Kathy Rasmussens

At a recent seminar I attended about Green Real Estate, I heard about the challenges some home-sellers faced when they tried to sell energy efficient features of their home. These sellers received zero dollar value for a $35,000.00 solar energy system on the resale of their homes! The buyers were interested in the energy saving features, but not willing to put a dollar value towards the improvements.

The Ontario government is leading the way to energy reform by tabling a new Bill 101 - Home Energy Audit Act 2008, an act respecting energy rating for specified residential buildings. This Energy Rating Act, if passed by Ontario Government, will require anyone selling a house or low-rise building to disclose the results of a home-energy audit to prospective buyers. New homes will also come with energy ratings.

Responsible home owners will finally benefit from retrofitting their homes with energy saving features. Homes that require less energy will increase in property value. Home efficiency ratings will create a demand for new and resale homes that use less energy, ultimately increasing their property value compared with less-efficient homes and pressuring new home builders to go beyond minimum building code standards.

In addition, the government is providing funds to help home owners make their homes more efficient. At this time the government will pay 50% (up to $150.00) for a home energy audit and then a further amount towards certain projects suggested in the audit report. The energy grants can also be combined with the new Federal Canadian Home Renovation Tax Credit of up to $1350.00. For more information about these projects visit http://www.livingincollingwood.com and view the "home grants" and "green real estate" pages.

Two programs for energy savings include rebate of 50% of the cost of a home energy audit and up to $10,000 in rebates for the eco-energy Retrofit program.

The Ontario Home Energy Savings Program is an energy conservation program from the Government of Ontario. A Home Energy Audit identifies improvements you can make to your home's heating, cooling, hot water heating and other energy uses that could result in hundreds of dollars in energy savings each year. The Government of Ontario will pay 50% of your Home Energy Audit, up to $150

Many of the energy-saving upgrades identified by your Home Energy Audit will qualify you for rebates under the the Government of Canada's ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes program. These rebates from the Governments of Ontario and Canada can reimburse you up to $10,000* when you complete improvements identified by your audit.

For more information see http://www.homeenergyontario.ca/

Home Renovation Tax Credit The recent federal budget outlined a new tax credit that will provide assistance for homeowners to renovate their homes. From January 28, 2009 to Februaury 10, 2010, Canadian homeowners can claim a 15%, non-refundable tax credit for eligible expentures after a $1,000,00. minium to an expenditure of $10,000 for a maximum credit of $1,350 ($9000 x 15%). This is in addition to the EcoEnergy retrofit program. Taxpayers can claim the HRTC when filing their 2009 tax return.
Example:
A couple replace all windows in the house and spend $10,000.00 in 2009. After taking into account the $1,000 minimum threshold, a 15-per-cent credit will be available on $9,000 in eligible expenditures, providing a tax credit of $1,350.

The credit is subject to the principle residence only and one credit per household. Homeowners should save all recipts that qualify and claim them on their 2009 tax return.
Click here for more resources and links for Energy Savings

Great news for Canada's response to energy conservation, a new Canadian Act called the Home Energy Rating Act is still in parliament and if passed this new act will require that Home Energy Report will be required that evaluates the energy efficiency of a building when it is sold or rented. This will come into effect January 1, 2011 for Agreement of Purchase & Sale and on or after January 1, 2012, for tenancy.

In anticiapation of this Act, the Ontario Government has initiated a program to provide financial assistance to homeowners.

Ontario Home Energy Savings Program
The Government of Ontario will pay 50% of your Home Energy Audit, up to $150 A Home Energy Audit shows you how your home uses energy and where it is being leaked. It identifies improvements you can make to your home's heating, cooling, hot water heating and other energy uses that could result in hundreds of dollars in energy savings each year. Many of the energy-saving upgrades identified by your Home Energy Audit will qualify you for rebates under the Home Energy Retrofit Program. These rebates from the Governments of Ontario and Canada can reimburse you up to $10,000* when you complete improvements identified by your audit.

For more information see http://www.homeenergyontario.ca/

Visit my website http://www.livingincollingwood.com/govgrants for a pdf catalogue outlining grant amounts for different projects.

It's hard to stay positive these days with all the bad news everywhere. I would like to ask how my colleagues are succeeding in this market? Do you have any ideas to share?

One way to stay on the success path is to consider the opportunities this market provides to buyers. I have had success by contacting every potential buyer in my database and sending them a profile of the local market highlighting price reductions. Some of my "fence sitters" have actually moved towards a purchase and I have been very busy showing properties!

Another idea...It would be a great idea if local real estate boards or real estate associations such as CREA create a promotional and marketing campaign towards promoting real estate as a solid investment compared to stock market and other investment choices. Perhaps the industry could create press releases that each Realtor can send to local media.

Please share your ideas on this topic.

Since I am based in Collingwood, I track data for Collingwood, Blue Mountain and Thornbury. I also track sales in sales in Georgian Meadows, a new home development of about 400 homes in Collingwood.

Further to my last post I invite you to look at the graphs I have made for total number of residential units sold by month for 2007 and 2008 1) all of the Georgian Triangle 2) Collingwood only 3) Thornbury/Blue Mountain only. I update my stats every month. Visit my site www.livingincollingwood.com