Buying A House That Has Leased Solar Panels

Homeowners with leased solar panels who are trying to sell only have two options.

Buying a house that has leased solar panels.

Leased solar panels fully owned solar panels in most cases where solar panels were installed the panels were fitted free of charge by a solar power company. Before you buy you ll want to find out more information about the lease terms. In fact selling a house with leased solar panels may drive down the sales price. Generally you have two options when selling a home with leased solar panels.

However over time some drawbacks with this initiative have become apparent. Solar leases are typically for a 20 year term and can be costly to buy out. Buying a house with solar panels in a lease ppa if the house you are interested in has a leased solar energy system it means that the current homeowner sends a monthly payment to the company that installed the panels. That could cost 500 for an initial audit and another 500 to transfer the panels if the leasing.

The homeowner then leased the panels to the power company usually for a 25 year term. Obtaining mortgage loans with leased solar panels can be a bit more complicated. Some solar panel leases have escalating payments. Buying a house with solar panels might be worth it choosing whether to buy a house with solar depends on the financing and if a lease or ppa is involved whether the agreement and installation fit your life.

The homeowner enjoys low energy bills plus the prospect of the feed in tariff after 25 years. Sometimes leases contain buy out clauses meaning the new owner can buy their way out of the lease. Pay the rest of the lease. If the home has leased solar panels buyers need to find out the lease agreement details including monthly fees and the contract term.

Buying out the remainder of your lease allows you to own your solar energy system before you sell your home. Some solar lease contracts include an early buy out option allowing you to buy out the remainder of the lease and own the solar panels outright. Some solar leasing companies may offer to relocate their systems from one house to another. The buy out premium is usually the cost of the installation typically 10 15k plus a premium.

When you own the solar panels you remove the solar lease from the home sale equation and boost your home s market value. Be sure to read over all the agreement details and ask as many questions as you can.