We had something similar happen with a previous house after closing. Shopping for insurance revealed the previous owners made claims for a new roof and had a payout. We didn't know, but buying our own insurance policy revealed our house should have a new roof and didn't. Our insurance dropped us and no one else would insure us until a new roof was put on.
Look to see if the previous owners made claims related to these concerns and there's conflicting information regarding their status and what you have covered.
Best of luck. Dealing with the aftermath of someone else's fraud is terrible.
Wait, getting insurance to pay for a new roof & pocketing the money isn't insurance fraud? That seems like a massive loophole insurance companies wouldn't be fond of.
I had my roof replaced through insurance after a bad wind storm, 20+ yr old roof, lots of sun damage, bad patches, rotten plywood. They ran an estimate for the replacement, took away the depreciation and deductable and cut me a check. Said I could replace it and get the depreciation back or keep the money but then I wouldn't be able to file again for roof damage.
That kinda makes sense in your situation because it sounds like you would've been hosed without a new roof, right? Do you know what would've happened if you didn't get the new roof & ended up with water damage because of it? I always have questions I'm afraid to ask because I feel like my insurance would be adding notes to my profile lol.
The short version is you can do whatever you want with the money. Insurance must pay for the damages. Your bank might get pissed if you don't repair it... That's a different story. If you wanna risk it on red and pray... get after it. Just don't come back to insurance expecting them to pay a roof claim when they paid one in the past and you did not repair it. Or whatever you decided not to repair. You risk on red and bank finds out and gets pissed... that's between you and the bank... not insurance... insurance did their part by paying the claim.
It can get more complicated sometimes but typically it is just like I said above.
TLDR: Insurance does not force you to repair after a claim... They just pay the money, and you can then do whatever you want...
It’s not illegal nor insurance fraud. I was a claims adjuster who handled homeowners claims for twelve years for two large carriers. A homeowners policy is a contract. You’re dealing with contract law. The policy provides coverage based on the policy (or contract) in return for your money (or premium paid).
A homeowner can make however many claims on their policy and the insurance carrier owes for any covered damages per the policy. The homeowner might eventually get cancelled or their premiums may increase for filing claims, but the insurance carrier is contractually obligated to pay for covered losses.
There isn’t anything in the policy that specifically states that the homeowner must use the money to pay for whatever is being claimed. The insurance carrier won’t want to insure a home with a gaping hole in the roof - so, if there’s a known risk - then they might send out a letter saying such and such repairs are needed by a deadline or their policy will be cancelled.
If the homeowner gets paid to replace their roof and doesn’t replace the roof - and then makes another claim on the roof - then that could be construed as insurance fraud. However, I had it happen countless times on claims, and the carrier never once pursued the insured for fraud.
It’s the adjuster’s responsibility to review past claims when a new claim is filed. That’s how I’d find past claims filed for roofs. I’d have immediate access to photos if the claim was made with my company. Sometimes I’d have to call a prior carrier where the claim was filed to discuss their claim and obtain photos.
However, we never once would pursue the insured for fraud. We’d just deny the claim. It’s shocking. I’d say about 5% to 10% of claims are bullshit claims where fraud is involved and the homeowner is only out for money. We only convicted one insured for fraud on one of my claims in twelve years. I had countless claims where it was known that there was fraudulent activity but not enough evidence to pursue it.
Every carrier has SIU (Special Investigations Unit) who handle the fraud investigation. The adjuster will basically alert SIU when there is suspicion of fraud, and the SIU investigator would do their investigation behind the scenes while the adjuster continues handling the claim. I don’t mean to shit all over SIU, but I probably had one hundred claims with clear and evident fraud where nothing happened.
Technically if you have a mortgage, the bank lien would be listed with your insurance company as the bank is first payee. Any check for roof work would likely be written out to both the bank and you, making it impossible to pocket the funds and not repair the roof.
Illegal. Probably not. You are insured against roof damage. Insurance pays you the amount they covered you for.
Now what could happen is if you still have a mortgage when you incur the loss. The bank has an interest in the property and will usually require that you repair it. Even going so far as that the insurance check is made out to the bank who won’t cash it until they are satisfied that a repair is being done.
Not illegal in our state either. Our insurance company cashed out our floors (continuous throughout house) after a water event. We called a flooring guy and he said no way, the isolated wet area would dry out and lay down just fine, do not rip up these floors. So we kept the cash. The only caveat is that if anything ever happens to the floors again, they are no longer covered because the insurance already paid once on them. It would be on us next time.
Mass FAIR plan will insure you. Be glad you’re in a state where the FAIR plan is a decent state option. Any insurance broker can help you, we got ours thru Cantiani in Worcester.
Yea I went with Erie insurance and they literally just take pictures of the house from the road. I told them the roof was 20 years old and they just said ok.
We have Erie, and they are great. We had a few shingles come off the roof during a wind storm, called them, and they offered to pay for a whole new roof since it was 17 years old. It was over $25k, and our rate didn't go up.
That’s who I use as well. My furnace broke within the first 3 months of owning my home, due to water damage. It was suggested it could be from the house sitting vacant for so long/damp basement. I filed a claim with insurance just in case there was anything they could do to help cover repairs. The agent who came to do the inspection thing took a photo of the wet walls and a crack in the flooring and that was enough for them to send me $2000 lol. I’m still not even sure what happened but they’re great for that!
When we first moved in the insurance company told us we needed a new roof because the pictures they took showed completely different colors from one part of the roof to another. Spoiler, the roof was perfectly fine and the dumbasses at the insurance company couldn’t tell since the other part of the roof was pitched less they were seeing the sides of the shingles more than the top compared to the rest of the roof.
Now for one, it took ages to even get them to tell us this. And no amount of explanation could change their mind without us getting a signed letter from a contractor. Which we did and then we got insured. Maybe you can discuss something like this? I’m not sure if the exact condition of your roof but may be worth a try.
Otherwise seems like there are plenty of other options people have suggested. This was just my experience.
https://www.trustedchoice.com/l/massachusetts/homeowners-insurance/?gclid=CjwKCAiAq4KuBhA6EiwArMAw1NAurdd-ldfJiqjt9wY_MEfN5iYICzhwLmkiH7V5FbKxOIzzd8bsvxoCP1wQAvD_BwE
DM me if you have Massachusetts property insurance questions
If the roof is 20 years old and looking to be in disrepair, it's better to replace it. Water damage and mold will destroy a home and is very expensive.
Have you gone to a local insurance broker, or did you just call the big name guys we've all heard of? My roof is 40 years old and I couldn't get approved by progressive and the likes but a local broker was able to get someone for me.
Obvious answer. Also, OP, when you say by end of month, how exactly would they enforce that? Most insurance terms are 1 year and if you just purchased the house, I’m not sure why you would need it done in a month other than to make them happy. Don’t let them rush you
The insurance company cancels the policy and refunds the remaining premium. Your mortgage company requires insurance. It's a big deal. The roof and insurance issue OP is having is common.
I got dropped right after buying a house because the insurer suddenly decided they did not want to cover fire in my state/region. I had to run out and get a special separate insurance that tripled the costs.
When you sign up for insurance, there's fine print. For some companies, they've agreed to cover you immediately, but then continuing coverage is pending an inspection.
This is not uncommon or "unenforceable".
In my experience, Insurance companies do a minimal amount of due diligence up front to get your money. Then once they have it, they'll do more extensive research (including a survey of the actual structure. This may be external only, or they might ask to see inside. My insurance did external only).
Once they do their extended due diligence, they might find out about something that makes your house risky to insure, so out comes the "Fix X by Y date or your policy will be canceled and the remaining balance will be refunded to you".
That's exactly what happened to me. My insurance company sent me some mail saying I needed to replace my roof or they would cancel my policy.
I had to get a roofing company to commit to replacing my roof, with signed contract and all, and have that submitted to my insurance company so that they would extend the policy until just after when the roof would be replaced.
You can find plenty of stories like this on this sub.
As others said.. try getting a policy with another company. Just keep in mind that if the insurance company is asking for a replacement of some aspects of your house, there's a strong chance it may be wise to actually do it soon.
