All Forum Posts by: Jacob D Adamczak

The claim that they would be paying less per month is true, its all in the financing. This was very common for solar companies in the past five years and many companies are getting away from it because its not as profitable as people paying cash.  However, before solar was as cost effective as it was today, companies could use this creative financing as a win win because they got a customer and the customer had lower utility bills.  They should be able to tell you what price they would charge you for a system on your house based on your house and current utility costs, and if they cant there are plenty of other companies out there (Telsa, SunRun, your local companies) who will design the system for you and give you the rate you would pay to verify savings.  As for the value, that depends on the market.  In California, Oregon, Texas, and other cities that are good for solar and have a growing eco and money conscious population- this is a major incentive to set your property apart.  In other states that have a harsher political climate to solar, people may not desire solar.

@Cornelius Garland I appreciate the advice and being able to benefit from your experience.  Right now I am trying to get a duplex or a triplex and house hack with the intention of picking up a few buy and holds. I am happy to hear that those areas are growing because if I'm going to be living there it would be cheaper than charleston but a little closer to the water then summerville.   

Great insight on Summerville as well, you really gave me a good starting point of places to look, it was getting a little overwhelming trying to narrow down an area to look without knowing the area.  Very much appreciated!

@Cornelius Garland  Thanks for the advice.  I am new to the Charleston area so that helps me to know to look outside of downtown and away from the abandoned houses.  Where In the area is a better place to look?  My work is moving closer to summerville In January so I wouldn't mind being a little further inland

I would disagree with the negative view of these technologies in this thread.  Personally I think it is one of the best times to invest in solar and wind. The tax credits are still in effect for at least 3 more years and have been renewed each time they were about to expire in the past.  Costs of building solar and wind projects are at record lows and solar plus battery storage is now more competitive than fossil fuel generation.  I think the one area that has sort of lagged is the medium size commercial market.  Rooftop solar and large commercial to utility scale projects are being built in very large numbers due to good market conditions a maturing technology that the market has figured out how to fund, and favorable politics.  Offshore wind has finally come to america and states on the east coast like new york nj and all the way down the coast are procuring large contracts to build these types of projects.

@Audrey X.  Thank you for your answer,  I don't have any current car or student loans so that should help me out there.

@Melvin List @Matthew Roder Thanks for this suggestion, I was unaware of this as an option, it sounds like it has a lot of upside compared to the FHA and I will look into it. It seems like I could save up the extra little bit of money for a better loan pretty easily

@Craig Jarrett I was thinking the 3% FHA loan. I have very good credit (Above 750) I am looking for the right property I was wondering what I would need to get approved for the loan, I dont want to find a great deal and get turned down for the loan

I recently started a new job in Charleston, SC.  I am looking to find a duplex in the Charleston or Summerville area and rent out the other half.  In the mean time I am trying to make sure that when I find the right property I have my finances in order and I am organized so I can get approved for the loan when the time comes.  In addition to the down payment, I would have my monthly expenses documented to show that I would have 3-6 months reserve in case anything were to happen.  What else can I do while I save up this money to be able to look like a good candidate for a loan?

Thank you those are good points, I hadn't thought of it like that. The tax protection and guaranteed return sounds like that it is a worthwhile option.

I am starting a new job and as one of the benefits, the company will match dollar for dollar up to 3% into an IRA. I was wondering if it was wise to take advantage of this program or collect my full paycheck without depositing money into the IRA to save up money for my first deal.