Last Friday’s vote in the House of Representatives on the Cap & Tax Trade bill contained a surprise gift for home sellers. This new provision would take place at “point of sale”, meaning before your home transaction could close you would be required to have an energy audit performed. Similar in nature to a general home inspection, an energy audit would look at the energy inefficiencies of your property. Minimum guidelines would probably be developed to determine pass or fail, and then the appropriate repairs or updates would have to be performed to bring your home up to standards.

Consider many of the homes in Pasadena, built in the early 1900′s with no insulation, original windows and probably the original knob and tube wiring running through the attic, which every home inspector will tell you not to cover with insulation.

Are you beginning to understand the increased costs you could incur when selling your home?

From Congressman John Boehner’s website:

“Home Sellers Beware. Having a hard time selling your home? Here’s one more hurdle to jump: all homes sales are conditioned upon an energy audit and a new energy rating assessment and energy labeling program for your home that’s outlined in the Democrats’ bill. And if you thought you could improve your property with a fresh coat of paint and some granite counters? Think again! Now your home will be subjected to a new energy rating assessment and energy labeling program that will penalize you for older windows, original fixtures, and dated appliances. So the Democrats’ bill would bring down the value of your home”!

Deja Vu All Over Again

It was just a little over one year ago in May 2008, when the California Assembly narrowly passed AB 2768, a similar bill that would also mandate energy audits for California home owners at point of sale. The California Association of Realtors projected it could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a home, not to mention the estimated cost of $400 for the inspection. Through the lobbying efforts of the Realtor organization the bill failed in the senate.

Additional costs and regulations. Not exactly the cure for energizing the real estate market.