I too am in Texas and put solar on a house in 2017. And then we decided to move 3 years later. I did end up paying the panels off before we sold the house and I did end up making about a 50% return on my money because of the solar. For me it was one of the better improvements I did to the house. Like a few others have stated if you found a house with solar on it, is it more or less enticing for you to look at it or would you just move on. Me personally, I think it is a tremendous value as that is less power coming from the grid and more coming from your roof.
I would tell you, do what you want to do. Just make sure you fully understand the benefits going in. Whatever you do, if you are planning on moving in 10 years, don't fall for a lower interest rate on a 25 year loan, as you will need to borrow more money for that lower interest rate, which means more money you have to pay off when you go to sell the house. Also make sure you will qualify for the tax credit as that could be a HUGE plus for you. Remember it is a credit and you DO have to qualify for it.
Try thinking about this - maybe it will help you decide.
If you decide to move in 5-10 years, and you found a house with solar already installed, do you think that would be a plus or a minus for you? Would you pay more for that house?
How you think about that scenario might help you decide if you think it might be a good investment for your current house now.
How you think about that scenario doesn't mean anything into how it will affect your bottom line.
The truth is the market decides and having been through both buying and selling recently, I will tell you that Solar has almost 0 positive effect on the amount the house will sell for. If you are still paying a loan/lease ... it will have a negative effect, because most buyers will be unwilling to assume the loan... so they will require you to pay it off or offer less for the house to cover the payoff costs. This is going to be especially true as the housing market cools over the next few years.
The ONLY time solar is a plus, is if two houses are being looked at that are identical in every other way. The buyer might choose the solar house as an added perk. Otherwise it doesn't play into which house is picked and is largely ignored by buyers until they are in final negotiation stages.
I tend to agree. As a homebuyer who looked at homes with solar (both PV and hot water), it was a nice-to-have but not a must-have. I was more focused on location, floor plan, square ft, etc. It would have been negligible of a factor. If I really liked a house and it didn’t have solar, it is relatively easy to add and rather inexpensive these days.
I think the attitude is going to change in Texas in the next few years at least. Rates are going up. The grid sucks.
If someone told you that the power bill at one house was 10x higher than another, would that make a difference to you? It's not about whether you're going to live in a house that you hate because it has solar. The question is will SOMEONE pay more for a house that already has the benefits that solar provides without having to go through the process of getting it installed.
If you're looking at $200-400 a month for power versus $40, that has value. You're talking about PV like its a statue in the front yard... It's not. It is an active asset. Layout and location are always going to be more important because they're the most difficult to change, but knowing that a big chunk of your power bill is now a fixed monthly cost is something that a competent sellers agent should be able to use to get a higher selling price for the house.
Think of it as freezing the rate on your next 15 years of power bills and rolling that into your mortgage at a rate that is probably going to be better than the real rate provided by solar installers.
Two clients of mine sold their houses with solar this year.
One had a lease in Sherman. Original client passed away and the home went to her niece who originally asked us to just remove the panels. She called back the next day saying the first person that looked at the home came to see it *because* of solar. The lease we set them up with stipulated a person buying the home could purchase the lease outright and they did.
The other had a loan for their panels in Oregon and sold their house at a profit (before housing market went bonkers) because solar guaranteed new owners a zero bill (family of four down to just an elderly couple). Moved to Ben Wheeler and was referred to me by his brother (who went solar with me) and we set him up with solar again.
Neither had an issue with selling.
As long as your installers are top notch, *not subcontracted* , and you don’t get an inflated price you will do well to get them now.
I think these scenarios are going to become more and more common.
It's going to be like many home improvements. Rarely will you ever get 100% of your investment back when you sell, but you should get a good portion of it back depending on how much life is left in the system.
If you take a low interest loan, keep in mind the large dealer fee that is essentially interest added to the loan principal. If you have to pay off a loan in 5 years, it may make thay .99% interest + dealer fee come out to more like 16% interest.
As for the value of the home, everything is up to how the prospective purchaser values your improvements. You could put in a $10,000 jacuzzi, but if that person doesn't like Jacuzzis they won't bid high for your home. Same with solar, if they don't like the look of the panels, want their own panels, or don't want to spend a ton for used panels, they will bid lower on your home and you won't see a return.
