HUD has selected 18 lenders for its new two-year pilot program to encourage qualified borrowers to make energy-saving improvements to their homes. The loans, called PowerSaver loans, will offer up to $25,000 to eligible homeowners to enable them to make energy-efficient improvements to their properties, including installing insulation, sealing ducts, replacing doors and windows, upgrading HVAC systems and installing better water heaters, solar panels and geothermal systems[1]. The program is backed by the FHA and the lenders range from local to national banks.
With Earth Day just recently passed, there is a lot of focus on “green building” right now. However, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) emphasizes that a single investment can “pay real dividends” long after the investment is paid off[2]. For this reason, the Earth Day Network’s message this year was “a billion acts of green,” which coincides nicely with HUD’s new green initiative. PowerSaver loans are designed to fill in when homeowners may not be eligible for home equity lines of credit. They are only available to borrowers with “good credit, manageable debt and at least some equity in their home.” Lenders will retain 10 percent of the balance on each loan, providing “serious skin in the game” for this program.
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[1] http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news24788/hud-selects-18-lenders-green-housing-pilot-program
[2] http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=148&newsID=12537
April 25th, 2011 at 11:45 AM
way overdo. about time some efforts were put forth by the big guns to get us on the road to economic recovery and provide jobs for all the industries ready to fill the green niche