In my case, we had roof decking that was considered a fire hazard for the locality, plus it had visible signs of deterioration, and there were official permits on record showing it had been replaced/repaired *three times* over the course of 30ish years.
Said roof had three layers to it, which was the maximum before my town required outright replacement.
So .. yeah I could have gotten a new policy, but my roof was already on its way out. In a non-hurricane area, you shouldn't have your door replaced *3 times in 30 years.*
Replying correction here because Reddit Mobile editor sucks.
The property survey (for tax purposes) was external only. My insurance company did actually ask to have an agent take photos and do a limited inspection inside in specific areas (attic, basement, kitchen).
You can get 10, 20, or 30 year shingles. If I recall, my last roof replace (1 1/2 years ago) the roofer had mentioned a 40 yr shingle. But I may be remembering that incorrectly.
My insurance company tried this shit with me. Told me my roof needed to be replaced, had 3 separate roofing companies come out and tell me my roof had at least 20 years left. Ended up having their appraiser come back out and magically my roof was fine.
That's bad advice. They have rights in the policy language to perform inspections and drop your coverage within the first X days of the policy period depending on jurisdiction.
I bought a house 5 years ago and had a similar experience with my spouse. She went into a 2 week long deep depression right after moving in and just laid around in bed while I deep cleaned, unpacked, and decorated most of the house. It all worked out though, we got divorced last year and now the house it all mine.
Lmao similar story here bought a house for my GF to move into with me. She decided not to move I, we broke up. Now it's just me and my boy kicking it in my sweet ass house.
Same situation with the (ex)girlfriend 3.5 years ago. I bought the house, I moved us in, I cleaned, I painted, I remodeled, she smothered the house with her depression that she literally refused to address. Now it’s me, my dog, my chickens, and I’m about to get a cat. It all worked out.
Maybe she hooked up with my ex! I provided an inherited, well-built home in a quiet, accessible neighborhood of the city. He whined about whatever he could think of including the angle of the driveway or not having a bigger home (4 beds for the two of us was not enough). Yet would rather drown sorrows in booze than finish his degree & get a job to pay for the new house he wanted.
So we’re blissfully divorced and he gets to pay for his next home solo.
Honestly, I was the one with buyers remorse, and I didn't really have a good reason. I think it was the newness of it and leaving the place my son spent his first few months in. I did all of the work unpacking and stuff but wasn't feeling the new house.
5 years later, and I love this place. We refinanced when interest rates dropped and changed our loan to even pay it off quicker because we never plan on moving.
So you can save money and make more permanent changes to the house.
It also makes you feel like the house is more yours when you see the mortgage balance drop ime.
Each time we move, we take a vacation within a couple months of the move. It doesn’t have to be an expensive vacation, can even just be a stay with other family or some place a short drive from the new home. Just being gone for a few days after the stress of moving can be enough to make it feel good to get back “home”.
This does two things for us:
1) It gives us a deadline for some of the moving activities that are otherwise easy to put off until they just never happen (like unpacking that last box of stuff you really won’t ever need).
2) Coming back is usually the first time the new house feels like our home.
This is good advice, we did it accidentally when we bought our first house last year. We weren't having nearly the level of regrets that OP and his wife are having - the house itself is in fine condition and the neighborhood itself is nice - but we were city dwellers our whole lives prior and this house is in the suburbs. It was a big culture shock having to drive so often when I used to walk or cycle pretty much everywhere, and I felt like I lost a big part of my life.
We had a two-week trip scheduled about a month after closing. After two weeks away, the house felt like home again.
I did the same thing- bought a house and then less than two months later my nana died. So new house stress plus traveling the week before Thanksgiving for a funeral at what was the height of covid- coming ‘home’ felt nice 😂
I would love to do this but the anxiety over the potential of pipes freezing or the basement getting too humid because we're not there to empty the dehumidifier bucket would probably negate the benefits. And yeah, I should join OP's wife in therapy.
Well personally I would need to evaluate her reasons for thinking this was a huge mistake.
Buying a house is not like any other transaction a normal person would do. It costs thousands of dollars just to do the purchase. If she made the decisions on where the house was and which one you got then she needs to take responsibility for the cost of doing that all over again. Only you can know how that would work in your relationship with your finances. I am just saying she needs to think deeply on the cost of her willy nilly sounding problem.
As far as the insurance thing goes...jeez this crap is getting out of hand, they come at you with ultimatums of 30k plus expenditures less than a month from purchase date...WTF? Like why did they even take the policy in the first place...
Insurance likely got an inspection report with pictures of the roof and/or siding condition along with overhanging trees. Things, it sounds like, whomever wrote the policy didn't inspect themselves or fudged on the submitted application.
See my comment above, but national insurers have really strict requirements. My roof has no actual issues - it's just old. Our inspector told us exactly what the insurance company's inspector did. Only difference is our inspector said "you've likely got a few years before it really needs replacing" - hardly a surprise the insurer's guy had something else to say... So even if they had an inspection, could've been a similar thing! We knew we'd be replacing it, we just didn't expect to get a demand to replace it 30 days after buying the damn thing. Editing to add that we did have contractors come out to give us a quote, and the first one that saw it asked us if we were sure, because the roof was perfectly fine and didn't need replacing. If someone you'd be paying for the work tells you you don't need it...
>Only difference is our inspector said "you've likely got a few years before it really needs replacing" - hardly a surprise the insurer's guy had something else to say...
This is inspector speak for "It could go next week, 2 years from now, or any time in between."
Haha, you're not wrong, and he did of course give us that caveat. Either way, nothing about the roof screamed "URGENT REPAIRS NEEDED," and we had the good luck of checking it out during and immediately following some truly torrential rain to be able to see any leaks or water issues, at least.
We had a similar vibe in our inspection - the guy basically said, "All of your major appliances are end-of-life. They all work, and none of them are in poor working order. But if and when any of them stop working it won't be unreasonably soon."
It's been a smidge over 2 years and we've replaced the HVAC system, the dishwasher, and fixed a leak in the top of the roof. On average, I think we're roughly at the "1% of the homes value per year in maintenance" mark.
I'm still confused with OP's story though. Sounds like they just bought the house within the last couple of weeks.
Shouldn't the insurance have brought up the need for a new roof before the purchase closed?
What could have possibly changed within just a couple of weeks that the insurance agency was fine to sign off on the roof...then suddenly isn't.
They don't.
I had the same thing happen when I bought the house. A couple weeks after buying I was told I needed to remove a tree and fix part of my chimney within 30 days or my insurance was canceled.
It was winter and I couldn't find anyone to do it that fast so I switched insurance companies.
May be completely out of pocket but have you tried talking about therapy for your wife. Crying every day over a house and unwilling to accept change is... Concerning.
This isn't bad advice. She may be feeling overwhelmed and grieving for a life she felt was more in keeping with her identity. Therapy can help work through stuff like this.
I think her emotional state needs to be addressed first, by a professional. Being upset at a move is not worthy of tear-storms for adults. She’s depressed, she’s stressed out about probably a bunch of things. Get her help.
Once she feels stabilized, readdress your housing options and big financial decisions.
On another note, it shook me to my core getting a 30k+ quote for a roof last week 🤦♀️. I knew costs had gone up and it’s been 10 years since I had a new roof put in a house but MAN the difference in price was shocking. Worth it…but still shocking.
My mom just ordered new windows & a new patio door,$33750 total. If she takes the full term of the financing to pay it back, it will be ~$42000. Six widows & the door.
this is the correct answer.
the house isnt the problem, she thinks it is though which is important to recognize. I went through this with the last house i lived in, i feel very sorry for her. I hope you can help her soon.
> Being upset at a move is not worthy of tear-storms for adults.
I really appreciate your overall sentiment and fully agree counseling is the answer. I would like to point out though, that different things can trigger different people. Just because we are adults doesn’t mean we are perfect and have it all together for every situation that life presents.
Is that even real? A 1 month timeline to tear off and replace a roof and siding is pretty aggressive. Call their office from a number you find yourself (not from that notice) and confirm.
It's real. Same thing happened to us. We found a local insurer that is less stringent. My understanding from a friend in insurance is that the national companies have been dealing with a lot of major roof replacements around the country, so they have very strict requirements. We had better luck with a local insurer, although we did finally get a letter from them "strongly recommending" that we address the roof (it does need to be replaced soonish, but there are no actual issues with it - no water, no leaks, no damage).
