Home-owners will be facing some big changes on the home selling process, if Ontario's new Green Energy Act is passed through and fully implemented.

One of the stipulations of the new Act, is that anyone who is selling their home, will be required to have an Energy Audit on their home. 

I wrote about this home Energy Audit process, in a December 6th, 2008 blog entry, not knowing at that time, that this type of Energy Audit would make its way, right into a new Ontario government Act!   While the Act has not been implemented yet, there is discussion in the news, that this proposed legislation, will march right through to full approval.

As a homeowner, you might be asking, so what exactly is an Energy Audit anyway?

An Energy Audit is conducted via a visit to your home, by a trained and experienced advisor.  The advisor would conduct tests and then document their recommendations on where energy efficiency can be optimized in your home.   The advisor would then prepare a final detailed report to the homeowner that would give a detailed list of what changes or upgrades are recommended to make the home more "energy efficient".  The homeowner would then use this report to carefully consider their options.   Some examples might be, a recommendation to change older windows and doors, install new improved heating and cooling systems, upgrade insulation, etc.   The homeowner could then decide what upgrades they would like to do, based on the report provided.

While this requirement may stimulate activity in some industries, by creating some new jobs, it will likely cause headaches elsewhere...  I am quite sure two things will happen: 1) homeowners will be unhappy about having to disclose energy efficiency reports to interested buyers and will not likely to be happy about facing expensive upgrade costs before they can sell their homes.  Even though grants are available, homeowners must still come up with money to complete the upgrades.  In a housing market where home values are decreasing and homeowners already facing shrinking available home equity plus the rise in household debt-loads, this will be a new cost that homeowners will not be able to easily absorb.  
2) realtors will not like it either as interested buyers might away from listed homes that just are not up to energy standards in listings where homeowners are unable to invest into needed upgrades to the home.

This blog was written by Elizabeth Blair, a Licensed Mortgage Agent with Mortgage Edge in Richmond Hill, Ontario. 

Elizabeth services mortgage clients in Mississauga and all over the Greater Toronto area.  You can contact Elizabeth directly by phone at (905) 510-5785 by email at eblair@mortgageedge.ca or you visit her website at:    www.missmortgage.ca  Elizabeth is licensed with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and is also a Member of IMBA (the Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario) www.imba.ca