Sell house with or without upgrading roof and AC?
 

I'm about to sell a 20-year-old Patio Villa that has not had its roof or AC replaced although both are functional. My goal is to get as much out of the house as possible.

Should I (1) Sell the house at a low price in recognition that the buyer will need to replace both? or, (2) go through the hassle and time to spend $20-25k to replace both before listing it?

Or, put another way, will the demand for (1) be so low that I shouldn't waste my time?

Asking here instead of a Realtor as I'm considering FSBO.

Thanks! Mike

Most real estate agents advise replacing the roof, because nobody wants to buy a house with an old roof.

But, I look at it differently. If a roof is 20 years old I would be worried that it is damaged even though the seller says its functional. I also would also be worried that the sheathing underneath the roof is damaged. If a seller puts a new roof on a house to sell it, they go to the cheapest roofer they can find and they don't necessarily fix everything that needs to be fixed. So, I'd rather put my own roof on and pay less for the house. But that is just me. Most people don't see it that way. They would rather buy a house with a new roof.

Also, there is a complication which is that a buyer will have trouble insuring the new house unless it has a newer roof. That might necessitate a new roof before closing.

If the roof is 20 years old and the AC is 20 years old, how is the rest of the house. Is there 20 year old carpet and 20-year old appliances, and a 20 year-old bathroom? How is the water heater? It might just be a gut-remodel anyway. If it were me I wouldn't try to fix everything, I would price it attractively.

There are a lot of existing houses for sale in the villages. The market is terrible for sellers. Offering a home as-is at a very low price compared with competition could be a decent strategy. But I am pretty sure not many agree with me.

If it's not broken, don't fix it. Lower the price. Of course any real estate agent will want you to spend money. It's your money, not their's.

You are in a difficult situation down in FL, with a softening marketplace, with current and future comparable houses for sale.

Jim Howard presents both sides of your situation very well. . .

The question is how long do you want to wait to sell the house?

If you want to sell the house quickly, then updating everything and selling it as the lowest priced house against the comparables is the way to go. . . the house will appeal to more buyers. Otherwise, you are waiting to find more of a flipper buyer and he/she will want to low ball you on the price as his profit will depend on how low of a price you will go. ie you are appealing to many fewer less buyers, and will probably wait longer for that higher priced flipper, more price sensitive buyer.

In prepping our current new england 20 year old house for sale, we are doing all the "modernization" spending prior to sale, knowing that it won't increase the price against the comparables for sale, but it will attract more buyers who want a fully functional house being move in ready for worry free living, therefore a quicker sale. Just signed a contract for a new roof, 50 year warranty shingles, for $9,000, kitchen appliance upgrade is done at $5K. However oil furnaces are now prohibited for new builds, so a new oil furnace replacement is $25,000 plus . . . only electrical heating is now allowed. . we haven't decided on what to do with the oil heating system which is still functional.

we feel your pain. . i would go with the upgrade for a larger pool of available buyers who are willing to move in as a retired couple looking for worry free house. . and not attract flippers who will low ball you for more profit for them. .

good luck

The home inspection will note these issues so you will have to negotiate a price adjustment. No idea how insurance companies will insure for a roof that old.

A buyer will question how much more deferred maintenance there is.

We sold a home about a year ago. It was 14 years old. Hvac was still fine and so was the roof. But our realtor advised us to put on a new roof.
She said some people won't even look at a home with an older roof in TV. The way we looked at it, we could either put one on or negotiate it with a buyer. So we put one on.

On a 20 year old home a buyer is going to want both things replaced. So for me, I would just bite the bullet so you can list it with new roof and hvac.

It's a buyers market now, so every little bit helps, imo.

Insurance companies typically do not write policies for homes with roofs that are more than 15 years old. That you will have to do.

I would lower the price, and sell as is..

New roof, make sure it's clean and price it right. It will sell faster than those high priced homes. If you are in the Sumter Landing area, all the better.

Items outside of useful life will likely require a price adjustment or be fixed,

The life of a roof depends on local weather conditions, building and design, material quality, and adequate maintenance. Hot climates drastically reduce asphalt shingle life. Roofs in areas that experience severe weather, such as hail, tornadoes and/or hurricanes may also experience a shorter-than-normal lifespan overall or may incur isolated damage that requires repair in order to ensure the service life of the surrounding roofing materials.
ROOFING
YEARS
Aluminum Coating
2 to 6
Asbestos Shakes
30 to 50+
Asphalt Shingles (3-tab)
10 to 12
Asphalt (architectural) 15 to 20

InterNACHI's Estimated Life Expectancy Chart for Florida Homes

I would like to know how got insurance with old roof? was it rental? Only one house in my 84 lot villas that has old roof and it’s rental.

There was nothing wrong with my 3 tab roof that 20 years old. Sure little sand in gutters and few lifting areas, but no leaks and looked good. Had several roof inspections, honest ones said looks good expect 5 or more years, the roof scammers said needs replaced asap. I had to replace perfectly serviceable roof to get insurance due to all scams. I found that weather in central Florida not nearly as bad as say Oklahoma where it really get hot, windy, and hail size of base balls. Normal windy day Oklahoma would be considered tropical storm day down here. I have also found that Florida full of scam artist.

I find that web site outrageous inaccurate.

Roof
 

This ^^^ Tough market right now, If you replace both and add it to your price you will end up lowering the price to sell and be back where you started. Plus someone might pay cash and not worry about insurance.

You may not be able to close without the new roof on the villa since the purchasers won't be able to secure insurance. Just replace it with a decent shingle selection and don't forget to line up your closing company, (attorney based), in advance if you are selling it yourself. The closing company will provide offer to purchase forms if you need them.

We recently purchased a patio villa. The owner had to put a new roof on it or we would not have been able to insure or finance it. We had other offers fall through for this reason.