The buyers pool

Came a question to me about my thoughts on resale value of a home with or without solar.

 

To be sure, I am no expert on the subject- but rest assured…

 

I’ve got opinions.

That said, here’s mine.

 

Let’s compare a solar power installation on a home to a pool.

 

A pool, to some buyers, is a plus. That is a feature they want and they actively add it to their searches in AzMLS with their real estate agent and the associated online systems like Zillow or RedFin.

Some may, others may not, have an idea of the extra expenses that come along with those pools. Expenses like home owners insurance costs, electricity cost to run the filtration system, supplies like chemicals and related items, time and effort (or labor costs to pay someone to do it) to manage the pool can add up quickly.

 

Again, some buyers are happy to jump in the pool whether or not they are fully aware of the costs.

 

On the other hand, there are a group of buyers who know they absolutely do not want a pool. Maybe they know of the costs, maybe they know of the time and effort, maybe who knows why- they are just on the ‘don’t want a pool’ side of the coin.

 

Now, for home buyers that want a pool… what is the likelihood they will still look at and consider a home without a pool? 

 

Contrast that with buyers who know they don’t want a pool… what is the likelihood that they would consider a home that has a pool?

 

Which of the two has a harder position? The ones who want a pool and could add one later if it was the right home but didn’t have a pool… or the ones who would have to fill in the pool they didn’t want in the first place just to get into the right home.

 

I personally didn’t want a pool. I am hard over on it enough that I immediately deleted any flagged properties in my search that had a pool. 

 

For me, and many like me, a pool is a hard stop. But, homeowners with pools don’t despair- I don’t match the Tucson market’s normal pool of buyers.

 

In Tucson, pools are cool. They, according to many RE agents I’ve spoken to, can ‘add value’ to the property (meaning you can possibly sell the home for more money than if it didn’t have a pool).

 

What about a solar power system on a home? How does that affect the value of a home?

 

There’s a lot to discuss on this subject but the focus for today is an exercise in thought about how the Tucson home buyers view solar systems…

 

I can say this- when I was looking for my Tucson home, the ONLY way I’d consider looking at a property that had a solar power installation was if the listing actually said it was an ‘owned solar system’.

 

I had (still have) zero interest in a leased solar system or a power purchase agreement gizmo-thingy…

 

I’d heard too many horror stories about locked in escalating payments, etc. I’ve seen too many installations across the country fall victim to shoddy installation, etc. I am fully aware of the industry tactics…

 

For me, an existing solar installation presented only EXTRA risk. Granted, extra risk that I was comfortable with taking on- I’d have a specific solar power system inspection by properly qualified professionals and the roof inspection would be much more thorough. 

 

I’d also have all documentation associated with the solar power system be provided as a part of the due diligence period of the purchase contract so that I could read it myself. (...and you can bet your bottom dollar that both me AND the Admiral would both read it individually).

 

Not to mention to make sure to have a conversation with the title folks to make sure we understand what, if any, liens (including fancy worded things that are just liens by a different name).

 

Anyways, I’m just talking smack now… The point is this-

 

Of the pool of Tucson home buyers, how many would be in the ‘no way we’d consider solar’ group, how many would be in the ‘only if it has solar’ and how much in between?

 

What steps would you take to speak to the potential buyers (via your listing and marketing of your home) so that you could answer as many of these questions and concerns as possible?

 

What discussions about this would you have with your real estate agent? Does this add any additional items to your checklist when interviewing a potential agent to sell your home?

 

All good thoughts, I think… And, all those thoughts will be different to each Tucson homeowner looking to sell- after all, each home and homeowner are different…

 

If this discussion brought new concepts to you, you might like to check out my upcoming Tucson Solar Insider Desk Guide for Buying Solar- click here to get on the notification list so you can grab a copy when it is released.

 

Be Good!

Curtis