Over the past two years, our family had been searching for the right solar company to purchase our first electrical solar system. With the rebates the government were providing, it seemed to make perfect sense to make a move now, while the rebates were still offered and worthy. Countless hours were expended meeting with various solar companies; none of them had a plan that fit our budget; most had graduating lease payment plans that rendered any future benefit of owning solar useless. We had mostly given up the search and resigned ourselves to the fact we weren't going to be able to go green!
And then one day we found GCI. Quite frankly I don't recall whether it was a mail advertisement or email, but I decided to give them a call. We were already leery and didn't want to waste too much time; it took several calls and rescheduled meetings before we finally sat down with a representative.
What I thought would be less than an hour quickly turned into three. We found that GCI used the best equipment (panels) currently available, we wouldn't have a big panel next to the current electrical box because each panel had its own controllers, we would have software to monitor the system whenever we wanted, the cost was very reasonable and most importantly, we could buy the system under financial terms we could afford. And all for the price of what we were averaging in our monthly electric bill or less. We gave it the overnight test and decided the next day to purchase the system from GCI.
Since that day, GCI took control. They reviewed the roofing for placement, developed plans and specs, obtained permits for the panels from our local city planning department and scheduled the installation, all in about a 3 week period. We were amazed.
The installation was completed in one day; everything from the roof installation to the electrical connections with a licensed electrician. Conduit runs were professionally installed and hidden where possible, and the conduit was painted to match our house color. On top of that, there were a few tiles on the roof in various areas that were broken (not from them either), that GCI replaced for us free of charge when they came out for the final construction inspection with the city.
The final inspection was short and sweet. The inspector found everything to his satisfaction.
The day of installation as I talked with the electrician while he was nearing the final hookup, we noted by a quick test that the system was already producing more electricity than the current use in the house at around 4PM. We could see the arrow on the digital meter reverse course. That's something to smile about!
Along the way, GCI has made everything easy for us. The folks in the various departments we've worked with throughout the process are all friendly, respectful and committed to providing the best service they can. We are excited about getting the final step completed. It looks like the longest part of the whole purchase is waiting for the switch over from the electric company. Guess they want to ring that last drop of money out of us before we get the upper hand. (:>)
My only regret is that we didn't find GCI sooner. Don't make the same mistake. It will be worth your time; and it will increase the value of your home significantly. Take it from us. We value residential properties thurout the Inland Empire and Los Angeles basin.
David Moore
Moore Appraisals
951-696-7500
UPDATE: Our system has been accepted by and approved for generation by SCE; it is now on and operating. In the next couple of months, I'll post to let everyone know how our electric bill is looking now! Meanwhile we will be glad to answer any questions. Just call our office. DM
When you pay $450 to $550 for an appraisal on a home purchase or refinancing, do you assume that all or most of the money is going to the appraiser who comes to the house and performs the valuation?
That's logical, but probably not correct. Despite Federal Reserve regulations that took effect April 1 requiring lenders to pay appraisers fair fees, growing numbers of them say they are still being offered $200 to $250 — even as low as $134 — for work that gets billed to consumers at $450 and higher.
Last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform law mandated that appraisers receive fees that are "customary and reasonable" for their local market areas, yet the largest national appraisal organization — the 25,000-member Appraisal Institute — says that is not happening.
"The average fees across the country today are … nowhere near reasonable or customary" in most markets, says Leslie Sellers, a former president of the group.
Who's getting the difference between what consumers are billed and appraisers are paid? Management companies that connect lenders with local appraisers take a percentage for their services, but often lenders turn appraisals into a profit center of their own.
Should you care? Absolutely, for several reasons:
•Accurate appraisals are in your interest as a consumer. They can be deal-breakers if they're lowballed. But performed competently, they are accurate measures of your equity when you refinance or seek a second mortgage.
•Most experienced independent appraisers refuse to work for $200 to $250 because they can't pay their overhead at these rates. Less-experienced appraisers who sometimes have to travel long distances from their home markets tend to be more willing to work for the lower amounts.
Tom Kirchmeyer, president of Kirchmeyer & Associates Inc., an independent appraisal management company based in Buffalo, N.Y., with 8,000 affiliated appraisers around the country, says consumers often have no idea what they're really paying for because "there's no transparency" in the process. Kirchmeyer favors mandatory disclosure of how much the appraiser is receiving and how much is going to the appraisal management company that arranged the assignment. So does Richard Hagar of American Home Appraisals in Seattle, who says major lenders who own or are affiliated with appraisal management companies oppose it because they know that if the financial facts are disclosed, "consumers are going to riot."
In a hypothetical example, say the appraiser receives $250 and the management company receives $100, how can the lender, which is charging $500 for "appraisal services" on the HUD-1 standard settlement sheet, justify the $150 difference?
It can't, said Gary Crabtree, head of Affiliated Appraisers in Bakersfield. Worse yet, he says, employing "subprime" appraisers for low fees also often leads to lowballed valuations that are harmful to homeowners and buyers.
As a recent example, Crabtree says an unhappy homeowner showed him a valuation performed by a low-cost appraiser hired by the appraisal management affiliate of a large national bank. The house, located next to a country club, was 4,000 square feet and the owner had just spent $250,000 in renovations on the property.
Crabtree, who refuses to do appraisals for the low fees paid by the bank's affiliate, said the house should have been valued at around $600,000. But the appraiser hired for the assignment valued it at just $320,000, using distressed sales and properties outside the area as comparables.
How is this happening when Congress clearly mandated higher "customary and reasonable" fees? Appraisers say much of the blame goes to the Federal Reserve, which created a giant loophole for lenders and management companies that wanted to keep playing lowball games with fees. The Fed rule allows them to consider their own low payments in their calculation of what is "customary and reasonable" — a concept that was never part of the Dodd-Frank legislation.
The Appraisal Institute's Sellers says his group and others are seeking to persuade the Fed to tighten its regulations. But in the meantime, consumers should demand transparency: Of my $500 appraisal fee, who got what? And why?
kenharney@earthlink.net
Reprinted by permission of the author.