Energy efficiency law hits homesellers

Mandatory energy audits on home sales wrong, Toronto's real estate agents say.

In the wake of a new municipal land-transfer tax and unmoored by a sinking economy, Toronto real estate agents are bracing for a new storm on the legislative horizon: Mandatory energy audits for home sales.

Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman's proposed Green Energy Act, which was introduced to the Ontario legislature Monday, contains loosely defined "mandatory conservation and energy efficiency practices" that would cost home sellers about $300.

But with homes lingering on a stagnating market, and average sale prices dropping throughout the GTA, even the distant possibility of one more fee or one more bureaucratic obstacle, leaves real estate agents feeling seasick.

"It's not so much the dollars that it costs you to do the audit, I think you have to think long-term in terms of how will that impact your property value, what will that do to the market in terms of potential bottlenecks," said Von Palmer, spokesman for the Toronto Real Estate Board. "So the devil's always in the details and I think that's where we need to be careful."

We really need some help in on these issues, why do we need this and who keeps coming up with these polices!!

It's time home owners and realtors take a stand.