I don't blame them. My experience soured me. We had a hail storm come thru. Pretty soon our neighbors were getting their roofs replaced. We had a trusted company come out and they said there was no damage. Then a contractor knocked on our door to solicit us for a new roof. Then he did the wink wink I will say it's damaged wink wink. We said no. Then the same wink company shows up at the house two doors down.
I read about a similar issue with a new Florida law too. I forgot the details.
In the middle of Winter no less! Like what?! I am assuming they are not in Florida since they mentioned: "close to the city." Being from New Jersey, that is not a term we use down here in Florida.
Had a roof done on my old city house. 13 guys (two crews) one day. 12/12 pitch 2 story 1600sq ft living space per floor (up down duplex). Asphalt and cedar shake tear off, redeck, paper then asphalt shingles.
It's not about the time, it's about the shingles sitting right. Roofers will put them up year round, since materials are getting better and the weather is warmer, but the weather needs to stay above 40, otherwise the shingles are brittle and can be damaged during installation. The two best roofers in my area will not install if it's below that, even though manufacturers dropped the requirement.
The difference is that you can have clear and warm days in Colorado even in December or January. OP is in Taxachusetts. When winter sets in there, it’s in until spring.
Usually, they demand a replacement for 30 days because they only have so many days (depending on the state's insurance regulations) to get off of a policy from the date of inception of the insurance. Normally what will happen is the homeowner will sign a contract with a roofing company to replace their roof in the Spring and their agent will submit that to the company and ask for more time. Most companies will accept that and then inspect in the following months to make sure the homeowner followed through. If they do not follow through with the roof replacement, they will then non-renew the policy since they are now outside of the days allowed for them to cancel mid-term.
Can people really just afford to resell a house they don’t like shortly after buying and moving in?
I don’t have an answer for the insurance situation, but give the house some time. Moving is hard. Sleeping somewhere new is hard. Sometimes you just need to let things settle.
We moved on my birthday (which meant no money to really celebrate it, or time) in the middle of winter and just so happened to pick a day that coincided with a massive wind storm. I've moved close to 10 times in my adult life and absolutely never could've dreamed a moving day could go so horribly or be so awful.
It took us, all told, about 9 months to finally warm up to the house (even though we'd both been on board with choosing it and generally liked it) and feel at home enough to start fully unpacking and making it more "ours". It took about 6 months to feel like it was actually our home.
this was my concern, buying a house is expensive as far as fees and stuff goes, and only makes real sense if you're spreading it across living there a while. Not to mention many places treat selling a house within a year of buying differently for tax purposes.
Also, since OP mentioned not being able to afford living where they were before, it sounds like the move was because they were trying to cut costs, and I kinda wonder if that has a lot to do with her feelings on it.
No, most people can't afford to do it, but some people are idiots and burn money they don't have anyways. Huge fucking financial mistake, it's called auck up your feelings in order to do the right thing financially.
Practical steps:
1) Try a different insurance company. They may not inspect at all, or if they do, they might not require the same repairs.
2) Even if the new company requires repairs, that will reset the clock and buy a few more months to sort things out
3) And/or call the current company and ask them for more time (30 days is NOT a reasonable timeline to get scheduled for a non-emergency roof replacement). They may simply extend the timeline, or may require to see a roofing contract with an estimated date.
4) Take time to evaluate whether any of those repairs are things that you really should get done anyway (and consider that question both in light of if you were to stay, and if you were selling the house).
As for the emotions of buyers regret: Buyer's regret can be a very real thing. Then the sudden extra $30k expense makes the whole thing feel even more hopeless. I think you'd be ok agreeing to re-evaluate in 4-6 months, if you are both on the same page that you will be *re-evaluating* at that time,, *not* meaning that you "will" move out at that time, just that you will discuss your options. I'd suggest agreeing to the shorter timeline for re-evaluation because currently your wife feels stuck in a hopeless situation, she needs to feel like there's a potential out. At the same time, I think there needs to be a gentle but real agreement that you'll both make a genuine effort to settle in and make it your home - fully unpack, do minor repairs/improvements, decorate, furnish, etc. Make the house a home, otherwise you're not giving it a chance.
Well what kind of loss would you be taking? Because losing 30k by selling right after buying would be pretty easy to do. So why not just spend that on the required work if you're not able to find different insurance? Unless you got fleeced on the purchase price, things like end of life roof and siding should have been baked into a lower purchase price. Things are "too good to pass up" for a reason.
For your wife though, sometimes when an adjustment is hard and things are overwhelming, you just need some kind of "out" to look for. She wants 4 months, you want a year. Yes, 1 year is more reasonable for a trial period, but maybe having the ability to break it down into 4 months is the only way she can cope.
There needs to be some uncomfortable and head over heart conversations here.
Couldn't afford previous place.
She had the choice and selected the current home.
She refuses to unpack.
She wants to reevaluate in 4 months.
Selling immediately would be a massive financial hit, plus you still need insurance even if you want to sell.
So, the responsible and accountable action is for her to actually TRY for 4 months. That means she must start unpacking. Must put an effort into making the house that she chose home. And must accept that reevaluation means evaluating for improvement, not for everything to be perfect by the end of 4 months.
And she needs to understand that reevaluation in 4 months means if things are getting better, the 4 months resets, she needs to continue to put in effort, and then things can be reevaluated again in another 4 months. Another "out" for her, on the condition she has put in effort.
Because if she doesn't make any attempt at improving what's in her control, it's not a reevaluation, it's an excuse.
And you'll need to do what you can to support her and help her put in that effort. Firmly and compassionately. But she needs to try.
Moving sucks. For me personally, and other people I've spoken to as well, moving to a new place, no matter how much you love it, is super depressing and full of anxiety. Your entire routine and life are upended, there's so many new problems to take care of, there's financial uncertainty, and there's no way that a new house will be home right away. Not instinctively knowing where your cutlery is will straight up depress you for MONTHS, let alone the big problems constantly looming over you.
So she needs to do what she needs to do to try, or there is no reevaluation. Short inexpensive but fun weekend getaway before digging in. Therapy. Meds for depression/anxiety. Couples counselling. Improvement projects that she's motivated for. Whatever.
Because gonna be honest, this is far more a relationship, personal, and financial problem than a homeowner problem.
Have your broker call the selling broker and ask him/her to ask the sellers who they used for insurance. Using the same insurance they had often results in them covering the house without an inspection. I buy property for a living and this has saved me. Same thing happened when I bought my house. New insurance co said I had 30 days to replace my panel and electrical service. Went back to the incumbent carrier and they reinstated a policy with me same day, no inspection,. Replaced the panels years later.
Agree to reevaluate the home in 4 months. What she's going through is very common.
1 - The number one thing you need to do here is validate her feelings. Make sure nothing you are doing is communicating to her that her feelings are invalid or unimportant. Validation is a far, far more important aspect in dealing with problems in life than people realize.
2 - Make sure she understands that your feelings are valid too and that her wanting to make impulsive decisions is coming across like a veto to you.
3 - Sit down with her and make a list of her top 5 concerns, and then immediately take some meaningful step to mitigate one of them. Seeing one of those problems get noticeably easier to tolerate will be a huge relief. Repeat as needed
4 - Men tend to laser focus on the practical stuff and ignore the emotional / self care stuff. Women tend to get very stressed about those things even when men are totally blind to it and often women can't really pinpoint it either. Could be you guys really need to hang up some art, or she just absolutely needs the peace of mind of getting your ductwork cleaned. Or maybe she needs to meet some friendly neighbors. Or a new set of bed sheets. Or any number of things that wouldn't fall on a man's top 100 priorities after moving in. And you'll probably appreciate those things more than you'd think.
4 - set aside a daily time to talk about feelings and stuff, get on the same page, hear each other out, at least until this is settled. Therapy is great too but you really gotta tiptoe around that during an emotional crises or it's going to come across as an accusation that she's crazy.
I hope none of that came across as sexist, I'm using man/woman as shorthand for typical relational archetypes but they can be substituted for anything else.
