Steve and David discuss the city's proposal to retrofit Austin homes at point of sale on AM1370 - Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 1pm. Joining them on the show will be members from the Austin City Council, Mayor Will Wynn, and representatives from the Austin Board of Realtors.
Please post your comments on this topic! All comments will be printed and sent to every Austin City Council Person.
This is an excerpt of an email from ABOR:
The City of Austin is introducing an ordinance to mandate energy efficiency retrofits for all types of properties in Austin, including single family owner-occupied homes. This is ordinance is being looked at as part of Mayor Will Wynn's Climate Protection Plan.
They intend to enforce it at the point of sale. In other words, prior to the sale of any single family owner-occupied home, a certificate of compliance proving the required efficiency retrofits have been done must be done prior to closing.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO OUR HOMEOWNERS
Without a Certificate of Compliance filed of record prior to closing or at point of sale, a single family home cannot be legally sold in Austin.
Delays in the time from escrow of a purchase agreement to closing due to the compliance and inspection process could exceed, by days or weeks, the typical 30 to 45 day time frame in a sales transaction today.
Immediately upon the effective date of the ordinance, the city will have to implement methods and processes to meet the demand created by the sale of some 25,000 homes per year. That's 25,000 inspections, assuming the first inspection results in the issuance of a certificate of compliance. City inspectors say that at least 50% of all inspections result in a subsequent inspection to correct problems found. That's an additional 12,500 inspections, at a minimum, or some 37,500 new inspections in a typical year to determine if single family owner-occupied properties comply with the new proposed ordinance. Who will pay?
Homeowners will bear the expense of retrofits to obtain the certificate of compliance. These expenses will vary from home to home, but the range could be anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000 per home.
Expect delays in acquiring another home as homeowners scramble to comply with the new ordinance, especially if that homeowner needs to sell his or her existing home prior to closing on a new one.
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Dot Rodriguez
said:
| What will the city charge me for an inspection? I have added onto my homewithout permits, will I be penalized at point of city inspection? | |
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John
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Councilman Martinez accused ABOR, as has the mayor, of inaccuracies, but neither have ever pointed out those inaccuracies and Councilman Martinez didn't answer the question today. Would the mayor support amending the resolution to change the date from June 1, 2008 to 9 months from now and to remove the Point of Sale language to allow the POS task force to consider and recommend alternatives, including a voluntary, incentivized program and not a government mandated program? |
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Shannon
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Several points as I've been listing, I am concerned with the council members lack of understanding of construction and building given that he is creating policy that directly affects it. Further I would like more info on the other cities that have implemented these programs, how they have implemented them and how they worked. What are the unintentional cost associated with the waste generated by required retrofitting. A final note, Energy efficiency is great but you have to have consumer buy in. That means no red brick, black roof west facing homes that are not built for Austin. Yet, that is what the consumer wants. Education is necessary to bring the consumer online as to why this is necessary and all the ways it helps them. |
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John
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| Be wary of politicians and their staff who won't commit to the removal of the Point of Sale language. They are drawing a line in the sand. | |
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