care or water. The natural landscaping has attracted the attention of songbirds to the property, in addition to producing a small harvest from the fruit trees this year.

Open Floor Plan is Bright and Airy

Better, Healthier Living. The EPA estimates that indoor air quality can be 5-7 times more polluted than the outside. This is usually due to fumes from building materials and poor ventilation. These problems are addressed at E lane @ Carnegie by using no-VOC paints to reduce off-gassing of fumes into the home and regular mechanical ventilation, which brings the right amount of fresh air into the home without wasting energy. Clerestory windows can be left open during the day and rain sensors will close them automatically if needed. The homes can even help you eat healthier. The community orchard and planned vegetable patch will give those that want to eat fresh from the garden, but also want to live close to the city, find a home that does both.

Watch the Virtual Tour

Learn more at www.elane.biz

Want to see E lane @ Carnegie? Call Christa Ross from RE/MAX Select Realty, your certified green agent and RE/MAX green specialist at 724-309-1758 or visit my website at www.greenhomespgh.com.

I attended the Sustainable Monroeville meeting earlier this week. This is a nice group of people who are looking to make Monroeville more sustainable and live a more environmentally friendly life themselves. Great goals! The local website covered the meeting and I even got a few quotes.
http://www.yourmonroeville.com/timesexpress/article/sustainability-going-green-can-mean-saving-green