Don’t say you haven’t been warned. Especially if you make a living in the building or real estate industry. The Senate version of the Cap and Trade bill coming out of the Environment and Public Works Committee is a doozy. Here is my summary version:
Home prices will go down. Closing home sales will be more difficult. Expenses for sellers will increase dramatically.
If the industry does not do all it can to fight this piece of legislation, you have made your own bed.
The following quote comes from the left leaning Politico, even they are aghast at the legislation.
That bill contains 397 new regulations. One of them would affect almost everyone who buys or sells a home. If Waxman-Markey becomes law, homes for sale that qualify as “federally related transactions” — which is almost all of them — would be required to undergo an environmental inspection.
Many politicians are upset about depressed housing prices. And true, environmental inspections are one way to raise them. But this is not the way to do it. Sen. Boxer should see to it that the Senate version of cap and trade leaves the environmental inspection provision out.
Inspections are not free. Nor is fixing the inevitable violations. Compliance with new energy-efficiency standards would make homes, especially older ones, more expensive. Selling one’s home would become even harder than it already is in this down market if Waxman-Markey-style cap and trade becomes law. via Politico.com
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We do need a cap and trade of some sort, but it needs to be put together carefully or we will just sour and slow any progress in the market that we have been seeing recently.
-Tyler
I work for a builder, so we've been on this path a while. I think environmental restrictions are important if we all still want a planet to sell houses on. Yes, new restrictions are inconvenient, but let's not overlook our responsibility to preserve our planet for future generations vs. serving our personal agendas. There will be growing pains, but in the long run it is the right thing to do, it will create new markets, new jobs and better houses.
Alright, I'll respond to the comments so far. We don't NEED cap and trade. Right now, anybody is free to go out and hire an environmental inspector if they like. If you think that adds value to selling your home, by all means do it. What I don't need is more interference in my life. What I don't need it people who "think" something is important without doing any research into the facts. What I don't need is people voting their "feelings" rather than doing their research. While nobody was looking, too many Americans turned into fascists who think they need to arrange the lives of everybody else.
I doubt this goes through and strongly oppose cap and trade.
Cap and Trade is the WORST possible thing that could be done, especially now. It is SOLELY a Money-Making Scheme that will limit our ability to grow and to even exist. It is a direct attack on our livelyhood. It is a Wealth Transfer From the US to other nations stealing the wealth of the middle class in the US and giving it to the upper class in foreign nations.
Mandatory environmental inspections are already happening — Boulder, Colo., Austin, Texas, Portland, Ore. The recent Department of Energy "Home Energy Score," while a(n over-)simple metric, gives buyers a quick window into the energy efficiency of existing homes. Municipalities like Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago have incorporated whole LEED building standards into their municipal building codes. While God may have created Earth in seven days and put man in charge, there's a stewardship responsibility that comes with that.
Building owners should overhaul and shore up their buildings to better compete now while it's still optional. When this becomes mandated, it'll be too late, and there will be a mad rush for the door.
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