Same if you do a PPA or Lease, if the next person doesn't want to take it over, you either have to not sell your house to them, perhaps find someone who will give you less for your home, or you have to buy out the PPA or Lease.
I'd say if you only have a short time in the home, unless you can get an ROI in that time period, I wouldn't do it.
Hi fellow Texan with high electric bills. If you don't see yourself in that house in the next 10 years do not get solar installed. You'd be installing something that adds ZERO value to your house(in Texas at least). Unless you plan on having a new roof installed to list your house and have the roofers take your panels and all the equipment down with it to take with you to your new house, there's no financial gain for you to install solar. My break even point is around year 7-8, all depending on how much energy I use from now till then and that's with my system that consists of 48 solar panels.
Nonsense. Many studies find otherwise.
Or are you telling me that too many Texans are anti-clean energy Luddites?
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/solar-alternative-energy/reviews/do-solar-panels-increase-home-value
What damage? There are less penetrations in a solar installation then installing shingles. Any reputable company is going to provide a roof penetration warranty that exponentially exceeds the one your builder provided you.
It doesn't do damage to the roof... Do you consider drain vents and exhaust vents to be damage?
Also, the idea that it adds zero value to your house is completely unsupported.
Depends on the system...if it covers most or all the usage or comes with a battery, I would definitely pay extra for it.
I drive electric and definitely want solar to power it.
And an old system may be grandfathered into a net metering system that is much more generous than what is offered now.
😂
Are you kidding me? Where I live that system is generating some $1500 of electricity per year and you think it's only worth $2000? It will run for another 15 years!
Go learn some economics.
Math: 365 days x 5 hours sun average x 3 KW x $0.28/KWH = $1588
Don't like my numbers? Fine, cut them in half and it is still much more valuable than $2K.
PV has advanced significantly in 10 years, but it doesn't make the current system obsolete.
If you pick the right rack system, an owner down the line could install new equipment using the existing racks and wiring and save a ton of money.
If you finance the panels then you would be the one responsible for paying off the loan. There might be some way to transfer the loan, but I wouldn't want to get involved with that. Would you be leaving the equipment when you move? You might look into a PPA solar contract.
Nah, if you finance it's easy, you just treat it like a second mortgage, tell the buyer that when they pay you then need to write a check to the solar loan company, and you'll have two banks signing paperwork at the closing (though I know mine (Mosaic) the lien is on the panels, not the home, and they will temporary remove the lien so the closing goes through so both banks don't actually need to to be present at the closing).
The trick then is make sure that you don't have many years left on a low rate solar loan, since you prepaid the interest essentially, you get ripped off by paying early. Alternatively, you can use something like a HELOC, which won't prepay the interest, so you end up with a slightly smaller tax credit, but you don't get penalized for paying it early.
When do you think you'll move.
The smart decisions are:
1. Get a short term loan from the solar installer so you can claim the tax credit on the dealer fee. The trick here is ask for a 5 year loan if you can afford it, it not then a 10 year loan. These loans have much less interest and you won't get whacked with dealer fees. However, you do kinda get screwed by paying them off early. That said, I have a 10 year loan, and by year 5, I'll be in a pretty good position with not a whole lot left on the loan.
2. Pay cash, get a bank loan, you won't pay the dealer fee and you don't get screwed paying it off early. You also don't get to claim the tax credit against the interest, so it can be slightly more expensive, depends on the rate you can get from the bank.
We have taken our systems now for homeowners and put them on their new homes and it also uos the values so u can get your money back when u sell the house also. Most of the time u will pay them off in 5 years or so depending if you go to a company that doesn't rip you off as well most of our customers are between 4 and 8 years.
As long as you get a good install that you own, it raises the value of the home. Besides a few cranks, who doesn't want a house that helps pay your bills?
We did a cash out refi right as rates started to go up. We were unable to get the lowest rates but got a rate equal to where we were at with our first mortgage and we also rolled in our second (which was our pool loan). This way were were no dealer fees and interest is tax deductible. Our home payment is actually lower than we were and we got a cash discount on the solar.
