Are you selling your home or planning on doing it in the near future? When did you last have your roof repaired or replaced? This is something that you want to consider before you put your home on the market, because otherwise you are going to be in for a rude awakening. Let’s look at some of the things that you may not know about selling your home and how your roof’s condition can affect it.
How Much Does It Cost to Replace Your Roof Before Selling Your Home
New roofs are loved by realtors because they are a great selling point. A buyer will love them because they make mortgage lenders and insurers happy. It also will make them happy because they won’t have to replace it themselves.
But for an existing homeowner, who is going to sell their home, a roof is really a headache. The average amount for replacing your roof is about $7,000. However, the cost might be a lot higher based on:
- Condition of roof
- Geographic location
- Material of roof
- Features & slope of the roof
A large, steep roof can cost up to $100K to replace.
Even worse, even though replacing the roof might impress possible buyers, the ROI is very low. A homeowner who has replaced their roof on their home typically will recoup under 50% of the investment when selling. This is below the average amount returned for high-impact, very valuable renovations.
To make matters worse, while replacing a roof can impress would-be buyers, it has a depressingly low rate of return on investment. Homeowners who put a new roof on their property typically recoup less than 60 percent of their investment when they sell. This is far below the average return for truly valuable, high-impact renovations.
Therefore, just based on financials, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense to replace your roof before selling your home.
The Hidden Costs of Getting a New Roof Before Selling Your Home
Even though it costs a lot to replace your roof upfront, it’s only a single part of that story. There are a lot of different hidden costs, too.
Time – It takes time to get the roof done before you sell your home. if you are in a rush to sell your home, you don’t have time to:
- Research providers, roofing materials, and costs
- Contact a few providers for quotes and inspections
- Take the time off of work to be there while the roof is stripped off and a new one’s installed
You may need to use up your vacation days or put off other important things you have to do before selling your home.
Timing – The best time for selling your home is during spring or summer. The reason for this is because kids are out of school and the weather’s nice. There are also fewer holidays to worry about and no ice or snow to make things potentially dangerous.
This becomes a problem because this is the best time also for roof replacement. That means that when a person decides to replace the roof on their house that they are selling, they might have to delay the sale. This can mean that they miss key windows for sale in the market.
This timing also can be an issue for a homeowner that is struggling with a house that needs to be sold fast due to legal proceedings such as divorce. If they wait to replace their roof, it can mean that they have additional costs for months, such as:
- Insurance
- Maintenance
- Mortgage
- Taxes
Associated Costs of Replacing a Roof Before Selling Your Home
There are often secondary or other costs too. It may be that you find that damage to your roof’s support structures. You also might find exposed damage from leaks and other kinds of sources. Then you have those problems to fix too before you can finish the roof and sell your home.
How Bad Roofing Will Impact How Much You’ll Get When Selling Your Home
If you won’t get a lot of money back if you fix or replace your roof, you might wonder if you are able to simply sell their house Impact of Bad Roofing on Home Sales
It’s really frustrating, but you have to do it if you are going to sell your home the regular way through a realtor, you’re going to have to do it. Below are the reasons why this is true.
Inspection
Before traditional buyers buy homes, it’s necessary to have an inspection done. This is because a homebuyer who needs to take out a mortgage is only able to purchase a property that will meet the standards of the lender.
A lender requires that the homes meet standard habitability and safety requirements. They also will require that the buyer purchase homeowner insurance.
Roofing’s such as big part of homes that:
- An inspector has to examine the roof and report on its state
- If the roof’s in bad repair, the insurer might not fully insure the property
- Lenders aren’t going to approve mortgages for any property that has a bad roof.
Costs
A lot of home buyers will deeply dig into their accounts to put a down payment on a house. That will leave them without any financial reserves that they can use for tackling huge projects such as roofing for a while after they buy the home. because of this, they’re not going to even consider any homes that will likely need a new roof or other kinds of major renovations soon.
Compromises
These kinds of factors will ultimately make selling a home that needs a new roof very challenging. Buyers, mortgage lenders, insurers, and agents are all going to do their best to get you to replace the home’s roof or drop the home’s price substantially to compensate for the inconvenience. When this happens you may think that you have been trapped and you can’t win no matter what.
What to Know About Disclosure When Selling Your Home with a Bad Roof
You might wonder if it’s necessary to tell the possible buyer that it needs a new roof. Or if you can simply sell it and hope that it’s not noticed until once the sale’s complete. Even though the question is an understandable one, it’s not a viable idea.
When you sell your home traditionally, the inspector has to review the roof’s state and record it. This is non-negotiable and it’s something that will happen when someone needs home insurance and a mortgage.
Not only that, but every state has a disclosure law. Even though these types of laws will slightly vary, they’re similar in that when a seller conceals problems with a property or doesn’t disclose a known defect, the buyers can sue them. Although Massachusetts does not have such a law about leaking roofs, it is a good idea nonetheless to tell a potential buyer about it. However, if someone asks about the roof and you lie about it, it can be bad.
Therefore, if you are selling your house and you know that your roof’s in bad shape, you have to directly address the issue.
These are some of the things that you may not know about selling your home and what it can cost you if your home needs a new roof. That is if you sell it the traditional way. Don’t want to go through all of that stress? Contact us and we’ll be glad to give you a fair cash offer. You don’t have to worry about fixing your roof or anything. It couldn’t be easier. Simply send us a message through chat below.
