House resale with pellet stove.

[apandori]

Just for full disclosure: I sell real estate in Upstate NY. Since I'm only starting out with a pellet stove of my own I wanted to get some advice for marketing a home that has this sort of heat. Other than the obvious pros of cheaper heat, environmentally sustainable, etc... what do you all love about burning pellets?

Secondly, what would you guys do if you bought a house that had a pellet stove installed before trusting it's use? I know different brands have different quirks, but just looking for some general advice for when I come across this situation. I have recently had a buyer looking at a home with one installed and I'd like to be better prepared to showcase knowledge on the subject.

Thanks ahead of time for your thoughts!

 

[rona]

You could expand on the economic value of burning pellets over oil or electric heat. If you try comparing different brands of pellet stoves you will likely open a can of worms. It would be like comparing the different brands of furnaces and in reality it should not be the major factor of that homes value. If you were to stand and brag about how good that brand was and I did buy the house only to find that appliance didn't work things would not be so nice.
You could say the previous owner was the last one to use it and pellet stoves are known for providing reasonable priced heat. That should be all you need to do on that subject.
Or you say I have a pellet stove and I like mine but you are in the business of selling homes not stoves so I wouldn't let it become a large issue.

 

[TimfromMA]

For me, the driving force behind the use of pellet heat is cost. I save approximately $1000 per year heating with pellets when compared with oil. The warm glow of the fire in the living room is a nice perk.

There are drawback to a pellet stove:

storing pellets
loading the stove
regular stove cleaning
requires electricity
stove requires refilling at least once per day during the heating season

If you have questions about a pellet stove in a house you are buying, the easiest thing to do would be to dump some pellets in and turn it on. I wouldn't buy a stove without an igniter. Most pellet stove manuals can be found online. A little Google goes a long way.

 

[moey]

The best knowledge you could provide is saying they should be able to cut there heating bills in half in most cases sometimes more. Although oil is down this year and pellets are up slightly.

 

[TimfromMA]

The best knowledge you could provide is saying they should be able to cut there heating bills in half in most cases sometimes more. Although oil is down this year and pellets are up slightly.

With respect to oil, I agree. NG is cheaper than pellets currently.

 

[alternativeheat]

With respect to oil, I agree. NG is cheaper than pellets currently.

So is coal. My wife did not want coal if we changed out our old coal stove and she won't have natural gas in t he house . She's seen too many blown up houses in the news ( ya one every 4 years is too much, doesn't matter they probably had oil heat and the leak seeped in from the street) that's it on NG. Coal she feels was going to be unstable regarding supply. Look what's happening with pellets!

 

[Mr. Spock]

Good points covered here already but I think I can add a few thoughts to the discussion.

The questions you are asked is going to do a lot with how savvy the buyer is.
Have the stove clean and running when you show the house if possible. If the intent to to help show value that should help. When questions come up keep the answers to the basics. I think Rona made an excellent point on this but I think you could expand a bit on some details such as pellet storage, tons burned per year, cost savings experienced and the annual professional maintenance cost. These are questions only the seller can answer. Let the potential buyer do their own due diligence on the model and upkeep of owning a pellet stove. Mention Hearth.com as an excellent resource on the subject.

You may also want to ask the seller if they can produce the permit (if required) and the dealer that can service the stove so the information can be transferred to the new owner.

Last but not least, some folks may have concerns about their kids getting burned. Some stoves have hotter surfaces than others so back to buyer DYODD. However they do sell gates to keep the little ones at bay.

 

[ironpony]

My own personal thoughts on this are, I am selling my home after this winter and I will be removing the stove before it is sold. I will sell the stove separately, as I will not need it in St. Croix USVI. To much liability IMO.

 

[john193]

My mother inlaw is an agent in PA. We sold our last home with the harman in it and while it didn't increase the homes value, it set ours apart from others the buyer was looking for, solely because the buyer was heating his current home with a pellet stove and understood the advantages.

It could also hurt you if your potential buyers aren't into the hauling and carrying, the dust and the cleaning. It's similar to a pool. Some consider it a plus, others potentially a nuisance.

Ps, I provided no details on my stove. The right buyer knew what they were getting. Whether that was the right action is another discussion.

 

[Arti]

Offer to buy a bottle of wine if they commit to buy the house, ( It make the pellet stove more efficient..) And move on to the rest of the house. JK

 

[apandori]

Good points covered here already but I think I can add a few thoughts to the discussion.

The questions you are asked is going to do a lot with how savvy the buyer is.
Have the stove clean and running when you show the house if possible. If the intent to to help show value that should help. When questions come up keep the answers to the basics. I think Rona made an excellent point on this but I think you could expand a bit on some details such as pellet storage, tons burned per year, cost savings experienced and the annual professional maintenance cost. These are questions only the seller can answer. Let the potential buyer do their own due diligence on the model and upkeep of owning a pellet stove. Mention Hearth.com as an excellent resource on the subject.

