The end of the fixer-upper?

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Much of the news about the cap-and-trade bill this month concerns the internal analysis done by the Obama administration but buried until a FOIA request forced its release showing that the cost per household for the bill would go higher than $1760 per year. But what happens when you want to sell your household? Ryan Young of CEI highlights a few more costly aspects of Waxman-Markey, which could end the fixer-upper market and make resales both more expensive and more difficult:

That bill contains 397 new regulations. One of them would affect almost everyone who buys or sells a home. If Waxman-Markey becomes law, homes for sale that qualify as “federally related transactions” — which is almost all of them — would be required to undergo an environmental inspection. …

Inspections are not free. Nor is fixing the inevitable violations. Compliance with new energy-efficiency standards would make homes, especially older ones, more expensive. Selling one’s home would become even harder than it already is in this down market if Waxman-Markey-style cap and trade becomes law. …

Suppose you have a window that isn’t quite airtight or your appliances are a little too old. Maybe they’re not Energy Star certified. You’d have to replace them before you would be allowed to sell your home.

The result could be the end of fixer-upper homes; surely, this is not what Congress has in mind. Some families prefer to buy a home in less-than-stellar condition on the cheap and make repairs and upgrades themselves.

For people who don’t have a lot of money, or who enjoy working with their hands, or who want to customize their home, this can be a very fulfilling path to homeownership. Waxman-Markey would take that away.