Sacramento ECO Grant Program - Increase the energy efficiency of the home you are purchasing!

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know that I am a very active participant in the Sacramento Association of Realtors. The SAR Housing Opportunity Committee has been hard at work to create a new Grant Program for Sacramento home buyers seeking to increase the energy efficiency of the home they are purchasing...

The "ECO Program" was created by the Sacramento Association of Realtors to serve our Sacramento area home buyer clients and community in several ways.

• Enhance home affordability through reduced energy costs
• Enhance the comfort of our clients' homes through updated energy related components
• Improve air quality through reduced energy usage
• Enhance the sense of personal investment our buyers feel in their homes
• Increase the dependability of our clients' homes
• Enhance the overall experience of home ownership for our clients
• Create jobs in our community

The ECO Program is designed to complement the HUD / FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage Program by encouraging home buyers to take advantage of the opportunities an EEM creates to make their home more energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and reliable. The program provides a grant of $2,000 to buyers who take advantage of the Energy Efficient Mortgage in the purchase of their home. This grant is NOT repaid by the homeowner (yes, it's free money), and is funded in part by the Sacramento Association of Realtors, the California Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Fund? If anyone wants to know about the types of programs our fundraising efforts assist, , and by other community donors (including SMUD).

The grant may be applied towards the buyer's closing costs or additional qualifying energy upgrades as defined below.

Property Requirements:

• The home must have been built in 1978 or prior
• Home must be owner occupied

Minimum financed EEM:

• The borrower must finance at least $4,000 in qualifying EEM upgrades in order to qualify for the ECO Grant. The only exception to this is in the case where the maximum EEM allowed by their lender based on their sales price is less than $4,000. In these cases the buyer will qualify for the ECO Grant provided that they are financing the maximum allowable EEM for their scenario.

REALTOR® Requirements:

• The buyer's Realtor must hold a Primary Membership in the Sacramento Association of Realtors in good standing.
  

Lender Requirements:

• The buyer's loan officer must be an Affiliate Member of the Sacramento Association of Realtor in good standing. Please note, the individual loan officer must be listed on the Sacramento Association of Realtors Affiliate Membership Roster.

Contractor Requirements:

• Contractor must be on the SMUD Approved Contractor List.
  

Eligible use of funds:

• The ECO Program funds may be applied to the buyer's closing costs or additional qualifying EEM energy upgrades.

I have had multiple buyer clients seeking to purchase older homes take advantage of the FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage...I am excited to be able to offer this ECO grant program to new buyer clients! If you have any questions regarding the program and if you qualify, I welcome your call.