What Should You Find Out About the Roof Before Buying a Home in Bonita Springs?

Find out four things: when the roof was really installed, what it is made of, what condition it is in today, and how an insurance company will see it. The installation date should come from the permit record, not from memory or a listing remark. The condition should come from a roofer or inspector who actually goes up on it. And the insurance answer should come from a written quote during your inspection period, because the roof is one of the biggest single drivers of what a Bonita Springs home costs to insure.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I help buyers and sellers across Bonita Springs and eight other Southwest Florida markets. A roof looks the same from the driveway whether it has years of life left or very few, so these are the questions I make sure get answered before a buyer's inspection window closes.

Pull the permit. A full re-roof in Florida needs a building permit, and Bonita Springs is its own incorporated city, so the City of Bonita Springs holds the permit record for homes inside its limits. The record shows when the roofing permit was issued, what kind of roof was installed, and whether it passed its final inspection. That final inspection date is the one insurers and inspectors care about.

Compare it with what the seller says. A seller may remember "a new roof a few years ago" when the work was actually a repair to one section, or the original roof may still be on the house. If there is no roofing permit at all after the home was built, assume the roof is original until someone proves otherwise. My article on checking the permit history before buying in Bonita Springs walks through how to read the record line by line.

Yes, a great deal. Most Bonita Springs homes have concrete or clay tile, asphalt shingle, or metal, and each one wears differently. Tile itself is durable, but what keeps water out is the underlayment beneath it, and that layer ages on its own schedule. A tile roof can look perfect from the street while the underlayment underneath is near the end of its life. Shingles show their age more openly: curling, granule loss and lifted tabs. Metal holds up well in wind when it is properly fastened, and the fasteners and seams are what an inspector checks.

Ask the seller or the permit record which material is on the house and when it went on, then ask the roofer how much useful life that material typically has left in this climate. That single conversation will tell you whether the roof belongs in your budget for this year or a later one.

A general home inspection includes the roof, but how closely depends on the inspector and the roof. Some walk a shingle roof; many will not walk tile, because tile can crack underfoot, and will inspect it from a ladder, a drone or the attic instead. Read your inspector's agreement so you know which you are getting. If the roof is tile and older, or the general report raises questions, a separate evaluation by a licensed roofer is worth the appointment.

Look for the report to cover cracked, slipped or missing tiles or shingles, flashing around vents and walls, soft spots in the deck, stains or daylight visible in the attic, and the condition of gutters and drip edges. Ask for photographs. My step-by-step buying process shows where inspections fall once you are under contract, and why they all need to land inside the same window.

Because wind is the biggest risk they are pricing, and the roof is what wind attacks first. Insurers ask for the roof's age and material, and many want a four-point inspection on an older home and a wind mitigation report that records how the roof is attached to the walls. Some carriers will not write or renew a policy on an older roof without an inspection showing useful life remaining. Florida law gives homeowners some protections around roof age, including the right in certain cases to have an older roof inspected rather than simply refused, so ask your insurance agent how the carrier quoting the home applies them.

Get the quote during your inspection period, not the week before closing. A buyer who learns at the last minute that a carrier wants the roof replaced has very few good options. My article on why two similar Bonita Springs homes get different insurance quotes explains the wind mitigation form, and my article on the four-point inspection for older homes covers the other report insurers ask for.

It depends partly on the building code the roof was built under. Florida's building code limits how much of an older roof can be repaired or replaced in a year before the whole roof, or that section of it, has to be brought up to the current code. A change in state law created an exception for roofs that were built, repaired or replaced under the 2007 Florida Building Code or later: on those, only the part being worked on has to meet the current code.

For a buyer, that means the date on the roofing permit matters twice. It tells the insurer how old the roof is, and it can decide whether storm damage down the road is a repair or a full replacement. Ask a licensed roofer to confirm how the rule applies to the specific roof you are buying, and to put the answer in writing.

Often. Many Bonita Springs homes sit inside a homeowners association, and the architectural guidelines usually control roof material, tile profile and color. A buyer who plans to replace tile with metal, or change the color, may need approval first, and some associations limit the choices to a short list. Read the guidelines in the association documents before you assume a cheaper or different roof is an option.

In condominiums and some attached villas the roof is a shared component, so the association, not the owner, typically repairs and replaces it. That makes the reserve study and any planned special assessment the real roof question. My article on milestone inspections for Bonita Springs condos covers the paperwork that shows how a building is planning for it.

Decide first what you are really facing. A roof that is leaking now, has active damage, or that no carrier will insure is a problem to solve before closing. A roof that works but is near the end of its life is a budgeting question, and it is often better handled with a credit or a price adjustment than with a rushed repair. If the seller agrees to replace the roof before closing, ask that the work be permitted, that it pass final inspection before closing, and that you receive the permit, the roofer's warranty and any manufacturer's warranty.

Leave room in the schedule for it. A roof replacement depends on permits, materials and a roofer's calendar, and my article on how long it takes to close in Bonita Springs shows where that time comes from. If you are comparing several homes, my page on buying a home in Bonita Springs covers the wider picture, and I am glad to look at a specific listing and its roof record with you. Get in touch or call (239) 300-1427.

This article is a general overview and is not legal, insurance or engineering advice about any particular property. Confirm the specifics with a licensed roofer, your home inspector, your insurance agent, the association and the City of Bonita Springs.