Only owned solar
adds value to a home.
UAD 3.6 changes residential appraisal forever. Here is what it means, and how to win.
Three boxes. The appraiser picks one.
Section 6 of every appraisal sorts solar into a structured, machine-readable field. The field decides the value. The narrative does not.
If the bank can take it back, it cannot add value to the home.
The largest update to residential appraisal in over fifteen years.
UAD 3.6 is the Uniform Appraisal Dataset version 3.6, the data standard every Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appraisal report must use starting November 2, 2026. It replaces a free-form narrative with structured, machine-readable fields. Lenders read the fields. Automated underwriting reads the fields. Every party in the loan file reads the fields.
Section 6 is the section that matters for solar. It contains a single structured field that sorts the system into one of three categories: owned outright, financed with a UCC-1 lien, or leased or PPA. The category is not optional. The appraiser must pick one, and the picked value travels with the loan.
Narrative no longer overrides structured data. An appraiser can write any prose they want in the comments. If the structured field says zero, the loan file says zero. The rule behind it is simple: if the bank can take the panels back, the panels cannot add value to the home.
Three audiences. One mandate. 3 months left.
The structured field hits everyone. The playbook is different for each.
Leased solar never added value to a home. UAD 3.6 makes the zero official.
Most appraisers quietly assigned leased systems zero value for years. Now it is structured, machine-enforced, and impossible to argue.
The only solar worth caring about going forward is owned solar. FHA Clear-Title Solar is owned from day one, financed inside your FHA mortgage at purchase.
Same cash to close. Lower monthly payment. Higher home value. No appraisal gap.
- Same cash to close
- Lower monthly payment
- Higher home value
- No appraisal gap
"If the bank can take it back, it cannot add value to the home."
The leasing company owns the panels. The homeowner rents the output. The home owns nothing.
The solar lender holds a security interest. If the documents allow repossession, which is standard in dealer financing, the lender holds the value, not the home.
The home owns the panels outright. Nothing is repossessable. The structured field reads owned. The home reads more value.
From quiet rollout to mandatory data.
3 months until the rules change.
Run the Power Flip on any address. Before the tour. Before the offer. Before November 2.
Short, factual notes on UAD 3.6 implementation. No marketing. Sent only when something material moves.