Major Home Upgrades for Cheap, Market Update, Assumables and More

Crisafulli Team
Feb 2
6 min read

Hello!

We’re still ridin’ high from getting to

see so many of you at our holiday party back in December. There’s just nothing like gathering in person and catching up over salted meats while the DJ spins…a touch loudly. Some have said, much too loudly. Sorry about that.

Here are some things we might ask if we were together right now:

How you doin?

Did you make resolutions? Are you sticking with them?

Did you know we’re 8.2% of the way through 2026? Does that feel crazy or about right?

Have you had the flu, or COVID, or a stomach bug lately?

And then you might finally answer and say, yes I had to stay home, and my home is quite inefficient, energy-wise, so it’s a bit drafty and expensive to heat.

Our eyes would light up.

Did you know you can get a $20,000 HVAC upgrade for about 2,000 bucks?

Is that true, you’d ask?

Mostly. SOME people are getting that kind of deal, but EVERYONE can get a deeply discounted system right now due to multiple State and local rebate programs.

I’m intrigued, you’d say.

And we’d ask, then do you consent to a detailed explanation about how these programs work? It really is interesting.

To which you’d reply, why yes, I do consent, intrigued as I am.

If this sounds like you, scroll way down for the guide to making your home more efficient, while saving a ton of money via rebates. If you’re unsure whether to care about this, here are some reasons:

Why Owners should care:

More comfortable living space through consistent heating and cooling.
Utility bill savings through both more efficient systems, and a tighter home envelope.
Valuable home upgrade that will make your home stand out if you plan to sell or take out equity.

Why Buyers should care:

Buying an older home doesn’t mean you’re fully on your own to improve insulation, heating and cooling.
Access to these rebates means looking at a larger inventory pool.
Learning about home energy efficiency makes you a more savvy buyer.

Quick Market Update

Here is the latest housing report.
- Area-wide, prices are mostly flat, with some markets seeing prices rise year-over-year, and some seeing them dip.
- Getting more accurate means getting more granular. Here (set to some really nice muzak), Danny breaks down those price fluctuations at different price tiers in Fort Collins.
The word on the street is that mortgage rates are down, and that is true. Average rates for 30-year mortgages are at 3-year lows, hovering around 6%. Several clients recently have been getting rates in the high 5s at relatively low additional cost.

We always love to hear from you, whether to talk through buying or selling real estate, mortgage rates, ground source heat pumps and blower door tests, or even none of the above.

Energetically yours,

Crisafulli Team

A Semi-Efficient Guide to Home Efficiency

Intro and Background

You know what’s aggravating? Now, when you format something as we’ve done below, it looks like ChatGPT had a hand in it. It doesn’t even have hands! But this is where we’re at. The age of having to check a box on a website testifying that you’re not a robot. We are not robots. We wrote this out based on our experience and research. Surely you’ll find some typos for additional evidence.

This guide will apply to anyone served by Platte River Power Authority. You may have never heard of or noticed them, but they supply power to Fort Collins, Loveland, Estes Park, Longmont. If you’re an Xcel customer, there will be even more savings.

It may seem counterintuitive that the electric and gas companies are giving rebates for efficiency upgrades, since that means burnin’ less of what they’re sellin’. We’ve been told there are a few reasons this is happening. If some of the answers sound contradictory, well, maybe that’s just the world we live in now. We’re just the messenger:

It is more economical to reduce demand on the grid, than to make the plant investments and upgrades that would be needed if demand continues to rise at the current rate.
There is a State, and stated, goal of electrifying the grid, so that alternative sources of power can be introduced over time. Currently, most electricity in Colorado is generated from coal, but this is slowly shifting. To justify making investments into alternative energy sources, the grid of customers must be in place. “If you come, they will build it,” like they said in Dreams of Field, starring Costner Kevin.
State mandates and incentives require Xcel to administer some of the federal funds that are making the rebates possible. Rather than fighting against the tide of electrification, this is an opportunity for Xcel (and other gas companies) to be involved in energy decisions. No doubt they will find a way to still turn a healthy profit.

Overview

Connect with Efficiency Works to get a home energy audit and kick off the process
Figure out where to start—air sealing and insulation if you need it, upgraded mechanicals if your envelope is already tight.
Lean on your contractors to help walk you through the rebates. This is symbiotic, as incentives are aligned. The more you save, the more likely you are to use their services.

The Steps

Schedule home energy audit:
Efficiency Works is a public-facing side of Platte River Power Authority. To gain access to Efficiency Works rebates, and have a baseline of your home’s energy rating, you have to have a home energy audit. Start here to speak with an advisor, and schedule the assessment, which will be $0 to $60 depending on income.
Analyze report:
The report will give your home an energy score and provide the top recommendations for increasing efficiency, and also for any health and safety issues that may have come up.
Start with the envelope:
Before you start switching out the major mechanicals of your home, make sure your home building envelope is as tight as possible. To achieve this, especially in older homes (1990s and older), focus on air sealing and insulation. This prevents air leakage, so more of your conditioned air stays where you want it, and also prevents heat from radiating out, or in, as you heat and cool your home.
Get bids (or don’t):
Several contractors in the area do this work, but we’ll save you some time. Don’t get bids, just call Ascend Construction. They’re the best at what they do, and importantly, can walk you through the available rebates for this work. If you’re an Xcel customer, you could get up to $2,250 for air sealing and insulation, and another $1,500 through Efficiency Works.
Maximize rebate potential:
Xcel customers can enroll in the Whole Home Efficiency Program which gives rebates (list of upgrades included in rebate programs) for upgrades, but also a 25% bonus rebate if 3 upgrades are made within 2 years.
Understand financing:
If you can’t, or don’t want to, fork over a bunch of cash for these upgrades, you can apply for the EPIC loan, specifically offered for efficiency upgrades, featuring no money down and low interest rates. It gets paid back monthly on your utility bill.
Upgrade equipment:
This is where the $20,000 HVAC upgrade for $2,000 comes in, by stacking the rebates from Efficiency Works, Xcel, and here’s a new one, the HEAR program, a State Department of Energy program designed for low- and moderate-income (up to 150% of the AMI, income charts by County here) households. For maximum savings, you do have to pick contractors who are enrolled with (and knowledgeable of) each of these programs. There are a lot of good ones, but our top picks are FC Heating and Air and MGI.

Featured Properties:

Assumable Mortgage Listings

In case you’re new here, we love assumable mortgages. Every couple (sometimes few) weeks, we send out new assumable opportunities. These homes are all active on the market, and have loans that are assumable. We don’t know until we engage the agent and seller if they’re willing to have them assumed, but any time a client is interested, we get in touch, usually explain how the process works to the agent, and go from there. If you ever see properties that could be a fit for you or someone you know, please reach out (it’s easy! just reply to this email). And there are lots more properties to explore over on Roam.