All Forum Posts by: Shannon McKenna

@Chase Gochnauer 75% wow! That's amazing. Man, Iowa knows what's up! In Georgia, there are not state tax credits. However, we do plan to take full advantage of the federal credit. 

@Thomas S. Utility bills are already covered by the tenants. My investor bought extremely well, and there are no wounds in the financials of the properties, ergo, solar is not a "band-aid" solution. 

The motivation for solar is a personal project bringing aid and awareness to sustainable living practices. Of course, we are exploring all options to discover how to go about this in a financially advantageous way, however, we believe that there are some business practices that have bigger purposes than just making money.

@P.J. Bremner Thanks for the help. I think for the first property, since it is her primary residence, she's just going to pay cash outright, but for the other properties we have a couple of great banks that love our business, so it will be a great option!

@P.J. Bremner Yeah, I had a similar experience trying to get a hold of a couple of quotes. It seems like most contractors in Georgia are interested in doing commercial or large land only installations. However, after many calls, I have found two companies in Georgia that will do it.

I initially thought buying the panels in bulk and then having them installed would be the way to go as well. However, when I look at the numbers, it seems that there is not much mark up on the product, the companies make their money in the installation. 

$40k IS STEEP. Was this quote for one property or multiple? The first quote we received for single family residential was $11k before the tax credit. It's great to know that comparison shopping is a negotiation tactic that worked for you.

We planned on paying cash as well to be free and clear, but I like the idea of financing and having the renters foot the bill. I'll bring that up with my mentor and see what she thinks!

@Andrew Smith You offer to help is so appreciated!

@Mitch Messer Absolutely! I will send you the write up that I sent my lovely mentor, and keep you posted as we review different options.

I'm assisting an investor who wants to put solar panels on all of her rental properties and her own home. Right now, she's at four single families total, but she plans to acquire more.

We are currently discussing strategies. I am thinking that instead of paying full cost for parts and instillation on each home, she buy a bulk of panels wholesale and pay to have them installed as she buys (this also helps her take full advantage of the tax credit). 

Does anyone have any experience buying/installing/using solar panels for their properties?  Anything you wish you knew before you did it?

@Jeff Stephens Oh man, SO HELPFUL. This all makes so much sense. Thank you for all your advice! I will keep you posted.

@Jeff Stephens I didn't think of it that way! I'm going to call him again tomorrow. 

Have you ever hired an inspector for a property before you put an offer on it? I feel like I want to know how much the house is actually going to take to fix up so I can factor that in to my bid.

Thanks so much for all of your help!

@Jeff Stephens I cannot thank you enough for your reply and encouragement! Every time I think I am posting the ultimate newbie question, I get such amazing responses that encourage me to keep going!

I love your suggestions about creating a due-diligence package and getting pre-approval from a hard money lender. They are such concrete actionable steps.

Also, I have in the past two weeks begun to shift my strategy to off market deals. Anything good I find gets bought out from under me from more experienced investors (hey, at least I'm looking in the right places!) Atlanta is a great market, and I'm pretty optimistic. It's nice to hear my suspicions get some confirmation by experienced sources.

To follow-up, I did some snooping and found the number of the investor (it was actually really easy), and called his office. I got him on the phone, and learned a TON! He basically said he just needed 20k cash down for it, and said he had access to a hard money lender... not optimal, but I don't know anything, so I kept asking questions. Then it came out that the property needs a new HVAC and has some water damage that "might be causing some structural issues." 

So, the deal turned out to not be quite the deal it looked like on paper initially... no wonder it hasn't been snatched up yet.