The Perfect Roof
While home inspections are increasingly becoming a standard part of the real estate process, they are not a given in every region of the country. While there will always be a great deal of excitement surrounding a new home purchase, it is also a time to be meticulous. You are investing thousands of dollars in a new home and making sure that you get what you’re paying for is as important as finding the home in the first place.
Inspection of the Roof
Part of any standard home inspection is a full inspection of the roof of the property. As far as components of the house go, the roof is by far one of the most important to inspect. Besides the obvious problems a defective roof can cause, it is also one of the most expensive parts of a home to repair, so getting a well-built roof from the beginning can save you thousands of dollars in the future.
While the foundation will draw a lot of the interest of potential buyers, the roof can be just as tenuous as homes increase in age. Shingles fall off, holes develop and insulation can become exposed. Because the roof is such an expansive surface, odds are that some wear and tear has developed over time.
Inspect it Yourself
In the absence of an inspection as a standard part of the buying process in your area, you can certainly go up on the roof yourself and visually inspect how the roof looks. However, that is clearly not practical for most prospective buyers and some problems can be difficult to spot during a brief glance.
Getting a Roofing Company
Another way to accomplish the goal of making sure you have a roof that is up to snuff is to contact a roofing company to do a preliminary inspection of the property. These can be done whether you own the home or not and with the cooperation of the buyer can help you determine the viability of the roof without any cost.
In addition, if you go ahead with getting an estimate on the roof in question, you will then have some ammunition to bring back to the seller if there are issues with the roof. As a point of negotiation, having some hard estimates in your hand can get you through the roof portion of the debate quicker. A seller will have no choice in most instances where there is significant roof damage.
Real Estate Agent
Naturally, your real estate agent is going to be your best resource for making sure that the roof is properly investigated before purchase. As part of your offer, you can include a contingency that says that your offer is only valid if an inspection is done on the property. If you’d like to be more specific, that contingency can be placed on a successful roof inspection as well.
Every major aspect of the home should be treated this same way. The foundation, furnace, and other important components of a home should be treated with the same care and due diligence as a roof. A full inspection will do just that, so pushing to have an inspection included as part of your offer can allay most of the fears you might harbor about buying a home.
So, as you walk through a home for the first time and wonder about the structural integrity of the roof or other components, know that you have some tools at your disposal to make sure that you are protected should you decide to make an offer. Getting a professional estimate can not only turn up any issues with the roof but give you ammunition as negotiations commence should any problems turn up.
Doing your homework on the roof now can save you thousands of dollars in repairs and provide some peace of mind as you go through the exciting process of buying a new home.