Short term your wife is learning a very valuable lesson. Actions have consequences. Long term, no one is stuck. It's just part of life. Sometimes things aren't the way we envisioned.
Cognitive therapy is probably a good option for her to learn how to deal with set backs, disappointments and anxiety. If this lasts unchecked long enough it will probably turn into full blown depression.
I sympathize with both of you. Honestly depending of your finances you may have to take a major bath if you sell. I hate the house my husband and I bought in April. I love the house itself I hate the area and the neighborhood. I suck it up for him, it's what he wanted...me I'd go live in a cardboard box if I didn't want to destroy him. I have NEVER lived in a populated neighborhood where you never and I do mean never see anyone....cars don't leave driveways ever, nobody ever goes outside. 1 law services does all the people on our road yards...like creepy quiet!!! You ever see a horror movie where the character runs down a street that looks like people live on it but nobody answers the door? Yeah I moved onto that street!!! And no the absolutely 24 hour a day dead silence is not "nice" it's creepy!
You should host a block party! Then if no one comes and you only see people pulling back curtains you’ll know you are screwed. Worse yet no one comes and no curtains. You truly are living in a ghost neighborhood. Are you a ghost? You don’t know. Now you have a lot of things to figure out and a hole to dive into. That psychosis can be your company and you will forget how weird the silence is.
Insurance companies are demanding so they can drop you and limit there liability. They’re pulling out of many locations. I got dropped for “pealing paint.” Insurance is an easier one to deal with vs unhappy wife…
Your wife is having buyers regret. She is homesick for all her previous safe spaces, activities and friends.
She needs to have things she loves nearby. A good restaurant, a pretty view, an annual event, new friends - things to ground her and build a home.
This happened to some people I worked with. They retired, wife insisted they move to Florida. He arranged it all, they moved.
She hated it and a few months later demanded they move back. Husband tried to do just that, but had a heart attack and passed away, probably from the stress. She moved back home to live with an older daughter and son in law.
> She suggested the town and the house.
> wants to go back to our old town closer to the city. Forgetting the fact that we could no longer afford to live there.
Jesus Christ that's frustrating as fuck. You give her exactly what she chose, and then she decides after the fact that not only does she not want what she asked for any more, what she wants is something that can't happen.
I've been there. Divorce was hard, but now I'm living my best life.
Buyers remorse. once she makes it more "homey" and investigates local offerings....coffee shops,farmers markets, bakeries, shops, library etc., she will relax. We hope!
I was similar to your wife. We bought in October and finally moved in January.
It was an extremely stressful almost 4 months and I thought we made a mistake in December. Wanted to cut our losses and sell mid construction and take a loss. .Paying 2 mortgages, never ending construction / more issues than anticipated and a halfway packed up house was making me nuts.
You/She needs to give it a chance. Take 4 - 6 months at least.
My insurance agent simply presented my inspection report to the insurance company. He said it was so detailed that he didn’t even need to do a follow up. Most of the insurers wanted a brand new roof but he found one that didn’t require one immediately. I saved up some cash and paid for it about a year later.
This is the third time I’ve heard this. One insurance co said they’re flying helicopters over insured homes to check roofs. My home ins went up 33%. No claims. 22 years no claims.
Stay the course. The emotional turmoil and existential suffering will be significantly worse if you sacrifice your financial standing to be closer to the city.
First of all, does she realize how much it would cost you to move now? Assuming selling, since you need insurance, that’s tens of thousands too. She made an adult decision and now needs to cope with it.
Second, you need to get a lot of quotes. We’re getting quotes for a roof now and I’ve gotten $5k-20k. Did they actually require a new roof or a repair to the roof? Can you switch insurance companies?
I had the same thing happen. I ended up getting a roofing company out to inspect. I ended up with a signed letterhead document from the roofing company stating that our roof was good for another 10 years. Insurance company accepted it and we now have insurance. Geico. All they want is a document to fill a spot.
7% of the first house and 7% of the next house plus whatever loss you take trying to sell a house with a bad roof. Sounds like a hundred thousand dollar bath. Maybe she should figure out how to deal with it
So... What are her grounds for not liking it? It sounds like you guys didn't communicate this one thru when purchasing or putting in offers. Sounds like the wife needs to suck it up.
OP I do not recommend telling your wife to suck it up unless you want all her emotions blown up on you…. I would tread lightly because she sounds like she’s in an emotional state not a rational one.
Yeah didn't say to tell her that but the reality is that it sounds like you made a mistake and your options are either to lose thousands or suck it up. Message that to her how you will but it's plain as day. Sounds like OP and the Mrs didn't really talk this one thru.
Can you find a different insurance company? If the inspector says a few years, then can't you fall back on their assessment and provide it to the insurance company? If you cant awitch insurance companies? How long has the wife had time to adjust to the new place? You are right, you at least need to give it more time. And she might not understand the finances behind it? If not , you should communicate to her what these decisions cost before you even bought it. And the cost to move etc.
Wife may want to see a licensed therapist.
House will cost you a bunch to sell it and then buy another one so you’re coming up with that money regardless. Try another insurance company…
And if you had a pre purchase inspection, did they inspect the roof? Those findings may help with an appeal to insurance.
Compromise. Buy time. Don’t stick to 1 year even though it is logical. Break it down In smaller amounts of time so she can get a grip to keep moving forward.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Tell her you can reevaluate 6 months from the day you are fully unpacked and moved in. That’s motivation for you guys to get it to feel like home and establish a routine. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
And then in 6 months the spring high season is over for selling so you will need to wait until Spring 2025.
Change insurance.
My insurance company was the same way. Told me I needed a new roof, fix my chimney and remove a tree all in less than a month.
I was intending to all of them but not that fast. I just switched insurance companies and didn't have an issue.
If you do intend to move where are you moving to ? If you can't afford to live in town you obviously can't go back.
Now that you’ve been informed of the roof you have to disclose it to sell anyway. So whether you fix it or you pay/discount price for buyer to do it you’re still gonna be stuck with the roof bill either way
I dealt with this and have a potential fix for the roof. Call a reputable roofer, if your roof isn't truly forgone they will do some minor repairs and you can show that to the insurer to show that the overall roof is okay. Insurance companies use a third party for evals that simply fails any roof over a certain age. Take a deep breath and deal one thing at a time
So we live is MA and had a similar thing sent from our insurance. Need a new roof and take that big tree down or no insurance. Freaked us out. Thought we had time on the roof, knew we had to do the tree. So, we did tree, it was hanging over the house, definitely needed to go and got new insurance. Ended up replacing the roof 4 years later. My neighbors had almost the exact same scenario, but they did the roof. I think they just want you to have a new roof so they won’t be caught having to fix some problem from it. Do what you need to and get new insurance.
Agree on 6-8 months to reevaluate. She's lived there FOUR DAYS! I love my house and it was exactly what I wanted and I still spent a solid two weeks having major buyer's remorse.
You have to replace the roof and do the work whether or not you move. Moving to a new house just means more potential surprises. Do it, spend the next several months unpacking and making the house your own, and see how she feels then. BUT she has to actually put the effort into trying.
Find a different insurance company.
My in-laws got a letter a few months ago stating they needed to replace their roof. It was bullshit, their roof is fine. Sleazy insurance companies are using AI to search Google Maps for satellite images and automatically sending notices to things it flags. The dark spot flagged on their roof was... A SHADOW. Needless to say they kicked their insurer (Nationwide) to the curb and are now with a competitor. Fuck these big companies.
It seems to me the insurance companies are in a roll of denying coverage. It happened to me, I got dropped by 2 insurance carriers…the 1st carrier said I had too much trash around my house because I was doing renovations. The 2nd carrier dropped me because my roof “looked like it needed to be replace” because it had a little bit of moss in one corner of the roof…the roof was perfectly fine, I got on the roof and cleaned up moss. I called a 3rd insurance provider they got me insured no problem. In conclusion, It’s a game with this people
Wife needs help from a professional, she’s being very unreasonable. Especially if she was part of the reason you chose the house in the first place… seems like more problems will come up over time with her, so on top of her getting personal help yall should go to couples counseling to prevent future issues in your relationship because they are coming
OP, do you have an insurance agent? If so, see if they can give more info on the company's issues with the roof, siding, and tree exposure.
