City of Portland Home Energy Score

So what’s the deal? What is a Home Energy score anyway? How does it effect me? So many questions and not many details. Let’s break this down and try to clear things up.

In 2018, the city of Portland now requires anyone listing their home for sale to obtain a home energy score. Now before you freak out and ask why would I need to get this score to list my home, let’s first understand what the energy score even means.

By using the U.S. Census housing data, private companies will assess your home on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the most efficient and 1 being not so great. This number reflects the total energy used in your home. This includes anything from how efficient the furnace is, to the insulation in the ceiling, to even the size of the home. Here’s the kicker, the energy score compares all homes across the board, regardless of size. So, subsequently a bigger home will always have a lower score compared to a smaller home based on the pure amount of energy used.

Sounds kind of useless right? The idea behind the home energy score isn’t necessarily just to make selling your house more difficult. Portland decided they would like to try to educate homeowners. In showing your score along with simple solutions necessary to improve it Portland is hoping you will take the necessary steps to save some energy, and eventually money. Hopefully, this will in turn make the city across the board a little more eco friendly.

Portland isn’t the first city to come up with the idea of a home energy score. Berkeley, CA passed an ordinance back in 2015 requiring the same thing. However, in Berkeley the score isn’t required before the sale it is just required within 12 months of selling.

To wrap up this conversation, we can’t finish this discussion without asking is it worth it and what happens if I decide I don’t want it? The cost to have a private company come out and give you a score, (in my personal experience) ranges anywhere from $150-$300. The fine for not getting the score is $500. The fine is assessed if the score is not posted within 90 days of list date. Is it worth taking the risk? That is something I’ll leave up to the homeowner.

One last tidbit. If you are a condo owner or live in a high-rise you may be exempt from the home energy score. Deep breath.

– Ben Itterman

If you have any questions about listing your home in 2018 and beyond always feel free to reach out to us at Sean Z Becker Real Estate.