All Forum Posts by: Nick Michaels

Yes I do have an owned system. And I probably should have been more assertive about pointing out the system to the broker.

Oddly enough, across the highway from my neighborhood is a 66 unit, multi building HUD apartment complex property that has solar panels all over the roofs. Not understanding how utilities work with those properties I am curious what the motivation is to have solar panels installed at such a property

Lots of good information and discussion here, thanks everyone.

So let me preface this with saying that it is about my primary residence, which we don't plan on moving out of in the next 15-20 years, and view more of a place to live than an investment. 

When we initially did the mortgage for our house, we put down 5% because...  reasons I don't quite remember. Anyways, since purchasing 2 years ago we added a 2 BR addition and a 6.3 kW solar panel system on the roof. 

We were looking to get rid of our PMI and the lender gave us the option of ordering an appraisal ($500) or a BPO ($200). We went with the BPO and the guy came out and did it and it came back with it resulting in us being at 80.2% LTV, just .2% shy of what we needed, which left me a little skeptical, but what are you gonna do? We aren't planning on selling, so the BPO was strictly for the PMI removal, and a check for a few hundred of principal took us down to where we needed to be.

Now I'm not naive enough to think that "Well I bought at X, and added Y, so it should be Z" , we did what we did to the home to make it work for us. However, when I read the BPO I was surprised to find no mention of the solar panels at all. And the broker must have seen them, he looked at the electrical box as well and the inverter was right there.

Are solar panels viewed negatively in appraising a house? Or is the technology just too new that some just don't know how to value it?

Hi everyone! My name is Nick and I am really just starting to read and learn about real estate investing. I am a financial independence "enthusiast" if you will and always interested in adding more semi-"passive" incomes streams to supplement my current investment portfolio (mainly index funds at the moment). I am currently reading "The Book On Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner. I came to be reading that book / be on this website by way of the two BP podcasts, which I found from ChooseFI and FIRE Drill podcasts respectively. 

Off the top of my head I am targeting 2019 to potentially purchase a single-family or small multi-family property using conventional financing (20% down) at first. Until that point, I am here to read / listen and learn.

I am likely looking to purchase in my area (Pittsburgh) and have some ideas about what neighborhoods specifically, but these are just instincts and purely anecdotal in any event, so I would love to engage in discussions about what areas around here would work for the buy and hold rental income strategy.

Thanks!