NEW ROOF?

Question

I just purchased a home in a good neighborhood that I am flipping.  There are no leaks in the roof, however, it appears to be about 15 years old.  There is limited discoloration in areas.  I want to know whether is will be worth replacing the roof?

Rodney Marcantel · Answer

Options...

• Leave roof - risk that house will sit longer and eat into profits due to holding costs and run the risk that a bank won't fund the loan for a buyer.
• Replace roof with 25 year shingles - costs you more up front but is great selling feature and eliminates the chance that a bank won't fund due to the roof.

Bottom line... would you purchase the home for your family if I gave you $8,000 discount on the purchase of the home to replace the roof. More headaches for you the buyer and chance that a leak could form sooner than later. As a buyer, you'd probably pass on the house since you don't want to deal with the headache of finding a roofer and dealing with the pain of a roof replacement nearly after you bought the house.

Show you are trustworthy and dependable flipper by being a full service seller and who knows, your buyer may refer you to another buyer down the road because of how well you took care to sell a quality and like-new home (to them). Hope this helps. Blessings.

Matthew B. · Answer

@Robert Broadie

It's always a good idea to decide what you're going to do BEFORE purchasing the property. That being said, I would get some quotes from roofing contractors so you can at least have an idea of how much it would cost. Then you can determine if you want to do it or not. Without a dollar number you don't have enough information for a decision. I would ask some other investors in your area who they are using for roofing. The difference between a roofer who caters to investors and a roofer who does homeowner jobs can be thousands of dollars.

How do you know the roof is 15 years old? You can always check public records to see when the permit was pulled and the Notice of Commencement filed. 3-tab shingles usually don't last more than 15 years or so. New roof is a great selling point for a flip.

Marci Stein · Answer

OTOH- it will serve as a good negotiating tool to reduce the price by 8,000 ,

which is what you may save by not replacing it.

Rick Bevilacqua · Answer

You will typically get 15-20 years out of a standard 3-tab style strip shingle depending on pitch of roof and exposure to the sun, trees etc...Long story short, for a flip you may want to replace it to remove the roof as a potential negotiating point for the future buyer in trying to beat you up on price. It should also serve as a selling feature when marketing "BRAND NEW ROOF!" (If your budget can absorb the cost)

NEW ROOF?

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