Green building and home improvement can mean greenbacks to you~

Homeowners often ask me what they can do to maximize the value of their homes for resale. My usual answer is to do the things you will enjoy or benefit from first.

President Obama's stimulus package has given us a reason to invest in our homes in a way that will help save our planet , making our houses more efficient, and that will give you cash back to help pay for the work. An article in The Christian Science Monitor clearly lays out the advantages of updating now.

Stimulus Plans Brings Green Home Improvement Tax Breaks
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

Energy-saving systems for the attic, basement, and in between have effectively gone on sale, courtesy of the United States Congress.

Here's the link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0223/p13s01-wmgn.html. (I'm indebted to Sustainable Bainbridge for calling my attention to this article and posibility.)

The home improvements that seem best for Bainbridge Island are installing a heat pump, replacing low-e windows, adding insulation top and bottom, and perhaps changing out an inefficient water heater. I'm going to look into that last one myself; water heaters typically last about a dozen years. While I'm at it, I'm going to have the plumbing changed to install a recirculating system so I don't have to run water down the drain waiting for it to heat up.

Obama's package raises the ceilings on tax credits available, so there is real money possible, which will make the effort involved worth doing. The CSM article also gives links to other sites that help with navigating the system. Note, that the credits are valid only this year and next.