Renovation Financing: East meets West….

February 4, 2010 · Posted in News For Homebuyers

A fellow blogger on Mortgages Unzipped (Brian Brady) posed a great question on a previous blog post:

“In Southern California, there are many requests for solar panel financing. Can alternative energy improvements be part of a renovation loan?”

I have been originating Renovation and construction loans for more than 16 years and I have been asked this or a similar question 2-3 times over the past 16 years and each time the folks asking the question have been from the other coast….East Meets West….I found that curious and can only come up with a couple of explanations…

1. Those of us from the east coast are not as environmentally conscious as the folks on the west coast.

2. The cost benefit on the east coast is just not as advantageous as it is on the west coast.

I have to go with number 2…

To answer Brian’s question…alternative energy systems can be included in a renovation loan. You can also use the Energy Efficient Mortgage benefits along with a 203K loan, although I am not sure that the lift you get from an Energy Efficient Mortgage is worth the additional headache…especially when you are obtaining renovation financing to begin with.