It seems like I spend a lot of time talking about roofs. A house has to have a roof but they do not last forever. Home owners seem to get down right resentful at the idea of putting roof on a house and then selling it. At the same time not all home buyers have the resources to buy a house and then pay to re-roof it. Sure they can pay less for the house but that doesn’t mean they will end up with an extra 10K or so for a roof. It just means the seller gets less money and the buyers house payment is $5 less a month and the house still needs a roof.
There are other things in a home that wear out or get used up. I have first hand experience replacing porch decks, furnaces, water heaters, out door spigots and much more. The trick is to plan ahead and budget for major repairs and yes if you need to sell you may have to put on a new roof before you leave.
Buyers should also be aware that there are loan programs both FHA and conventional that will allow the buyer to borrow extra money for repairs as long as the fix up funds and home loan come out to 95 to 110% of the value of the home once repairs are done. I’ll never recommend borrowing 110% of the value of the home but there are loan programs that allow it.
