Ethical Homes

As part of our commitment to socially-responsible, sustainable business practices, the Ethical Homes Green Mortgage Incentive provides cost-effective “green loans” to buyers of “green homes”.

One of the challenges facing developers of green properties is that real estate markets often doesn’t know how to put a value on green features in properties that have obvious long-term financial benefits, such as the cost savings provided by energy-efficient features; markets have an even harder time assigning a value to more broadly beneficial environmentally-conscious features in green homes. The only way that those markets will start properly valuing those features is when the demand for them increases; in order to help create that demand, our Green Mortgage Incentive reduces the borrowing costs incurred by buyers of green properties.

How does it work? Simple: as discussed in this article, the Ethical Homes team at HomeFirst Mortgage Corp normally collects a fixed 1% commission on loans that we originate; for green homes, however, we lower that commission. More specifically: for homes that have been certified as Energy Star compliant (which, in most of the areas where we do business, corresponds with a property with a HERS rating of less than 80), our commission is lowered by 0.25%; for LEED-certified homes (for which Energy Star compliance is a prerequisite), our commission is lowered by 0.5%.

Ethical Homes and HomeFirst Mortgage Corp are the nation’s leaders in providing green loan incentives; we also have Green Mortgage Incentives for commercial real estate purchases, and for property owners who want to tap into the equity in their property in order to add green features. Want to know more about how our Green Mortgage Incentives can help you? Contact us now to find out more.