Joe Menashe’s Blog

Today I achieved more clarity about what needs to be done with the green building movement. On our local MLS website I saw a link to a website to an association of independent fee appraisers. I clicked on the link and saw that there was another link to contact the local representative. In my email to them I asked a short question about how they quantified both new construction that was built green with 3rd party certification and/or green retrofitting for existing homes. The response was shocking. He basically said that they do not have this knowledge and asked me if I would be available to speak to their group on the matter. It does not matter how we come up with formulas for added value when building green if the appraisal community is not up to speed on the impact of green features which insure energy efficiency, cleaner air, water conservation, or use of alternative energy. For those of you involved in the green movement as realtors, one of your missions must be to include the residential appraisers into the outreach efforts of those organizations that promote sustainability. Appraisers need to understand that green building is not a niche. Going green on the residential front is not only a way consumers can control the operating cost of their homes, but can act in a socially responsible manner to help control green gas emissions. It appears that the appraisal community is lagging behind the times. I challenge them to crash the green building party soon and determine how they will measure the added value to going green.

Joe Menashe

Portland,Oregon

Everybody’s talking “green” today, but are they talking to each other? One thing I know for sure is that Realtors are being left out of the mix. In Portland,Oregon, Realtors are just now seeing the importance of being green-educated and understanding the significance of the green movement as it pertains to their real estate careers. The problem is in the disconnect between governmental agencies, grass roots organizations and the realty community. The city and county organizations touting green building and sustainability have been developing very worthwhile programs that benefit home buyers and sellers but they have failed to recognize the best conduit for their programs…..Realtors. Less than two years ago the City of Portland’s office of sustainable development had never been contacted by a realtor who requested that the speak at their branch to better learn about their sustainability efforts. If they didn’t think about teaming with realtors, who else? Well, just about every organization that I contacted who had developed programs for energy efficiency, water conservation, recycling and green building, had never been approached by a Realtor who wanted to learn more about their programs.

As a managing broker, I would invite speakers to my branch to teach about the various programs and I could see the high level of interest in the eyes of my agents. They not only wanted to learn more about these subjects, but they wanted to participate in the cause. As we built a Green Team of over fifty agents, our quest to be educated on these subjects became a quest to be physically involved. We greened our office by replacing our light bulbs with compact flourescent bulbs, we organized a E-recycling event and recycled 3.5 tons of computer equipment, we volunteered at a local computer recycling facility in order to earn referbished computers for those who could not afford them, we became part of the solution.

I am charging you in the realty community to open the lines of communication with these green organizations. They need you, but just don’t know it. In essence, you need to partner with these organizations and help them with their outreach efforts. This year I became a board member for Solar Oregon as part of my effort to personally be involved in developing programs that Realtors can take to their customers that will help them understand and implement solar energy for their homes.

This week I was dismayed to read that the Oregon Real Estate Agency was examining a proposal to update the education requirments for Oregon Realtors without any green subject matter being included in the course requirement. How could this be? Oregon is one of, if not the greenest states in the country. There are more LEED certified buildings in Portland than any other city. This is a prime example of the disconnect I am talking about. We can close this disconnect if the Realtor community acts now. Commit to becoming a certified green agent. Investigate your local programs and watch for the Green Agent designation being unvailed this November in Florida at the NAR Convention. I was honored to be part of the panel that helped build the curriculum for this course as we met in Chicago at the NAR headquarters this month. I do not consider myself an expert in green building and sustainable living, but I do consider myself and advocate and one who recognizes that we in the residential real estate industry have to do all we can to close the disconnect.

The change that I have witnessed in the last two years has been astonishing! When earlier this year the Portland’s office of sustainable development called me and asked if I would participate in their green building policy workshops, I knew I had become part of their effort and that they would not be making decisions in a vacuum.

Green building and sustainability is not a fad or just a current trend. It is the future and it is exciting. Learn and join in, you are going to love the ride.

Joe Menashe                                                                                                                                                                 

Looking for that nitch that will differentiate you from the pack? In the last twelve months we have formed a “Green Team” at the Hasson Company Realtors in Portland, OR. These agents are a group committed to educating themselves about the importance of green building and remodeling, sustainability and impact on our environment. Until a year ago, most residential real estate agents in our area didn’t have a clue that they were living in one of the greenest states in the union. As a few large condominium projects in our South Waterfront area became completed, I visited their showroom to learn that most of these new buildings were LEED Certified. I had no idea what that meant. I returned to my office and googled LEED. A new world of sustainability and environmental impact opened up before my eyes. My first question to myself was, ” why don’t residential realtors know about this?” I called the city of Portland office of sustainability and asked if they had someone who could come to our branch and speak to us about these issues. They were so excited that I called, they had not been approached by a real estate company before. Since then, we formed the Green Team made up of approximately 60 agents. On August 30th, over 40 of these Green Teamers became certified through Earth Advantage STAR program, Sustainable Training for Accredited Realtors. We have become the conduit of information for our clients interested in green building and remodeling and for those who want to make better decisions that affect our air quality and environmental impact. We know we are blazing a trail that will become standard and basic required knowledge for realtors within the next couple of years. This field is a fast moving target which requires a commitment to education and communication with the grass roots organizations who until now have left realtors out of the equation. What started as a quest for knowledge has turned into a movement that will pay large dividends. Clients looking for green realtors can find them listed on the Earth Advantage website as well as listed as certified green agents on the Hasson.com website. Those agents who pass the test for EA certification are able to use both the Hasson Certified Green logo and EA STAR logo in their marketing. Take a good look, tomorrow has arrived today.

Joe Menashe

Welcome to Joe Menashe’s Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Portland.