I have the buyers that are under contract on a 17 year old house. Although they were aware the roof was original, they anticipated it still having several years of "life".

Inspection report indicates the roof is beyond life expectancy. Is asking the seller, who is also an agent, to put on a new roof a completely unheard of request?

House has been on the market for 8 months; originally listed at 275,000, then 265,000. It recently appraised at 255,000 (divorce situation) and under contract at 245,000.

Thanks in advance for the advice!!

If the seller is an agent, he or she may already be expecting the request. It never hurts to make the request.

One thing to check on is whether or not the buyer's insurance company will do a roof inspection prior to writing the policy. I've had several deals almost crash a few days before closing because the insurer refused to issue a policy due to a bad roof. No insurance = no mortgage.

If the roof is just "old" but still serviceable, the seller will probably refuse to replace it. Get a roofer out there right away to do an evaluation.

Yes, absolutely. It is in your buyer’s interest to have a roof that is functional and one that has a fair amount of life expectancy left. Get an estimate for the roof and then ask for the seller to replace the roof. If the seller will not, or cannot, concede to the replacement, then add it to the sales price with the understanding that it will be done prior to closing. This maneuver is in the interest of the buyer, seller and lender.

That was the buyers mistake.There are different roofing shingles with life spans of 15,20,25 years etc.It also depends on the local weather alot fo hot and cold weather will cause alot of expanding and contracting and will wear out the shingles faster.

Every time there is a hail storm the roofing companies will go to houses and inspect for hail damage and file a homeowners claim and the sellers get a new roof for free which can be a great selling point in the future when they decide to sell.

If the seller just needs to replace the shingles it won't cost much at all.If there has been a leak or the subfloor is rotted the cost will increase.

Let me update this a little bit and send a thanks! We did contact the buyers insurance company and they would not insure due to the roof. So now it stands that the seller agrees to pay for cover the expense to reroof but the buyers will pay the difference to have a tear off, reroof and upgrade shingles. Whew!!! Good thing we had a 60 day close period!