If you’re in the process of selling your home, or are looking to, then it’s in your best interest to try to increase your home’s attractiveness, and value, in any way you can.
One of the best ways you can do that is by making sure that any potential buyers won’t need to perform any extensive repairs in the time after buying the house.
Purchasing a home is such a long, hard, and expensive process, the last thing a new homeowner wants to do is fix a bunch of issues. The less repairs a homeowner will need to do themselves, the more valuable your home will be to them.
Getting a roof replacement can raise your home's value if your roof is older or needs several repairs, but may not do much for you if the roof is still only a few years old.
A common problem that turns up during the home buying process is roof issues, so doing what you can to take care of anything that might be lurking will help improve your standing with buyers drastically. Getting a roof replacement can also prevent you from having to pay for repairs after you've sold the house, as it's very common for homeowners to request for that money if an inspector finds that roof repairs are necessary.
In this blog, we’ll discuss some signs that you might need a new roof, how much a roof replacement costs, and some of the factors that impact how much value a new roof adds.
Let’s get into it!
Before you dive straight into a roof replacement to increase your house’s value, you should probably figure out if you actually need one first.
When you start looking, there are a few telltale signs that you need to get your roof replaced. Some of these are: roof leaks, damaged or curling shingles, heavy asphalt granule loss, and a sagging roof.
Roof leaks are pretty noticeable and easy to spot, but what about those other things? Given the way asphalt shingle roofs are constructed, two things will happen as they are exposed to weather over time: they will begin to dry out, which causes the edges to curl up, and they will lose their protective coating of asphalt granules.
To check for curling shingles and granule loss, look up on your roof to look for those edges starting to peel back, and if you can, examine your gutters for granules like in the picture below.
A sagging roof can be a little bit harder to spot from the ground, but if you notice it, it’s a dead giveaway that you need to get your roof replaced, or at least inspected. A sagging roof typically indicates that the roof decking underneath your shingles is in poor shape, and needs to be swapped out during a full roof replacement.
Say you’ve taken a look at your roof, and it doesn’t seem in great shape. The next step is to find a reputable roofing company to come out for an inspection and estimate.
The cost of a full roof replacement can vary widely, and depends on multiple factors, including:
Because of all those factors, it’s difficult to give an accurate estimate, but here in Raleigh, NC, most asphalt roof replacements cost between $8,000 to $20,000, with most replacements ending up between $10,000 and $15,000.
Similarly to cost, the amount of value that a new roof might add to your home can be affected by your previous roof’s condition and the kind of roof you put on.
The main way that your value would be increased by a roof replacement is if your roof was in pretty rough shape before you got it replaced. If your roof had lots of damaged decking, shingles, and poor ventilation, there’s a strong chance it was severely hindering your home’s market value, as any new homeowner would have to replace the roof soon after purchasing the home, which is time, money, and energy they likely won’t want to spend.
That being said, if your roof was installed a few years ago, and was installed properly then there's a good chance that it still has plenty of life left, and a replacement wouldn’t do too much to increase the value that the home already has.
The quality of the material used in the replacement will also affect the home’s value, as the material used will impact how long the new roof will last. For instance, if you got a three-tab shingle roof, that should last 15-20 years, it won’t increase the value of your home as much as an architectural shingles, which should last around 30 years.
After reading this, hopefully you feel like you’ve learned a little bit about how a roof replacement might help your home’s value on the market.
If you are in the Triangle area of North Carolina and want to get your roof inspected, or talk to a roofing company for an estimate, reach out to us using the “Contact Us” button below! On Tops Roofing has been replacing, repairing, and inspecting roofs in the Raleigh area for over 30 years, so whatever your project will require, we are happy to help!