What to Know About Solar Panels Before you Buy or Sell a Home

Solar panels are becoming more and more common in our area. If you decide to buy or sell a home with solar panels, that means you’ll need to do a little more legwork. Your Realtor and lender will work with you to ensure a smooth transaction.

If you’re selling a home with solar panels you’ll need to:

• Confirm if the panels are owned or leased

• If you own the panels do you own them outright or is there a loan? If there’s a loan will you pay it off or transfer it to the buyer?

• Fill out an additional disclosure form for potential buyers

If you’re buying a home with solar panels you should know that Conventional, FHA and VA loans all allow solar panels. Here’s what else you should know:

• Need to determine if the solar panels were purchased and paid for by the current owner or if there is a lease agreement or any liens associated with the solar panels. There is a disclosure form for solar panels which should help determine this.

• If there is a monthly lease expense for the solar panels, the lease would have to be included in your monthly debt unless associated with a power plan agreement without a monthly lease payment. Your Realtor and Lender will work with you to determine this and how it affects your monthly debt.

• Leased solar panels may not be included in the home’s appraisal value.

• If the solar panels are owned with a lien against the property you need to know if the seller will pay off the loan or transfer to loan to you as the buyer.

• Be sure you and your Realtor ask your lender about any lender specific criteria before writing an offer to buy a home.