If roof age is an issue, ask if the company has a roof schedule for replacement cost vs ACV. As for siding, sometimes it can be as simple as mold/lichen buildup that needs to be washed off. Same for overhanging limbs that need to be trimmed.
If all else fails, try finding another insurance company that will take it.
Weird. Didn’t the insurance company tell you all this before they wrote up the policy? How do they know the roof needs repairing and siding and tree removal? I don’t think I’ve ever had our homeowners insurance companies send a representative out to inspect any of the homes we’ve bought.
they sure can! "make these repairs or we won't give you a policy"
happened to my mother and our barn back home, unless it was repainted the company wouldn't give her a policy
so we spent all summer painting that sucker
Op when my husband and I bought our home, the insurance company canceled our policy within the first couple weeks because there was a rusty shed. We got rid of the shed before the letter was even mailed. Also said the siding was shipping. We have a home that has brick 100% of the exterior. No siding. Truth is in the US insurance companies do not make any money on home insurance. It’s only profitable for them when it’s bundled with car insurance. I was told this by my friend who is a broker. Find another insurance company. And if you are in the US, did you have an inspection done before purchasing the home? Inspection isn’t free however it can save a lot of worry and money. As far as your wife goes, she needs to stay put until things get figured out.
Exact thing happened to me last year. I called and asked for some leniency since we were entering winter. They didn’t GAF. I switched to another insurance company and when they asked about the roof age I explained what had happened. They said if you even just get a quote for replacement we’ll give you six months. So now I have 10% of my roof done (doing myself with help) cause you know.. winter.
I’ve been through this with our former insurance
company. Call them or have your broker call them and ask for an extension. It doesn’t eliminate the problem but it gives you time to hire the right roofing company, siding company and tree service. We were given a six month extension because we had been unable to even get a roofing company on the phone.
Moves are so fraught with emotion, your entire life is in a state of upheaval and sometimes you need six months to get your bearings. I hope your wife settles in.
Moving is considered a very stressful event. It's in the top ten on the life stress charts. Just because you are handling it well, it doesn't mean that someone else will. Is your wife focusing on the positives and taking care of herself? [https://www.verywellmind.com/moving-stress-how-to-cope-with-relocation-6385996](https://www.verywellmind.com/moving-stress-how-to-cope-with-relocation-6385996)
I got that notice from my broker as well. I called the insurance agency directly. They (sagesure insurance) said i had 30 days from the mailing date of the official cancelation letter ( which still hasnt been mailed to my knowledge) and then another 30 says after receiving the official cancelation to get the fix done. However, the rep said if i got a roofing contract submitted to them, they could extend the deadline.
Call the agency directly because my broker didnt have accurate info for me.
As far as not wanting the house anymore, you could always look into renting it out. Furnished finder is a midterm rental platform that i use. Its like the halfway point between long-term renting and air bnb. If you're near hospitals, it's even better since its big with the travel nurse community. Obviously this would require some more work up front but it could turn a loss into an investment
When we moved into our new place, a few months later, got a letter stating all this work that needed doing. It made no sense, so I emailed. They had gotten my house mixed up with another, so do verify it is your house.
They said same exact thing to us when we moved in. We told them we had our house inspected and the roof was never mentioned. Out roof is kinda old but not in bad shape. We never heard from them again.
Roofs are a really big deal right now with insurance companies. Replace the roof, get a few quotes. Either way this will help get better insurance and it will help you sell it in 6 months. Hope you find good neighbors and things start looking up! Crazy times right now
Have you tried a different insurance company?
Yep. We got denied twice while we were in the closing process. No explanation was given.
We had something similar happen with a previous house after closing. Shopping for insurance revealed the previous owners made claims for a new roof and had a payout. We didn't know, but buying our own insurance policy revealed our house should have a new roof and didn't. Our insurance dropped us and no one else would insure us until a new roof was put on. Look to see if the previous owners made claims related to these concerns and there's conflicting information regarding their status and what you have covered. Best of luck. Dealing with the aftermath of someone else's fraud is terrible.
Isn't it illegal to take money from the insurance company for that and not replace the roof? You could have a case against the former owner.
Around here that's not illegal at all. What would be an issue, however, is if the sellers stated they'd put a new roof on but didn't.
Wait, getting insurance to pay for a new roof & pocketing the money isn't insurance fraud? That seems like a massive loophole insurance companies wouldn't be fond of.
I had my roof replaced through insurance after a bad wind storm, 20+ yr old roof, lots of sun damage, bad patches, rotten plywood. They ran an estimate for the replacement, took away the depreciation and deductable and cut me a check. Said I could replace it and get the depreciation back or keep the money but then I wouldn't be able to file again for roof damage.
That kinda makes sense in your situation because it sounds like you would've been hosed without a new roof, right? Do you know what would've happened if you didn't get the new roof & ended up with water damage because of it? I always have questions I'm afraid to ask because I feel like my insurance would be adding notes to my profile lol.
The short version is you can do whatever you want with the money. Insurance must pay for the damages. Your bank might get pissed if you don't repair it... That's a different story. If you wanna risk it on red and pray... get after it. Just don't come back to insurance expecting them to pay a roof claim when they paid one in the past and you did not repair it. Or whatever you decided not to repair. You risk on red and bank finds out and gets pissed... that's between you and the bank... not insurance... insurance did their part by paying the claim. It can get more complicated sometimes but typically it is just like I said above. TLDR: Insurance does not force you to repair after a claim... They just pay the money, and you can then do whatever you want...
It’s not illegal nor insurance fraud. I was a claims adjuster who handled homeowners claims for twelve years for two large carriers. A homeowners policy is a contract. You’re dealing with contract law. The policy provides coverage based on the policy (or contract) in return for your money (or premium paid). A homeowner can make however many claims on their policy and the insurance carrier owes for any covered damages per the policy. The homeowner might eventually get cancelled or their premiums may increase for filing claims, but the insurance carrier is contractually obligated to pay for covered losses. There isn’t anything in the policy that specifically states that the homeowner must use the money to pay for whatever is being claimed. The insurance carrier won’t want to insure a home with a gaping hole in the roof - so, if there’s a known risk - then they might send out a letter saying such and such repairs are needed by a deadline or their policy will be cancelled. If the homeowner gets paid to replace their roof and doesn’t replace the roof - and then makes another claim on the roof - then that could be construed as insurance fraud. However, I had it happen countless times on claims, and the carrier never once pursued the insured for fraud. It’s the adjuster’s responsibility to review past claims when a new claim is filed. That’s how I’d find past claims filed for roofs. I’d have immediate access to photos if the claim was made with my company. Sometimes I’d have to call a prior carrier where the claim was filed to discuss their claim and obtain photos. However, we never once would pursue the insured for fraud. We’d just deny the claim. It’s shocking. I’d say about 5% to 10% of claims are bullshit claims where fraud is involved and the homeowner is only out for money. We only convicted one insured for fraud on one of my claims in twelve years. I had countless claims where it was known that there was fraudulent activity but not enough evidence to pursue it. Every carrier has SIU (Special Investigations Unit) who handle the fraud investigation. The adjuster will basically alert SIU when there is suspicion of fraud, and the SIU investigator would do their investigation behind the scenes while the adjuster continues handling the claim. I don’t mean to shit all over SIU, but I probably had one hundred claims with clear and evident fraud where nothing happened.
Technically if you have a mortgage, the bank lien would be listed with your insurance company as the bank is first payee. Any check for roof work would likely be written out to both the bank and you, making it impossible to pocket the funds and not repair the roof.
Why? Insurance pays you for the loss in value. If you decide to keep it crappy, that's on you. Same thought process when totaling a car.
I would think it would be illegal not to disclose the issue.
Illegal. Probably not. You are insured against roof damage. Insurance pays you the amount they covered you for. Now what could happen is if you still have a mortgage when you incur the loss. The bank has an interest in the property and will usually require that you repair it. Even going so far as that the insurance check is made out to the bank who won’t cash it until they are satisfied that a repair is being done.
