Next week we are presenting on PT50's "Leverage Your Expertise" webinar to talk about something that's quietly costing agents deals they should be closing: the roof. It comes up in almost every CE class we teach for realtors, usually right after the words "my deal just fell through." We've taught that class five times since getting certified a few months ago, and we'll teach it up to eight times a year… because the same stories keep showing up.

Here's what I see almost every week. House is priced right. Buyer's ready. Then it goes sideways.

Sometimes the inspection comes back clean and the carrier still won't write a policy because the roof is "too old." No policy, no funding. Sometimes the buyer's inspector finds something the week of closing and it turns into a fight over price. And sometimes the seller scrambles to pay for a whole new roof out of pocket to save the deal, when a storm had already come through and insurance could have covered most of it if anyone had looked six weeks earlier.

The fix isn't always a replacement. Just as often it's a repair, a maintenance visit, or a certification nobody thought to get. But almost every one of these started the same way: nobody really looked at the roof until it was almost too late.

On roof age, the carriers have a point. A roof that's 15 to 20 years old in Texas needs to be replaced. A 30-year shingle is not a 30-year shingle here. Our sun, heat, and hail take years off the label, and underwriters know it.

Here's the part I want agents to hear: The roof doesn't have to kill the deal. Handled early, it's one of the better negotiating tools you have. It just plays differently depending on which side of the table you're on.

If you're on the sell side

The goal is to get done exactly what needs to be done, finished, and in line with what the buyer expects and will accept in the negotiation. Not more, not less.

That starts with knowing the real age and condition of the roof, then having options based on it. A tune-up, a targeted repair, a coating that adds years, or a full replacement are all legitimate answers. Your seller should see them side by side, with a price on each, before the buyer's inspector shows up. Most of these are retail jobs, not insurance jobs. Insurance is one tool in the box, not the whole box.

And don't be scared of disclosing what you find. Disclosure isn't a liability when the work is already done. A roof that's been inspected, repaired, and documented is a selling point, and it's another negotiating point for a higher price.

If you're on the buy side

Your job is to make sure your client inherits a roof that keeps shedding water long after closing, whatever that looks like. A repair the seller handles. A full replacement paid at the table, in whatever system fits the house: shingle, metal, tile, slate, or flat. An insurance claim the seller files before you're under contract. Know which one you're dealing with before the option period runs out.

When a roof does get replaced as part of your deal, hold the contractor to two things that are easy to skip. First, if the house has a gas water heater, make sure the exhaust vent is reconnected in the attic and photographed. We find, more often than anyone would like, that a previous roofer never reconnected it and the home has been breathing carbon monoxide since. Second, ask for a project timeline with photos of the initial inspection and the before, during, and after of the work. That's a mandatory check, not a favor. Your buyer is inheriting this roof. Hold people accountable for it.

Seven things I'd do about it

1. Negotiate on scope, not just price. Most roof negotiations turn into an argument over a number, and nobody can say what the number actually buys. A written scope of work fixes that. Both sides negotiate over the same facts, which is how you keep a deal moving in a tight market or a buyer's market, when every objection is a reason to walk.

2. Know when insurance belongs in the conversation, and ask every homeowner. If a storm has come through since the roof was last inspected, look at a claim before the property goes under contract, not after. Around Austin, hail is the big one. We're still working roofs from the May 28, 2025 storm that dropped baseball sized hail. This isn't a blanket rule. It's a question you ask each homeowner: has this roof been through a storm, and has anyone qualified looked at it since? Then ask your insurance agent, or an agent partner you trust, to pull a CLUE report on the property so you know what claims have already been filed. Read the policy too. A high deductible or an actual cash value policy changes the answer. But when coverage is there and the damage is real, the seller can put a new roof on the house for the cost of a deductible.

3. Get ahead of the home inspector. I respect home inspectors, and I also know many never get on the roof, or barely do, and most were never trained on what hail damage looks like. To be fair, most roofers weren't either. Don't let the inspection report be the first time anyone looks up. Get the roof walked by someone who puts the age, condition, and remaining life in writing before you list or before you offer. That's a document you can hand a lender, an underwriter, or the other agent.

4. Knock out the small stuff with maintenance. Exposed nails, dried out sealant, loose flashing, cracked pipe boots. That's most of what turns up on inspection reports, and it's exactly what roof maintenance exists for. Getting it done before the listing goes live takes a long list of objections off the table and keeps a decent roof from being written up like a bad one.

5. Build in an insurance contingency on anything past 15 years. More buyers are asking for it, and I don't blame them. It's easier to negotiate up front than to renegotiate after an appraisal deadline. A one-page roof certification from a licensed contractor, documenting remaining life and any repairs, can be the difference between a declined policy and an approved one.

6. Teach your clients how to hire, and keep, a bench of trades. In my experience, 40 to 50 percent of contractor work, roofing or otherwise, ends up needing someone to come behind and fix it. The low bid keeps winning because most people don't know how to hire on scope and reputation. Texas has no state license for roofers. What we do have is RCAT, the Roofing Contractors Association of Texas, which runs background checks on its members and verifies their insurance. Ask if they're a member. Ask if they carry a third-party guarantee that backs the work with someone else's money. Ask what local partnerships they have, because a contractor trusted by the agents and inspectors in your market has a reputation to protect. Then ask for a written scope. Hire the answers, not the number. And when you find a good one, save their information by trade: roofer, HVAC, plumber, electrician. When a problem shows up mid-transaction, you want that number ready.

7. Don't do a credit at closing in this market. If the roof needs to be repaired or replaced, get it repaired or replaced. A credit rarely turns into a roof. It leaves your buyer with the same problem, a little cash, and no plan. Just as important, the contractor's invoice is often what helps fund the deal. Repair or replacement, insurance or retail, third-party financing can carry the roof separately from the home loan and settle at the table. The work gets done and the seller isn't cutting price.

Timing is everything

An older roof doesn't kill every deal. Most of the time it just needs someone to get ahead of it. Getting a roofer involved before the property is under contract, instead of the week before closing, is very often the difference between a deal that goes through and one that doesn't.

This is the same ground we cover in Roof IQ, our CE class for agents, with more time to dig into repair versus replacement, how roof systems age in our climate, and how to read an adjuster's report. JOIN US FOR THIS LIVE VIRTUAL CE COURSE ON SEPTEMBER 9TH AT 10AM, BY REGISTERING HERE. It counts toward your continuing ed, and it's a lot cheaper than losing a deal.

That's why we do what we do at Tarrytown Roofing. We handle the roof so you can handle the deal, and we'd rather get the call at listing than get the call in a panic.

Need a roof certification, an inspection, a repair, or just a second opinion before your next listing?

Give us a call at (713) 824-3620 or visit tarrytownroofing.com. We'll turn it around fast so your closing stays on schedule.

James Wolfgang Kuntz

CEO, Tarrytown Roofing