If you’re feeling left out of the home buyer’s tax-credit plan because you already own your home; or, if you didn’t get to cash in on the “Cash for Clunkers” stimulus incentive, never fear, the Obama Administration is proposing a new program that will warm your holiday heart (and hopefully your home).
On Tuesday, President Obama unveiled a plan for a new stimulus program called, “Cash for Caulkers.”
Huh?
This program will offer homeowners a hand up by reimbursing them for energy-efficient appliances and insulation. It’s all part of the master plan to bolster the country’s economy.
Of course, homeowners aren’t the only consideration here. (Hard to imagine, isn’t it?) There’s also the environment to consider, natural and renewable resources to protect and jobs to be created if all goes as planned.
Steve Nadel, director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, is helping to write the bill. He suggests a homeowner could receive up to $12,000 in rebates.
Now you’re listening, aren’t you?
Let’s see, if you cashed in on an $8,000 tax credit, and collect $12,000 for loving Mother Earth – that’s, uh, $20,000.
It’s not too late to buy a home, and the energy incentive would almost make it a wise, wise move right now.
The logic behind this proposal is to create jobs, same families money, reduce pollution and encourage the development of new, innovated energy resources.
A Little Something for Everyone
There are two elements to this program:
1. money for homeowners for efficiency projects
2. money for companies in the renewable energy and efficiency space
Private contractors (faction that has suffered dramatically during the recent economic crisis) may be able audit homes for energy efficiency. They could buy the necessary materials to make a home efficient and get paid to install it – therefore creating a new entrepreneurial opportunity for thousands.
The thought being tosses around now is a 50% rebate on the cost of equipment and the cost of installation up to $12,000. But wait, there’s more: participating families would save money on energy bills too.
This proposal is still in the early planning stages. It’s not clear how the money will be disbursed, how much cash individuals will have to come up with up front, how they will prevent the fraud issues that crept into the housing stimulus package or just how much of a chunk big business will get.