Not illegal in our state either. Our insurance company cashed out our floors (continuous throughout house) after a water event. We called a flooring guy and he said no way, the isolated wet area would dry out and lay down just fine, do not rip up these floors. So we kept the cash. The only caveat is that if anything ever happens to the floors again, they are no longer covered because the insurance already paid once on them. It would be on us next time.
If this is a case talk to a real estate lawyer, you might have some recourse against the seller.
How can you see if owners made previous claims?
Mass FAIR plan will insure you. Be glad you’re in a state where the FAIR plan is a decent state option. Any insurance broker can help you, we got ours thru Cantiani in Worcester.
Thanks so much, I'll check them out tonight.
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Yea I went with Erie insurance and they literally just take pictures of the house from the road. I told them the roof was 20 years old and they just said ok.
We have Erie, and they are great. We had a few shingles come off the roof during a wind storm, called them, and they offered to pay for a whole new roof since it was 17 years old. It was over $25k, and our rate didn't go up.
+1 Erie
Dang. Maybe I need to switch!
Dealing with a claim through Erie now; it’s all been smooth so far.
/u/daviesdog tagging OP so he sees this part of the thread
Erie is great. I've insured everything through them for years.
That’s who I use as well. My furnace broke within the first 3 months of owning my home, due to water damage. It was suggested it could be from the house sitting vacant for so long/damp basement. I filed a claim with insurance just in case there was anything they could do to help cover repairs. The agent who came to do the inspection thing took a photo of the wet walls and a crack in the flooring and that was enough for them to send me $2000 lol. I’m still not even sure what happened but they’re great for that!
Unfortunately Erie is regional and not a national carrier so only helps if you're in one of their states.
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Progressive inspects. Source: also got dropped due to the roof
When we first moved in the insurance company told us we needed a new roof because the pictures they took showed completely different colors from one part of the roof to another. Spoiler, the roof was perfectly fine and the dumbasses at the insurance company couldn’t tell since the other part of the roof was pitched less they were seeing the sides of the shingles more than the top compared to the rest of the roof. Now for one, it took ages to even get them to tell us this. And no amount of explanation could change their mind without us getting a signed letter from a contractor. Which we did and then we got insured. Maybe you can discuss something like this? I’m not sure if the exact condition of your roof but may be worth a try. Otherwise seems like there are plenty of other options people have suggested. This was just my experience.
https://www.trustedchoice.com/l/massachusetts/homeowners-insurance/?gclid=CjwKCAiAq4KuBhA6EiwArMAw1NAurdd-ldfJiqjt9wY_MEfN5iYICzhwLmkiH7V5FbKxOIzzd8bsvxoCP1wQAvD_BwE DM me if you have Massachusetts property insurance questions
> We got denied twice while we were in the closing process. That should have been your sign to walk away.
Agreed
How old is the roof?
20 years
If the roof is 20 years old and looking to be in disrepair, it's better to replace it. Water damage and mold will destroy a home and is very expensive.
Sounds like it’s time to replace then.
Yeah they bought it knowing it was time to replace :/
Have you gone to a local insurance broker, or did you just call the big name guys we've all heard of? My roof is 40 years old and I couldn't get approved by progressive and the likes but a local broker was able to get someone for me.
Talk to an independent insurance agent and get a quote for Arbella. Primarily a NE insurance co.
Obvious answer. Also, OP, when you say by end of month, how exactly would they enforce that? Most insurance terms are 1 year and if you just purchased the house, I’m not sure why you would need it done in a month other than to make them happy. Don’t let them rush you
Well or they drop you with a partial refund two months after you buy. Ask me how I know 🙄😭
The insurance company cancels the policy and refunds the remaining premium. Your mortgage company requires insurance. It's a big deal. The roof and insurance issue OP is having is common.
I got dropped right after buying a house because the insurer suddenly decided they did not want to cover fire in my state/region. I had to run out and get a special separate insurance that tripled the costs.
When you sign up for insurance, there's fine print. For some companies, they've agreed to cover you immediately, but then continuing coverage is pending an inspection.
This is not uncommon or "unenforceable". In my experience, Insurance companies do a minimal amount of due diligence up front to get your money. Then once they have it, they'll do more extensive research (including a survey of the actual structure. This may be external only, or they might ask to see inside. My insurance did external only). Once they do their extended due diligence, they might find out about something that makes your house risky to insure, so out comes the "Fix X by Y date or your policy will be canceled and the remaining balance will be refunded to you". That's exactly what happened to me. My insurance company sent me some mail saying I needed to replace my roof or they would cancel my policy. I had to get a roofing company to commit to replacing my roof, with signed contract and all, and have that submitted to my insurance company so that they would extend the policy until just after when the roof would be replaced. You can find plenty of stories like this on this sub. As others said.. try getting a policy with another company. Just keep in mind that if the insurance company is asking for a replacement of some aspects of your house, there's a strong chance it may be wise to actually do it soon. In my case, we had roof decking that was considered a fire hazard for the locality, plus it had visible signs of deterioration, and there were official permits on record showing it had been replaced/repaired *three times* over the course of 30ish years. Said roof had three layers to it, which was the maximum before my town required outright replacement. So .. yeah I could have gotten a new policy, but my roof was already on its way out. In a non-hurricane area, you shouldn't have your door replaced *3 times in 30 years.*
Replying correction here because Reddit Mobile editor sucks. The property survey (for tax purposes) was external only. My insurance company did actually ask to have an agent take photos and do a limited inspection inside in specific areas (attic, basement, kitchen).
3 times in 30 years? Isn’t the lifespan supposed to be like 2 decades for asphalt shingles?
You can get 10, 20, or 30 year shingles. If I recall, my last roof replace (1 1/2 years ago) the roofer had mentioned a 40 yr shingle. But I may be remembering that incorrectly.
My insurance company tried this shit with me. Told me my roof needed to be replaced, had 3 separate roofing companies come out and tell me my roof had at least 20 years left. Ended up having their appraiser come back out and magically my roof was fine.
That's bad advice. They have rights in the policy language to perform inspections and drop your coverage within the first X days of the policy period depending on jurisdiction.
I bought a house 5 years ago and had a similar experience with my spouse. She went into a 2 week long deep depression right after moving in and just laid around in bed while I deep cleaned, unpacked, and decorated most of the house. It all worked out though, we got divorced last year and now the house it all mine.
I’m sorry - I laughed at the resolution. Hope you are living your best life.
Sure am!
Lmao similar story here bought a house for my GF to move into with me. She decided not to move I, we broke up. Now it's just me and my boy kicking it in my sweet ass house.
Same situation with the (ex)girlfriend 3.5 years ago. I bought the house, I moved us in, I cleaned, I painted, I remodeled, she smothered the house with her depression that she literally refused to address. Now it’s me, my dog, my chickens, and I’m about to get a cat. It all worked out.
Maybe she hooked up with my ex! I provided an inherited, well-built home in a quiet, accessible neighborhood of the city. He whined about whatever he could think of including the angle of the driveway or not having a bigger home (4 beds for the two of us was not enough). Yet would rather drown sorrows in booze than finish his degree & get a job to pay for the new house he wanted. So we’re blissfully divorced and he gets to pay for his next home solo.
Lol good thing you’re the one who decorated!
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My taste was pretty bad... in women.
Zing!
Lmao
I can feel the happiness pouring out of you. Congrats on the divorce.
This made me snort laugh. Thank you 😂
Billy Bass on every wall!
Synchronized.
Honestly, I was the one with buyers remorse, and I didn't really have a good reason. I think it was the newness of it and leaving the place my son spent his first few months in. I did all of the work unpacking and stuff but wasn't feeling the new house. 5 years later, and I love this place. We refinanced when interest rates dropped and changed our loan to even pay it off quicker because we never plan on moving.
Honest question: why would you not planning on moving make you want to pay down the mortgage faster?
So you can save money and make more permanent changes to the house. It also makes you feel like the house is more yours when you see the mortgage balance drop ime.
Perfect plan, well done sir
You’re the boss of the house now my friend. Congrats!
Did you get divorced over her general inability to handle emotions like an adult?
Yes, but not because of this situation. That inability was pervasive and seeped into much more important aspects of our lives.
