A New Roof Can be One of the Best Tips for Selling Your Home – Part 1

Published on Friday September 30, 2016

Tips for selling your home come by the dozen. You’ve likely been buried with all the info you can handle about curb appeal, choosing the right broker and baking cookies moments before your open house.

But before you can even get potential buyers to browse through your perfectly-staged rooms, you have to get them through the front door. And that all depends on one thing – curb appeal.

“I have had buyers decide that a house is a nonstarter before ever crossing the threshold because of the condition of the home’s exterior,” says Heather McEntire, a broker with Wilkinson ERA Real Estate. “And it’s mostly because of the roof.”

That’s right: curb appeal isn’t just about paint color and landscaping. In fact, according to Better Homes and Gardens, the roof accounts for a whopping 40 percent of a home’s look from the curb.

Roof inspection & repair is important for selling your home

“Contracts are cancelled after the buyer receives their inspector’s report stating the roof needs significant repair or worse, needs to be replaced,” McEntire says. “It is a large expense that no one wants to incur immediately after their home purchase.”

How large?

On average, anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, according to HomeAdvisor.

That’s why realtors, including McEntire, suggest that sellers get their home pre-inspected before even beginning the process of pricing and marketing their home. It’s one of the key tips for selling your home.

“Once you have a professionally accurate account of the property’s condition, you can begin making the repairs necessary to give potential buyers the confidence to pursue your home,” McEntire says.

The roof is the most important part of the home’s weatherproofing and insulation system. It plays a huge role in the efficiency of heating and air conditioning.

It’s crucial that you investigate issues before beginning the sales process. Problems caused by poor roof installation can sometimes remain hidden for five or 10 years.

Consider these issues when your roof is inspected:

Is your roof older than 15 years?
Are there missing or torn shingles?
Is any flashing (metal that surrounds chimneys, skylights and piping) missing or rusted?
Do the gutters and downspouts show any sign of decay?
Are there any signs of water damage or leaks on interior walls and ceilings?

Remember, even if you don’t look for these issues, a potential homebuyer will.

“[And] the moment that they begin to notice issues of disrepair, the tone of the showing sours,” McEntire says. “They begin to earnestly look for any other items that may be old, dirty, stained, deficient or broken.”

When problems are found in a roof, there are basically two options – replace the roof entirely or place a new roof over the old one. Generally, it is best to install a new roof, as it will reveal any other defects that need to be fixed.

“It’s important to remember that a deficient roof is often an indicator of other unseen issues,” McEntire explains. “If the roof is in disrepair, the subsequent leaking can lead to numerous other deficiencies. A leaking roof can quickly lead to interior damage to your attic, ceiling damage, mold, mildew, compromised structural integrity, electrical shorts and even fire hazards.”

Homebuyers know this. That’s why a new roof is critically important to getting your potential buyers from the curb to the front door.

In some cases, mortgage lenders may also require that a roof be replaced prior to clearing the loan for closing.

“If your roof is in poor condition or in need of repair, you will exclude a VA/FMA buyer, immediately limiting your buyer pool,” Heidi Hines, also a broker with Wilkinson & Associates Real Estate, notes.

A new roof simply looks good.

If your home’s roof is old, dirty or even an outdated color, it can make it stand out from the rest of the neighborhood. And not in a good way!

One of the important tips for selling your home is that roofs should be cleaned and tidied up before showing a house to potential buyers. That means clearing away branches, leaves and other debris, clearing out gutters and downspouts and giving the entire roof a good cleaning.

If the process is too daunting for the seller themselves, professional roof cleaners can be hired to come in for about $400-600. It’s a very worthwhile investment.

Because remember, a home’s value isn’t just determined by the number of “bells and whistles” that it offers.

“The home’s overall condition plays such a critical role in determining the value of the property,” says McEntire. “If [homebuyers] look hard enough, they will find something [wrong] and the perceived value of the property immediately falls.”

Need a roof replacement? Give us a call.

Moving? Selling your home? Need your roof looked over (and maybe even replaced)? Call the roofers you can trust to bring you peace of mind. We can even offer you some tips for selling your home! Contact Long Roofing by filling out our contact form online to get a price, schedule a free, in-home consultation or find answers to any home roofing questions.