You may also want to ask the seller if they can produce the permit (if required) and the dealer that can service the stove so the information can be transferred to the new owner.

Last but not least, some folks may have concerns about their kids getting burned. Some stoves have hotter surfaces than others so back to buyer DYODD. However they do sell gates to keep the little ones at bay.

This is helpful. I have 1 of 2 duties. As the seller's agent I have to promote the best possible way. Usually the more info for a buyer the better. If I'm helping the buyer, I need to able to point them the direction they need to go to do their best due diligence.

 

[Mr. Spock]

This is helpful. I have 1 of 2 duties. As the seller's agent I have to promote the best possible way. Usually the more info for a buyer the better. If I'm helping the buyer, I need to able to point them the direction they need to go to do their best due diligence.

I have some buddies in the business so I have a little second hand experience.

 

[apandori]

I've found that people that sell their house that disclose the most tend to get quicker sales. Also if I'm the listing agent and show it people expect you to know everything or they think you're incompetent. Looking incompetent ruins your business really quick.

 

[Mr. Spock]

Well you can't know every little detail about everything (or maybe you can?). A real estate agent is not expected to be a plumber, electrician or HVAC guy. That's what inspections are for. Your job is too provide as much information about the property as you can. However I get your point that knowing the plumbing, electrical fixtures or the furnace are updated and maybe even throwing out brand names can be beneficial.
But when you don't know all the particulars about something knowing how to point someone in the right direction goes a long way with most people in my experience. And you certainly can't go wrong sending a seller full of stove questions our way. Lot's of helpful knowledgeable folks here.

 

[apandori]

You'd surprised at what people expect you to be. Lol. I definitely never try to give specifics but I do want to know about as many systems as i can to be able to point people where they need go.

 

[BrotherBart]

Write into the sales contract the requirement that they have done their due diligence, on hearth.com.

 

[Mr. Spock]

Sounds like you will be in business for a while! Good luck and it would be interesting to hear your buyer reactions to seeing a pellet stove in their potential home.

 

[briansol]

To much liability IMO.

in what way? you are not liable if a deck falls down and someone gets hurt at your old house.... why would you be liable for them operating a stove incorrectly? pellet or otherwise? IF it was of course installed legally with a permit, inspected, and CO granted

 

[ironpony]

Do you know how much it costs to prove you are innocent?? a decent attorney 150 an hour........mine about 250/hr.

 

[briansol]

I've googled and found NOTHING that states a previous home owner is responsible for anything post-sale. I'm going to ask my buddy, who is a law professor at U Colorado . Will report back.

 

[Tim Linden]

The benefits are great for two types of people: 1) saving on heating 2) using it to relax. Point out even if they don't
want to heat the house with it, it's great for turning on at night and relaxing without all the work of a normal wood
stove or fireplace.

 

[briansol]

I've googled and found NOTHING that states a previous home owner is responsible for anything post-sale. I'm going to ask my buddy, who is a law professor at U Colorado . Will report back.

So he gave me a pretty detailed run-down, and most of it came down to this:

Warranty Deed

This is the deed to your house when you plan on selling it. The word "warranty" is used because, in the date of closing, you are responsible for things in the house working. But that responsibility ends when the house is transferred, under the deed. If it was professionally installed and inspected, the actual risk of your pellet stove causing a problem with your deed is probably approaching zero.

He also went on to state that if a client came to him expecting to sue a prior homeowner for damages, he would like not even bother to take the case....

 

[apandori]

Yeah, once the sale is done it's over unless the buyer can prove that the seller purposefully omitted something about one of the major systems in the home on the property condition disclosure.

 

[SininStyle]

Thought I would jump in as we bought our house 2 years ago and it had a harman sitting in the living room on and looking its best when we came to look at the house.
There are 2 sides to this if you really want to break it down. For me I saw half off the oil every winter and was all over it. For my wife it was curling up with a good book with the fire going. Really it is everything a fireplace offer but MUCH better heat, all the relaxation, less risk from embers causing chaos.
Now I can't say we bought this house because it had a pellet stove but I can say it weighed against the other houses in the same area that didn't. Honestly the agent didn't mention much about it. Seeing it was enough information for the both of us. Never having one not sure how it meant anything.
If you really want to drive it home, supply a year total cost of heating just oil and a year using pellets, even if its backed up on the coldest night with oil. Those numbers should be enough to drive it home.
Now this whole shortage thing is a bit of a hassle but we wont get into that.

(Edit addition) Cousin just bought a house, first thing she did was buy a pellet stove. She fell in love when she came to see my new house and saw it on. Swore she would have one.

So having it on seems to be the key

 

[RhodyPelletRook]

I would NEVER leave a pellet stove behind. They'd have to cash me out on the side to not remove it!