Home with a Bad roof. What would you do? (5%, price, inspector)
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It would be interesting if the seller even had any insurance coverage left on the roof of the house.
.......if.......he did, he would certainly have turned in the hail damage.
If an insurance company deems your roof has lived out its normal life expectancy, they drop coverage on the roof.
In the Midwest, I thought the only way people ever replaced their roofs was as a result of a hail damage claim.....I'm kidding, but it's darned near the truth.
1) You are not buying a brand new house. Seller is not obligated to replace the roof.
Unless the roof is BRAND NEW...
2) If the selling agent is any good at all, the price of the house should reflect the condition of the roof.
If not, make your offer based on that and fix it yourself.
^^This.
And if the conversation wasn't about the roof...
it would be about the HVAC system or the suite of major appliances, or, or, or.
If you can't afford to buy at that price level AND afford the work an existing home needs...
then either keep saving until you can or take your chances with a new home.
In the Midwest, I thought the only way people ever replaced their roofs was as a result of a hail damage claim.....I'm kidding, but it's darned near the truth.
Not where I lived in the Midwest.
Insurance inspectors were quick to drop roof coverage once they determined the shingles had been on long enough to be considered a normal lifetime.
Again, I repeat, why didn't that homeowner get the hail damage fixed if he had insurance on that roof ?
What is the average days on market... and for that house price range. 4 months maybe nothing if the average time it takes to sell a house in your area is 18 months.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovekittens1978
we didn't ask for anything else, we're pretty close to his asking price.
How can you be pretty close to his asking price if your looking for a $20 grand discount?
Most people don't leave roofs with felt paper showing and not care. I wonder if he is underwater on this house and can't accept less and have no money to fix. If he is underwater, he may just let the bank take it vs giving you a discount and have to bring $20 to closing.
Insurance inspectors were quick to drop roof coverage once they determined the shingles had been on long enough to be considered a normal lifetime.
Again, I repeat, why didn't that homeowner get the hail damage fixed if he had insurance on that roof ?
Who knows? Maybe he'd had other claims and was concerned the insurance would be cancelled if another one was filed. Or they knew they were selling soon and figured "Why bother? The buyer will fix it". Or he didn't have money for the deductible.
Before we had central water people tried to sell their houses with a bad well figuring to save the money and the buyer would have to drill a new one. Of course, no bank would place a mortgage without water.
Thanks everyone. The market in this area at this price range is very slow right now, I doubt they'll get a cash offer sucker. I do think we're in a good position. The only offer on the house in 4 months, we didn't ask for anything else, we're pretty close to his asking price. I also didn't mention it's vacant and the owner has already moved on to another state.
I don't think they have to disclose the poor condition of the roof, what they have on their disclosure sheet which is age and the fact they've replaced shingles over the years, will probably suffice enough to pass the law here in Kansas. But I do think that the sellers agent would be advising him that if we've got an issue with the roof, that any subsequent buyer will also have a problem with the roof and that it's best to deal with this seriously interested and qualified buyer. (lol I can hope that's what she's saying.)
The HOA isn't really active, it's a small rural group of houses, and the covenant was actually pretty short comparable to some of the others we've seen. Most of the statutes, including the roofing material, had to do with keeping the upscale quality of the neighborhood.
It will be really tough to walk away from this one. I think the biggest reason is that everyone was looking forward to celebrating Christmas in this house this year. But also, we've been looking for a house for year now and have only found 2 houses that met our needs in our price range. The first one was a short sale, we did walk away from that one. There is not another house on the market that has what we need, we would have to build custom, I guess that's not a bad option though.
Anyway, we're getting a roofing inspector out today ... I'll keep this forum updated. Thanks again everyone for your suggestions.
To keep the negotiations active, it might be prudent to increase your offer a little and make it subject to an appraisal with and without a new roof. The current roof sounds like a specialized expensive roof and a plain roof or even architectural shingled roof might have an effect on the market value as well.
Do you have a buyer's agent? He should be working for you.
It's also possible he contacted the insurance company to make a claim on the roof, gets a check, and keeps the money. Or gets paid $15k for the hail damage and pays $1200 to fix it, keeps the rest.
Don't assume just because he is talking to his insurance company that the roof will be replaced.
I will say however, a house for sale with a roof like that new, should command some extra $$$$$$$$$$.
The OP should not expect the owner to take his offer and foot the bill for a new,pricey roof. ( IMHO )
Yes, but they are buying it .... not selling it.
OP said their offer was close to asking price. Seller should be motivated at this point -- obviously the buyers certainly are.
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