Sell now or suffer later

History Won't Wait For You - Sell & Get Out Now
by Tamar Yonah

Really, I can't find the time to post, and there is so much I want to, but I don't have time to accompany the news items with what I want to say, and do it eloquently. So I decided to just rush this post and leave it up to you to discuss, because really, this stuff needs to get out....

If you are living in the USA and own a home, you may not be able to sell it after next year. It seems that the new Act. H.R. 2454 "Cap & Trade" bill is going to require homeowners to get a licence on their house, not unlike having to get a license on your car, your business, and even your pet. In order to receive this license, you have to have your home meet EPA standards, kind of like your car has to have a smog device put into it and have it meet state regulations before you can re-new your car's license. If the cap & trade bill passes, and it already has in the the House of Representatives, and is now going to the Senate then American homeowners are looking at having to retrofit their homes to meet the federal �green� guidelines. And each year, these 'guidelines' may increase. What does this mean? It means if you want to sell your house to make aliyah and then be able to come with a little money, you will first have to have your home inspected. Probably you will need to upgrade your home's efficiency in how it uses energy and what carbon footprints it leaves behind. After spending money on things such as your water heater, sewage lines, wall and roof insulation, necessary re-wiring and plumbing, you invite the inspector back. If it passes the EPA requirements, your home will be given a 'rating'. You then need to put a sign on your lawn or somewhere that can be seen, on how well your house is rated - 3 stars? 4 stars? 5 stars? And this spending does not include the cost of renovating to get your house looking decent enough to sell.

According to a piece posted on the NACHI (National Association of Home Inspectors) site about this new cap and trade bill, you will NOT be able to sell your home;

•...Without the permission of the EPA administrator.
•To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured.
•Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements.
•Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a "label" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner.
•If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act."
To read more, click HERE. http://www.nachi.org/forum/f14/cap-and-trade-license-required-your-home-44750/

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