Let’s paint a picture here. You’ve found a house that you’re absolutely in love with, it’s in the perfect neighborhood and all is looking up for you to purchase the home. But, there’s one catch. The roof on the house is in pretty bad shape and you don’t know if that’s a deal breaker or not. The only way you’d ever buy a home with a new roof is if it was just built, otherwise you can’t be guaranteed to buy a house with a new roof. So, should you buy that house with an old roof?

FIGURE OUT THE ROOF’S CONDITION

If the home you buy has an old roof, will that be a dealbreaker for you? The best decision you could make in this position is to have a home inspector go out to the house you are wanting to purchase and make sure there aren’t any huge problems with the home and to look at the roof for you. From there you can hire a roofing company come and inspect it for a second opinion. Most roofing companies do offer free inspections – Craftsman Roofing does. Once you have two different people who have checked out the roof, you’ll know for a fact exactly what the condition of the roof is. 

WEIGH OUT THE PROS AND CONS

Now that you know what condition the roof is in, it’s time for you to decide if the roof is a dealbreaker or not. If the roof is severely damaged you need to get an estimate on how much it would cost to repair or replace it and work that into your budget and see if you can afford it. If the home is the home of your dreams and it’s perfect for you and your family, you’ll have to figure out the extent of the damage and truly know if you can afford that or not. It’s a big decision to make and you don’t want to act too fast. 

In the end, it’s ultimately up to you to make the decision if it’s necessary to walk away from a home or not because of the condition of its roof. Again, no roof is in perfect condition unless the home you are looking at was just built. All of the homework above needs to be done before signing anything and being tied down to buying a house if you don’t know what shape the roof is in yet. It’s important that you have amazing and trustworthy companies such as home inspectors and roofing contractors by your side through this to protect you and make sure you’re aware of walking into.