Just checked my bill for May so far. $14.
Just checked my bill for May so far. $14.
The payment is roughly what my electric bill was. Maybe a little more, but I added a battery system. I'll also invest in a generator and maybe add some batteries in the future because I think it's important for anyone who can afford to be self sufficient to be self sufficient. Just look at Texas right now. We should all be taking steps right now to shield ourselves from the effects of a mismanaged grid, because that's what's coming.
They offer several options. If I recall correctly, I think a 5, 7, 10, and 20 year term. There might have been others too. Some of them have origination fees, while others don’t. The estimated payment on the note, by the way, takes into account the federal tax credit you will get for installation of the solar power system by assuming you will put the credit toward the loan. In other words, if you get an $8000 federal tax credit, the bank assumes you’ll take that $8000 and pay it on the loan. This lowers the monthly payment. You don’t have to put the credit toward the loan, of course. If you don’t, then your monthly payment will increase to account for that. There are also no prepayment fees, so you can pay it all off whenever you want to. I intend to pay mine off within a year, so I chose the loan option with no origination fee.
820 came by my workplace for an assessment yesterday. You can remove the panels individually. One of our buildings has a new roof and the other needs a roof update. I expressed concern and they said they would be ballast mounted to the roof and so removeable for roof work. However, he did say it would be best if they assisted with that to make sure things were reconnected properly.
So far, they seem really committed to good service after the install. I recently (last week) had an issue where the grid in my area was going down and my battery couldn't handle both A/C units cycling on, so the power would fail for everything, come right back on, but as soon as the thermostats booted up and told the A/C to turn on, everything would fail again. At their expense, they're going to be installing a device which can automatically limit certain high-power consuming breakers from activating in the even the grid goes down.
Per the Solarize OKC presentation, there's a 25 year warranty by 820 and 30 year by the manufacture (they overlap, it's not consecutive). I talked to them after the presentation and they said the warranty covers up to golf ball sized hail, but that anything bigger than that is likely to cause huge damage which would end up being an insurance claim instead.
Not sure if it is related to the building of Eight Twenty's office but trees were being cleared this morning to the east of the I-235/Sheridan Ave exit (small triangular plot between the two railroad ROWs)
Definitely coming across these more frequently with clients & homes. Everyone should keep in mind that solar panels likely will have to be paid off at closing should you sell and make a move. If you're not in a position to do that or don't have the equity you're going to be in a tough spot. Case in point I have some past clients who recently added them this year, decided they wanted to sell & move back home and long story short had no idea they would have to still pay them off without any increase to the value of their property. Something to keep in mind if you don't plan on staying put for a very long time.
Kinda surprised it doesn't increase property value. It would be more valuable to me. Like, if the property value increased 40k, over 30yrs at 7%, that's $267/mo - which, comparing OGE bills with a colleague who has solar, I would net $50/mo or so at that rate. Since it doesn't increase prop value, I would lean towards houses with solar to net a few hundred per month.
Maybe a little for the right person/house but generally speaking a buyer isn't going to pony up an extra 20-40k to assume your solar panels. From that perspective it perhaps may make more sense. Take identical $200k houses side by side- would you pay $30k more for the one with solar?
That doesn't even begin to address the issue with appraisals as mentioned. Could it change down the line? Sure, but there's not enough of it out there yet IMO. The breakeven point on solar is a long long time. Average person moves too often for it to be a net positive.
Yes, I probably would pay $30k more for the one with solar panels, all else being equal.
$200k for 30yr @ 7% ~$1,330/mo
$230k for 30yr @ 7% ~$1,530/mo
That $30k additional cost to my loan on a monthly basis would increase my monthly mortgage by ~$200 but decrease my monthly electrical usage by ~$350 right now, and electricity costs are only going to go up over the coming years.
So, I'd effectively be keeping ~$150/mo more of my monthly income if I go for the house with Solar.
Like, to put it another way:
200k house: $1,330/mo mortgage + $380/mo electric = ~$1,710
230k house: $1,530/mo mortgage + $30/mo electric = ~$1,560
$1,560 < $1,710 for basically the same product.
If it were a 15yr, I would effectively be keeping ~$80/mo since the monthly difference increases as amortization term decreases.
Moot point. What can you get a mortgage for? No more than the appraised value. If solar panels don't add value via an appraisal, then the buyer is on the hook for that difference, and can then back out of a sale. Banks and mortgage companies aren't normally in the business of loaning more than they could sell a house for. So it comes down to whether those panels are truly worth the price, in terms of value. You can tell the buyer that they will save this and that, but as said above, most people aren't staying in a house long enough to make their money back.
Just my opinion. It all comes down to your individual situation. But no appraiser is going to increase a home value because of the panels.
I have solar, and my discussions and research suggest that at some point in the near future, solar will factor in to the $/sq. ft. in a more predictable way, but there just aren't enough homes with this feature for there to be good comps for appraisers. And there are so many variables with any given solar installation that it's not so simple as checking the box, i.e., yes/no whether there is solar because there is a huge difference between a 5kwH system and a 20kWh system. Is there a battery or not? How old are the panels?
I would imagine that the industry as a whole is or at least should be putting together some sort of guidelines for appraisals, but even in some communities like Edmond (the Edmond Electric part), where they have a cap on solar power generation, what will it be worth to have a solar permit in a community where the production of solar power is capped?
As OKC Realtor said, I have seen that solar panels add little to no value when it comes to appraisals. It's more like "hey this house comes with solar panesl. that's cool I guess?"
Hmm. I agree that the talking point for most people wouldn't be "hey this house comes with solar panels"; it's "hey, your monthly energy bill is $15 in this house."
No, the argument is really this:
Buyers will figure out what their budget is both in terms of down payment and loan thresholds.
They'll then create their list of criteria to look for, and all but a fraction of buyers will have already-installed-solar as a criterion. So you, the owner of a solar home, will list your house out of their price range by asking for additional monies to cover the solar. You won't even get factored in because you'll be out of range, and if you are well with in their price point, your home is probably lacking other major criteria they're looking for.
Now, when a home finally starts appraising higher due to solar and it *is* possible to buy beyond budget because of rolling what forpatches posted in post #72 there will be more market, but still less than you think because so many buyers look to buy as much house as they'll be approved for, even if they have the capital.
This project is dead:
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