Thank you for all of your kind comments.  I wanted to let you know a little more about the energy audits here in Austin, Texas.

The city has mandated that we have any an energy audit performed on every home that is sold withing the city limits.  The only exceptions are homes less than 10 years old at the time of sale, and homes that have been remodeled and given a certificate by the city that they pass the audit. 

This is called the point of sale energy audit ordinance in Austin.  it went into effect June 1st 2009.  If you do not have the audit done prior to the sale of your home you can go to jail and receive fines by the city.

It has been a source of local controversy because many of us feel that inspections should be optional, and a right of the buyer to perform.  Many feel that we do not need additional mandates of regulation by the government. 

The biggest concern is that in 2 years from now, we have heard that they ( the city of Austin), will make repairs recommended by the auditors will become Mandatory.  The average cost of suggested repairs is $1800.  Older homes will probably have larger price tags because of windows, duct work, older AC systems, etc. 

So far, it hasn't been painful.  The audits have been pretty easy, and haven't been very costly to the sellers.  Average price is $400.  However, if this is just the honeymoon period where they are getting us comfortable with the process and then make repairs mandatory - or face jail time- I think that we will then see home sales slow in certain neighborhoods and price ranges.

Hi Lenn,

Yes, jail time!  It is a class C misdemeanor in Austin.  It is not a lengthy sentence, but it is a criminal offense on your record if you do not comply.  It went into effect on June 1st 2009.  Scary huh?

I have heard that San Francisco also has some new scary laws in effect.  That you can even get fined for throwing your recycling into the wrong bin, ie:  glass into the plastic bin.