What Steps Pay Off Twice for Annapolis Homes for Sale?

DAVIDSONVILLE, ANNAPOLIS, EDGEWATER, ARNOLD AND SEVERNA PARK REAL ESTATE Taking any action that helps improve the environment is bound to return some degree of personal gratification—but for homeowners with Annapolis homes for sale, recent research adds less esoteric rewards. In fact, homeowners don’t have to be planning to sell to begin to cash in on the financial benefits it identifies. The research comes out of the Department of Energy and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association (Freddie Mac). The analysts were hoping to nail down the actual dollars and cents advantages achieved by homeowners who take active measures to improve household energy efficiency. A summary of their findings includes the fact that for a typical American household (one whose energy bills average $2,200 per year), efficiency improvements can immediately reduce what they pay by as much as 30%. From Freddie Mac’s point of view, the critical finding came with the bottom line for homeowners whose properties were up for sale. The numbers showed that homes demonstrating improved energy efficiency returned 3% to 5% higher selling prices than those that did not. In practice, that confirms that today’s deliberate homebuyers favor Annapolis homes with lower operating costs than comparable neighbors. The bottom line: when a seller can produce a year’s worth of below-average utility bills, it can be a difference-maker. For homeowners who know that selling is out there somewhere in the future, that bona fide selling advantage that could be motivation enough to move energy efficiency improvements to the top of this spring’s to-do list. To that end, here’s a rundown of practical energy-savers—one government publication presented in an engaging, no-nonsense format. It includes “low-cost and no-cost” ideas, too. Whether your own Annapolis home will be listed this year or sometime down the line, there are early steps that can pay off mightily later on. Call me anytime to discuss! DEBORAH LAGGINI, Long and Foster Real Estate, Annapolis, MD 21403 CELL 410.991.6560 EMAIL [email protected] REALTOR, Annapolis, Davidsonville, Edgewater, and Surrounding Communities