Can investors go green?   Can investors include green features in their properties either for sale or as a rental?  

I SAY YES!    Of course, with everything there are limits, but here is just one great example where going green saves you money, provides your tenant a better home, and provides better resale for the future.  

I am talking about High Efficiency furnaces.   These little gems cost only slightly more than the minimum allowable 80% efficiency units, and use significantly less natural gas.  By installing one of these (especially during your initial rehab), you can advertise this to your prospective tenant, that their bills will be lower in this house versus another.   Many tenants do not seek out this type of information, so it will be up to you to advertise it.   

Now here is the best part:   On many older homes with older furnaces, the existing flu pipe is a brick chimney without a liner.   When installing a new HVAC system (forced air furnace) that is going to use that chimney, it is mandatory to install a sleeve liner down that chimney (at least in the Chicago area, I assume other areas as well).   The cost of the sleeve and the labor to install it, is about the same or more than the extra cost of the high efficiency furnace that will not require venting through the roof.   

So for me the choice is simple, when doing a furnace replacement, I put in a HE unit.   The cost is about the same, and the benefits are there for the investor AND the tenant (AND of course, the earth…).   Classic win-win situation. 

Dan