Important Factors to Consider When Buying or Selling a Home with Solar

There’s a lot of factors to consider when you buy or sell a home with solar panels. In some places, it’s becoming mandatory to build a solar array on new homes, so knowing what to do when you’re the one in that situation is becoming increasingly necessary. Keep reading this article to learn exactly what things you need to factor into your checklist when you’re looking for homes that have solar panels already on them or if you’re the one selling the solar home.

How to buy a home with solar panels.

It makes sense that you’d want a home with solar panels already installed on it. After all, that will save you a ton of money. However, you’re going to want to take several important factors into consideration before you do so.

The first thing you’ll need to factor in is if the solar panels were bought or leased. If the panels were bought, congratulations, you officially own them. However, it gets more complicated if they were loaned out or leased out. If they were loaned out, the seller will be responsible for paying that off, which might make you slightly uneasy as the new homeowner. And even more complex, if they were leased, that lease will fall to you. You’ll either need to buy the loans or become responsible for the lease, which have escalating payments. You’ll definitely want to view the terms of the lease before taking it on.

Here’s what you should ask the homeowner with the panels before committing:

1. Did they buy the panels or are they leased? If they are leased, what are the terms of the contract?
2. Who is the manufacturer of the panels? Were they made in the US? What are the warranty terms?
3. Who installed the panels? What is the warranty from the installation company? Who do you contact when the array has problems?
4. How large is the solar system? How much energy does it generate? You might even want to ask the homeowner if you can see their past bills.
5. Does the utility company the homeowner uses allow net metering? This will allow you to sell back excess energy and save you even more money.

How to sell a home with solar panels.

You’ve probably heard that if you have solar panels installed, you’ll be able to sell your home for a lot more. Generally, that “a lot more” is about $15,000 more than the original cost of the home. Unfortunately, if you lease your panels, this won’t apply to you. After all, the new owners will have to take on your lease, and it won’t make sense for them to also pay you the price of the entire panel system. And if you loaned your panels, you’ll still need to pay those off, either before you sell or after the new owners move in. Again, it wouldn’t make sense to charge them for something that you’re still having to pay off.

Here are the questions you need to ask yourself so you can provide all this information to any potential homeowners, either verbally or in some sort of informational packet:

1. Is your system bought or leased? If it is leased, how do you transfer the lease? What will the new homeowners need to know about paying it off? Will it raise your asking price or not?
2. What is the warranty on the panels and what are the terms of that warranty? How many years does the warranty last?
3. Are you able to remove your panels if the new homeowners don’t want them?
4. How old are the panels? How much life do they have left? If they only have five years left, you probably won’t be able to sell the house for as much as if your panels still have seventeen years left. You’ll also need to inform the new homeowners how much longer they can expect to have the panels.

Regardless of if you’re buying or selling, do your research, and make sure you’re fully prepared for everything that goes into solar panel arrays. Want more information? Check out more of the HahaSmart blog for tons of tips, tricks, and information!

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