We'll have our new roof paid off in 3 months time! Whoopee!

[CTyankee]

It was costly to replace the roof on our house but I strongly believe that it will be a major selling point when we go to sell our house.

Here's my reasoning: a relatively new roof, done by a highly reputable company, looks good and is worth the investment (which can be costly). A new buyer wants assurance that he/she won't have to be soon investing in a very major improvement.

As we are elderly and retired we foresaw the day of downsizing to a smaller apt or going into assisted living. I told my husband that since our roof was old and needed constant repair, we should get a no interest loan to have the work done and have a monthly payment.

All things being equal (relatively) in our neighborhood housing stock, do you agree that a new roof is one of the best investments you can make in preparing your house for eventual sale? Compared, of course, to other major investments in the property...

Is there some rule of thumb guide, such as a list, where I could see how we do on the top 4 or 5 investments you can make that will make your property more attractive to a buyer?

[hlthe2b]

1. Every house (and I mean every last one of them) on two streets around me are getting new roofs

after two very focal hail storms. Every house has a roofer's sign in the front yard and while a few predominate, there have to be at least two dozen companies represented. My own home got one a couple of years ago. Somehow, unless they make roofs more hail-proof, I doubt many are ever going to get the warranted years out of them.

That said, it would surely be a selling point to me.

[badhair77]

2. I don't know about a rule of thumb or

what investment has the highest rate of return, but the new roof should definitely be a good selling point. No one wants to buy a house and have roof problems. I think you made a good choice, especially with the no interest loan.

[dawg day]

3. Well, I know that no one wants to buy a house and have to pay for a new roof the first year!

Not to mention that a new roof will prevent the really unsightly damage done to walls and ceilings by leakage.

A friend of mine just last month went to contract selling her house, and then the buyer had an inspection done, and the inspector immediately flagged that the roof would have to be replaced soon. The buyer backed out, and my friend lost about two months of time on the market, and had to go ahead and replace the roof anyway! (Apparently in her state, once an inspection has revealed a problem, the seller has to tell all potential buyers about it.)

So from that experience, I would think a roof would be a good investment in that it would help you sell the house faster and avoid that problem of having buyers back out and banks refuse to do a mortgage.

I went looking for this article because I liked the attitude that you can do a lot (like replace countertops) and get your investment back without doing full remodels. I was thinking of completely redoing my kitchen, and then saw the pricetag-- $45K! Then the nice contractor sat me down and asked what I really wanted, and I said mostly I wanted more cabinet space and a little pantry. And in about 5 minutes he sketched how we could move everything against the wall in the "dining area" (which we seldom use), keep the existing cabinets, and add a little ceiling-high pantry that looks like a cabinet.
AND he said, "And put in a solid countertop all along under the cabinets." No new construction required, and it was about 25% of that original pricetag.
A good lesson! You can do more by focusing on what's important

https://www.thespruce.com/smart-remodels-that-recover-their-costs-4121074

[CTyankee]

4. We have a small kitchen and can't expand (retaining wall in the way!) so we did the next best

thing: we got a remodel of what we had with new appliances and, paint and flooring. Looks nice.

Ours is one of the last houses built before WW2 when, of course, no homes were built nor cars made, until the war ended. The prewar stuff is better, design wise, I feel, but we have had to replace the furnace. We even had to windows replaced (we had rope and pulley windows if you can believe it!). They save energy.

One of the nicest things about our house is that we are on a gas line and have a gas stove. I hate electric and am so happy about that.