The Green Sheen

Like all forms of industry, the Green economy and marketplace will be subject to great scrutiny, major success stories, flops and falsehoods. Greenwashing, a term decades old, has just sprouted into this glorious new marketplace.

Perhaps no industry has embraced the green mantra more than housing. And with that has come a lot more hype.

Green building consultant Carl Seville says that although many builders claim to be green, most “aren’t there yet.” As a result, the Decatur, Ga., resident says, buyers who want a green home but don’t really know what they want “are caught in the cross-hairs.”

A nationally recognized consultant who helps builders and developers create healthy, efficient and sustainable projects, Jennifer Languell says greenwashing not only “spans all spectrums” of the housing market but is “extremely prevalent.”

Many builders “do as little as possible” to be green, she says. “The common attitude is, ‘Do the minimum.’ It is rare that a builder really wants to raise the bar.”

Languell, president of Trifecta Construction Solutions in Fort Myers, Fla., says she sees exaggerations of the green aspects of the building products that go into a single-family home as well as entire projects. And a December 2007 study by TerraChoice, a Canadian environmental marketing firm, backs her up.

In a survey of six big-box retailers, TerraChoice found that only one of the 1,018 consumer products tested did not make false claims with regard to greenness. Why? Because there is no such thing as pure green, Languell says, only greener.

With everything coming up Green, it pays to educate yourself.
For the complete article via LA Times: Green claims get big buildup

SOLD! To the man with the wireless mouse...

Any realtor worth his weight in equity lives by the credo -Change With The Market. And that is just what developers of the downtown Rowan Lofts have done. With a unique web-based auction to sell off their stale units, they hope to swing the current downturn in their favor.

"Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Charles Plott has spent 10 years developing the proprietary software that powers the auction. Plott notes, "The transparency of the auction gives buyers the confidence that they are not paying over the market rate. Sellers secure higher prices for the property by allowing buyers to switch their bids from unit to unit and save marketing costs by selling so many units at one time."

What's wild is that all remaining lofts will be sold at the same time with buyers able to see the progress of all interested units, essentially setting the pace of the one day online auction.
The notable location of this revamped building coupled with the historic finishes and modern upgrades should draw those appreciative of the new quality that downtown LA has to offer. For more info check out the auction website: The Rowan Auction
Via: GlobeSt.com

First Time Homebuyer Credit

Woo Hoo! Free money! Ok, well not quite.

When it was first proposed in the “Housing Rescue Bill,” the first time homebuyer tax credit was little more than an interest free loan. But not for everyone. What is not more widely known is that a person may fail to qualify if they make $75,000 or more.

Please read other parts of the fine print from the IRS Newsroom.

The credit:

• Applies to home purchases after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009.
• Reduces a taxpayer’s tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar.
• Is fully refundable, meaning that the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax that they owe.

The credit operates much like an interest-free loan because it must be repaid in equal installments over a 15-year period. Taxpayers will claim the credit on new IRS Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit.

If you make an eligible purchase in 2008, you claim the first-time homebuyer credit on your 2008 tax return. If you make an eligible purchase in 2009, you can choose to claim the credit on either your original or amended 2008 return, or on your 2009 return.

Not everyone will qualify for the credit. There are other rules that may impact your eligibility and decision to claim the First-Time Homebuyer Credit. Get all the information at IRS.gov.

*smile*