A guest post by Miranda Marquit

If you are looking to green up your home, you might get a little help from your mortgage lender. Whether it is for a first mortgage or for a home improvement equity loan, there are programs out there that offer incentives if you are working to make your home a little greener.

Green first mortgages

In some cases, even with the current “situation,” it is possible to find incentives for going green. Some mortgage lenders will offer to waive the closing costs if the home you want to buy passes an energy audit. For those who are building their homes, there are incentives — such as a $500 credit toward a down payment — for building green or even for doing something as simple as using a special environmentally friendly spray foam insulation. While these programs are most prominent at big mortgage lenders like JP Morgan, Bank of America and Citi, it is also possible to find some green mortgage programs at the local level. These types of programs aren’t always advertised, so it is a good idea to ask about them.

Home improvement loans for greening up your home

If you already have a home, it is possible to save money on closing costs or get other discounts or credit when you make green home improvements. Updating appliances, beefing up the insulation, putting in energy efficient windows and installing solar panels are just some of the things you can do to qualify for home equity loan programs that focus on green home improvements.

But it isn’t just mortgage lenders who are willing to help you out when you make green home improvements; the government is willing as well. You can receive tax credit for making green home improvements. Many states also offer grants and credits, on top of incentives offered by the federal government. And don’t forget that in many cases your green home improvement loan comes with interest charges that are tax-deductible.

It is true that credit is tighter, and that in some instances home mortgage loans and second mortgage are harder to come by. However, if you have good credit and/or a reasonable amount of equity, you should be able to take advantage of some of the green home mortgage loan programs available.

Miranda Marquit writes for Yielding Wealth and for the AllBusiness Personal Finance Corner.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Solar Homeowners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.