Well the Classic City was once again the venue for Athens’ Green Life Expo. This year they changed the format to a one day event, and loaded up the day with activities for the kids and seminars on sustainability. Of course the Imery Group was present again with a booth and also a seminar session. I will say it was a productive day. I got to meet wonderful people interested in green building and energy efficiency homes.

As with the other lunch and learn session and seminars that I have done in the past such as what are green building programs, how can real estate agents benefit from selling green homes, on others I am making available to seminar that I had for this expo called ” Do you know your Home’s MPG “. I thought it was a fun way to introduce consumer to the future of home energy label – The HERS INDEX

Tags: HERS Index

This week we finished the third and final part of a three part series of Green Building presented to real estate agents in the Athens, GA area. The purpose of these Lunch and Learns where to intruduce the sells professionals into the field of Eco-Friendly and Energy Efficient Homes, how to recognize them, why and how they can earn more money by selling these types of homes, and finally what are green homes give aways when one has the chances to walk them prior to being drywall. I appreciate the Athens Area Association of Realtors for hosting these events, and following is the power point of the last presentation

Lunch & Learn – Behind the Walls of a Green Home2.1
Lunch & Learn – Behind the Walls of a Green Home2.2

Tags: Athens Eco Friendly Homes, eco friendly homes, green building, Green Construction, green homes, GREEN Realtor, Sustainable Construction

This week was the second part of a three part Lunch and Learn series that I am hosting at the Athens Area Association of Realtors about Green Building Programs and what makes an Eco-Friendly home so much sense to sell and own.

In this particular series we cover the basics of what makes green home green or eco-friendly, we discussed the core and common pillars of green building programs, and then dove a bit into recognizing the most popular programs in our area such as ENERGY STAR, EarthCraft House and LEED for Homes.

In an effort to continue to promote sustainability and that is embraced by a larger group of people I am also making the presentation (Lunch & Learn – X-ray on Green Building Programs Part 1 & Lunch & Learn – X-ray on Green Building Programs Part 2 and Lunch & Learn – X-ray on Green Building Programs Part 3) available for those that attended or happen to visit this blog section. Feel free to use at your discretion, and of course I will be happy to answer any questions or serve you if you have any custom home construction needs, green program certifications or any of the other services that we offer.

Tags: Athens Eco Friendly Homes, Athens GA green building, eco friendly homes, green homes, HERS Index, Sustainable Construction

This was the topic of a recent LUNCH and LEARN event hosted by the Athens Area Associations of Realtors where I got the chance to explain to a group of agents how can they boost the commission they typicall earn by at least 10% by sellling energy efficient or green homes.  Basically it boils down to being able to increase your buyers purchasing power. How can you do this? Well, conventional loans do not take into  account the monthly savings that are generated by green or eco-friendly homes due to their lower utility bills. If that buyer, were to opt for a Energy Efficient Mortgage EEM, then this savings will be consider additional income, thus increasing the size of the loan that he can qualify for. I would say than on average if you had a buyer already pre-approved for a certain amount, agents can think of showing energy efficient rated homes that might be 10% to 20% more than the pre-approved loan amount. In any event, it is important that you get a “Green Lender” involve early in the process.

By petition of the agents that attended the Lunch & Learn, I am including the presentation” Make More Green by Selling Green ” that I used which contains much more detailed information.

Tags: Athens Ga Energy Star, Athens GA green building, eco friendly homes, EEM, Energy Efficient Mortgages, Green Construction, green homes, GREEN Realtor