When selling your home, there are a number of factors that affect the price; age, condition of the building, location, neighborhood, the number of rooms, etc. More recently, the attention has turned towards energy efficiency. For example, the more efficient a home with energy, the more money a buyer is likely to pay because they’ll benefit from lower utility bills when moving in. However, what happens when leasing solar equipment? Do you still enjoy the same boost in value even if you don’t own the solar system?
Owning v Leasing Solar
In truth, there are some differences between selling a home that owns solar and a home that leases it. When it comes to realtors, they look at each scenario differently and the whole process will be unique to you. Don’t worry, we’re going to take you through the details in this guide.
Owning Solar
For those who own solar and chose to invest in solar panels, you were probably told that you’ll be able to recuperate a certain percentage of the investment when selling and this is true. If you own solar panels, the job for listing agents is to drive up the value with the appraiser and communicate the benefit for the new buyer.
For realtors, this process can actually be difficult because they’re trying to increase the value of their client’s home as much as possible. Sadly, the difficulty comes with trying to keep clients happy with the value. Often, clients keep pushing for more and more on the selling price until they’re finally happy with the investment they made in the solar equipment. Of course, sometimes this can push the value so high that it loses the interest of potential buyers – so there’s a tricky balance to master.
Leasing Solar
For those who are leasing the solar equipment, the case is easier in terms of selling price because value is less important. On the other hand, it also offers difficulty because the lease agreement needs to be transferred from the old owner to the new owner. For the listing agent, they aren’t worried about getting the value higher than comps (comparables) in the neighborhood.
Furthermore, buyers taking control of leased systems won’t have the same liability that exists with owned solar. When the leasing agreement switches from one owner to the next, this doesn’t change the fact that the leasing company is in control of maintenance, repairs, etc. When solar systems are owned, the new owners will need to pay out for repairs and maintenance themselves.
As you can see, there are both advantages and disadvantages to owning and leasing (for both buyers and sellers!).
Choosing a Realtor
Regardless of whether you own or lease your solar panels, you ALWAYS need to be careful when choosing a realtor. If you own your solar, the realtor in question needs to know how to drive value and really ensure you recuperate your investment. If you lease solar, they need to have the experience to transfer the leasing agreement. Without this, it can really slow down the escrow process – something that nobody wants.
Summary
When selling your home, be sure to surround yourself with high-quality professionals. If you make the wrong decision when hiring a realtor, you might not get the value you deserve, the escrow process could slow down, the transfer of leasing agreement could cause you more hassle than necessary, and you could end up wasting both time and money!
