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My agent isn't in our corner at all. She seems like she's annoyed that we uncovered this. It's like she just wants us to sign so they can close.
No surprise there. Realtors don't let anything stand between them and their commissions. That's why "buyer's agent" is a myth. Don't get me started on that.
I looked at a house a couple of years ago that had leased solar panels. I was provided a copy of the complete contract (which apparently you weren't). There was about 18 years left on the lease and the contract expressly did not allow for buying out the lease. At the end of the lease the solar company would remove the panels and related equipment and restore the property to the way it was before the solar went in. Well, good luck with that.
I walked away.
I suggest you do the same.
If you want to buy a house with solar panels make sure the seller owns them.
No surprise there. Realtors don't let anything stand between them and their commissions. That's why "buyer's agent" is a myth. Don't get me started on that.
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You should be a house painter, Jack. With that brush you'd only need a couple of strokes per house.
"Another offer" seems convenient to me. Were you in a bidding war on a house that had been on the market for 90+ days ... or did the seller reduce their price significantly? Are there no other homes you could buy in the same range? -- Did the home appreciate significantly in the past year (as many areas did)?
Since you have a clean offer - and no mortgage ... and the contract process is "moving along," it sounds to me like the seller is attempting to slip this into the contract by securing your approval. Since your offer did not include a solar lease, the only way I would take one on at this point, is if the seller sweetened the pot considerably. Did their "other offer" factor in the solar lease?
It sounds like the seller knows they are 'stuck' with a bad deal (one in which they are already $30K behind!). Now, at least they've got $100K more than expected. I would say, "Absolutely no" to assuming a lease with a sketchy company and a contract that binds you up for a number of years. As another poster mentioned, "what happens if your roof leaks and you need to make repairs?"
A question that has not yet been asked is, "What happens if the seller opts NOT to pay their past due $30K home .... and sell it with panels in-place (or can they even do that? - This is clearly NOT your responsibility or situation you want to buy-into.
Status:
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me"
(set 1 day ago)
Location: Ocala, FL
6,484 posts, read 10,357,154 times
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I believe that the homeowner and listing agent shares blame if the solar panel lease wasn't clearly disclosed in the listing. IMHO, the OP doesn't need the extra hassle and should walk away. It may take a carefully worded letter from a Real Estate attorney but if the OP choses to pass on this home, that would be my advice. Best wishes and please keep us updated on how this works out.
After revisiting and seeing you bid 100k over, I'd personally expect the seller to pay them off at closing since it was never disclosed. Also, is there any way for the seller to cancel? If you're under contract and it was never disclosed, my personal feeling is the seller is responsible for paying them off at closing as they can't transfer the house with a lien on it and they don't have a way out. If they have a problem with it, they can look at their agent and themselves for failure to disclose and negotiate that as part of the contract.
I wouldn't walk away though. I'd just expect the seller to honor the contract.
When I was looking at solar panels a while back I recall that whole idea that at the end of the lease you could either buy the panels or the company would come and remove them, and I seem to recall that nobody thought the company would want the panels back after twenty years, when they wouldn't be worth much anyway.
In your situation, what happens if you do nothing?
If the company wants the panels back they can come, remove them, and restore the roof at someone's expense (but not yours, obvs). That seems to be fine with you because you don't much care about these panels.
If the company doesn't want them back then won't the panels just keep on generating electricity and selling it to the grid at your financial benefit? I don't know this, but I assume that would be how it works. The contract to sell the electricity to the grid probably doesn't involve the solar panel company, there's nothing the solar panel company can do to turn off the panels, and they probably don't have the legal right to go onto your property to disconnect the panels from the grid unless they're also removing them.
In other words, don't you get a potential windfall?
I don't know this for a fact, but this is how the logic would seem to work for me.
Have you asked the debt collector what it would take to clear the debt? See if you can negotiate a reduced settlement, you may be able to clear it for a lot less than you think.
OTOH, now they know that the debtor is selling and if they have a lien on the property, they may figure they have the upper hand and all they have to do is wait it out - either the seller will have to pay it because they won't be able to sell the property with a lien on it or they'll eventually find a buyer who is willing to take it on as is with the lien because the market is tight.
OTOOH, the median home price went up 17.5% in the last 12 months in Orange County (I think that's where it is, from memory of your other post?). That's a rise of $175,000 on a million dollar house, which makes an extra $30,000 seem not quite so significant. You've been looking for a while, lost out on a few houses, the market is not really going to get any easier, record low inventory...It's a tough one. It would stick in my craw to have to pay off a stupid deal like that, but in the bigger scheme of things, maybe it's the better option.
To answer some questions, this neighborhood is ”nice” but it's nothing over the top special. It's safe and clean. But I realized that when I said the house was 1.7M that people outside of CA could think this was some beautiful mansion, lol. Sadly in this area, under 2M gets you a decent home but nothing fancy.
I learned so much in the past couple of days. Last decade there were many shady solar lease deals that were operating like the sub prime mortgage companies. Get you in a deal for no money down and keep you in a 20 year lease where by the time you are a few years in, you owe WAY more than your panels are worth.
There aren't many panels on this house. I was already quoted brand new panels from companies in business for far less than 30k
I tried calling the debt collector to see if I could just do a settlement and close the account. They said they can't talk to me until the owner puts the lease in my name. I tried asking to speak to the department that supposedly handles the panels and she said no, not unless I'm a customer.
What else is funny is this was the 3rd time I called them and each time I got the same woman on the phone. What does that tell you about how much they are providing service for past customers? When I read reviews online they are all people screaming about how horrible this new ”company” (debt collector) is to work with.
The company is ASD solar. The debt collector calls themselves ASD-LP
The thing is in the seller disclosure form it only says ”lease with solar company” No mention of 30k of debt that goes with that lease!
And I asked for a copy of their solar agreement days ago and never got it.
The listing agent never mentioned solar in the listing. From what I read that is because this is a lease, the owner of the home doesn't own it. So for legal/ethical reasons, they can't use it as a selling feature.
so they all know this is a smelly deal. And that's why 2 weeks in, we only now are hearing about the debt.
I don't know what we will do. We asked the seller to please pay and close his account or we can't move forward.
And some people want to force everyone to get solar panels. Who's going to pay for that? Will all homes be encumbered by solar panel leases?
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