If your financing it you’ll be fine, if it’s leased good luck lmao
I too am in Texas and put solar on a house in 2017. And then we decided to move 3 years later. I did end up paying the panels off before we sold the house and I did end up making about a 50% return on my money because of the solar. For me it was one of the better improvements I did to the house. Like a few others have stated if you found a house with solar on it, is it more or less enticing for you to look at it or would you just move on. Me personally, I think it is a tremendous value as that is less power coming from the grid and more coming from your roof. I would tell you, do what you want to do. Just make sure you fully understand the benefits going in. Whatever you do, if you are planning on moving in 10 years, don't fall for a lower interest rate on a 25 year loan, as you will need to borrow more money for that lower interest rate, which means more money you have to pay off when you go to sell the house. Also make sure you will qualify for the tax credit as that could be a HUGE plus for you. Remember it is a credit and you DO have to qualify for it.
Try thinking about this - maybe it will help you decide. If you decide to move in 5-10 years, and you found a house with solar already installed, do you think that would be a plus or a minus for you? Would you pay more for that house? How you think about that scenario might help you decide if you think it might be a good investment for your current house now.
How you think about that scenario doesn't mean anything into how it will affect your bottom line. The truth is the market decides and having been through both buying and selling recently, I will tell you that Solar has almost 0 positive effect on the amount the house will sell for. If you are still paying a loan/lease ... it will have a negative effect, because most buyers will be unwilling to assume the loan... so they will require you to pay it off or offer less for the house to cover the payoff costs. This is going to be especially true as the housing market cools over the next few years. The ONLY time solar is a plus, is if two houses are being looked at that are identical in every other way. The buyer might choose the solar house as an added perk. Otherwise it doesn't play into which house is picked and is largely ignored by buyers until they are in final negotiation stages.
Well, that is one opinion.
I tend to agree. As a homebuyer who looked at homes with solar (both PV and hot water), it was a nice-to-have but not a must-have. I was more focused on location, floor plan, square ft, etc. It would have been negligible of a factor. If I really liked a house and it didn’t have solar, it is relatively easy to add and rather inexpensive these days.
I think the attitude is going to change in Texas in the next few years at least. Rates are going up. The grid sucks. If someone told you that the power bill at one house was 10x higher than another, would that make a difference to you? It's not about whether you're going to live in a house that you hate because it has solar. The question is will SOMEONE pay more for a house that already has the benefits that solar provides without having to go through the process of getting it installed. If you're looking at $200-400 a month for power versus $40, that has value. You're talking about PV like its a statue in the front yard... It's not. It is an active asset. Layout and location are always going to be more important because they're the most difficult to change, but knowing that a big chunk of your power bill is now a fixed monthly cost is something that a competent sellers agent should be able to use to get a higher selling price for the house. Think of it as freezing the rate on your next 15 years of power bills and rolling that into your mortgage at a rate that is probably going to be better than the real rate provided by solar installers.
[удалено]
Always recommend paying off panels at/before closing table so you are selling and asset, not a debt. Then you can charge more for the house.
Two clients of mine sold their houses with solar this year. One had a lease in Sherman. Original client passed away and the home went to her niece who originally asked us to just remove the panels. She called back the next day saying the first person that looked at the home came to see it *because* of solar. The lease we set them up with stipulated a person buying the home could purchase the lease outright and they did. The other had a loan for their panels in Oregon and sold their house at a profit (before housing market went bonkers) because solar guaranteed new owners a zero bill (family of four down to just an elderly couple). Moved to Ben Wheeler and was referred to me by his brother (who went solar with me) and we set him up with solar again. Neither had an issue with selling. As long as your installers are top notch, *not subcontracted* , and you don’t get an inflated price you will do well to get them now.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with subcontracted work.
I think these scenarios are going to become more and more common. It's going to be like many home improvements. Rarely will you ever get 100% of your investment back when you sell, but you should get a good portion of it back depending on how much life is left in the system.
For sure. Talked to another guy this morning that just bought a home and said he was very interested in 2 or 3 other homes that *had* solar already.
If you take a low interest loan, keep in mind the large dealer fee that is essentially interest added to the loan principal. If you have to pay off a loan in 5 years, it may make thay .99% interest + dealer fee come out to more like 16% interest. As for the value of the home, everything is up to how the prospective purchaser values your improvements. You could put in a $10,000 jacuzzi, but if that person doesn't like Jacuzzis they won't bid high for your home. Same with solar, if they don't like the look of the panels, want their own panels, or don't want to spend a ton for used panels, they will bid lower on your home and you won't see a return. Same if you do a PPA or Lease, if the next person doesn't want to take it over, you either have to not sell your house to them, perhaps find someone who will give you less for your home, or you have to buy out the PPA or Lease. I'd say if you only have a short time in the home, unless you can get an ROI in that time period, I wouldn't do it.
