SOLAR HOMES

NO COST FOR INSTALLATION 

- Solar company would install panels at no cost to the homeowner

LOWER ELECTRIC BILLS
- Two story house or big sq ft house 
- House with a pool
- Older house with less energy efficient equipment

GUARANTEE PERFORMANCE
- Service or repair paid by the solar company

Home Appraiser need to to know if the solar is leased or owned.

LEASE

• NO value can be given on a leased system. A leased solar system is considered personal property and does not factor into the appraised value. If the system is not owned, it generally is not an asset for the property.

• The solar companies with a lease are very cooperative with transferring the lease. One challenge with a leased system is that the payment must be included in the buyer’s qualifying ratios.
  

• The solar companies with a lease put a UCC on the property. UCC stands for “Uniform Commercial Code”. It is effectively a lien against the solar equipment. Banks have a concern that it could take priority over the mortgage if it was recorded before the deed. That’s why the UCC generally needs to be released and re-instated after the mortgage.

OWNED 

• If the system is owned they should make sure there are local and relevant comparable sales with solar that clearly demonstrate any additional value solar adds in that specific neighborhood.

• It is obviously challenging to value an owned system. One suggestion is to find the amount it cost from when it was purchase and pro rate that amount over the life of the solar panels. 

ULTIMATELY 

The value of the solar panel is What are buyers actually willing to pay for solar panels? One way to know is to compare homes with owned solar vs homes without solar.

CAUTION 

Having amazingly low energy bills won’t do anything for you if your lease solar bill is actually more expensive than your electric bills would have been without solar. A lease like this could actually be a liability for your property value, right? In other words, if it is more expensive to own your property, consumers are not likely to pay as much for your house compared to other ones in the neighborhood.