Recent statistics for July point to a national increase in new home construction nationwide and this is good news for every builder who has been waiting to return to work. Here in the Southern Oregon real estate market, most builders now accept the new reality of going green as the future of new home construction. Breaking out of a comfort zone has always been a challenge and going green is no exception.

From a pragmatic stand point, for builders going green means learning about new building technologies and then applying them to the trade. For buyers in search of a new home, going green means digging a little deeper into the pocket book. Fortunately, recent surveys are encouraging. Buyers are willing to pay more for the long-term money-saving advantages of going green. With the tighter framing envelopes of new home construction, power bills will go down for the life of the home and this is a feature worth investing in.

The Southern Oregon real estate market reflects the nationwide trend as developers explore the trend of going green. For example, the Summer Field subdivision in Grants Pass will be a subdivision of new homes with a green component that includes increased state-of-the-art insulation and a solar-power generation component.

Yes, the last year for the housing sector has been challenging, but the future of new home construction has never looked better. No one ever said change would be easy… that is, until it’s behind us.

Michael Masters

A Socially Conscious Real Estate Consultant

In a previous blog about Going Green in the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market, I pointed out the benefits of purchasing premium high-efficiency appliances and having the State of Oregon help you to pay for them. This blog focuses on the key elements of heating and cooling and the applicable tax credits from the State of Oregon.

Studies show that gaps, leaks, and holes in heating and cooling ductwork can account for as high as 25 percent of either heating or cooling loss, depending on the season. The Department of Energy for the State of Oregon offers a tax credit of up to 25 percent of the eligible cost with a cap of $250 for well-designed and sealed ductwork in new homes or for ductwork improvements made in existing homes in the Southern Oregon real estate market. If you’re going green, Continue reading Heating, Cooling, and Going Green in the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

With the passing of each month, the Southern Oregon real estate market gets greener and greener, in part thanks to tax credits offered by the State of Oregon. The state currently offers Southern Oregon residents tax credits for premium energy efficient appliances, for heating and air conditioning systems, for high efficiency water heaters, for ground-source heat pumps, for making electricity and contributing to the grid, and yes, even for having hybrid vehicles.

Going green in the Southern Oregon real estate market is getting easier all the time and all you’ve got to Continue reading Going Green, Tax Credits, and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

What everyone now understands and for the most part accepts is the fact that the U.S. economy is in a state of major repair. As a byproduct of repairing the economy, the Green Economy offers solutions that may well prove to be the answer for a failing infrastructure, a sluggish real estate market, and dependence on foreign oil. As a result, the Southern Oregon real estate market is experiencing an awakening to the power of the Green Economy to stimulate the economy on its journey toward a new economic paradigm.

Simply put, the Southern Oregon real estate market is moving from greed to green. In my own business ventures, my current subdivision called Summer Field, has a very large Green Economy component. Not only will the development be comprised of high performance energy-efficient homes, but the subdivision will also take advantage of Continue reading The Green Economy and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

It may only be an analogy, but look at it this way; the global financial blackboard has been erased. It was erased in 1929 when the stock market crashed and plunged global marketplaces into a worldwide depression. The Great Depression was long and deep and the legacy of Herbert Hoover’s presidency became one of “too little, too late.”

Then came 1932 with FDR, the New Deal, and the financial blackboard began to chalk up again with a plan for recovery that grew in complexity and power for decades… until now. Beginning in 2005 when the Real Estate bubble began to leak before it burst, the financial landscape began its slow, ugly metamorphosis into an unmanageable beast. As 2008 draws to its conclusion, to our dismay we find ourselves staring at a financial blackboard that has once again been erased. I for one am glad since circumstances are forcing change on us that most didn’t even know we needed. Now we see the task at hand means the creation of a new financial system for the way things operate at the global level, for the way money is exchanged and regulated, for the way we barter amongst ourselves and with our global partners, for the way banks lend money and to whom, and for the way builders build. Continue reading Grants Pass Real Estate Rewrites the Blackboard