North Texas Real Estate Blog

In today’s North Texas real estate market, many homebuyers are considering more environmentally friendly homes when purchasing their new home in North Texas real estate.  With the increasing interest in protecting our environment, many home builders around Denton and Tarrant Counties are adding more energy efficient features to not only save the homeowner on costly utility bills, but also to help protect our environment from harmful emissions emitted from less energy efficient homes in our area surrounding Grapevine Lake. 

If you are planning to buy an existing home, there are some things you should look at to estimate your potential energy costs.  It is always good to ask the current homeowner if they have records of their previous utility bills.  If they have a larger family, chances are their bills will be higher than those of a smaller family.  You should inquire about the age of the heating and air conditioning units and any service or regular maintenance that has been performed on these units.  You should also ask about the age of the water heater.  Newer models are usually smaller and are more efficient.

Not only are older heating and cooling systems a drain on energy and potentially harmful to the environment, having landscaping that is not native to the area you live can be costly to maintain, especially during the hot summer months when there are frequent water shortages and restrictions.  Planting shrubs and other landscaping that is native to your area is easier to maintain and uses less natural resources. 

Many new home builders are installing energy efficient windows and appliances.  If you are buying an older home, many times the home seller has replaced their older windows with new double paned glass.   Finding an existing home with new windows is a valuable find, since paying to replace older windows can be quite costly.  If the home does have older windows, check the seal around the window to see if there are air leaks.  Simply sealing these leaks around windows and doors can help you save energy.  Many people today are applying a radiant barrier inside their attic to help hold heat in during winter months and air conditioning in during summer months.  This is just a special type of paint that is applied to the ceiling of the attic. 

Any efforts that a homeowner makes to make his home more environmentally friendly, although costly at first, have the potential to save money over time and are helpful in protecting our environment.