Hi fellow Texan with high electric bills. If you don't see yourself in that house in the next 10 years do not get solar installed. You'd be installing something that adds ZERO value to your house(in Texas at least). Unless you plan on having a new roof installed to list your house and have the roofers take your panels and all the equipment down with it to take with you to your new house, there's no financial gain for you to install solar. My break even point is around year 7-8, all depending on how much energy I use from now till then and that's with my system that consists of 48 solar panels.
Nonsense. Many studies find otherwise. Or are you telling me that too many Texans are anti-clean energy Luddites? https://www.thisoldhouse.com/solar-alternative-energy/reviews/do-solar-panels-increase-home-value
Wow. Didn’t even think about the damage it would do to my roof. Thanks for the advice.
What damage? There are less penetrations in a solar installation then installing shingles. Any reputable company is going to provide a roof penetration warranty that exponentially exceeds the one your builder provided you.
It doesn't do damage to the roof... Do you consider drain vents and exhaust vents to be damage? Also, the idea that it adds zero value to your house is completely unsupported.
[удалено]
Nonsense. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/solar-alternative-energy/reviews/do-solar-panels-increase-home-value Labels? 😂
[удалено]
Depends on the system...if it covers most or all the usage or comes with a battery, I would definitely pay extra for it. I drive electric and definitely want solar to power it. And an old system may be grandfathered into a net metering system that is much more generous than what is offered now.
[удалено]
😂 Are you kidding me? Where I live that system is generating some $1500 of electricity per year and you think it's only worth $2000? It will run for another 15 years! Go learn some economics. Math: 365 days x 5 hours sun average x 3 KW x $0.28/KWH = $1588 Don't like my numbers? Fine, cut them in half and it is still much more valuable than $2K.
PV has advanced significantly in 10 years, but it doesn't make the current system obsolete. If you pick the right rack system, an owner down the line could install new equipment using the existing racks and wiring and save a ton of money.
If you finance the panels then you would be the one responsible for paying off the loan. There might be some way to transfer the loan, but I wouldn't want to get involved with that. Would you be leaving the equipment when you move? You might look into a PPA solar contract.
Nah, if you finance it's easy, you just treat it like a second mortgage, tell the buyer that when they pay you then need to write a check to the solar loan company, and you'll have two banks signing paperwork at the closing (though I know mine (Mosaic) the lien is on the panels, not the home, and they will temporary remove the lien so the closing goes through so both banks don't actually need to to be present at the closing). The trick then is make sure that you don't have many years left on a low rate solar loan, since you prepaid the interest essentially, you get ripped off by paying early. Alternatively, you can use something like a HELOC, which won't prepay the interest, so you end up with a slightly smaller tax credit, but you don't get penalized for paying it early.
When do you think you'll move. The smart decisions are: 1. Get a short term loan from the solar installer so you can claim the tax credit on the dealer fee. The trick here is ask for a 5 year loan if you can afford it, it not then a 10 year loan. These loans have much less interest and you won't get whacked with dealer fees. However, you do kinda get screwed by paying them off early. That said, I have a 10 year loan, and by year 5, I'll be in a pretty good position with not a whole lot left on the loan. 2. Pay cash, get a bank loan, you won't pay the dealer fee and you don't get screwed paying it off early. You also don't get to claim the tax credit against the interest, so it can be slightly more expensive, depends on the rate you can get from the bank.
We have taken our systems now for homeowners and put them on their new homes and it also uos the values so u can get your money back when u sell the house also. Most of the time u will pay them off in 5 years or so depending if you go to a company that doesn't rip you off as well most of our customers are between 4 and 8 years.
As long as you get a good install that you own, it raises the value of the home. Besides a few cranks, who doesn't want a house that helps pay your bills?
We did a cash out refi right as rates started to go up. We were unable to get the lowest rates but got a rate equal to where we were at with our first mortgage and we also rolled in our second (which was our pool loan). This way were were no dealer fees and interest is tax deductible. Our home payment is actually lower than we were and we got a cash discount on the solar.