E-Bay used modules [RE-wrenches]

Sun Sep 8 19:45:28 PDT 2002

Graham,

If there is anything I have discovered about realtors it is that when they
get involved in the sale of a house they don't give a damn about the house,
just about how quickly they can turn it and make their cut.  They go to
great lengths to make the homeowner do whatever they can to get the house to
fit the particular demographic of the customer base the realtor is
accustomed to dealing with.

Sadly, most homeowners bend over and take it from the realtor, even though
it never seems to occur to either them or the realtor that they obviously
saw value in such a system and they aren't Lone Rangers, others obviously
see value in them as well.  In my view it is the job of the realtors to find
the market not fit the home to their idea of what the market should be.

</rant>

I think that you are on the right track with the resale value of the system.
Hell, realtors don't ask customers what the amortized value of their
refrigerator is and then calculate the sale based on that.

There is intrinsic value in the technology.  I'd suggest the customer get a
decent realtor but I fully understand that it is an unreasonable suggestion.

Sometimes it just feels like realtors are windmills and we're all Don
Quixotes.

Tom

----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Owen" <graham at solarexpert.com>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 7:03 PM
Subject: E-Bay used modules [RE-wrenches]

> Wrenches,
>
> I have a question.  How does one determine the TRUE resale value of
> residential grid-tie PV?  I work closely with several real estate
> companies in L.A. and occasionally I get asked to look at solar
> equipment on homes going through sales and escrow.  Last week was the
> first time I was asked to evaluate a home with a grid-tie PV system.  I
> did not install this system and the workmanship looked very
> professional.
>
> The system is 5kW DC without batteries.  The original homeowner claims
> the system cost and adds $50,000 to the homes value.  The realtor wanted
> to know how much money this systems saves annually.  I calculated 5kW x
> 5.5 sun hours = 27.50 kWh x .70 (DC to AC conversion losses) = 19.25
> usable kWh annual daily average x 365 days = 7,026 kWh annually x 11
> Cents per kWh (LADWP) = $723.00. The Realtor did his math and concluded
> that I have to be wrong because a 70-year payback is ridiculous. I told
> the Realtor that the seller took a cash rebate for about $24,000 and it
> seems fair to increase the value of the home by about $25,000.  The
> Realtor disagreed and believed a ten-year payback is reasonable and the
> value of the system should be $7,230.00
>
> The realtor was not receptive to arguments about the value of reducing
> air pollutants or even the luxury, high tech, futuristic appeal this
> home provides.  I did mention that the monetary payback time quickens
> whenever the price of electricity increases.  The realtor mentioned that
> most home improvements do not yield their installed cost when the home
> is sold and $7,230 would most likely be added to this homes value.  I
> told him he was wrong because the resale value of the used equipment on
> the home was worth over $20,000.00. This got his interest and he is
> going to look into and learn more about PV.
>
> I am wondering if there is any way to educate real estate professionals
> about PV.  These people need to have a basic concept of PV technology
> and it’s TRUE value.  I wonder how one gets this information introduced
> into Realtor continuing education classes?
>
> Graham Owen
>
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