Selling house, roof needs to be replaced

user1977

Macicka said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Why does it need to be replaced?

It's an old Victorian roof. I had several quotes and the front cannot be repaired apparently - all roofers said the same. There's a tiny leak already, and these get bigger over time. 

Fix the tiny leak then.

propertyrental

user1977 said:

Macicka said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Why does it need to be replaced?

It's an old Victorian roof. I had several quotes and the front cannot be repaired apparently - all roofers said the same. There's a tiny leak already, and these get bigger over time. 

Fix the tiny leak then.

the front cannot be repaired apparently

Strange...!

Macicka

A huge thanks to all of you who have kindly advised here so far. Really appreciate it. 

Hoenir

Macicka said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Why does it need to be replaced?

It's an old Victorian roof. I had several quotes and the front cannot be repaired apparently - all roofers said the same. There's a tiny leak already, and these get bigger over time. 

Is the leak causing damage to the interior ? 

AlexMac

We sold a house with a failing roof; like yours, original slates; slight damp penetration down the chimney stack into the adjacent ceiling and chimney breast. 

We priced it accordingly. The buyer wanted to do a loft conversion anyway, so were happy to take it on. 

Maybe your prospective buyers will?

Albermarle

bluelad1927 said:

Olinda99 said:

I would market it and not mention the roof

wait for the surveyor to come around when you get an offer and take it from there

How does this work (I honestly don't know)

 You sell the house declaring on the forms that it's in good order as far as you know. New owner moves in and find they need a new roof. They get a couple of quotes only to be told that the roofer was here 6 months ago quoting for a replacement

I would have thought from what you say, than any buyer/viewer with any sense will be able to see the state of the roof from outside, and some will poke their head through the loft hatch to have a look.
I guess you would not have to be a surveyor to see that it most likely needed some work.
It is not as if it is a problem you are hiding, as they can see it easily if they want. 

Also as said the fact that a roofer( s) said you need a new roof, is not definitive proof that you do need one, not immediately anyway.

ThisIsWeird

Macicka said:

A huge thanks to all of you who have kindly advised here so far. Really appreciate it. 

Any chance of some photos, Macicka? There are some trades folks on here who can likely advise further.

From what you say, chances are the roof will need redoing - at some point. But very few roofs require this urgently; for this, they'd need to be very visibly in obviously very poor condition. Most roofs can be patched and fixed to stop leaks, and the dreaded 'recover' day put off for years.

How long an elderly roof can be kept going for will help determine the discount you'll likely need to make. If a roof is falling in, then expect to knock off the full cost. If the leaks can be stopped and kept at bay for up to a decade, then expect to compromise on price, perhaps by half the full cost - it all depends on how much folk like your house for other reasons.

Like others, I can't understand why your roof cannot just be patched or repaired!

Smalltownhypocrite

propertyrental said:

you are living (happily?) in the property at present and presumably it is not raining inside?

And you've 'done lots of work' so presumably all you nice new decor is not getting ruined by the rain?

So I'm guessing the roof is old, maybe covered in moss etc, and perhaps with some cracked/missing tiles? But otherwise sound?

OK, maybe it will need replacimng in the future but what roof doesn't?

I'm also guessing the roofer you got round was looking for a nice bit of business (£18K).

I may be way off the mark but my advice is to patch any obvious leaks (£2-300?) and then wait for your buyer to bring up a price reduction after survey, which they might or might not do.

And if they do, maybe offer to pay half of whatever their surveyor/roofer suggests.

£18k (not the average £5k for retiling the whole roof) and all roofers (multiple) saying the same sounds like water has rotted the rafters... its not about how much water is 'seen' or 'raining inside' in the house its a structural issue that will damage the house the longer left.

You dont have to SEE a problem to have a major issue. If OP knew there was monoxide but just opens all the windows to ventilate it would you say 'well you survived and they can't see it and might not get a survey that flags it so don't tell them'.

Bigphil1474

OP, we've just sold our house with an old roof on it. Our house is circa 100 years old, and the roof looks original. The roofer putting a new roof on next doors house said ours needed doing within a year or two as it was near end of life. That was last summer. Roofer might have been honest or touting for work. I don't know.

We didn't advertise that our roof was getting towards end of life, there are no leaks and is waterproof as far as we know, the buyers surveyor didn't raise any issues with the roof, and we completed the property form honestly. Had the buyers surveyor come back and said the roof was knackered and the buyer then asked for a reduction, we would have agreed to some sort of reduction. They didn't, we didn't.

If I were you, I'd get the leak fixed and proceed as it is, with a view to maybe having to reduce when the survey is done. Factor that into the budget for the next house.

Herzlos

If it's only going to take 3 days to do the work and you're going to drop the asking price by the £18k, why not just book to get the roof replaced? Worst case is that the replacement is after photos/viewings but before exchange which would give the buyer a chance to see the work.