Top 5 energy efficient features to highlight when selling your home

As we approach the end of summer, now is a great time to think about the energy efficient upgrades to make to your home. The upgrades will typically cost less to implement at the end of summer versus waiting until the spring to do them. If you are thinking about selling your home in a few years and want to add a few upgrades to increase your home's value then read this list. Many homeowners ask me which upgrades will have the biggest impact, and after speaking with hundred of buyers, I've created a list for you in order of importance.

1. Double pane, tinted windows​. This is the one I hear the most often when speaking with energy conscious home buyers. If you are going to pick only one energy feature, then this one must be on your list.

2. New A/C units with seer 13 or higher rating. ​In Texas, this energy efficient feature alone will make or break a sale. If a buyer is comparing two similar properties, and one has kitchen and bathroom upgrades but not this feature and the other house has it but not the upgrades, guess who sells? The one with this energy efficient feature.

3. Radiant attic barrier and roof vents. ​If you choose this energy feature to include in your updates, don't go the cheap route. Buyers will notice if you go cheap with the attic barrier and will not pay top dollar for your house. You would have been better off not doing it at all than going cheap with this feature.

4. Programmable thermostat, preferably the Nest. ​In this market, buyers expect a home to have a programmable thermostat. If you don't have one you are behind the competition, but even better would be to install the Nest thermostat. Tech savvy, energy conscious, home buying millennials will more likely see your home as energy efficient if they see the Nest thermostat. This is not theory, I have actually seen it as a point of negotiation.

5. New energy star appliances. ​This is another one of those features that a home buyer comes to expect when buying a home. The emphasis here should be on the newness of the appliance and less on the energy star rating, because it is a given that the new appliances are more energy efficient and the difference in ratings is usually negligible.

Written by and credits go to Jessica Gama-REALTOR.