Military Moving to Fort Bliss? DO NOT Make THIS $40,000 Mistake!

Military Moving to Fort Bliss? DO NOT Make THIS $40,000 Mistake!

Welcome to Living in El Paso, Texas. My name is John Peña. My name is Alejandro Sosa, and in this video we want to talk to you about solar panels. Specifically, if you're a military member PCSing to Fort Bliss, we do not want you to make this mistake that we've seen others make. And that mistake is when you move here, put solar panels on the home that you purchase. So Alex and

I are going to break down exactly why you should not do this in our humble opinions. So Alex, what would you say is the average cost of solar panels for, say, a 1,500 to 2,000 square foot home? Typically, I would say between $25,000 to $50,000. If it's a bigger home, which we do see, $80,000 or so. Absolutely. On those big old homes that are trying to maximize and

cover all their electricity costs, yeah, $80,000, $100,000. So now, do most people pay cash for their solar panels or do they finance them? Typically, people are going to finance the solar panels, and it's going to be around 15 years, the loan. A 15-year loan. Yeah, the interest rate is usually low, 1% to 2%. Absolutely. So yeah, on top of the loan,

yeah, you are also going to pay some money in interest rates. So now, the majority of people, like you said, finance these loans. Most people don't have an extra $25,000, $50,000 laying around just to plop down for solar panels. And we'll get to, even if you did, why I still don't think it's a good idea. So anyway, most people finance this. So we're going to use an average. By the

way, I just talked to a couple of military people that were selling their homes. Last guy had $40,000. Another guy I talked to recently, $45,000. So we're going to use $35,000, okay? So let's pretend that you buy a home here in El Paso, Texas, and it's going to take about $35,000 worth of solar panels to cover the electricity costs of your home. $35,000 over 15 years,

what are they going to be paying per month? It's about $194 a month. All right, and that doesn't take into account interest, right? Now, let's say that those solar panels in August or July, when it's super hot, covers all of your electricity usage. Even if you don't use any electricity from the electric company here in El Paso, they are still going to charge you

a service fee. It's in the ballpark of $25 to $35, okay? So $194, let's tack on $25 maintenance fee. Basically, you're paying $220 a month for 15 years. This is what you made for yourself. What is the average residential electric bill in El Paso this last year? Here in El Paso, about $195. Okay, the same number, okay? But remember, you've got that

electric fee, all right? So basically, every month, you're paying $220 a month. The rest of us are potentially paying $195 a month. And keep in mind that in some months, yeah, you're going to use it more, so it might be more than that. But in a lot of months, like now, you're not going to use it much at all, and it's going to be... Sometimes my electric bill is $40, $50, all right? Now,

sometimes it's $300 in the summer because I got a lot of stuff being powered, I guess. But it basically evens out, okay? So you're not saving really any money with solar panels. Would you agree? I agree. I agree. So that's why it's very important. Like you said, a lot of people, they get excited. They want solar panels. They think it's a big saving, but they're going to

sell their house in three, four years. And once that happens, again, majority of buyers do not want to deal with solar panels, especially, obviously, if they're not going to be paid off because they got to assume the loan. So it's not really, in my opinion, a very smart move. Absolutely. And that is exactly why you should not get solar panels because now you've just

committed to a 15-year loan. Keep in mind, this loan is on your credit, so it's also affecting your credit score and everything like that. It's just one more loan you have this showing up in your debts. Here's the thing, though. Just like Alex said, in two to three years, when you want to sell that home, you probably haven't paid the solar panels off. So now maybe

there's still $30,000 left on these solar panels, and you expect a new buyer to not only pay you for what you think your home is worth, but then assume a $30,000 loan on solar panels that they never signed up for. Some buyers just don't want to do it. Some buyers don't have an extra money where they could get finance for it, but the majority of buyers just don't want to do it

because they're going to say, how old are these solar panels? How long are solar panels supposed to last? 25 to 30 years. Which I think sounds real optimistic, but okay, fine. But a lot of buyers are going to be like, well, how old are these solar panels? Are they enough to actually cover the electricity needs of the home? Are there any other fees? Yes. Like I said, most buyers,

they are not excited about assuming your solar loan debt, which makes it significantly harder for you to sell your home in two to three years when you PCS to the next place. Especially in the market. If it's a market like right now, right? You're competing with everybody, including new construction, and then you add that you have a solar panel balance of 30, 40,000. You're just

not helping yourself at all. No. Yeah. You're making yourself less competitive in the market. That is the big reason about why we believe if you're PCSing to Fort Bliss, or if you're only going to think you're going to have a home in El Paso for two, three, four, five years, don't do solar panels. All right? You're not going to save any money and you're just going

to create more problems for yourself when you try to sell. Yeah, I agree. We're trying to save you from making a mistake that we've seen others make over and over and over again. And so hope that that has some value for you and you'll believe us and we'll see you in the next episode.