Buying an Existing Solar Home

Unfortunately, not too many solar homes have been built yet. This is going

to be changing quite a bit as solar power catches on, but the reality is that if

you want a solar home, you’re going to have to look long and hard, and you

may be disappointed with what you find. You can build your own solar home

(see Chapter 21), but that’s a long, difficult undertaking.

Solar communities are springing up around the country. All the homes fea-

ture both passive and active solar, and the designs have been done by profes-

sionals who know how to make solar systems work to their fullest potential.

In some of these communities, the houses each have their own solar PV and

hot water panels. In other communities, collective solar facilities are shared

and maintained by a central administrative function. That way, individual

homeowners don’t need to worry about the hassle and expense of operating

and maintaining themselves.

The trend toward solar communities makes a lot of sense, and you should

pursue finding a house in one of these neighborhoods, if possible. All your

neighbors will have the same equipment you’ll be using, and you’ll have a

community of support for technical problems and user issues. A ready army

of professionals will be available to help when needed, because the entire

community has an interest in maintaining trustworthy contacts.

But for most buyers, it’s going to be an individual enterprise. As usual, “Let

the buyer beware” is the rule. If you find a solar home that you’re interested

in, you need to do the usual inspections, but you also have to make sure that

the solar equipment is sound and does what it’s supposed to do. Keep in

mind that solar equipment increases the maintenance responsibility of any

house; you need to know how to use the equipment and how to take care of

it, even if it’s all in perfect working order.Determining a solar home’s value

A solar home is going to cost more than a comparable conventional home. To

figure out a fair offering price, you can ask your real estate agent for an esti-

mate on how much a conventional home is worth in your potential home’s

neighborhood, and then add the value of the solar equipment.

Of course, a major transaction like buying a house is never as easy as it

sounds. You can place two sorts of values on a house: financial, based on

hard facts (this is the one the bank is interested in), and emotional, based

on how you feel about the house and what it’s worth beyond monetary value

to you. Combine these two values, and you’ve got a good idea of what you

should offer for the house.

Some banks may not add any value for solar equipment (actually, it’s more

up to the appraiser, but that’s a technicality). This can be a problem if you’re

trying to get a very high loan-to-value ratio, which is the amount of the mort-

gage you’re applying for, divided by the sales price of the house. If you have

a good down payment, it won’t matter if the bank doesn’t take the solar

features into account. If the bank’s disregard for solar becomes a problem,

shop around for different banks. While some are completely ignorant of solar,

others welcome it (see Chapter 20).The day will come when you need to sell your solar home. You want to get

the most money you can for your home, of course. How do you accomplish

this?

Some factors come into play long before you think about parting ways with

your abode. As you install and maintain equipment, keep good records of

everything. If you can’t validate your solar claims, your systems may be

worthless. Or even more detrimental to your cause, you may cast yourself

as untrustworthy in general, because why would you be making claims if you

can’t back them up?

When you’re ready to let the world know your home is for sale, find a real

estate agent who knows solar houses and can help you capitalize on the

“buzz” of solar homes. The right agent will let the right buyers know you’ve

got a solar home for sale. At present, most people have no clear idea what

solar means. They don’t really care about a solar house, and these people

aren’t likely to pay more for your solar home than they would pay for a con-

ventional home. As energy rates rise, this will change out of necessity. But

one thing is always true of marketing: You need to reach the right market to

get the best price.

You are going to price your home higher than a conventional home, and

rightly so. But if you don’t reach the right market, your home won’t sell, and

then you’ll have a reputation in local real estate circles for trying to sell a

home that’s overpriced.

The initial entry of a home onto a market is the most important timeframe

because the longer a house sits on the market waiting for a buyer to come

along, the less interest real estate agents have in showing it. Even if you sub-

sequently lower your price, they still aren’t going to get as enthused as they

do with a house that’s new on the market and priced correctly.