Monday, June 7, 2010

Green Home Buying Tips For Eco-Conscious Home Buyers

By Jack Forsythe

More and more home buyers are becoming conscious of going green to help the environment. Since not many people will have the means to have their house built to their own specifications, most people will settle to buy a house that's already been made or a house somebody else has already lived in.

If, for example, you're thinking about purchasing Coronado real estate, you may be concerned about what to look for when looking at Coronado homes for sale. What would make a property stand out as a potential purchase? For people who want to know how to buy a green house, here are a few tips:

Sustainable flooring materials

The floor is one of the things you'll notice first about a house. Probably because it's one of its biggest components. Some people have the misconception that green or sustainable flooring materials are unattractive and rough-looking, which couldn't be farther from the truth. These days, since a lot of effort is being put towards finding sustainable materials, not only are they non-toxic and harvested in an ethical, eco-friendly manner, they are also quite attractive to look at.

For example, if you're looking at buying Coronado real estate, which may be a beach house, you may be interested in getting a house with bamboo wood flooring. If you research about bamboo floors, they're not always green in color like how they are typically thought of. They can be durable against extreme weather conditions and can endure high amounts of foot traffic.

Another type of eco-friendly materials are cork floors, although if you're looking into getting a beach house, you probably shouldn't pick this because it doesn't react very well to sunlight and water.

Solar panels installed

You can also look around for houses that have solar panels installed. Depending on the type of panels installed in the house, you can actually end up saving money on electricity bills. Some houses that have solar panels have enough energy to power the entire house, or at the very least, supply the energy needs of several rooms in the house.

Energy-efficient light fixtures


Of course, this is something you can change after you buy the house, but it would be a plus if you can find one that already has energy-efficient lights installed, right?

Energy-efficient windows


These types of windows block out harmful UV rays from outside the house, making the house less hot during hot seasons. In turn, you don't use up as much energy cooling the house when the weather is warm. You can try to see if the owner has dual-pane windows installed. Not only does these types of windows insulate the house effectively from heat, it also filters out noise from outside the house.

The great thing about making your house green and improving it to be even more eco-friendly is that your efforts can be tax-deductible. Some utility companies even offer rebates for people who have homes that have solar panels installed on them. Be sure to ask the local utility company for information about this.

Being able to buy a green house not only assures you that you are making positive effort to help the environment, it also has some pretty attractive perks.

Jack Forsythe is a writer specializing in real estate properties and other related topics. Visit our website for more information about Coronado homes for sale and to look at Coronado real estate listings.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Forsythe
http://EzineArticles.com/?Green-Home-Buying-Tips-For-Eco-Conscious-Home-Buyers&id=4418840

1 comment:

  1. This covers all the bases = saves you money, helps the environment, helps your health, makes you feel better, it's so easy to do and it costs less than $50.00; Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off” Available at www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won't even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without feeling guilty. It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. As for water use a drought is always a concern and must be dealt with prudently but remember the water use of industrial users far exceeds the water use of household users and in the case of toilet paper manufacture it is huge. The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways.

    ReplyDelete