Earth Day Post

I have been avoiding this post like the plague. Are there any other emails I can check? Classes to create slides for? Inventory charts? Houses! I need to sell houses! Anything to avoid this subject after all the headache it caused me last time.

I was going to make my Earth Day post on home watering systems to tie in with the Permaculture post, but that will have to wait. The California Association of Realtors put out a call to action against a green housing initiative on Earth Day itself.

“C.A.R. is OPPOSING AB 2678 (Núñez) which among other things, requires that ALL homes and commercial property in California have an energy audit at point-of-sale and that mandatory energy efficiency investments be made. While C.A.R. appreciates the goal of AB 2678 C.A.R strongly opposes the point-of-sale requirements in AB2678 because they fail to achieve the bill’s objectives and, such mandates will further weaken the housing market. If enacted, AB 2678 could add thousands of dollars to the cost of purchasing a home, including up to $400 just to have a home audited.”

Again, I disagree with the political position of the PAC in charge of real estate in California. Again, I feel frustrated that there is no point in voicing such an opinion. I have found nothing online about this bill except what C.A.R.has printed against it, so I find it hard to make an informed decision. Even with only hearing the reasons against it, I am hesitant to become an Orwellian sheep in the matter.

Energy audits are what Ecobrokers are encouraged to try to talk their clients into voluntarily. I have yet to run into one that comes close to $400. We all have classes and discussions as real estate agents on how to talk our clients into spending money to make their house more marketable. Many of these upgrades are simply making your home more energy efficient, like double pane windows, etc. Making such assessments and improvements mandatory would not only make our job easier, it would go a long way to making this world a better place.

Spending money at a point-of-sale may sound unfavorable prima facie, but it is much easier to spend money at that time rather than while someone is already established in a building. Changes need to be made, and such changes will ultimately save money for our clients when they pay less monthly for energy bills.

In the end, I am sure that C.A.R. will get what it wants, so I will continue to encourage you to get energy audits and improvements on your own. In the meantime, I am finding it difficult to juxtapose my profession with my conscience.