After a weekend of house searching and researching, we are still no closer to finding the perfect eco-friendly home. We have been looking for the perfect eco-friendly home for at least three weeks now. We want something that doesn’t harm the environment and something that doesn’t break the bank. Our current neighborhood doesn’t allow solar panels, so we have been looking at neighborhoods surrounding the area as close as five minutes away and 20 minutes out.

The first issue, I have noticed is the pricing of the neighborhoods that allow solar panels. The least expensive house in one of those neighborhoods is around 189,000. If you add in the 20000 for the solar upgrade you are looking at least 200,000 for the house. I would like to find a house around 120,000 to 150,000 thousand and then add all the eco-friendly addons. However, I have yet to find a neighborhood that allows them in the areas with cheaper housing. I am not debating the Green New Deal, but I really wonder how anyone would work that sort of thing out given the obstacles of finding eco-friendly neighborhoods. Some of the older houses would not be able to sustain the upgrades needed for solar panels even if the neighborhoods allowed the houses to do the necessary upgrades. Where would the money from the new roofs come in and the money for the panels? Perhaps, we need to start building more eco-friendly neighborhoods and slowly start moving people in that direction.

I have land in the country that would allow us to build, but it is at least four hours away which would take the children away from their friends. I am not trying to do that because the children need their support systems, so we have to find a peaceful medium. It is all a little confusing to be honest. We talk about going green, but there are many HOAs that frown upon the addons for solar enhancements. If we are going to get serious about going green we need to get serious about rewriting some of the rules outlined in HOAs across America.

I am having difficultly understanding why HOA groups are allowed to dictate what I can and can’t do in a house that I aim to buy. If I want to help make our environment better it is a good thing. So, at this point we are still looking and searching for that perfect neighborhood that offers the chance at eco-friendly living without reaching into the 200,000 range.

With the current issues in Saudi Arabia and the risk of going into another war, I think now is the time for all of us to get serious about going solar because we do not know what will happen in the future. Oil wars are not cheap and I do not want to be a casualty of war. So, I will continue looking.