<p>I looked up an older thread (started by digmedia, I think?) and have a more specific question about the roof. </p>
<p>Digmedia, if you are still in the selling process, what did you end up doing? </p>
<p>We have made an offer on a house and yesterday in the disclosure found out the roof is a cedar shake (Woodruff…does that ring a bell for anyone?) and will likely need to be replaced soon.
Would it be better to ask the seller for a lower price on the house and do it ourselves?—meaning hiring it done ourselves.
Or should we make the seller do it?
I’m thinking if we do it ourselves we can have it done by the company we want and that could be to our advantage. </p>
<p>What do people normally do in these cases? </p>
<p>The house is priced very well (about 80k less than other houses for sale in its neighborhood) so we are willing to buy it even if we have to replace it ourselves…in fact I’m guessing that’s why they had it priced lower to begin with. </p>
<p>Everything is negotiable. If I were the seller and felt the price was already low and included an adjustment for the roof and overall condition I’d tell you to pound sand and buy it as is or go away. There is no law that an older home has to be in perfect shape.
How much do you like the home and what others are out there for you?</p>
<p>Our new house construction will take longer than we thought, so we won’t put our current house on the market until next January. I only hope the market holds up and the interest rates don’t go through the roof. We just closed on our construction loan yesterday (yikes!!! :eek: ) and are waiting for a chain of events to happen so that we can file for a building permit. What a process…</p>
<p>I just rented a house to someone building a new mega-home on the NC beach. He thinks it will be ready by December. I’m betting on March/April next year.</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom,
I am married to a real estate lawyer and have learned by listening to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate-a close corollary to location, location, location. It may well be that the lower selling price takes into account that fact that the roof is in need of replacement in the near future. However, it will not hurt to ask. Rare is the seller who will want to undertake this improvement his/herself. My spouse might counsel you to get an estimate and offer to split the difference in the price.</p>
<p>I would never ask the seller to have work done. They’re going to get it done as cheaply as possible–and they’re about to move, so why would they care about the results five years down the road. Get a credit, or take it off your offer.</p>
<p>We did exactly what momof3sons suggests when we bought our house. The roof was old and we knew it would need to be replaced soon. The seller originally refused to take anything off the price at all, but when we got a written estimate from a popular and reputable local roofer and presented it to her (it was quadruple the price she said it should cost us) she became willing to negotiate and we ended up splitting the difference. I never would have wanted her to do the work and we got the roofing company and type of roof we wanted.</p>
<p>Not just for roofs, but for <em>anything</em>, I suggest handling with a credit so that the Buyer can control workmanship, materials, etc., and have the contractor beholden to them, not the Seller. Right down to “handyman” stuff.</p>
<p>For big ticket items, a 100 percent credit is unreasonable. Generally, a credit between 30 and 50 percent, representing the equivalent of 30 and 50 percent life of the roof or whatever, is reasonable, imo.</p>
<p>Btw, the OP’s post shows the link between asking price and condition…it really pays to bring a property up to snuff if you can before putting it on the market.</p>
<p>I think the seller is willing to negotiate on the roof and we’ll get an estimate or two very soon. It’s good to hear how much is a reasonable amount to ask for in percentages and we’ll definitely ask for a credit or a slight drop in price.</p>
<p>Note on a fine detail: if the Seller drops price instead of a credit, they’ll pay a slightly lower commission and, depending on how your state handles property taxes, you may slightly lower property taxes…you would here in the Golden State.</p>
<p>Hopefully not too far off-topic:
When buying an older house, do you typically negotiate for all the changes required to bring it “up to date”? Personally I always felt that older houses have quirks (some good, some bad). Typcially they are priced to reflect the fact that they don’t necessarily match today’s standards. We’ve only lived in 2 houses, and when we sold the first, we just assumed the new owner might come in and change things to update it – and we priced it accordingly. I would think if the home is $80,000 under the going rate, that the existing seller has done the same. I know everything is negotiable, and I guess it is worth the try, but ultimately it sounds like you’re getting a bargain either way.</p>
<p>I’m also asking because we’re getting ready to sell our second (which we’ve been in for 20 years!!!). The furnace is older; the windows are original, the kitchen is from the 50’s (except for applicances)! While I realize many might be unhappy with the dated kitchen, we have always felt it was well-built, well-maintained, and works “just fine”, so there was no reason to change everything for cosmetic reasons. I hope not to update the house just to sell it. However, is that now necessary in today’s market? We’ve maintained everything, and it “looks nice”. But, it is obviously an older home – with “quirks”.</p>
<p>kjofkw, It really depends on the area of the country you’re in. Your best bet is to consult a real estate professional for advice specific to your region. In my area, the buyers are generally happy to buy old in order to renovate to their own tastes. We’ve noticed that most sellers do the minimum in preparation for putting houses on the market, and homes of all price ranges are generally sold “as is.” I found this area to be very different than my old one in that way.</p>
<p>Just to clarify our situation, the house we are buying was built in 1990, so it’s not really old (at least I don’t think it is). It was just built with a brand of roofing materials that was later found to be one that does not last as long as it should, and from what we’ve heard, cedar shake doesn’t last as long as comp anyway. </p>
<p>We originally set out to find an older house. By older I mean built between 1910-1940. I wanted leaded glass windows and built-ins bookcases by the fireplace and hardwood floors. There were tons of houses in our price range like this in the area we’re moving to, but very few of them had an acceptable garage for my H :rolleyes: . Also many of the older homes did not even have a big enough lot where we could build a garage. So we finally gave up and started looking at newer houses (about 1987 and newer). </p>
<p>Some things I noticed when looking at older houses.
I could see past ugly carpet, ugly wallpaper, etc. I was excited at the idea of finding a place that needed a new kitchen/bath because then I could pick out whatever I wanted. We found houses that needed updating and ones where updating had already been done.
One thing that was an irritant were the houses that needed updating (some of them really badly!) were not priced that much lower than the ones which already had new kitchens, etc. So I would say if you don’t want to do updates, that is fine, but then price your house accordingly.</p>
<p>another remark about redoing the house before you put it on the market- a house up the street- little house ( 840 sq ft- plus unfinished basement) was purchased last dec for $350,000- owners painted it- refinished the floors- repaired the roof and put it on the market for $650, a couple weeks ago- apparently there were more than a few bidders and it just went for more than asking price
( this is not chi-chi neighborhood- it is semi industrial blue collar)</p>
<p>EK, I totally believe it. Someone could have a dumpy place but if it’s right in Seattle or very close the property alone is worth a fortune. It’s becoming the next Bay area. :eek:</p>