Disclosing Energy Costs Leads to Faster Sales

Preliminary research indicates that residential listings move off the market faster and have a higher closing rate when the property description includes energy costs. For the study, Elevate Energy considered 18,605 single-family homes listed between July 1, 2013, and Feb. 19, 2014, on Midwest Real Estate Data — the multiple listing service for Chicago. It discovered that 10 percent of the houses disclosed energy costs, and those properties sat on the market for a shorter period of time. In Lakeview, for example, homes that disclosed energy costs remained on the market for a median of 43 days compared to 63 days for homes that did not disclose energy costs. Additionally, 66 percent of homes that disclosed energy costs went to settlement, compared to 53 percent for homes that did not disclose. “Home owners who invest to improve the energy efficiency of their homes should have a clear, consistent way to document those improvements when they opt to sell, and buyers deserve to be able to get a full picture of home ownership, which includes energy costs,” according to Elevate Energy CEO Anne Evens. | Read More