Selling a House with a Coal Boiler

I was wondering if anyone here could offer insight from past experience maybe on how to go about selling a house with a coal boiler in an outdoor detached shed. Unfortunately most of the folks I have mentioned coal heating too instantly think black smoke, dirt, soot, black lung, no matter what you say and won't believe otherwise unless they see the beauty of cheap heat in action.

Would you even mention coal heat in the real estate posting? My unit has been great, I haven't purchased oil since 2010 when I installed it and figure I have saved roughly $7500 by the end of this winter. Would you write a data sheet summarizing coal suppliers, maintenance, annual savings, etc and leave it out for would be buyers?

The original oil furnace is still in place and working fine, so worse comes to worse I could always sell the unit or better yet use it in a new home, just seems kind of wasteful to me to take a perfectly good unit out of service.

I am considering new employment opportunities which most likely will require me to relocate and one of the things playing into my decision is if I will get a shred of the $ back I put into this house. Appraisals are real lousy at judging the value of a house based on its efficiency.

I can only share my opinion, not experience.
If I ever decide to sell my house I wouldn't mention a coal furnace.
If someone decides to come through the house, the explanation for the coal furnace would be that "it's a supplemental heating system the owner installed to reduce the cost of heating the house by approx 65%. He's planning on taking it with him unless you're interested in purchasing it as is. The owner can certainly tell you more about it if you're interested."
I would like to sell it with the house but I'd be afraid it would scare prospective buyers away without hearing the cost and comfort benefits. No realtor around here is going to know much about burning coal (or many other things for that matter.)
Also, everything I've done to the heating system can be "undone" easily to get the house back to original.
-Len

OK, Im NOT soliciting for business here (you probably live in PA anyway), but merely offering you advise here as a Realtor who is experienced in coal.
If your home is still serviceable by the oil boiler or gas furnace (or whatever you have) then it should be "listed" and "advertised" as such. You should indeed prepare some information sheets that have all the coal info, savings, heating cost per year, service contacts, etc. and these should be given to your realtor. The realtor should take a little time to educate themselves about a coal boiler and sell it like the cash machine it is! But i would NOT include this in the marketing or listing. If your realtor needs some information sheets or wants advise regarding questions, insurance, exclutions, etc. feel free to invite them here and i will help.

CoaLen wrote:I can only share my opinion, not experience.
If I ever decide to sell my house I wouldn't mention a coal furnace.
If someone decides to come through the house, the explanation for the coal furnace would be that "it's a supplemental heating system the owner installed to reduce the cost of heating the house by approx 65%. He's planning on taking it with him unless you're interested in purchasing it as is. The owner can certainly tell you more about it if you're interested."
I would like to sell it with the house but I'd be afraid it would scare prospective buyers away without hearing the cost and comfort benefits. No realtor around here is going to know much about burning coal (or many other things for that matter.)
Also, everything I've done to the heating system can be "undone" easily to get the house back to original.
-Len

VERY GOOD SIR! wise advise and its good to see

Thanks Guys, I would agree with keeping it out of a listing due to the negative stigma surrounding coal the media has driven into the general public.

I recently saw a listing that advertised, "never pay for oil again" on a house that had a geothermal system installed, and it made me kind of mad that it probably wouldn't be a good move to market my home in the same way even though in its current state one would never have to buy oil again.

qbwebb wrote:

Would you even mention coal heat in the real estate posting? My unit has been great, I haven't purchased oil since 2010 when I installed it and figure I have saved roughly $7500 by the end of this winter. Would you write a data sheet summarizing coal suppliers, maintenance, annual savings, etc and leave it out for would be buyers?

I'd use it as a selling point and list what it costs you to heat on overage. If your going to go that route be sure to place a picture of the boiler so they can see it looks modern.

I sold my last house with it written in the contract that the coal appliances were NOT part of the house, and would be removed upon sale. BUT, should the new buyer want them to remain in place, here is my selling price to leave them in place.
The buyer decided not to 'OPT-IN' on them, so I removed them and left the Oilburner intact.
Everyone was happy.

I'd follow the advice to exclude it from the contract but say it could be sold with the house. The problems I forsee are first and foremost, you would need an enlightened buyer. Not bloody likley. And two, if they are interested in it, they will not want to give you what it is worth. If it were me, I'd sell it.

If it were me, I'd remove the whole thing and either take it with me, or sell it separately. Money in your pocket either way - let the new owners find out the hard way how much it costs to heat.