While some things must be disclosed upon negotiating a contract, a
roofing inspection not generally required, and that is why providing a
certification with the advertisement of your property may give you an
advantage over your competition. When you are selling a home,
prospective buyers are not just looking at the immediate costs, but they
are calculating future costs. That is why you will often see sellers
advertising and highlighting the age and repair history of things such
as floors, air conditioning units and roofs.
Because replacing or repairing a roof is one of the most costly
homeowner’s expenses, many buyers are interested in knowing the age and
condition of the roof. It is not usually part of your seller’s
disclosure statement to provide that information, but if you can provide
a certification with your roof, you may win over a buyer.
To begin, find a company that specializes in roofing, and reveal to them
your intentions. The contractor will then come to your home for an
inspection. He is looking for issues such as possible movement,
condition of materials, the working abilities of drains, downspouts and
gutters, and the condition of flashing around pipes, chimneys, vents,
etc.
If your home passes the inspections, you will be given a roofing
certification—a legal documentation of the sound condition of your roof
complete with an estimation of how much longer the roof will last. If
repairs need to be done, that is if you did not pass the inspections,
then you will need to make the proper repairs in order to receive the
certification.
In your disclosure statement for the sale of your property, include this
documentation. A buyer will then be able to conclude that he/she is not
likely to be making costly roof repairs in the face of a new mortgage
and other expenses that come with buying a home and moving. The issuing
company will stand behind the their finding for up to five years meaning
that if something does happen to the roof under the new ownership, they
will repair it for free.
However, like most insurance situations, there are some exclusions.
Claims are not likely to be honored that were causes by natural
disasters or bad weather. That is the new homeowner cannot expect the
providing company to fix a hail damaged roof. The certification means
that the existing roof in sound condition; it does not mean that it has
been deemed indestructible; however, policies covering natural disaster
do exist.
The main purposes for choosing to get your roof certified are to
disclose to prospective buyers information about your home that your
competition may not be offering, to inform the buyer about the condition
of the roof, to estimate its life expectancy, and to make the roofing
repairs needed to make an honest sale.
