Chicago will become the first city in the country to include energy costs on home listings.  Homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service in Chicago will display annual and monthly energy costs, including gas and electric service to home.

Only real estate agents will have access to view the information and will then be able to share it with their clients.

Homeowners in the city will provide agents with account numbers for electrical and natural gas companies.  A computer program will be used to automatically pull the monthly and annual energy cost information.  Those energy estimates will be included on the property listing.

With energy costs on the rise across the U.S., the energy costs to operate a home can be very valuable information to the potential buyer.  Homes that are more energy efficient could increase in value and could prompt homeowners to make energy-savings upgrades.

We hope other cities will follow Chicago’s example and include the energy costs in their home listings.