Cap and Trade: Selling Your Home

I wonder how many American homeowners realize what the Cap and Trade bill will do to their home values.

I wonder how many realize that before selling a home, an energy inspection will be required.

I wonder how many realize that there is going to be a residential database that tracks the energy efficiency of their homes. There will be an "ENERGY PERFORMANCE LABELING PROGRAM."

Big Brother, the U.S. Government, will be demanding that existing structures meet certain standards and be "retrofitted."

There will be the development of "achieved performance measurement protocols for residential building energy use for at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act."

If your home doesn't meet the national building code, you'll have to bring it up to code. Inspectors will determine if your property is in compliance.

Read H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, specifically SEC. 202. BUILDING RETROFIT PROGRAM.

The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program is sure to hit the middle and lower class homeowners the hardest.

Eric Martell writes:

Among other provisions that control nearly every aspect of our lives, the Waxman-Markley energy bill has a requirement that forces the entire United States to use a National Building Code based on the green building standards of California. Regardless of whether your house is in Miami, Florida or Bangor, Maine, you'll have to adhere to the standards used in a state that has one of the most moderate climates in the U.S. The construction industry is really going to suffer.

The bill forces sellers to have an energy inspection prior to being able to sell their home. Windows, appliances and insulation will have to be inspected and approved by a government inspector and modifications would have to be made for compliance before you can close the sale.

Basically, you won't be able to sell until you go through the expense of bringing your house up to the new code. This will cost a prohibitive amount in many cases. For example, let's say that you own an older house which you bought in 2003 for $250,000 and you now need to sell. Not only has the value fallen to or below the level of the mortgage due the the drop in prices, but you are now faced with re-insulating the entire house, installing new windows, and changing the HVAC & other appliances. The total cost for this type of renovation might easily come to well over 10% of the house's value.

It begins to look as if defaulting on the mortgage might become even more common. The real tradegy is that low income families are more likely to live in older houses which won't meet the new standards and which will require major upgrades. I thought that we weren't going to see any new taxes on people who make less than $250,000. What a cruel joke!

This is a horrible penalty being slapped on middle and lower income families, those more likely to live in homes that don't meet the National Building Code standards.

It used to be that a good cleaning and a new coat of paint were the only investments that would be necessary to get one's home in shape to sell it.

How many of the families living in homes that don't meet the new standards could afford to bring their homes up to code, by doing things such as replacing all their windows and replacing all their appliances?

A consequence of the Cap and Trade environmental quackery bill isn't going to be to spread the wealth around. National building standards and enegry inspections aren't going to penalize the rich. The middle and lower classes will be hurt the most. The greatest burden will be placed on them.

People will be trapped in their current homes if they don't pass the energy audit and they're required to make expensive upgrades. If they can afford to make the required upgrades, they'll raise their asking prices.

Like it or not, all homeowners will have to comply with the new energy standards laid out in Cap and Trade.

How many buyers will be able to afford the cost of a home with such pricey upgrades? Not many, especially since Cap and Trade will put so many people out of work.

The cost of this pile of new regulations will be passed on to the consumer. Guaranteed.

This is a disaster.

This is BS. These regulations will destroy the American dream of home ownership.

Expect more foreclosures.

What Obama and the Democrats and some Republicans are doing to the country sucks.

These Republicans voted for Cap and Trade:

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.)
Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.)
Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Frank LoBiondo
Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.)
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.)
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.)

What a disgrace!