Best way to pay for a new roof

[Lorikr65]

We will be needing a new roof soon. I don't want to take any money out of my savings so I was wondering what was the best way to pay for it. I know there are home equity loans and things like that. The roof will cost about $5,000. Of course I would like to get the lowest interest rate. Does anyone know what the options are out there? We've been in the house for 13 years and have quite a bit of equity (we owe less then half of what it is worth).

Thanks - Lori

 

[HM]

We paid for our roof with our savings. We did have an equity line of credit, but didn't want to pay interest. We paid back our savings over time.

 

[mikehn]

Hmmm, lets see.....you could sell all your gold. Seriously, an equity loan/lines of credit will probably have the best rates. Places like credit unions offer no fee, no closing cost equity loans/lines.

 

[TylerAggie]

Have you had any hail storms in the time since you have lived in your house? We had a hail storm recently and everyone in our neighborhood got insurance money to pay for a new roof. We paid nothing out of pocket and since we had made no previous claims, it did not affect our insurance at all.

 

[Schachteles]

Have you had any hail storms in the time since you have lived in your house? We had a hail storm recently and everyone in our neighborhood got insurance money to pay for a new roof. We paid nothing out of pocket and since we had made no previous claims, it did not affect our insurance at all.

That is what I was thinking...we had golf ball sized hail last June and we got a new roof, new siding, new gutters, new playhouse, new landscaping lights and a newly finished deck (oh and my car got $3500 in damage)...and for all of our house and personal item damage (excluding the car) was about $30k in damage and it cost me my $1000 deductible. I was kinda disappointed because our house was only 10 years old so it wasn't in need of a new roof and siding, but I certainly will take it.

 

[Cindy B]

OT-- that's a great price for a roof.

We paid for our roof with savings.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Take the money out of your savings, as long as it is a liquid account and not an ira.

If you finance it (and it's not easy to get a home equity loan right now), you will pay interest on it, which will far offset the interest rate you're getting with your savings.

So basically, say you make 5% in your savings account, and you get a loan at 8%.

You're LOSING 3% of your own hard earned money just to use somebody else's money when YOU HAVE YOUR OWN!

 

[ceecee]

I would think that an equity loan would cost more in interest than taking it out of your savings. Isn't that what savings is for...emergency fund? Now if it's in a CD or higher interest account you have to way the options. We put our car fund in a money market that makes 6% until July. Car needed replaced, so we got a loan at the credit union for 3.70% that allows you to pay off w/o penalty, so we will pay it off in July when MM interest rates drop down.

 

[rockyroad]

We will also be needing a new roof.

I have been praying for hail.

In a recent tornado in our neighborhood our house was undamaged...which was a blessing...

But my son's friend's parent's house had all the shingles blown off, the windows blown in and the floors ruined.

I also need new windows and floors....

But until the current roof starts leaking, I'm holding off and waiting.

 

[srwarden1928]

If you have enough money in savings, use it. Thats what savings is for. You would pay far more interest on a loan than you collect on the savings.

 

[LorieR]

We just had a new roof put on the house and garage a few weeks ago. I charged it on my Disney Visa and will pay it off out of savings when I get the bill. That gives us more than 60 extra Disney Reward Dollars for our trip in December!!

 

[ekmom]

We just put on a new roof and paid about $5000 too. We considered a loan but decided that it wasn't worth it and ended up paying it out of savings. I wish that I could have charged it and gotten some reward dollars but the company doesn't take credit cards.

 

[battricia]

I agree w/ taking it out of savings. If you have it in a regular savings account you can just 'make payments' back to the account. That way you don't have a 2nd mortgage on the house and you aren't paying interest. also if you do have an emergency in the future you will still have that equity in your house if you haven't yet rebuilt your savings. JMO. If you do take out an HEL though, I would NOT take out an LOC, and at least you *should* be able to write it off your taxes.

tricia.

 

[Muushka]

Be sure to protect your landscaping when they remove the old shingles. My poor Japanese Maples took lots of hits. A little too much pruning. Our guys covered them up, but that only lasted for a few minutes, then they were open to all those dreadful shingles flinging their way....oh the humanity......

 

[LoriNSC]

We're getting a new roof next week. Our insurance is paying about 2,300.00 & we're paying 1,300.00 out of pocket. We called ins. co. & they sent an adjuster. They're paying some on it due to wind/hail damage. We're using our stimulus tax refund for that & still have a little left over for vacation.

 

[Lorikr65]

I hear what you're saying about taking it out of savings and paying it back. I just have a bad track record with paying myself back!! For the next 2 months we have 2 car payments so after that we will have over $400 more a month. I'd like to save up half and then take half out of savings. We recently had a stone wall that collapsed and that cost $3,500.

Maybe I'll do a rain dance and ask for hail!! Here is RI we don't get much hail. A hurricane once in a while, but not much more then that. With my luck I'll do the roof and then a hurricane will hit it!! We're having a good friend of my sister-in-law's come over and look at the roof. He'll tell me if we need it right away or if we can hold off a year or 2. There are about 4 or 5 shingles that blew off so maybe we can just replace them for now.

Thanks everyone!! Lori

 

[Muushka]

My former state! RI. I was there for Hurricane Gloria, probably before you were born!

I digress..... When we started getting estimates for the new roof we had the one we chose tell us that more than likely it would be fine for another year. But then he pointed out that the price would more than likely be a bit more because of the rising cost of EVERYTHING. So we had it replaced right then. Plus we didn't want to take the chance of any leaks because we had just had ceilings painted and didn't want any water spots.

 

[Shannon G]

Where are all of you finding contractors to replace your roof for $5k?? I'm jealous! I just got a price to replace my roof, plus do a few other minor repairs while they're at it - replace some facia boards, fix some venting, seal the chimney - and it's going to cost me just over $9500! And that's the better price - the other estimate was higher without all the little stuff included. I know I have a fairly big house (2800 sq. ft. colonial w/ 3 car garage) but still...I wish it was costing me $5k!

 

[Muushka]

Me too. We paid $8700 for ours....

 

[Mickey_Mouse_Fanatic]

My former state! RI. I was there for Hurricane Gloria, probably before you were born!

Yes, I missed Gloria. I was born in 1965. My mother remembers Gloria though!!

When did you leave RI? Were you here for the Cianci trial, or any of the other corrupt officials!! We may be the littlest state but we sure know how to grab the headlines!!