For many people, their home is their biggest asset and maintaining it properly is crucial to ensure it holds its value. Maintenance and upgrades of your property can enhance your lifestyle, and hopefully help hold or improve your property’s market value.
Increasing the value of your home makes a lot of sense, but what is the best way to do this? Not all renovations or changes increase the value enough to cover the cost of having it done. This may not matter so much if you intend to stay in the home for many years and will get a lot of pleasure and solar value out of the renovation yourself.
For instance, a pool costs quite a lot to install and maintain and does not always increase the value of the home because not everyone wants a pool. By having a pool, the selling reach of the home may be limited to exclude seniors, couples with toddlers or others who may not want to bother with a pool.
That said, younger couples without children and those with older children are more likely to be attracted to this addition to your property. It is also possible to overvalue the home compared to the neighbouring homes and find that it just won’t sell for the extra money in that location.
Solar power is one improvement much more likely to improve the value of the home over many other more costly improvements. Why? Everyone needs electricity or some form of power in the home; if the cost of using electricity can be reduced by installing solar power, people will certainly view your home favourably when it’s offered for sale.
Solar assisted hot water systems have been around for many years, so people have become more used to solar power than other alternative forms of energy. There are many more solar panels on the roofs of residences these days than there were even five years ago.
Statistics indicate that up to 19% of the Australian population now uses solar of some kind in their homes, whether it is just to assist with water heating, or a complete solar power unit that feeds excess power back into the grid.
The savings made when using solar will depend on the location of the home and the power of the solar unit that is installed, as well as the cost of electricity in your area.
Here are some useful tips to get the most value from solar energy:
For more information, read our article on What is solar energy?
Since solar energy is viewed so positively by most of the Australian public, it follows that this can be a selling point for the home. Research indicates that the more solar panels there are on the roof, the higher the value of the home – with an estimated increase of almost $6000 dollars per kilowatt of solar energy. This indicates a rise of over $29,000 in the retail value of the home for a 5kW installation.
Since the price of electricity is expected to rise in the future, the advantages of having home solar power will become even more evident.
You will probably realise that when you put your home on the market, it is difficult to achieve other goals until it is sold. It is like putting your life on hold until the right buyer comes along and signs on the dotted line. Only then is it possible to move on with your own life and get settled in a new environment. If the home does not sell quickly, it can be very frustrating.
Having solar panels installed on a home can make it sell more quickly. Compared to other homes without solar power, your home could sell up to 20% faster. This too, is part of the value that solar power can add to your home and your life.
Even without selling the home, the advantages of having solar power installed can still be enjoyed. Over the years, the savings made will recoup the cost of the installation and go on to save on the cost of the power bill. So in short, one of the best ways to add value to the home is to install solar power. Not only will the resale value of the home be increased, there will be the benefit of future savings if you don’t sell.
Research and surveys indicate that the general public not only favour solar panels, but actually prefer homes with solar installation over those without in many cases. This includes renters, many of whom who would be willing to pay extra rent for a home with solar panels. Therefore, landlords looking to increase the value of their rental homes can benefit from this trend also.
Not only can they charge more in rent, but because renters actually prefer solar power, such homes are more likely to be rented out all the time, instead of being left empty while all those interested in renting turn to the homes with solar panels. All landlords will recognise the value in that.
Henry Ruiz, Chief Product Officer of the REA Group states, “Having solar panels installed on your roof represents a valuable investment in your property, as this research shows.
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