Nowadays, the new homes in Miami come with a range of accessories. Some of the upgrades are purely aesthetic, some very functional but all in all, the idea is to add value to the home. A new trend that has emerged is that home builders are now offering environmentally friendly ‘green’ homes. These homes cost more at first but they add a lot of value to the home especially because they help save on the heating and cooling bills.

The main reason why people build ‘green’ houses is for energy efficiency. With the cost of energy increasing dramatically all the time in Miami, going for this option is a great way of cutting down the cost and reducing the monthly bills. Traditionally built houses can lose as much as 15% to 20% of its heat or air conditioning from the duct work. Environmentally friendly construction methods can redice this waste very significantly. Some of the savings come from new construction materials like straw-bale construction and insulated concrete forms which are better insulators.

The other methods that builders use to make homes environmentally friendly is using ‘green’ appliances that conserve energy and water. The energy savings from the construction materials and the appliances end up paying for themselves in about 2-7years. If your house is located in Miami Beach and you would like to step up in energy conservation, you can consider installing solar panels. However, these are more expensive and it takes a longer time to recoup the value.

If you would like to make your home ‘green’, it will cost you from 20-30% more than the traditional cost of the home. This is in the extreme case. A typical ‘green’ home construction costs on average from 2-4% of the final cost of the home. This amount can be recouped over time and there are even some tax breaks the homeowners can take advantage of that make the construction less expensive.

If you are considering building a ‘green’ house, it is advisable to do a lot of research and also seek advice from professionals. You should come up with figures showing what the cost will be and what savings will be made on a month to month basis and see how long it will take to pay for it. On average, ‘green’ houses are not a major selling point on your home but they help you get the higher end price for the home. They sell faster than the traditional homes.

When you decide to hire a real estate agent, you should not consider it just business but a relationship. You will be going around the different areas in Miami looking for homes and open houses that you can purchase and getting to discuss with them what you would like in your new home and how you would like it to be. All agents sound very good to talk to and always seem to say the right things but you should remember that in as much as they are working for you as the buyer, they are also working for the seller.

In the real estate market, sellers pay 3% commissions to the seller’s agent and 3% to the buyer’s agent when a home is sold. With the drop in business in the real estate market, some sellers are offering buyer’s agents a bigger commission of up to 5% to push their property to get a buyer. Builders and home owners too are also offering buyer’s agents more to sell.

When an agent knows that he will get more commission on a sale of a certain house, they will do everything to make you buy it. It is in their best interest to mislead you to buying a home that will earn them more commission. It has been found that homes that offer high commissions sell faster in Miami than those with a standard minimum commission. What makes the matter even worse is the fact that the National Association of Realtors does not require realtors to disclose the amount of money they are paid as commission.

There are some ways that you can avoid getting manipulated by these agents. These are:

• Find a home yourself. With the Internet, you can do all the research yourself and not have to pay anything to an agent. The 3% that would otherwise have been paid to an agent can be put to closing costs
• If you decide to use an agent, sign a contact with the highlighting the percentage he will get from the sale and guarantee it. Remember to include that any bonus that will be paid by a seller should be applied to the closing costs
• If you are still using an agent, agree to a set monetary amount on the sale instead of a percentage. This way, there will be no incentive for the realtor to mislead you into buying a bigger home or one with a bonus since the amount will remain the same