For the real estate and renovation junkies out there, we already have Colin, Justin, Sara and Candace.  Now comes Sibling Rivalry, a new show featuring twin brother and sister, Dan and Nikki Hall.  The premise of this new series is to see which sibling has better success in taking a home from tear-down to dream home.

Considering that Nikki is 5 minutes older and therefore surely wiser and, considering what Nikki did with this Blue Mountain home, my money is on her.  The show premieres on August 30th at 8:00 pm.  I’m going to set my PVR right now.

We are now the proud owners of the largest, residential roof top solar system in Collingwood.  For now, anyway.

Since the last post, things happened pretty quickly and smoothly except for one minor glitch. 
Some municipalities require engineering studies before issuing building permits for installations and some don’t.  Collingwood does so, we had a report completed.  The engineer suggested that it may be prudent for us to reinforce two roof rafters before winter to ensure we can carry snow loads.  At that point, it occurred to me, that we really should have had an engineering study done BEFORE we signed a solar contract.  In our case, it was fine but, what if the engineer had determined that the roof was not suitable?

Last Friday, the building permit was issued and, on Monday of this week, installation began.  A crew of three guys from SunVolts Unlimited  worked in the 34 degree heat on Tuesday (a good omen I think) laying the tracks for the racking systems, the cabling, meter boxes and basically the foundation for the panels which were installed on Wednesday.  Our system actually covers two south facing roofs on our house.  The end result is that they are barely obvious at all!  We’ve had several people drop by since then and not one has noticed the panels until we pointed them out.

The only unsightly part is the new metering boxes which are close to our entry way and very obvious.  We can deal with those through landscaping but it will take awhile to get that established.

Kudos to one of our local newspapers, the Enterprise-Bulletin, who sent a reporter out to get a story about the microFIT program and our experience.  We are amazed at the amount of interest people have and we are happy as each new person learns more about the benefits of solar.

Now we wait.  That’s the hardest part of this whole journey so far.  The days are long, bright and sunny but our panels are not yet connected to the grid.  We are waiting for the final safety inspections and for our local utility supplier, COLLUS to be able to connect the new meters.  Hopefully this will happen in the next week or so.

We really have to give a shout out to our contractor, SunVolts Unlimited.  From beginning to end, they have been on our side, keeping us informed and answering our many, many questions.  They follow-up before we even have a chance to ask and, their whole team has been 100% professional and a pleasure to deal with.  We’re very glad we chose them for this project.  Equally, COLLUS has been the same and communicates with us, answers our questions and has made the process easier than expected.

If you are interested to see the installation as it went along, you can view a photo album of pictures on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/#!/collingwood.bluemountain 

 
We’re Going Solar at Our House ; Part 1
What is a Better Invest; Income Property or Solar?

Thankfully, the house sold to Cindy and Steve Lewis who proved to be true visionaries.  Recently, they won a well deserved, Collingwood’s heritage award for their restoration. 

Today, the beautifully restored building serves as Cindy’s chiropodist clinic and offices.

If, as mentioned in Part 1, a house had an accessory suite in existence during the Rae years (1994 to 1996), the suite MAY automatically have legal, non-confirming by-law status however, the onus is on the owner to prove it.  In addition, fire code regulations must be met.  In making an offer on such a property, buyers need to ensure that the appropriate conditions and clauses are inserted into their offers to confirm that these requirements have been met otherwise, they may be buying into a costly dream that could easily become a nightmare.

According to the Town of Collingwood’s Official Plan section on Single Family Conversions, accessory apartments are permitted subject to certain conditions:

They must be located within a single family, detached dwelling and must be an integral part of the main house
They must be smaller than the main dwelling unit
They must be serviced
There is a limit of one accessory unit per home
They must have an extra parking space
Must be self contained with a private entry and kitchen

Under the new Collingwood zoning by-law passed last spring, if these conditions are met and, if the accessory unit does not exceed 40% of the gross-floor area of the building, then there is no longer a need for a zoning by-law amendment.  Again, buyers should not assume that an existing accessory apartment complies with zoning regulations and should put appropriate clauses in offers to deal with these.  These should also include a request for a current fire inspection report.

