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See if your house could be converted to Bed and Breakfast? With this great location, lots of land, river, horses - you might get someone interested in B&B.
Short-term rentals not allowed in our town and no vacationer would want to deal with the restrictions of solar living. But thanks for the idea....
How much solar do you produce? A lot of people don't want the inconvenience of having to worry about energy conservation or lack of some luxuries. Here in Az, I wouldn't want to live off the grid unless I had a serious battery bank, more than it would be worth. I have a 9K solar system that breaks even with being tied to the grid, but I still pay an assortment of taxes and fees a month. But it is worth not having to worry about some of the issues of off grid.
How much would it cost to connect to the grid both initial investment and month to month fees even if you break even on electricity. It may open your home up to more people that do want to conserve, but are fearful of being completely off grid.
Just a thought.
Thanks for your thoughts, also, Astro. Our system is from 1987 when solar panels were 10X cost of now. One watt was $15, now it is around 69 cents. So we only produce 1K watts with battery back-up, of course.
The grid is 300 feet away, so we estimate it would cost over $10,000 to hook up. It would be simple for a potential buyer to hook up, and we'd be fine with taking that cost off the asking price.
I know "most people" don't want the "inconvenience" of solar, but I did think there was an active group out there for whom being off the grid, and independent, was attractive.
It never really was an inconvenience to us; we were just conscious of not running several appliances at once, turning lights off when not in use. Just common sense stuff.
I just hoped there was some way to "reach" these green-minded people....it appears not, surprisingly.
You're smokybtoo far away from daily conveniences. It takes very special people to want to live literally off the grid. Most can't simply because they need to be near civilization forvwork food entertainment etc.
That is simply not true.
Our off-grid house is 25 minutes from our in-town house. It is 20 minutes from Leavenworth, Washington which is packed every weekend (Home | Leavenworth Washington)
We have 1 Gbps internet in town, but no internet at our vacation rental. That is a real negative. But the real negative is that we are off-grid. Most people have NEVER stayed at an off-grid facility. They just feel that it must be "rustic". Lack of knowledge, but it is really hard to educate folks about off-grid living.
It has nothing to do with distance to civilization.
Thanks for these thoughts, YellowSnow. I know where that house built in the rock is. Amazing.
Re making a living, though--couldn't you say that about ANY tourist area? Why would this be a specific problem to Moab? People DO make a living at various things, just like in any small town. Not great jobs, but....we survived just fine.
Unfortunately, there are no "average prices" because it is literally---mansion, yurt, manufactured home, small adobe, straw bale, trailer....like that. Prices are $150,000 to 2 million. We had maybe one "comp" and we are priced close to that. At this point, we would entertain bare land price.
We have had no feedback of being over-priced and had 2 very low-ball offers ($50,000 less) that we accepted; then the would-be buyers disappeared. Really, no feed-back at all on anything.
We don't consider our place "special" at all. No value is given to the solar installation.
But I don't understand your last sentence: a cash buyer because it's market value?
It's almost impossible to get a loan if if doesn't appraise for at least the selling price. But if you have a cash buyer and no lender involved it doesn't matter.
Perhaps there are some good employers in Moab I don't know about. There are a few doctors/lawyers/ and people who work for the government but other that that isn't most of it seasonal minimum wage type jobs? I would love to live in a place like that but it's hard to imagine making a living there.
I know a man who lives there and you may know him. He has 6 Weimaraners and they go hiking with him every day. After all, it's a small town!
Thinking 1 kW is a "solar powered house" seems to be your mistake. People no interested in solar will avoid you due to risk. People who know solar will realize the system is way under powered and needs major capital additions.
Thanks for your thoughts, also, Astro. Our system is from 1987 when solar panels were 10X cost of now. One watt was $15, now it is around 69 cents. So we only produce 1K watts with battery back-up, of course.
The grid is 300 feet away, so we estimate it would cost over $10,000 to hook up. It would be simple for a potential buyer to hook up, and we'd be fine with taking that cost off the asking price.
I know "most people" don't want the "inconvenience" of solar, but I did think there was an active group out there for whom being off the grid, and independent, was attractive.
It never really was an inconvenience to us; we were just conscious of not running several appliances at once, turning lights off when not in use. Just common sense stuff.
I just hoped there was some way to "reach" these green-minded people....it appears not, surprisingly.
I appreciate everyone's input.
Run ads in the country magazines. Countryside, Backwoods Home, Mother Earth News, etc
Our system is from 1987 when solar panels were 10X cost of now. One watt was $15, now it is around 69 cents. So we only produce 1K watts with battery back-up, of course.
Coming from a solar aficionado, this is probably why nobody is interested. Your panels are ancient and aren't even hooked up.
Thinking 1 kW is a "solar powered house" seems to be your mistake. People no interested in solar will avoid you due to risk. People who know solar will realize the system is way under powered and needs major capital additions.
1 kw is plenty for solar particularly in Moab. Urban folks are just addicted to wasting resources!! Turning off a light when not using it is NOT a hardship!! Doing you laundry when the sun is shining is NOT a hardship...particularly in Moab. It is fine.
But back on topic....for 10,000 I would connect to the grid right now. It solves all your problems, unless your electrical system is not grid compatible.
It will be a while before city folks start walking green instead of just talking about it. I am not sure you can wait that long.
Coming from a solar aficionado, this is probably why nobody is interested. Your panels are ancient and aren't even hooked up.
Thanks! This is helpful.
My husband is a NABCEP certified solar installer and if our panels weren't "hooked up", we'd have no power....
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