TreeHugger Picks: Finding Green Residential Real Estate
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 05.28.07
Late spring into summer is traditionally the busiest time of year when it comes to buying and selling homes and real estate. If you're thinking of entering the market, and are looking for a new, green roof over your head, we have a few suggestions for places to look. Here are some of our picks for finding and buying (or listing) a green home.
1) Green Homes for Sale has been mentioned twice, to be sure that potential buyers are aware that not all green homes are created equal.
2) Bay-Area buyers can turn to San Francisco's Green Key Real Estate for a green realtor who really "gets it." Learn more about them in the TH interview with Green Key President Chris Bartle.
3) Residents in Washington and Oregon now have the benefit of searching for "green" terms in the Regional Multiple Listing Service database, though you'll need an agent to access it.
4) Triple Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas L. Friedman lends some ideas about the past, present and future of green real estate.
5) Modern Green Living, the companion site for green design retailer Vivavi, offers green home resources by profession and residence. Read more about the resource in our interview with founder (and author of new book The Lazy Environmentalist) Josh Dorfman.
Isn't the most sustainable housing option buying an old house an rehabbing it with green/ healthy intentions?
New housing, even if it's build 'green/health', isn't as good as an old house that is fixed up.
Even if you had to use a nasty glue for dry wall in fixing the old house, it's still more green than new construction (as soon as the odor escapes), rehabbing is an act of environmentalism.