Selling Home Value and Return on Investment
Home value is on many homeowners’ minds, and we covered this topic way back in Issue 24. This month’s issue revamps it for today’s market and homeowner.
“How much will it increase my home’s value?” is a common question homeowners ask when considering any major home improvement. As building materials evolve and improve, there are critical points where, if you don’t upgrade your home, it will become unattractive to a potential buyer.
For example, if a potential homebuyer is comparing two homes and one has a nice kitchen with granite countertops and the other still has Formica, you can imagine which one holds their interest. This difference comes up often– think of appliances, bathrooms, windows, and siding. The roof is a common focal point of any home-buying process, and if a potential buyer can look up at the roof and treat it as a future expense to justify a drop in the home’s price, they will.
What about the typical option, an asphalt shingle roof? Every new asphalt shingle roof only restores lost value at first. It will deteriorate with time and require another replacement long before a comparable metal roof. This swing in value traps homeowners in a cycle where they enjoy a few years of restored value, followed by several years of lost value and reduced attractiveness to potential buyers.
You can also help the homeowner understand that roofing prices are heavily reliant on labor costs. It makes sense to invest now, as costs continue to rise, and enjoy the beauty, energy efficiency, and maintenance-free living for a longer period. Metal’s market share has increased considerably in recent years – from 2% of the residential market a decade ago to nearly 10% now. With continued growth, potential buyers will increasingly expect a nice home to have a nice roof.
Finally, it’s good to caution homeowners that home value only matters when and if they plan to sell their home. If your needs analysis has already revealed that they plan to stay put, then the idea of increased home value is irrelevant. What will matter is choosing a roof that makes their home more attractive, enjoyable, maintenance-free, and energy-efficient.
In the world of real estate, a roof that stands out makes a home more desirable to potential buyers. At the end of the day, to sell your home, you need an emotionally invested buyer. Upgrades will dramatically increase a home’s appeal.
We’ve been fortunate to have many projects with over a decade of performance and, in some cases, multiple decades of excellent service. As you gain more experience with residential metal roofing, you will pick up some stories from your past customers that support the idea that their metal roof increased their home’s value.
Todd Miller has spent his entire career in the metal building products manufacturing industry. He is president of Isaiah Industries, an organization recognized as one of the world’s leading metal roofing manufacturers. Todd is currently Vice President of the MRA (Metal Roofing Association) and a Past Chair of MCA (Metal Construction Association). Through his website, he strives to raise the bar on standards and practices to provide property owners with the best possible products for successful roofing projects.
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