Energy-saving construction features like better insulation, improved windows, and more efficient heating systems can add 5% to 10% to the cost of a home. Although most of these products pay for themselves over time, anything that raises construction costs is a hard sell to clients who are pressed for cash to begin with. If that's the case, you may want to tell your customers about energy-efficient mortgages, or EEMs. Though EEMs have been accepted for many years by the secondary mortgage market (Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, for example), they're just now gaining acceptance among realtors, lenders, and government agencies. Here's how EEMs work. Traditional mortgage financing doesn't look at energy costs, even though energy consumes about 10% of a
