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New Roof

Hi Everyone!

 My fiance and I just purchased our first home and we knew we needed a new roof, but the inspector initially  priced it MUCH lower than what the estimates are coming back with. We're getting married in November so we also have a wedding to pay for. I have about $5k to spend on a roof and still leave us with a safety nest, but all of the estimates are about $10k. I dont want to ask family for a loan so we were thinking about a home improvement loan or home equity loan? Does anyone have any advice or experience? We dont want a huge monthly payment for the loan either. We both have credit of about 790 but don't know where to even start with this! One roofing company would do the financing but wanted to charge $250 for every $1000 borrowed and that just seems insane!!

Re: New Roof

  • ouch! that really sucks that your home inspector was so far off on his estimate! I'm sorry!!!

    A couple options- would it be possible to spend less on the wedding to pay for the roof?

    Do you have any equity in the house that you would be able to take out a home equity loan or something like that at the bank? (this may be a long shot- but if you got a 'deal' on the house may be possible)

    Have you checked the bank or credit union for  a loan from them instead of from the roofing company- because that does seem expensive!

    Do you ever get offers in the mail from CC for 0% balance transfers? I did this once to pay off a small student loan where the rates were variable and had gotten out of control. I was able to pay off the loan in the 6 months I got the 0% for on the transfer. You could charge it to one card and transfer that balance to the new one with 0% rate (this was about 8 years ago, so I'm not sure if CC do this any more). This would not be a good option if you couldn't have it paid off in that period of time.

    What is your emergency fund currently at? If you could pay this out of there, and then rebuild it while still leaving you a small emergency fund, that may be a good option too.

    image
  • spalkospalko member
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Comments 100 Love Its Name Dropper

    How big is your home?

    My H and I are putting a new roof on our home this summer and it is costing us $3000 for a 1900 sf home. Granted, we are doing the work ourselves but would that be something that you could look into. Maybe ask family and friends who might have experience to help you guys out. The majority of your cost is more than likely labor which is the sucky part, hopefully you can get everything figured out soon.

    Hey, Hey Hockeytown!photo hockeytown_zps6a7377b0.jpg
  • Is there any way to delay this roof replacement a year or two? Or, is it in such bad shape that leaving it will ruin the structure beneath it? If you can wait, without harming the home,  I might save up more money first.

    Also, I know you're looking to save money on this project, but just be sure the roofer you use carries his own insurance for him, his tools, and his employees, and provides proof of this to you before beginning any work.

  • I was in a similar situation. Bought a house last March, wedding scheduled for November, and we knew roof was bad but figured we had a few years. Guess again, 4 weeks before wedding it started leaking. We ended up having to replace the whole roof thanks to Sandy which hit the week of our wedding. We tried to get a home equity loan but were told it we don't have enough equity in the home. But that doesn't mean you don't depending on how much you put down on your house. I would say if you can get financing, go for it. If not you're going to have to hit credit cards or safety nest. You can always replenish savings with cash gifts you get for wedding. Not the ideal solution, but an option.
  • imageErikan73:
    I was in a similar situation. Bought a house last March, wedding scheduled for November, and we knew roof was bad but figured we had a few years. Guess again, 4 weeks before wedding it started leaking. We ended up having to replace the whole roof thanks to Sandy which hit the week of our wedding. We tried to get a home equity loan but were told it we don't have enough equity in the home. But that doesn't mean you don't depending on how much you put down on your house. I would say if you can get financing, go for it. If not you're going to have to hit credit cards or safety nest. You can always replenish savings with cash gifts you get for wedding. Not the ideal solution, but an option.

     Didnt your homeowners insurance cover damage to the roof from Sandy? We sustained damage to our roof too and our insurance covered it. I'm sorry that happened to you, btw...but look at it this way, now you don't have to worry about it for a while ;)

    And OP, not sure where you are located, but I have a friend who is a contractor and when we were getting roof estimates, he told me that it should cost 5-7k for ours...and if we are paying on the higher end, they should be using top quality materials. Our roof is for a 1400 squae foot house...size def is a factor in the price so you have an idea...

    In the end, we paid $8500 for the roof, new gutters, and chimney repair... 

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