Selling a Home with Solar Panels

Selling a home with solar panels can be a little tricky. We just closed escrow on the Sunland home, and here’s how it went:

I met with this Sunland home seller at the beginning of June. We did a presale inspection on June 15th. Her handyman addressed some of the minor issues. The next order of business was determining how much it would cost the buyer to assume the solar lease. One of the weaknesses noted on the home inspection was the old roof. But what happens to solar panels when the roof is replaced? Because the solar panels were leased,  the buyer had to assume the remainder of the lease. Unless the lease is bought out, there would be a charge of $3,600 to remove and replace the panels to put on a new roof.

The home was professionally photographed. We went in the MLS as Coming Soon on 7/5/21. The seller lived in the home, so showings were by appointment after submitting a preapproval letter. We had three windows for showings.

There were nine offers for this $749,000 Sunland home. The buyer had to assume the $8,956.64 balance on the solar lease. In addition, the buyer agreed to pay $860,000 for this home. He waived his loan and appraisal contingency. As we already had a pre-inspection, the buyer also waived his inspection contingency.

Selling a home with solar panels requires the real estate agent to investigate the cost savings. And then, if there is a lease, the terms must be learned and disclosed to the buyer. And better to disclose to the buyer before escrow is opened. Suppose the buyer isn’t happy with the terms, best to know sooner rather than later.

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