Selling or Refinancing Your High-Performing Home: Top 5 Tips for Getting the Value You Deserve

Did you know that 50% of homebuyers say that they want an energy-efficient home? 

High-performing home features increase home value – if those features are properly documented, shared, and promoted. If they’re not, you could lose money on the investments you’ve made in your energy-efficient home. 

That's where Pearl Certification comes in. Pearl verifies the features of a home that matter most to homeowners like you — heating and cooling, solar, smart home devices, and much more. Pearl’s Certification captures the value of these improvements for resale, refinance, and appraisal.

Unique from other home certifications, Pearl makes sure you, the appraiser, and your real estate agent have the tools you need to maximize your return on investment (ROI). Pearl Certification makes a difference when your house is on the market. It’s a clear sign that it’s higher quality and worth more.

A home’s high-performing features should be made highly visible and appropriately presented to an appraiser. If the appraiser doesn’t know these features exist, that value will not be added. 

Are you ready to refinance your high-performing home? Or maybe it’s time to put it on the market? Here are five tips every owner of a Pearl-certified home should know when it comes time to sell or refinance.

1. Start the process early.

Deliver the following Pearl-provided documents to your loan officer as soon as possible:

• Letter to the Lender
• Letter to the Appraiser
• Certification Report (which includes the Appraisal Institute’s Green and Energy Efficiency Addendum).

The loan officer should then deliver all these documents to the lender’s appraisal department and they should be included in the scope of services performed by the appraiser.

2. Make sure your home is visible in Pearl's Registry.

Appraisers can search for homes in Pearl’s Certified Homes Registry. Pearl’s Privacy Policy requires that a homeowner opt-in by giving Pearl permission to make the home visible to the public. Contact Pearl to grant this permission and make your home visible in our registry.

3. Talk to the appraiser about your high-performing home.

When scheduling the appointment with the appraiser, ask if they were informed that the home has high-performing features and if they received the Appraisal Institute’s Green and Energy Efficiency Addendum. Inform them that the home is Pearl Certified and offer to send them the Letter to the Appraiser and other documentation from Pearl, so they can learn more about your home's high-performing features and their value.  

We also recommend printing the letters and Pearl Certification report so they are available when the appraiser comes to your home. Don’t assume that the lender will provide this documentation to the appraiser. You may also include receipts, invoices, and other information that can help the appraiser determine valuation.

4. Trust the process.

Once you've done all of the above, let the professionals complete the process from there. Don’t try to do the appraiser’s job or tell them how they should do it. They are hired by the lender, and their responsibility is to their client. 

If you feel that the appraiser did not take relevant information into consideration, contact your lender. There are ways to file a formal reconsideration of value when appropriate. Pearl is also a resource. We are working with some of the nation’s leading appraisers to develop additional guidance and best practices for the appraisal community.

5. Contact Pearl for support.

If you have any questions or concerns about selling or refinancing your high-performing home — or if you simply want some additional support, Pearl is here to help. We are happy to walk you through the process so you get the most value out of your Pearl Certified home. 

Contact us using the form below and someone from our team will be in touch soon!