WHAT IS AN ENERGY SCORE AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

You probably heard that there’s a new law in Portland requiring that starting in 2018, any home that’s sold has to have an Energy Score.

Here’s a quick overview of what that means:

• You can’t game the score. A house’s Energy Score has nothing to do with how many times you flush the toilet or what temperature the thermostat is set to. It’s a measurement of how efficient the home is: The effectiveness of its insulation, the energy efficiency of its appliances, stuff like that. The idea is to give buyers a sense of what it would cost to live in the home. 

• The score is relative. A house that scores a 4 is less efficient than a house that scores a 5. Since so many houses in Portland were built in the early 20th century, nobody expects a ton of houses to score super well.

• The requirement isn’t just for houses. It applies to “...any residential structure containing at least one dwelling unit or house, regardless of size, on its own lot.” This includes attached single dwelling units: row house, attached homes, common-wall homes, duplexes, and townhomes. 

• You don’t get to come up with the score yourself. The Energy Score has to be the result of an audit performed by a licensed Home Energy Assessor. Yes, that costs money. Figure between $150 and $250, depending on the size of the home, the assessor hired, the location, and just how busy the market gets.

• You can’t get out of doing this. Seriously. A lot of people seem to think that going For Sale By Owner makes the process of selling simpler or that you don’t have to abide by laws and rules. Sorry, but no. If you’re really good at researching the ins and outs and changing landscape of the real estate market, you might do just fine by not working with a real estate agent. Then again, if you know all that stuff, you probably realize that getting your real estate license would be a lot more beneficial than going FSBO. People like me do this every day. That’s why we get paid a commission.

All real estate agents in Portland are supposed to have been brought up to speed on this requirement. As for me, I got myself certified as an Earth Advantage® Broker, which means I went to the trouble to learn more about energy efficiency than most of your regular real estate agents do. 

That doesn’t make me the definitive expert, though, by any means. This is a new program and we’re all figuring out the details. But if you’re looking to buy or sell, definitely hit me up. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. If you ask nicely, I'll send you the complete, official BUYER AND SELLER ADVISORY REGARDING PORTLAND ENERGY AUDITS put together by PMAR, the Portland Metropolitan Association of REALTORS®.

You can reach me at 310-854-2458 or by email at brian (at) belefant (dot) realtor.