Residential Solar Los Angeles-New Addendum Could help Appraisers give Credit for Energy Improvements

A new addendum from the Appraisal Institute could guarantee that an appraiser will take notice of your home's energy improvements and adjust the value of your home accordingly. These are great news for homeowners who have installed solar panels Los Angeles or other energy-saving features. Appraisers hadn't given these homeowners credit but thanks to a new industry-issued appraisal addendum, the odds of them getting credit have improved dramatically.

The Appraisal Institute has published the long waited 3-page addendum in the last month. The addendum is designed to be attached to any current appraisal report that covers property with significant green features. The addendum is available to download online at no cost and can be made part of the appraisal submitted to the lender.

The new addendum does not guarantee that the appraiser will raise the property by the entire amount of what you spent on the solar system Los Angeles, high-efficiency windows, or geothermal systems. It does, however, guarantee that the appraisal will take notice of the energy improvements you have made to your home and come up with a value adjustment based on the local market conditions. This has encouraged many homeowners in California to install solar panels on their roofs.

Any LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications need to first be attached to the report along with the information on any recent changes made by the owners. If the home has a solar panels installed, the addendum requires homeowners to give details on the panels such as age, energy production in kilowatt hour, and other important information that affects the energy savings.

Appraisers that are using the new addendum should now be better equipped to identify accurate sales in the area. An appraiser will now be looking for prices of homes that recently sold with and without energy-efficiency features similar to yours for indications of your home's true market value. It is common to gain a higher home value from solar panels and other energy-saving installations. The value increment from the same improvements might be double in many states.

For references, please visit: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/09/business/la-fi-harney-20111009