All Forum Posts by: Andrew Smith

Hi @Lena Kendall,

How do they pay the bills now? Do they actually have separate meters or are you working from one bill?

Great answers and discussion here. On the appraisal side, Fannie Mae has an appraisal specific for solar systems - in short the system value will be appraised as part of the home value. The big IF on that is that it is specific to owned systems (sash purchase/zero down financed) and not to leased systems.

From the NAR sites and discussions I have seen an estimated value increase of 2.5% to as much as 15%. It depends of course on the underlying power prices and the savings or lack thereof being generated as a cost of ownership proposition. Solar is very much different region by region and even by City.

Well I think they look sexy! :)  

Yes the Tesla tiles are a non-starter for all bar the 0.01% with incredibly deep pockets. There are options for those that really don't want panels on the roof though - ground mounted systems and solar patios. The latter are becoming  a hot commodity in CA as they are bifacial panels (produce from above and below) and create shade patios/shaded outdoor rooms. 

I cannot imagine anyone has a utility that reduces their monthly bills, and the discussion of aesthetics seems to diminish as the cost gap widens between fossil fuel derived power and solar power. 

What I personally found to be really ugly by the way was the 20,000 gallons of crude that leaked from a broken pipe in a local canyon in SoCal - one of countless such leaks across the country. I'll take the aesthetics of matt black solar panels on a roof over that any day!

@Russell Brazil Not trying to compare status of real estate success than for any other reason than he has an entirely different opinion on solar conditions in DC/MD/VA. In his words "with the incentives in DC for going solar in DC if you cannot sell solar there you should stop selling solar". He actually has a 70 panel system on his home in Rockville and a BGE bill of $7/month.

The rebates in DC are frankly astonishing and about the best in the US. As far as aesthetics go, that is of course subjective, but in numbers you are almost paid to go solar in DC. The absence of a utility bill increasingly overcomes the aesthetic arguments of roof vents and satellite dishes being impacted by a solar array. The DC/VA/MD market is our third fastest growing market after CA and FL.

Hi @Marc Biviano 

I'd love to get you information so that you could make an informed decision. I have requested a contact with you. We'd need to get a copy of the utility bill to calculate system size. I can't promise it will be right for you, but at least you'll have numbers to go on to see if it makes sense.

Cheers, Andy

Hi @Russell Brazil I work with one of the top national Agents in ReMax in Rockville who would completely disagree with that assertion.

Hi @Eric Hathway,

The Federal Tax Credit of 30% obviously applies in every State. There were additional rebates that were suspended last year as the take up of solar has been relatively high in NH.

Solar installations are "snowflakes" - they all look similar but each has differences depending on what you are looking to accomplish and what is available. If you have no tax liability, leases are lower monthly cost that will likely be better for monthly cashflow. Purchasing adds the asset and is better ROI. If you'd like to connect I can look at the specifics and at least get you some numbers that you can analyse.

Cheers,

Andy

Hi @Charlie MacPherson,

Thank you for highlighting what an amazing set of conditions exist in MA for solar. The SRECs along with the Federal tax credits make MA a first class market for solar. I think only DC right now has better incentives, though CA remains the premier solar market because of the underlying financial conditions.

Fannie Mae now have a solar appraisal as part of their documents. There is no doubt then that a solar system adds value - the only question is how much. The studies I have seen from the NAR and Duke show a range of value increase of 4% - 15%. How much of a value increase is of course tied to the solar value proposition. - Solar systems in CA, for example, likely adding greater value because of the underlying cost of utility power.

For the most part, anyone with a tax liability would be better to own a solar system by cash payment or zero down finance. Leases are lower monthly payments so better cash flow, but there is no ownership obviously. As far as leases or ownership plans go, the transfer of ownership should be a very simple process in escrow with the new owner almost always guaranteed qualification in that process. Any reasonable solar company will take care of a lease transfer in escrow.

The bigger picture on that is that there is a highly significant lack of understanding and knowledge by real estate professionals. For example I had a realtor tell me they lost a sale in escrow because the new owners didn't want an additional $250 payment for the solar system. On digging in to that, there had never been an explanation made that the previous average power bill of $400/month had been eliminated! They buyers literally had no conception there was little to no utility bill and thought they were just adding expense! I think it's safe to say the escrow would not have been a problem on the solar side had the buyers truly understood the cost of ownership and realised they were in fact saving $150/month by having the system.

We have built a continuing education for Real Estate professionals with the aim of increasing the awareness of the principles of solar and reducing the myths and misconceptions.

As far as roof life goes, a solar system does protect the roof if installed by reputable solar installers and actually adds to the structural integrity of the roof. I think it goes without saying though that there could be issues because of roof penetration if the system is installed by less than reputable solar installers - due diligence on these then is critical.

Hi @Andrew Merritt I can help with the solar end. Coverage in SC in not State Wide so I'll need an address as a starting point. (Message might be the best for that). As far as the roof goes, as a minimum you can roll in the amount of the roof that is directly related to the solar system. In other words the law is that if a roof repair/replacement is required in order to go solar then the roof required is eligible for the 30% tax credit along with the solar system. Many CPAs are interpreting that to be the whole roof as without re-roofing - you cannot make the section of roof viable for the solar system on its own. I am not a CPA so am not giving tax advice though! Trees are the number 1 reason for inability to go solar so they might well be an issue.

Thank you both and the Meetup sounds great @Brian D.