Are
you familiar with the dramatic effects of the CAP & TRADE BILL
on real estate?
If
you own a home, or are in the real estate industry
you should seriously read the Energy Audit & Labeling
sectionsof the Cap and Trade bill as it
will affect every residential and commercial real estate
transaction for
the rest of our lives. This post is not to start a politcal battle, but
to
bring awareness, so all are not surprised in the very near future of
what is
entailed to sell a home under this proposed bill. This may be a bit
slow to read, but take in every word if you are in the real estate
industry or know anyone that owns a home.
Most
people have not been educated by the government or media that a major
part of
the Cap and Trade bill is to have a goal, in time, to convert every
real estate
(commercial and residential) building up to the US government's green
building
requirements (at that particular time).
Some
cities (including Austin, where I live) have, somewhat, a similar
structure,
where Green improvements/retros
are usually negotiated between a
buyer and a seller.
This is a very comprehensive and massive energy auditing program that
you need
to understand. Because the bill is in legal language, it
makes for
difficult reading, but you will then understand what life will
be like
forward in the real estate industry. The main parts of the
residential
energy audit and labeling are in sections 201 to 204.
Warning: The file
is massive and may take a bit of time to open and to scroll down pages.
Happy
reading.....but a brief breakdown is below the link
so you will not be reading hearsay, but the actual bill, as it is
currently written.
If
passed, this bill will create a national to state Energy Audit program
whereby all homes and commercial buildings will be required to have an
energy
audit to compare the home in its condition to green building standards
as
determined by the US Gov't.
There are incentives
planned for the homeowner to update their home to such standards. The
confusing
part of the bill is all the grey matter. There are numurous parts of
the bill
that gives the government powers to decide what may be required by the
government in the future. i.e. it is pretty open ended for
interpretation.
This
would go into effect
in 2014 for residential and 2015 for commercial. The bill is effective
through
2050. We have a very similar program in Austin. The question many are
pondering
is whether the government, in time, will require minimum standards to
be
changed out prior to a change in owners. That would devastate the lower
income
families, so I doubt that would be a reality.
The national government's
energy audit is similar to a home inspection...but
it is a secondary inspection; thus, secondary negotiations on repairs
or updates to be made on a home. A buyer may or may
not ask for items to be retrofitted, and the seller may or may not
decide to
retro such items. In 20 years or so, we may look back and say this was
a good
idea. In the interim, it is a second inspection all have to deal
with....and
negotiate.
The
shocking part is that the public and most of the real estate industry
have not been informed about the program and the affects the program
may have on the industry, and the implications of how lower income
buyers and sellers will be able to negotiate substantial costs for
retros on older homes. Some retros we are seeing are not a
few hundred dollars, but tens of thousand of dollars.
Nothing
is being demanded at this point, and is up to the buyer and the seller
to negotiate what will be retrofitted. One would assume as
time goes on that certain retros will be required. I
personally think that this is a great long term benefit for our
country, but will be painful for the low income or those with little to
no equity in their home.The
dates are set far enough in advance to be able to swallow this after
this recessionary period.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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At some point we are all going to have step up and start conserving. The longer we wait, the bigger the bill down the road. Just my opinion.