In regard to new construction or renovation of a suite in a home, it must comply with today’s building and fire codes and, if on septic system, with the Health Unit requirements as well.  Development charges do not apply when adding an accessory apartment but owners need to obtain a building permit BEFORE construction begins to ensure that ceiling and window opening requirements, access, mechanical and ventilation systems, fire separation rules and so on are all complied with.  For example, some of the basic, specific requirements under the rules say that:

The ceiling height must be at least 6’11” (6’5” under beams)
½” drywall on walls and ceilings
30 minute fire separations between the unit and any common areas
20 minute, fire-rated, self-closing doors
Egress window openings of 3’8”2 and at least 15” opening for each dimension
Vents have to be directed outside
All rooms need to be naturally or mechanically ventilated
Sprinklers are required in unfinished mechanical rooms
There must be working smoke detectors on every level of the house

If you are considering the purchase of a home with an accessory apartment (often slyly referred to as an in-law suite) with the intention of renting it out, don’t assume what you see is legal.  You run the risk of having a complaint or inspection triggered that could result in your having to rip out or seriously modify the suite.  Take the better route of putting the onus on the current owner to provide you with verification that the suite has legal status and meets a recent fire code inspection.

Recently, I attended an excellent seminar put on by Collingwood planning officials that pointed out the considerations that buyers, renovators and sellers of residential, multi-unit homes need to consider.  First, a quick overview of the planning process in Ontario:

Planning has become a very complex process which is impacted by a variety of legislations such as Provincial Policy Statements, Official Plans, County and local by-laws and fire codes which all need to be meshed with the will of private developers and builders seeking to meet their own goals. 

First, Ontario releases Provincial Policy Statements such as this one on land use planning that dictate certain criteria municipal planners must take into account.  From that, upper tier governments such as Simcoe County, develop Official Plans that consider densities, population targets and caps, employment lands and infrastructure.  This OP directs the member municipalities, such as Collingwood, Clearview and Wasaga Beach on these matters as each develops its own official plans which are then subject to approval, amendment and updates.

It’s not over yet.  From the local official plan, municipal planners work with the council of the day, via public input, to develop the zoning by-laws which are the tool used to implement the vision and goals stated in the OP.  The zoning by-law specifies the details about what is permitted in what location, how much of a lot can be covered, how far away from lot lines a building can be located and other such details.

Then there are politics.  For example, when the NDP government took power in the mid 1990’s, they made all accessory apartments legal for a period of about three years.  Then the new government came into power and cancelled that.  For units that were in existence during those three years, they may be grandfathered with approvals exempting them from current zoning requirements.  You can see how tricky this gets.

So what are the things potential buyers need to know BEFORE they buy?  Find the answers in  Part 2 next week.

After making the decision to proceed, we needed to hear back from OPA (Ontario Power Authority) to the application we had submitted.  It took 9 weeks at which point we were told we passed the first test of suitability.  The next step was to make application to our local service provider, in this case, COLLUS.  Before we could contact them, COLLUS automatically ent us a rather complicated application form.

We selected our solar contractor which is Sun Volts Unlimited.  I have to say that Matt, our contact person there, was the most patient, professional and helpful person I have dealt with in a very long time.  He answered our endless questions, never rolled his eyes at me, prepared a professional written quote, modified it as I added changes and, he responded in a timely and caring manner on every occasion. They assisted us in completing the forms which we submitted to COLLUS.  Within a week following, we got the final approval from OPA – a conditional offer to connect a system. 

Things have happened quickly since then.  First we met with our bank to arrange a financing plan.  Next, we signed a contract with Sun Volts, paid a hefty deposit and arranged for the engineering report to be completed.  The contractor is looking after getting the permits and all the other technical details from this point forward.

Now we just wait for the permits, the panels and the installers.  We have a target date for installation in just a few weeks and we are as excited as kids in a candy store.  I’ll keep you posted on how this journey unfolds and in the meantime, let the sun shine!

Let the sun shine in, we’ll take it with a grin…

Funny how life unfolds.  For the purpose of research for this blog, a few months ago I wrote a post about the Ontario microFIT solar program.  The more I read, the more excited I got about the opportunity this program could offer.  We decided to contact a few solar contractors to learn more and well, one thing led to another.  In less than a month from now, we’ll have solar panels on our roof at home in Collingwood.

Under the microFIT program, the Ontario Power Authority will offer a contract to buy power back from you at a rate of 80.2 cents per kW hour from a qualified roof top system.  This rate is GUARANTEED for 20 years.  This means that all of the power generated by such a system is fed back into the grid and not into our home. 

Our first step was to fill in a simple online application form which carried no cost, risk or commitment.  At this stage, I was taking the steps only to see how it worked.  In the weeks that followed, we spoke to more contractors, did more research and spoke to over a dozen homeowners in the Province who had already installed systems.

During this phase, we learned that our roof was ideal for a roof top system.  The best returns could come from a maximum 10 kW system and our large, gently sloped roof could fit that large of an installation.  We had installed new 40 year roof shingles just two years ago and, our roof faces due south with no shading from neighbouring buildings or trees.  In short, optimal conditions for solar.  How lucky was that?

