Cindy's Blog

So, I participated in a focus group today that seemed to "focus", no pun intended, on real estate (both new homes and resales) being held to some sort of standard of being more "green," primarily in the sense of energy efficiency. The questions that were posed to the group (of all realtors) were the following:

Should there be a requirement to acheive a particular level of efficiency for homes? For only new homes? What about resale homes?

Should their be some sort of disclosure that advises the consumer of the energy efficiency of the home? What should this look like? Should it only be available on new homes?

You get the drift. Well, if you know me at all, you probably have a good idea of where I fall on this issue-

Interestingly, though perhaps not surprisingly, given that this is Richmond, VA, in many cases in really took some doing to get the other folks to see why this might actually be a good, rather than a bad thing, and of course that even in this market it could be a good thing.

On a very large, "big picture" level, we definitely need to look at it as a way to both make our homes and our country more efficient. In a smaller way, we need to stand in the shoes of the consumer- shoes we all stand in, in some way, somehow, at some time.

When we go to the grocery store, don't we want to be able to look at the ingredients/ nutritional info label, so we know what we're buying? When we buy a car or appliance, don't we as consumers have the right to know how much energy or gas it's going to use? Why should we have less information about the home we're going to buy?

I'm curious (is there anyone out there??) what anyone thinks of this thought, and how it might impact the market generally, if at all. And certainly if you're a buyer, would that effect what you like/ look at, or what you purchase? Or, would it make no difference at all?

What's going on in Britain and Europe? Check out this link to find out more...

http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/epc/

Please comment!!!