Replacing Your Roof Before Selling Your Home

John Head Colony Realty Corporation Podcast

Should you replace your roof before you sell your home? Here are my recommendations.

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report
Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

Recently, many home sellers have been asking us whether they need to replace their roof before they sell their home, and today I’d like to share my thoughts.
The answer ultimately depends on the age and condition of the roof. If you have a home with a roof that’s fairly old, I’d suggest that you have a contractor come take a look at it to see what its current condition is. If the age of the roof is suspect and you’ve had to have it patched a few times over the years, it’s also a good idea to have an insurance adjuster come out to see if you could work it into your insurance policy before you close on your home sale.

If the roof is in bad enough shape, insurance companies may deny your coverage.

”

Here’s why that’s important: Insurance underwriters are now sending people out to discover the age, quality, and lifespan of the roof on a home before they’ll insure it; if the roof is in bad enough shape, they may deny your coverage.
What does that mean for you? Well, if you have a 20-year-old roof on the home you’re selling, the buyer will have someone come out to inspect the roof in order for their insurance to be able to cover it. If the roof is in such condition that their insurance won’t cover it, that may be a deal-breaker for them.
So if the contractor you hired to take a look recommends that it be replaced, it’s a good idea to see if you can have at least a portion of it covered. Here in the Outer Banks, where we’ve recently dealt with Hurricane Dorian and then a nor’easter, coverage for wind damage is especially important.
In the end, you’ll want to replace your roof before selling if the condition is poor enough to deter buyers from making it through the transaction to the closing table.
If you have any questions about this or other real estate topics, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.