Friday, September 27, 2024 
Friday, September 27, 2024
February 7, 2020
The general manager of MCL Construction Ltd, says it should be easy for a northern country like Canada to get into the kind of home that is so efficient it makes more energy than it uses.
Brad McLaughlin is beginning to wonder if reducing residential greenhouse gases is really a priority in this country.
His certified net-zero home has maxed out energy efficiency. The house has insulated concrete walls, triple glazed windows, 44 solar panels and a backup rechargeable battery system.
On a sub-zero February afternoon it’s sending excess electricity back onto the provincial grid in exchange for NB Power credits to be used on the coldest days, or at night when the solar system is asleep.
But the three-bedroom, two-bath home stubbornly refuses to sell. It has been on and off the real estate market since 2017.
“It hasn’t moved,” he said. “We had a lot of people through it.”
Starting out, McLaughlin’s asking price was $695,000.
By May, 2019 he lowered it to $570,000.
This week he put the two-storey Quispamsis house back on the market at $495,000.
McLaughlin points to mortgage “stress tests” and indifference from bank-hired appraisers as obstacles pushing buyers away from these higher than average priced homes.
He said appraisers hired by lenders to determine the value of homes are at a loss when it comes to this sort of construction.
“Around here they just don’t know how to value it. …They just say, ‘Well there’s a similar house down the street,'” he said. “Well, sure it might look the same but it’s a lot different.”
McLaughlin feels the federal government can also be doing a lot more to kick start construction of these particular homes.
Deadline for this week in Friday at noon
Join Construction Links Network
