NOT another point-of-sale mandate!

If you have bought or sold a home lately, you know that there are many closing costs. They're about 3% for the buyer, and can go up to 8% for the seller. The seller's costs include mandatory retrofit requirements. The city of L.A. also collects $4.50 per thousand of profit (although Burbank and Glendale don't) as a city tax. Now here comes another expense.

I’m all for energy efficiency. But Cal State Assembly Bill AB 2678, among other things, requires that ALL homes and commercial property in California have a $400 energy audit at point-of-sale – before your escrow closes -- and that mandatory energy efficiency investments be made. If enacted, AB 2678 could add thousands of dollars to the cost of purchasing a home, including the aforementioned $400 just to have a home “audited.” AB 2678 will be considered by the Assembly Utilities and Commerce committee on Monday, April 14th.

While point of sale mandates are always well intentioned, they are ineffective because they only apply to a small portion of the housing stock that changes hands every year. Not to mention the hurt put on sellers who may be stretched very thin as it is. Not to sound like a conservative, but why can’t we accomplish the same through property-tax credits?