It’s not easy weeding through different houses that are on the market to find the one that suits your needs. It can take people years to find something that fits into their budget and has all the features they want. What happens when, upon having a home inspection performed, you find out that the roof of your dream property needs to be replaced? There’s no need to stress out! There are plenty of things that you can do to address a bad roof when buying a house. A lot of prospective home buyers don’t realize the kind of power that they have during this process. Let’s take a look at what some of your options are.
Before you close on the property, you have the ability to negotiate a new roof without the overall asking price/offer price being changed. This will be part of your agreement. Prior to you being able to close on the house and sign all of the final documents, the owner must have the work completed. This generally tends to be the best option for you as the buyer. You don’t have to spend any additional money on a roof, and you won’t have to worry about its replacement at any point in the near future.
Once the home inspection has been completed and you know that the roof needs to be replaced in order to pass inspection, you can discuss this matter with the seller of the property. It’s completely up to that person if they want to cover the cost of the roof for you. If they don’t, suggest that the two of you split the bill. This will alleviate some of the financial burden on your end, but it may help sway the seller to take on some of the responsibility. It’s not completely unheard of to have one person pay a little more than the other but splitting it right down the middle tends to be the fairest option.
It doesn’t hurt to ask the seller to take on the responsibility of replacing the roof for you as part of the sale, but they reserve the right to say no. If this happens, you have a few options to take into consideration. You can walk away from the potential purchase of the home, but you may really love the property and not want to let it go. If this is the case, you may need to just bite the bullet and buy a new roof. You will likely need to wait until you’ve closed, and you have the keys in your hand. Then, you can call Hammersmith Roofing & Construction to schedule a full roof replacement.
Keep in mind, if you are having trouble budgeting for a new roof, you can speak with your lender to find out if it’s possible to sign up for a home improvement loan. You’ve probably just gotten established with a bank for your new mortgage, and they may be able to help you out with a favorable financial product. You may also be able to add the cost of the roof onto your new mortgage, so it all gets packaged together.
One thing that we want to stress is the importance of a home inspection. You’ve probably had one performed in order to determine that the roof needs work, but it’s ideal that you determine the extent of any damage that’s present on the roof beneath the shingles. You may have a much bigger problem on your hands than just the current condition of the roof. There may be leaks or other moisture problems on the roof that could affect the overall safety and condition of the home. You don’t want to be faced with all kinds of repairs and construction work once you’ve closed on the home and are financially responsible. If anything is wrong with the house now (before you’ve closed), the seller is responsible for taking care of everything. So don’t skip the inspection.
It’s a good idea to work something out as part of your deal so the roof of your new home is replaced sooner rather than later. You run the risk of your homeowner’s insurance company not covering your roof if it’s past its expected lifespan. Hammersmith Roofing and Construction is an experienced roofing company that is located in the Richmond, Virginia area. We have been serving our community for years, taking care of roofing repairs and replacements on homes, apartments, condos, town homes, retail stores, restaurants and other commercial sites. We hope that you’ll reach out to us for all of your roofing needs for your new home.