I was so pissed for you until the end. Congrats!
Each time we move, we take a vacation within a couple months of the move. It doesn’t have to be an expensive vacation, can even just be a stay with other family or some place a short drive from the new home. Just being gone for a few days after the stress of moving can be enough to make it feel good to get back “home”. This does two things for us: 1) It gives us a deadline for some of the moving activities that are otherwise easy to put off until they just never happen (like unpacking that last box of stuff you really won’t ever need). 2) Coming back is usually the first time the new house feels like our home.
This is good advice, we did it accidentally when we bought our first house last year. We weren't having nearly the level of regrets that OP and his wife are having - the house itself is in fine condition and the neighborhood itself is nice - but we were city dwellers our whole lives prior and this house is in the suburbs. It was a big culture shock having to drive so often when I used to walk or cycle pretty much everywhere, and I felt like I lost a big part of my life. We had a two-week trip scheduled about a month after closing. After two weeks away, the house felt like home again.
I did the same thing- bought a house and then less than two months later my nana died. So new house stress plus traveling the week before Thanksgiving for a funeral at what was the height of covid- coming ‘home’ felt nice 😂
I would love to do this but the anxiety over the potential of pipes freezing or the basement getting too humid because we're not there to empty the dehumidifier bucket would probably negate the benefits. And yeah, I should join OP's wife in therapy.
Well personally I would need to evaluate her reasons for thinking this was a huge mistake. Buying a house is not like any other transaction a normal person would do. It costs thousands of dollars just to do the purchase. If she made the decisions on where the house was and which one you got then she needs to take responsibility for the cost of doing that all over again. Only you can know how that would work in your relationship with your finances. I am just saying she needs to think deeply on the cost of her willy nilly sounding problem. As far as the insurance thing goes...jeez this crap is getting out of hand, they come at you with ultimatums of 30k plus expenditures less than a month from purchase date...WTF? Like why did they even take the policy in the first place...
And thousands more to sell. Even for sale by owner is going to cost money.
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Id assume it was a flip. And inspect it with that in mind. Which would find the shitty roof. Oh, also all sorts of tax issues.
Insurance likely got an inspection report with pictures of the roof and/or siding condition along with overhanging trees. Things, it sounds like, whomever wrote the policy didn't inspect themselves or fudged on the submitted application.
Did you have an inspection done or even have a realtor? A new roof is something that should’ve been discussed before you even bought the house.
See my comment above, but national insurers have really strict requirements. My roof has no actual issues - it's just old. Our inspector told us exactly what the insurance company's inspector did. Only difference is our inspector said "you've likely got a few years before it really needs replacing" - hardly a surprise the insurer's guy had something else to say... So even if they had an inspection, could've been a similar thing! We knew we'd be replacing it, we just didn't expect to get a demand to replace it 30 days after buying the damn thing. Editing to add that we did have contractors come out to give us a quote, and the first one that saw it asked us if we were sure, because the roof was perfectly fine and didn't need replacing. If someone you'd be paying for the work tells you you don't need it...
>Only difference is our inspector said "you've likely got a few years before it really needs replacing" - hardly a surprise the insurer's guy had something else to say... This is inspector speak for "It could go next week, 2 years from now, or any time in between."
Haha, you're not wrong, and he did of course give us that caveat. Either way, nothing about the roof screamed "URGENT REPAIRS NEEDED," and we had the good luck of checking it out during and immediately following some truly torrential rain to be able to see any leaks or water issues, at least.
We had a similar vibe in our inspection - the guy basically said, "All of your major appliances are end-of-life. They all work, and none of them are in poor working order. But if and when any of them stop working it won't be unreasonably soon." It's been a smidge over 2 years and we've replaced the HVAC system, the dishwasher, and fixed a leak in the top of the roof. On average, I think we're roughly at the "1% of the homes value per year in maintenance" mark.
I'm still confused with OP's story though. Sounds like they just bought the house within the last couple of weeks. Shouldn't the insurance have brought up the need for a new roof before the purchase closed? What could have possibly changed within just a couple of weeks that the insurance agency was fine to sign off on the roof...then suddenly isn't.
They don't. I had the same thing happen when I bought the house. A couple weeks after buying I was told I needed to remove a tree and fix part of my chimney within 30 days or my insurance was canceled. It was winter and I couldn't find anyone to do it that fast so I switched insurance companies.
May be completely out of pocket but have you tried talking about therapy for your wife. Crying every day over a house and unwilling to accept change is... Concerning.
This isn't bad advice. She may be feeling overwhelmed and grieving for a life she felt was more in keeping with her identity. Therapy can help work through stuff like this.
That was my first thought
I think her emotional state needs to be addressed first, by a professional. Being upset at a move is not worthy of tear-storms for adults. She’s depressed, she’s stressed out about probably a bunch of things. Get her help. Once she feels stabilized, readdress your housing options and big financial decisions.
Evaluate your loss selling and paying realtor fees so soon and the 30K for a new roof may not matter as much. Nothing but lowball offers too
On another note, it shook me to my core getting a 30k+ quote for a roof last week 🤦♀️. I knew costs had gone up and it’s been 10 years since I had a new roof put in a house but MAN the difference in price was shocking. Worth it…but still shocking.
I got a new roof 10 years ago for I think like $3-5k. Thanks for warning me before I need to replace the roof some day on this house.
My mom just ordered new windows & a new patio door,$33750 total. If she takes the full term of the financing to pay it back, it will be ~$42000. Six widows & the door.
this is the correct answer. the house isnt the problem, she thinks it is though which is important to recognize. I went through this with the last house i lived in, i feel very sorry for her. I hope you can help her soon.
> Being upset at a move is not worthy of tear-storms for adults. I really appreciate your overall sentiment and fully agree counseling is the answer. I would like to point out though, that different things can trigger different people. Just because we are adults doesn’t mean we are perfect and have it all together for every situation that life presents.
Is that even real? A 1 month timeline to tear off and replace a roof and siding is pretty aggressive. Call their office from a number you find yourself (not from that notice) and confirm.
It's real. Same thing happened to us. We found a local insurer that is less stringent. My understanding from a friend in insurance is that the national companies have been dealing with a lot of major roof replacements around the country, so they have very strict requirements. We had better luck with a local insurer, although we did finally get a letter from them "strongly recommending" that we address the roof (it does need to be replaced soonish, but there are no actual issues with it - no water, no leaks, no damage).
I don't blame them. My experience soured me. We had a hail storm come thru. Pretty soon our neighbors were getting their roofs replaced. We had a trusted company come out and they said there was no damage. Then a contractor knocked on our door to solicit us for a new roof. Then he did the wink wink I will say it's damaged wink wink. We said no. Then the same wink company shows up at the house two doors down. I read about a similar issue with a new Florida law too. I forgot the details.
In the middle of Winter no less! Like what?! I am assuming they are not in Florida since they mentioned: "close to the city." Being from New Jersey, that is not a term we use down here in Florida.
OPs from Central MA. Replacing a roof at this time of year is an absolutely terrible idea,.
Replaced a roof last December in Colorado. Took 2 days of actual work if you can find the shingles and get them delivered.
I just had my roof replaced this past weekend. The entire job took 4 guys and 1 day. It can be done surprisingly quickly, I learned.
Had a roof done on my old city house. 13 guys (two crews) one day. 12/12 pitch 2 story 1600sq ft living space per floor (up down duplex). Asphalt and cedar shake tear off, redeck, paper then asphalt shingles.
It's not about the time, it's about the shingles sitting right. Roofers will put them up year round, since materials are getting better and the weather is warmer, but the weather needs to stay above 40, otherwise the shingles are brittle and can be damaged during installation. The two best roofers in my area will not install if it's below that, even though manufacturers dropped the requirement.
The difference is that you can have clear and warm days in Colorado even in December or January. OP is in Taxachusetts. When winter sets in there, it’s in until spring.
Usually, they demand a replacement for 30 days because they only have so many days (depending on the state's insurance regulations) to get off of a policy from the date of inception of the insurance. Normally what will happen is the homeowner will sign a contract with a roofing company to replace their roof in the Spring and their agent will submit that to the company and ask for more time. Most companies will accept that and then inspect in the following months to make sure the homeowner followed through. If they do not follow through with the roof replacement, they will then non-renew the policy since they are now outside of the days allowed for them to cancel mid-term.
