Every day, people hunt for their dream homes. Sometimes, it takes years to find the home that they see in their imagination, but eventually, everyone comes across the home of their dreams.
Sometimes, even after seeing the home, it won’t be all perfect, roses and cream, except it is a brand new home that hasn’t been previously owned. Even a brand new structure often needs a few fixture changes sometimes.
After finding a home that has been previously owned, usually, inspection follows, and it is during this inspection by experts – who are often hired by the buyer – that damages to the house are exposed.
More often than not, damages to the roof of the home, probably caused by hailstorms or negligence of the previous homeowners, are exposed.
When there are apparent damages to the roof that needs to be repaired, it brings in a completely new conversation to the mix, and it is a conversation of who will repair the roof?
The new buyers would not want to purchase a home that has a damaged roof and then put up living with a bad roof, or paying for repairs at their own cost, repairing damages that they weren’t responsible for.
As a result, they would demand that the seller or previous homeowner pay for the new roof, or repair the roof themselves before the final purchase.
Should a Seller Pay for a New Roof?
The truth is, it is not written on the stone that a seller must pay for a new roof when selling a home.
This means that it is not your obligation as a seller to pay for a new roof or repairs on your old roof, however, paying for a new roof, or discounting the price of your house to the tune of the cost of the new roof is the most reasonable thing to do as a seller.
As a seller, you want to deal in good faith with the buyer, and to do that, you need to give the buyer a deal that is as fair as possible.
If the house is an old and depreciated house, then there is an absolute need to either replace the roof yourself, pay the buyer or roofing company the cost of the new roof directly, or discount the cost of your house to accommodate the new roof costs.
Reasons Why a Seller Should Pay for a New Roof
Enables Swift Negotiations With the Prospective Buyer
Replacing your roof, or making the decision to pay for a new roof will make negotiations go smoothly and speedily.
The outlook of the old roof might discourage buyers at first, but when they discover that you are ready to pay for a new roof, saving them the headache of negotiating repairs or reconstruction for the roof, it goes a long way to speed up the negotiation process and also encourage trust between you and the buyer.
Jerks up the Value of Your Home
As the seller, the value of your home will increase once you take it as your responsibility to pay for a new roof or even go-ahead to replace the old roof with a new, beautiful one.
A home worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) with an old roof can jerk up its worth by $50,000 by just replacing the old roof with a new one worth about $30,000.
Increases Your Negotiating Power
Agreeing to pay for a new roof puts you in a higher negotiating position as the buyer now sees it as you taking the load off him or her, and perceives that you are dealing in good faith with him/her.
Paying for a new roof is like a golden bargaining chip against the buyer, as the value you will then place on your home will hardly be questioned.
Even the buyer, seeing that a major headache in the way of purchasing his dream home has been cleared out of the way by you, will do his best to negotiate in such a way as not to get in your bad graces or make you change your mind about paying for the new roof.
It is better to learn the best way to negotiate for a new roof before sealing the deal with the seller.
Should a Buyer Pay for a New Roof?
As a buyer, the very first thing you should consider doing is making the seller pay for the new roof if your dream home needs a new roof.
For a good deal, the onus should fall on the seller to fix the damaged roof by whatever options he or she prefers.
As a buyer, you should not pay for a new roof for a new home, except in cases where the seller has agreed unequivocally to reduce the value of the home to the tune of the cost of replacement.
Asides from the cases where the seller agrees to reduce the value of the home, buyers can also decide to pay for a new roof if there are no major damages to the old roof, and the buyer simply wants to change the roof for aesthetic purposes or to suit his taste.
Reasons Why a Buyer Should Pay for a New Roof
- When there are no major damages to the roof: On a few occasions, the buyer simply decides while the negotiations are ongoing that he wants to change the roof because he wants to, and not because there are any damages to the roof. On such occasions, the responsibility of paying for a new roof rests solely on the buyer and not the seller.
- For aesthetic purposes: Buyers might decide that they do not like the roof, or that they want a different color of the roof from what it is currently, or they want a different roof structure or type, or simply that it doesn’t suit their taste. Here the buyer should pay for the roof.
What Should I Do if Seller Refuses to Replace Roof?
When the seller of your dream home refuses to replace the roof, or make necessary repairs on the home you want to purchase, and such a seller remains adamant after negotiations, the wise thing to do will be to call the deal off.
Buying a home from a seller should not be a do-or-die affair. If the seller isn’t meeting your needs or your demands, and you are simply not okay with the terms of negotiation, then it is within your rights to call off the deal.
As long as you have not entered a legal contract with such a seller, call off the deal and look elsewhere for sellers that will meet your needs. If you keep searching, there will always be the right seller waiting.
It is important to never enter a deal – in this case, continue with the purchase of the house – if there is obvious discord between you and the seller, if positions aren’t clearly stated, or if you are going to feel ripped off at the end of it.
Where you get a seller who is heady about your needs, call the deal off and find other sellers. Learn how to get a new roof for free here.
Can You Sell a Home With a Bad Roof?
Yes. You can sell a home with a bad roof. The downside to this, however, is that the value of the home will plummet as a result of the bad roof.
Say, the actual value of the home, with a decent roof, is two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000), the value of the home might drop by several thousands of dollars as a result of the bargain purchase over the damaged roof.
A buyer can argue that he would have to repair or replace the roof, and it will cost a lot of money, therefore, as a result, he can’t buy the home for more than one forty thousand dollars ($140,000). For this reason, it is better to replace the roof before selling the home.
Final Thoughts
To speed up the process of negotiations and upwardly appraise the home on sale, it is always better for the seller to agree to pay for a new roof during negotiations or opt for replacing the roof of the home with a new roof. In the end, it puts everyone in a better position.
