11/11/2023
My wife and I own NextHome Tomorrow Realty and clients trying to break into a home under $500,000 are struggling to find housing on the eastern side of near their places of work. Many of these clients are budgeting between $400,000 and $500,000.
For client's budgeting below $400,000 it is a nightmare. Today, there are a total of 139 existing single family, townhomes, and condos for sale under $400,000 in eastern Sussex County.
I hope the regulatory agencies start running the mandated cost benefit analysis for major rule making that accounts for the consumer. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that adopting the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code will save a household 8.66% on their residential energy bill. For my household that's about $250 over the course of a year or around $21 per month.
It's nice but it takes a long time to pay back a $250 savings if your annual interest expense on a mortgage goes up by an average of $1,400 annually over the first decade (assumes the $31k price increase and 5% interest rate). Without a mortgage the payback lasts longer than almost anyone owns their home.
I spent most of my career working in accounting and finance. Doing a discounted cash flow analysis isn't difficult. The economic conditions that would need to exist for this to be a cost-effective regulation would cripple the U.S. economy.
In a congressional hearing today examining the effects of Department of Energy (DOE) regulations on America’s job creators, NAHB told lawmakers how burdensome DOE regulations are exacerbating the housing affordability crisis and impeding the ability of builders to increase the production of qu...