We learned that there are many, many variables to take into account when choosing the system.  The size overall, the size and style of panels, the type of inverters used.. all at variable costs and rates of return.  There are potentially additional costs such as engineering reports, building permits, meter connections and of course a big chunk for HST.  In the end, a full sized system would run anywhere from $75,000 to $85,000 in total.  (Don’t stop reading after you finish groaning.)

We learned that a full-sized system in Collingwood could generate returns of $12,000 or more annually and, that projections based on satellite readings were fairly accurate.  We looked hard at the numbers.  If you have no money but you have equity in your home or other possible sources of credit, you could install a full system with no money down, pay it off in 8 to 10 years and still put over $120,000 in your pocket over the remaining years.  In addition, your home is more valuable and best of all, you are contributing to a healthier world with an alternative energy source.

This really became a no-brainer.  The more we learned, the more we wondered, why wouldn’t we do this?  For us, the biggest decision was making a commitment to stay in our home for at least the next 8 to 10 years.   Once we decided we could do that, we took the next step.

Read Part 2

This wonderful century home in Thornbury was sold last year to a family with vision and I am marvelously impressed by their skill and creativity!  Have a look at these before and after shots:

Side Entry Before

Side Entry After

Front Room Before

Now A Dining Room After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Today, there are all kinds of sites online to help with this project.  Here are a few of my favourites and they are all free:

Floor Planner
Lazy-B-Boy 3D room planner  
Benjamin Moore Colour Planner 
Behr Paint Colour Planner 
My Deco 3D Room Planner
IKEA Home Planner
Design a Room (by Armstrong flooring)
Garden Planner
Home Depot Carpet Planner
BHG Garden Planner

You may think this a very odd thing for a REALTOR to say, but is it possible that there is actually a leveraged investment out there that is better than income property?  I’m talking about solar power generation.

Not a day goes by that there is not some mention about this technology and like you, I’ve been taking notice.  There are some interesting facts out there.  Did you know that southern Ontario receives  almost as much solar radiation as Miami, Florida?  In regard to solar, it’s actually better in our cooler climate since solar photovoltaic technology works less efficiently as the temperature in the solar panels increases

A typical solar PV system ranges from $6,000 to $10,000 per kilowatt (kW) installed. The least expensive system to install is a grid-tied system while the most expensive is the off-grid system.  Under the Ontario microFIT program, a homeowner can install a system, up to 10 kW in size.  That’s a lot of money!

Then again, spending $60-100,000 is less than the cost of buying another income property.   According to Natural Resources Canada, every kilowatt (1000 watts) of solar PV installed in southern Ontario should produce an average of 1150 – 1300 kWh (kilowatt hours) of power annually.   Under Ontario’s microFIT program, the government is guaranteeing to buy the power generated back from me for 20 years at astronomical rates of 80.2 cents per kWh for a roof stop system or 64.2 cents for a ground mount system which is less expensive to install. 

How does this translate:  According to this website, I could expect the following:

$70,000 installed sloped roof residential or commercial 11.5 kW* (11,500W) rated Grid Tie Solar PV system based on an annual average of 4 peak sun hours per day:

1. 11.5 kW (11,500W) x .8 (20%) de-rate factor** = 9.2 kW
2. 9.2 kW x 4 peak sun hours/day =  36.8 kWh/day
3. 36.8 kWh/day x 80.2 cents/kWh = $29.51 /day revenue
4. $29.51 x 30 days (x365/12 method) = $897.60 average per month income or $10,771.20 annual revenue.

Now let’s say I have no money and need to finance the cost 100%.  Canadian banks are now seeing the merit in lending money for this investment.  It’s a guaranteed return for 20 years, remember?  So if I went to the bank and borrowed $70,000 at an average rate of 5% paid off over 15 years, my cost would be $552.00 a month or$6,624.00 a year.  Gosh, I could even pay down my loan each year to pay it off faster.  We’d have more than enough to pay our entire hydro bill and still have money left for increased insurance.
If I paid it off over ten years, it would cost us $8892.00 a year.

Hmm.  On top of this, my house would have an increased value every year that goes by.  After my system is paid off, I’m REALLY making some money.  I’d have no maintenance, no tenancies to deal with, an increased property value …

Here are a few of the sites I’ve been reading:

Ontario Ministry of Energy has a useful website explaining the use of residential solar energy systems http://www.mei.gov.on.ca/en/energy/index.php?page=solarpv_res
TD-Canada Trust Financing: http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/renewableenergy/homeowner/
Renewable Energy Technology Site:  http://www.retpower.com/return-on-investment
Ontario Power Authority http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/
COLLUS (Collingwood Utilities) http://www.collus.com/feed-in-tariff

So tell me, what am I missing?

Update:  We did it – we went solar!  Read about it here.