Today would be my normal day to report weekly Oroville real estate market stats to you. That will have to wait until tomorrrow because I want all of you to be aware of the newest “trend” among government agencies with regards to buying a home. It is called Point-of-Sale and it is coming from the federal, state and local governments to a home near you. Below is the first example of this to hit Oroville homeowners.
At our most recent monthly Oroville Board of REALTORS® membership meeting, two representatives from the Lake Oroville Public Utility District (LOAPUD) came to announce that before any home within their district would be allowed to be transferred to a new owner it had to have a sewer line pressure test performed and that they would not allow any escrow to close until a clearance has been issued. In addition, you would not be able to get a final clearance on any building permits until a sewer line test has been performed. It seems that there is currently problem with excessive discharges in to the sewer plant during the rainy season indicating that ground water is seeping into cracked pipes and carrying non-sewer water into the plant.
While I am certainly in favor of a properly functioning sewer system, I am very much opposed to LOAPUD’s remedy. Here’s why:
Testing those homes that are in the middle of a sales transaction slows down the sales process, increases the cost of the transaction, but most importantly fails to adequately address the problem. Likewise, the testing requirement upon the pulling of a permit will also fall miserably short of LOAPUD’s goal. On the first point, even in busy market you are not going to sell enough homes within the district in a short enough time to make a dent in the problem over a 5 or 10 year period. In fact, at our meeting the LOAPUD representatives agreed that it may take 30 years or longer to have all homes tested (and repaired) using the escrow process. As far as the building permit policy is concerned, the district is only discouraging the proper pulling of permits when they are required. Adding to the cost of obtaining a permit, as this policy will in its current form, will result in fewer permits being pulled. If the problem is so urgent, and I do not argue that is is not, let’s get it done as quickly as possible.
My solution would be to divide the district into 10 areas and each year over the next 10 a portion of the district would be required to be inspected. We accomplish a number of things this way.
1. The entire district would be inspected ( and repaired) within 10 years.
2. The burden of the inspection is lifted from the real estate transaction.
3. Since all homes would be required to have an inspection done, home sellers, and those who abide by the law and get proper building permits, would not be discriminated against and would not be carrying the burden alone. Problem solved!!
As I said, this is the first example of this happening in Oroville. It is very important that you attend the next LOAPUD meeting and voice your disapproval over this plan as this is another case of government out of control. You can also e-mail the mamager of the District. His name is Alan Brown and his e-mail address is manager@loapud.com
This will not be the end of the matter, it is only the beginning. The cap and trade bill now before the Senate will require energy inspections and upgrades to your homes adding significant costs to selling or buying a home.
Let your voices be heard!!
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