Should You Invest in Solar Power?

Solar panels can be a great investment. However, you need to look into some of the details first before you decide to lease or buy a system.

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Does it make sense for you as a homeowner to invest in solar panels for your home? It depends. First, you want to determine whether you want to lease the system or buy it outright. If you are going to lease it, there a couple of things you need to remember:

1. You don’t receive any federal subsidies or tax savings—all of those go to the leasing company.

2. You have to qualify for the full cost of the system, which will also count against your debt ratio. 

You need to know how much energy you’ll use.

If you decide to purchase the system, there are a few distinct advantages, including:

1. Tax benefits and federal subsidies.

2. The ability to get loans from government programs like HERO or PACE that will help you finance the purchase.

3. A power purchase agreement where you can decide how much energy you are going to pay for each month.

When it comes down to it, you need to know what your energy usage is. If you’re going to use a lot of energy, it does make sense to go for solar panels. Think about installing solar panels as a kind of home improvement. Some buyers in the future may not want solar panels, or they may want to replace them with the advances that this technology continues to make in this field.

If you have any questions for us about solar energy or real estate, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

How to Get a Contingent Offer Accepted

Although contingent offers are more common in today’s market, there are a few things you have to do in order to make sure your offer is accepted. 

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Although we talked about how to get a contingent offer accepted a long time ago, it’s still prevalent in today’s market. Since home prices have increased so much in the last few years here in Southern California, contingent offers are being accepted more often.

First of all, it’s incredibly important that you are ready to go. If the seller is going to accept your offer, they don’t want to sit around for a month waiting for you to prepare your home for the market. Your home has to be ready to go on the market immediately. You also need your pre-approval letter and down payment ready to go if you want your contingent offer to be accepted.

You should also keep in mind that you may have to pay a bit of a premium when you make a contingent offer, especially if there are multiple offers on the home. After all, you’re asking the seller to take their home off the market for an extended period of time in a seller’s market. The seller most likely won’t want to do that unless they know they will get something in return, so don’t be surprised if you end up paying a little more for the home.

Your current home needs to be ready to go on the market immediately.

Since your offer is contingent on your ability to sell your current home, you will have protective measures in place. For example, the property is contingent on a concurrent close of escrow. That is an important clause to have in your contract because if some act of God happens and your replacement home is suddenly unavailable, you will not end up on the street. The concurrent escrow clause is necessary to be able to close on your replacement property.

The bottom line is that you can still buy a home with a contingency in today’s market, but you have to be smart about it. Make sure you work with the right real estate agent to guide you through this process.

If you have any other questions about contingent offers or about our current real estate market, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!