All-electric era is here. Will your new home be able to keep up with the market?
The shift toward all-electric living is underway. But if you are a buyer in today’s new home market, how do you navigate the transition to make sure your house is not outdated before you’ve hardly settled in?
The best way, says Matt Power, editor-in-chief of Green Builder magazine, is to concentrate on your home’s biggest energy uses first and tackle other uses as they come into the mainstream. Here is Power’s list of priorities, which is the same one he recommends to builders looking to get ahead of the march toward net zero:
HVAC. Specify highefficiency electric heat pumps that perform well in extreme temperatures, the veteran journalist advises. And add smart thermostats that can adjust temperatures automatically; they can cut your electric demand by 20%. Meanwhile, current owners who want to switch to a heat pump may be eligible for a credit on their federal tax returns for 30% of the cost, up to $2,000.
Water heater. Select hybrid models that employ heat pump technology to extract moisture and heat from the surrounding air, Power says. Look for units with wire controls, leak detection and vacation modes. Install your choice in a spot “where it can do double duty” by providing dehumidifcation.
Vehicle charging. With the growth in popularity of
AAAelectric vehicles, the longtime proponent of net-zero buildings puts electric vehicle charging stations one notch above smart appliances. Noting that electric cars and trucks are becoming one of the biggest energy guzzlers in new houses, Power says the timing of home charging needs to be managed, and the home’s wiring infrastructure needs to be set up for both supply and discharge. (For those in the market for electric cars and trucks, a tax credit of up to $7,500 can ease the pinch. But there are income limits: $150,000 for single filers, $250,000 for heads of households and $300,000 for those filing jointly.)
Smart appliances. Your appliances need to be “smarter” than what is, for the most part, being offered today. Today’s models focus more on lifestyle than efficiency, and Green Builder’s research shows most people never use their smart oven or refrigerator features. So look for units that offer ways to reduce energy and water demands; i.e., shorter washing cycles for dishes and clothing.
Dashboard. Power says the “best tool” for managing energy use is a control center that allows you to see what power you’re using in real time. It will give you “a way to centralize control of all your energy inputs with all your end uses,” he says.
Some panels can even be configured to switch power from one source to another during blackouts and outages.
AARUSSIAN HOLDINGS
There are few specifics, but Russian oligarchs, high-ranking Russian officials, sanctioned individuals and their family members moved a lot of money out of the Motherland around the time Putin invaded Ukraine a year ago. Some of it went into real estate here and abroad.
According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, residential and commercial property in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates “has increasingly become a safe haven for Russian wealth, both legitimate and illicit.” In one instance, an oligarch transferred more than $2 million to a UAEbased real estate outfit to buy and sell houses. In another, a member of the Russian junta transferred funds to a family member who used the money to make payments on real estate.
FinCEN also discovered that several members of the Russian ruling class moved funds to the United States either before or around the invasion, using the money for “property-related expenses.”
In some cases, oligarchs who had been hiding money here for years increased the frequency and value of their transactions. One wired money to the U.S. that was then used to maintain property he already owns and then sent the proceeds of these real estate investments out of the country.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department is moving ahead with new regulations that focus on increasing transparency in real estate transactions. The rules, which should come out this spring, are aimed at preventing “corrupt elites and others” from using real estate “to launder and hide their ill-gotten wealth.”
Lew Sichelman has been covering real estate for more than 50 years. He is a regular contributor to numerous shelter magazines and housing and housing-finance industry publications. Readers can contact him at lsichelman@aol.com.