How much (if at all) does my roof need fixing prior to putting it on the market?

bgy3jlh

My first ever home is a 2-bedroom semi in North West UK. I want to upsize, and so have been fixng what needs to be fixed before putting it on the market. 

At some point last year I noticed a small damp patch above an upstairs window (pictured), adjacent to the soffit. It does generally feel more damp when it's raining (and hence I think is more likely to be caused by rain water than condensation in the loft). I've recently had 4 roofers out to look at it. 2 of the roofers are NFRC members, see https://www.nfrc.co.uk/).

Their findings included:
- The tiles are fairly intact. One or 2 are chipped at the edges and hence may be allowing water in.
- A newer tile (replaced 2 years ago) is not an exact match to the surrounding tiles and hence may be allowing water in.
- The felt is damp and may have a small hole in it
- The bottom row of tiles aren't at the optimum angle and could do with having a kicker batten installed. (only roofer #3 noticed this)
- There is a small gap at the side of the soffit, which may be letting water in (only roofer #3 noticed this)
- Roofer #4 suggested that I should rule out condensation, by checking for dampness inside the loft space.

Having never sold a house before, which would you make most sense:

1. Doing nothing
Cost (inc. VAT): £0

Pros: No time or money expenditure required.
Cons: Any viewers with any knowledge would see that and worry about the extent of the problems. I imagine that a survey would encourage potential buyers to send out a roofer to inspect it.

2. Doing a patch up
Cost (inc. VAT):
£162 for replacing 2-3 tiles (roofer #2),
£1,140 for replacing the first metre of felt & timbers and reinstalling the old tiles (roofer #1),
£1,470 for the above + kicker battens + repair of side of soffit (roofer #3)
£3,000 for replacing the felt & timbers and reinstalling the old tiles on the 1 side of the roof only (roofer #1),
£3,900 for the same as above, but installing new tiles, again on only the 1 affected side of the roof (roofer #1).

Pros: It may clear the damp patch. It's cheaper than a full roof. 
Cons: It may not clear the damp patch. Maybe the problem is coming from elsewhere. Maybe it's caused by condensation in the loft.

3. Replacing the entire roof
Cost (inc. VAT): £6,600 (roofer #2)

Pros: Very attractive for a potential buyer, to have a new roof. Less quibbling on the survey and potentially a quicker sale. Adds value to the house. No concern that the problem hasn't been fixed.
Cons: Very expensive. Seems a little disproportionate, for a small damp patch. I wouldn't get the benefits of living in a house with a new roof.

Similar properties in my area have recently been sold for £160,00 to £170,000. It was built in 1979. Local houses still have the original roof tiles.


 

Brie

Personally I would only be going for the middle choice in option 2.  And supply roofer 3's report and then an invoice showing that work having been done and paid for. 

A complete new roof is OTT and the quotes for partial roof are probably less than what you'll have to pay as likely you'll need scaffolding for that too.

FlorayG

I had similar in my old house and nobody could figure out where it was coming from. I sold to a builder so he wasn't bothered, he was going to gut the house anyway. so how 'up to standard' is your house? Are you going to be selling to a FTB ( In which case they don't want to be fixing anything) or would it attract someone looking for a doer-upper as mine did? What's your target market?

Bigphil1474

If you can get a new roof for under £8k and if it's a relatively old roof to start with, I'd go for that IF you can afford it. Can't see the point in spending £4k for a repair when a full roof is only £8k - obviously if the quote comes back at £12k, it's a different equation. Having said that, I wouldn't put new tiles on half the roof as that then becomes a building control issue and adds complexity. Also not worth replacing the full roof it's relatively new and generally in good condition apart from this bit. I'd guess overall that I'd probably go for the £1,470 option if it was me.

If you go full replacement, and if it's FTB territory, that will be a big plus point for selling. If money is tight, go for the repair and make sure the paperwork is clear as to what is done. That's the next best thing IMO. Buyers are fickle, and FTB's are usually the most fickle. Anything that helps you sell at the price you need is worth it. If you think it's worth £165k now, replace the roof and market at £180k, sell for £175k, still in profit. 

We sold our house with an old roof on it. We were upfront with the buyers - it was old but no leaks so could be fine for another 20 years or 20 months. Tbh, if we hadn't sold, we would have had it all replaced within 12 months but it would have cost nearly £13k.

bgy3jlh

Thank you all for your responses so far 

Quotes/scaffolding
Just to note that I've updated the quotes, and all of them now include scaffolding where needed. The quotes are all from 3 different roofers (the 4th declined to quote until I'd ruled out condensation in the loft).

Is it an FTB or doer-upper?
Well, the bathroom and kitchen are fairly new, and it has a lovely balanced flu gas fire, but the boiler is not a combi. Also, some of the decorating is quite tired. But, the garage is massive and cost £12k to build, about 10 years ago. On balance, I'd probably say FTB or BTL. 

Bigphil1474

Sounds like a good FTB property. Combi boilers aren't necessarily a big selling point IME. Our old house had a new system boiler and I much preferred it to our newer house's combo boiler. Our buyer said the same.

So it's a 46 year old roof and the quote is £6.6k to completely replace. I'd be tempted if it was my house, but I haven't seen your house or the area. Is that roofer a trusted recommendations? To be honest, to get a good roofer to do a full roof usually means waiting 6 months. Have any said anything about availability? A bad roofer might cost you £6 and make things worse.

Maybe see if there is any condensation in the loft, if not, get the simple repair done? As a layman, I still think the £1,470 is most likely to do the job without being over expensive if the loft isn't the issue.

Bookworm105

it will undoubtedly scare people. the buyer's survey will comment on it and if this is a FTB property then your prospective buyer may be totally ignorant of housing repairs and become terrified to the point of walking away.

will it stop the sale if not repaired? no.
will your asking price reflect the need and cost of repairs? In your eyes: possibly, but in the eyes of the buyer: no
will it result in lower offers?  Probably
will those offers lower than the cost of you paying for repairs before listing? Only you can answer that.