Comments on: Financing for 100K House is Official!

By: chad

chad — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Good luck Shawn. We learn more from our mistakes than successes. At least I know I do…

By: Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:01:49 +0000

Chad: Thanks for the advice. I’m already moving on to the next appraiser; hopefully I can avoid the mistake I made the first time around

Rae: Sounds like you’re working with a good bank, if they are willing to be flexible. Keep us updated and best of luck!

By: Rae

Rae — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:07:41 +0000

Shawn, we basically got an exception from the bank to build even though the appraisal amount was lower than our requested loan. Of course, the story’s not over, since our construction period is almost done, and so the appraiser is about to come back out and review the finished product. Yikes! I think a few more green homes have sold in our area in the meantime, so that may help too. We would have switched appraisers if we could, but the bank won’t allow that, which makes sense I guess.

By: chad

chad — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:10:52 +0000

Shawn,

If there are no comps in the immediate area maybe you can ask him to expand his search or provide regional and national data yourself that shows that green homes command higher values.

Most likely it will be easier to find another appraiser or design a home that can be built with a loan based on traditional comps…

By: Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:54:49 +0000

Rae,
If you don’t mind me asking – how did you get around the appraiser issue? I’m having a somewhat similar situation here…the appraiser claims there are no comps, so he can’t show value.

Congratulations on your success!

By: Rae

Rae — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:14:05 +0000

Hi, I just found your blog through aparmenttherapy.com. Congrats on getting your financing! We’re in the process of building a green house in VT, and unfortunately had trouble with an appraiser who didn’t see the value of geothermal heating and HRVs. But we persevered, and got our loan in the end. The more attention and awareness we can bring to green building, the better… these features aren’t common in the market yet, but hopefully they will be soon!

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:56:15 +0000

Congrats on clearing that hurdle.

By: chad

chad — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Thanks for all of the encouragement. We are all excited about the next steps.

By: J T

J T — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:50:54 +0000

Congrats Chad on clearing the financing hurdle! I look foward to seeing you break ground.

By: Chris Heath

Chris Heath — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:12:47 +0000

Is the weather durability of for the UK?