Buying a house is a big and stressful step of anyone’s life. Having to deal with unexpected things just makes this process that much harder. Solar panels may seem like a great thing to see on a home you are looking to buy. But what happens when you do purchase it and then find out these solar panels were leased and now are yours to deal with.
Many people don’t know how this works or even that renting solar panels is a thing. So, it is absurd to think that people will understand the process of what to do with them in this situation.
Leasing Solar Panels
Leasing a solar panel is just like leasing a car. You get into a contractual agreement with a company that produces solar panels and then you decide on lease terms. Generally, these lease terms are 10 to 20 years long. That way the solar panels are able to have a good impact on the environment like they are supposed to.
Generally, these solar panels then get installed by the companies which helps you out a lot. These people are experts working with their own product so not very much can go wrong. Then once they are installed they start creating power for you home!
All you have to do is pay the agreed upon amount every month, few months, or year, depending on your agreement. This is an easy way to save the environment and save on energy bills.
Cons of Leasing Solar Panels
Just as with anything else leasing solar panels is not all good. Helping out the environment and your home is a great part about leasing solar panels but overall it may not be a good idea for you.
Many blogs and experts do not recommend leasing solar panels. The main reason is that it makes selling your home so much more difficult. We will get into that later though. Other reasons that leasing solar panels may not be a good idea is that you never own the panels, the cost adds up, and the company you lease from gets federal benefits.
When you lease a car, you don’t truly own it, unless you decide to buy it after the lease is up. Well, with solar panels you never own them either and most companies who lease them do not have an option for the lease to buy them after the lease is up. Essentially you may just be throwing money away every month.
It is often a lot more cost effective to simply buy solar panels since the lease payments can add up a lot over the years.
One good thing that comes from buying your own solar panels is getting the federal benefits and local benefits from having them. Most of these benefits have to do with taxation and how you are able to get more money back due to helping the environment.
However, if you are leasing your solar panels then you never get to claim these benefits. These benefits go to the company that leased these solar panels to you. So not only are you paying a lot more but you are also not getting that extra money back. It is all over more expensive.
How Does the Lease Work When Selling or Buying the Home?
Many buyers seem to be scared off when they hear about a solar panel lease on the home they are interested in. That is because it is a very long commitment and is a hard thing to enter into with a company.
Although there are plenty of companies that lease solar panels that doesn’t mean qualifying for this lease is easy. The credit requirements are high and if someone is looking to buy a house they already have enough stress on their credit, they do not need to also have to be approved for a lease.
Some of you may be thinking that these buyers should just take the solar panels off and end the lease. This does not work since these solar panels are essentially leased to the home rather than the people, although the people do need to qualify.
Because these solar panels are so time consuming to get set up the leasing companies do not want to have to take them off whenever someone moves homes. Therefore, if you go to buy a house that has leased solar panels you are then going to be roped into the lease. You will have no choice but to make the payments until the lease is up, often 10 or more years.
Solar panels have done a lot of good for our world and our environment but leasing them may not be the right choice for you. The lease just makes everything a little more difficult and a little more confusing so it is best to stay away from them.
