By Stephen Dupuis - President & CEO of BILD
Homeowners have a very rare, albeit time-limited opportunity to triple-dip on some federal and provincial government assistance programs designed to stimulate the economy while reducing energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and your heating, cooling and electrical bills.
Between the federal Home Renovation Tax Credit, the federal EcoENERGY Retrofit-Homes program and the provincial home energy retrofit program, there are three pools of grant money available to homeowners.
The federal EcoENERGY program has a pre-requisite home energy audit requirement which will determine which retrofits are eligible for the maximum grant of up to $5,000. The energy audit will identify the inefficiencies in your home, whether windows, insulation, appliances (furnace, hot water heater, air conditioner) and the federal government will issue grant money based on the work undertaken as verified by a post-renovation audit.
Grants range from $650 for a super high-efficiency furnace to $315 for an ENERGY STAR hot water heater to $40 per window unit. Insulation grants range depending upon the amount of space being insulated (ceiling, walls, basement) and the R-value attained. For example, insulating the entire basement to R23 levels gets you $1,250.
Ontario homeowners are fortunate that our provincial government has replicated the federal program and upped the ante by kicking in $150 towards the cost of the energy audit itself, so Ontarians can recover an additional $5,150 (total $10,150) for green renovations.
Meanwhile, the Home Renovation Tax Credit program was announced by the federal government in late January of this year to stimulate jobs and spending in the home renovation sector. Under the Program, homeowners can get a tax credit of up to $1,350 on renovation expenses over $1,000 up to $10,000. You can spend more than $10,000, but the tax credit caps out there. Still, that's not bad considering you were likely considering the project anyway.
Examples of eligible expenses including renovating a kitchen, bath or basement, new carpet or hardwood floors, building an addition, garage or deck, re-shingling a roof, installing a new furnace, fireplace, water softener or hot water heater or painting. Ineligible expenses would include furniture, appliances or audio-visual systems, cleaning, maintenance contracts and financing costs.
The work can be done by a professional contractor or you can do-it-yourself. In the case of contract work, you can claim the value of the contract whereas in the case of do-it-yourself, you can only claim the materials you purchase, not your labour.
It is important to note that the Home Renovation Tax Credit applies to work performed or goods acquired before February 1, 2010. This is your perfect opportunity for greening your reno, which means you need to book that energy audit as soon as possible. To find a certified energy evaluator in your area, visit www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca.
Dave - 360renos
How to make your home stand out when selling
We can help your house sell quickly and at a good price -- even in a slow market.
It takes a lot more than sparkling windows, scented candles and chocolate-chip cookies to sell a home in today's market.
Improvements should be made so that the property shows well, is consistent with the neighborhood and does not involve capital investments.
Beyond any doubt, the best investment you can make is new paint. Painting can make a room or an exterior façade look brand-new, and totally transform the look and feel of a room or the entire residence. It is always wise to be somewhat restrained when choosing colors for a home-staging paint project. Avoid choosing colors that are too individual or flashy and favor neutral colors and schemes. This does not mean painting everything white, however.
Use subtle color schemes to accentuate the home's strengths and minimize weaknesses. Dark colors, for example, tend to make a room feel smaller, while lighter colors and pastels can make a room feel bigger.
There is another benefit to painting as well: the process of preparing the interior or exterior surfaces of a home for painting automatically allows us to go over the entire area receiving paint in great detail, and this can often expose items or areas requiring repair. It seems you always discover where the caulking has let go, where the wall is dinged.
It is always preferable that we discover and deal with these items before the real estate agent (or worse, the prospective buyer) points them out to you!
Dave - 360renos
It takes a lot more than sparkling windows, scented candles and chocolate-chip cookies to sell a home in today's market.
Improvements should be made so that the property shows well, is consistent with the neighborhood and does not involve capital investments.
Beyond any doubt, the best investment you can make is new paint. Painting can make a room or an exterior façade look brand-new, and totally transform the look and feel of a room or the entire residence. It is always wise to be somewhat restrained when choosing colors for a home-staging paint project. Avoid choosing colors that are too individual or flashy and favor neutral colors and schemes. This does not mean painting everything white, however.
Use subtle color schemes to accentuate the home's strengths and minimize weaknesses. Dark colors, for example, tend to make a room feel smaller, while lighter colors and pastels can make a room feel bigger.
There is another benefit to painting as well: the process of preparing the interior or exterior surfaces of a home for painting automatically allows us to go over the entire area receiving paint in great detail, and this can often expose items or areas requiring repair. It seems you always discover where the caulking has let go, where the wall is dinged.
It is always preferable that we discover and deal with these items before the real estate agent (or worse, the prospective buyer) points them out to you!
Dave - 360renos
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