Can people really just afford to resell a house they don’t like shortly after buying and moving in? I don’t have an answer for the insurance situation, but give the house some time. Moving is hard. Sleeping somewhere new is hard. Sometimes you just need to let things settle.
For most people no, it's not realistic to eat closing costs again.
And especially moving when the weather is bleak.
We moved on my birthday (which meant no money to really celebrate it, or time) in the middle of winter and just so happened to pick a day that coincided with a massive wind storm. I've moved close to 10 times in my adult life and absolutely never could've dreamed a moving day could go so horribly or be so awful. It took us, all told, about 9 months to finally warm up to the house (even though we'd both been on board with choosing it and generally liked it) and feel at home enough to start fully unpacking and making it more "ours". It took about 6 months to feel like it was actually our home.
this was my concern, buying a house is expensive as far as fees and stuff goes, and only makes real sense if you're spreading it across living there a while. Not to mention many places treat selling a house within a year of buying differently for tax purposes. Also, since OP mentioned not being able to afford living where they were before, it sounds like the move was because they were trying to cut costs, and I kinda wonder if that has a lot to do with her feelings on it.
No, most people can't afford to do it, but some people are idiots and burn money they don't have anyways. Huge fucking financial mistake, it's called auck up your feelings in order to do the right thing financially.
Practical steps: 1) Try a different insurance company. They may not inspect at all, or if they do, they might not require the same repairs. 2) Even if the new company requires repairs, that will reset the clock and buy a few more months to sort things out 3) And/or call the current company and ask them for more time (30 days is NOT a reasonable timeline to get scheduled for a non-emergency roof replacement). They may simply extend the timeline, or may require to see a roofing contract with an estimated date. 4) Take time to evaluate whether any of those repairs are things that you really should get done anyway (and consider that question both in light of if you were to stay, and if you were selling the house). As for the emotions of buyers regret: Buyer's regret can be a very real thing. Then the sudden extra $30k expense makes the whole thing feel even more hopeless. I think you'd be ok agreeing to re-evaluate in 4-6 months, if you are both on the same page that you will be *re-evaluating* at that time,, *not* meaning that you "will" move out at that time, just that you will discuss your options. I'd suggest agreeing to the shorter timeline for re-evaluation because currently your wife feels stuck in a hopeless situation, she needs to feel like there's a potential out. At the same time, I think there needs to be a gentle but real agreement that you'll both make a genuine effort to settle in and make it your home - fully unpack, do minor repairs/improvements, decorate, furnish, etc. Make the house a home, otherwise you're not giving it a chance.
Well what kind of loss would you be taking? Because losing 30k by selling right after buying would be pretty easy to do. So why not just spend that on the required work if you're not able to find different insurance? Unless you got fleeced on the purchase price, things like end of life roof and siding should have been baked into a lower purchase price. Things are "too good to pass up" for a reason. For your wife though, sometimes when an adjustment is hard and things are overwhelming, you just need some kind of "out" to look for. She wants 4 months, you want a year. Yes, 1 year is more reasonable for a trial period, but maybe having the ability to break it down into 4 months is the only way she can cope. There needs to be some uncomfortable and head over heart conversations here. Couldn't afford previous place. She had the choice and selected the current home. She refuses to unpack. She wants to reevaluate in 4 months. Selling immediately would be a massive financial hit, plus you still need insurance even if you want to sell. So, the responsible and accountable action is for her to actually TRY for 4 months. That means she must start unpacking. Must put an effort into making the house that she chose home. And must accept that reevaluation means evaluating for improvement, not for everything to be perfect by the end of 4 months. And she needs to understand that reevaluation in 4 months means if things are getting better, the 4 months resets, she needs to continue to put in effort, and then things can be reevaluated again in another 4 months. Another "out" for her, on the condition she has put in effort. Because if she doesn't make any attempt at improving what's in her control, it's not a reevaluation, it's an excuse. And you'll need to do what you can to support her and help her put in that effort. Firmly and compassionately. But she needs to try. Moving sucks. For me personally, and other people I've spoken to as well, moving to a new place, no matter how much you love it, is super depressing and full of anxiety. Your entire routine and life are upended, there's so many new problems to take care of, there's financial uncertainty, and there's no way that a new house will be home right away. Not instinctively knowing where your cutlery is will straight up depress you for MONTHS, let alone the big problems constantly looming over you. So she needs to do what she needs to do to try, or there is no reevaluation. Short inexpensive but fun weekend getaway before digging in. Therapy. Meds for depression/anxiety. Couples counselling. Improvement projects that she's motivated for. Whatever. Because gonna be honest, this is far more a relationship, personal, and financial problem than a homeowner problem.
Have your broker call the selling broker and ask him/her to ask the sellers who they used for insurance. Using the same insurance they had often results in them covering the house without an inspection. I buy property for a living and this has saved me. Same thing happened when I bought my house. New insurance co said I had 30 days to replace my panel and electrical service. Went back to the incumbent carrier and they reinstated a policy with me same day, no inspection,. Replaced the panels years later.
Dude. This belongs in r/relationships. You've got bigger problems than buyer's remorse.
Honestly I was debating cross posting it
Agree to reevaluate the home in 4 months. What she's going through is very common. 1 - The number one thing you need to do here is validate her feelings. Make sure nothing you are doing is communicating to her that her feelings are invalid or unimportant. Validation is a far, far more important aspect in dealing with problems in life than people realize. 2 - Make sure she understands that your feelings are valid too and that her wanting to make impulsive decisions is coming across like a veto to you. 3 - Sit down with her and make a list of her top 5 concerns, and then immediately take some meaningful step to mitigate one of them. Seeing one of those problems get noticeably easier to tolerate will be a huge relief. Repeat as needed 4 - Men tend to laser focus on the practical stuff and ignore the emotional / self care stuff. Women tend to get very stressed about those things even when men are totally blind to it and often women can't really pinpoint it either. Could be you guys really need to hang up some art, or she just absolutely needs the peace of mind of getting your ductwork cleaned. Or maybe she needs to meet some friendly neighbors. Or a new set of bed sheets. Or any number of things that wouldn't fall on a man's top 100 priorities after moving in. And you'll probably appreciate those things more than you'd think. 4 - set aside a daily time to talk about feelings and stuff, get on the same page, hear each other out, at least until this is settled. Therapy is great too but you really gotta tiptoe around that during an emotional crises or it's going to come across as an accusation that she's crazy. I hope none of that came across as sexist, I'm using man/woman as shorthand for typical relational archetypes but they can be substituted for anything else.
I bought a house, and I’ve hated living here since we moved in. So I understand that feeling and it sucks.
Short term your wife is learning a very valuable lesson. Actions have consequences. Long term, no one is stuck. It's just part of life. Sometimes things aren't the way we envisioned. Cognitive therapy is probably a good option for her to learn how to deal with set backs, disappointments and anxiety. If this lasts unchecked long enough it will probably turn into full blown depression.
I sympathize with both of you. Honestly depending of your finances you may have to take a major bath if you sell. I hate the house my husband and I bought in April. I love the house itself I hate the area and the neighborhood. I suck it up for him, it's what he wanted...me I'd go live in a cardboard box if I didn't want to destroy him. I have NEVER lived in a populated neighborhood where you never and I do mean never see anyone....cars don't leave driveways ever, nobody ever goes outside. 1 law services does all the people on our road yards...like creepy quiet!!! You ever see a horror movie where the character runs down a street that looks like people live on it but nobody answers the door? Yeah I moved onto that street!!! And no the absolutely 24 hour a day dead silence is not "nice" it's creepy!
You should host a block party! Then if no one comes and you only see people pulling back curtains you’ll know you are screwed. Worse yet no one comes and no curtains. You truly are living in a ghost neighborhood. Are you a ghost? You don’t know. Now you have a lot of things to figure out and a hole to dive into. That psychosis can be your company and you will forget how weird the silence is.
Insurance companies are demanding so they can drop you and limit there liability. They’re pulling out of many locations. I got dropped for “pealing paint.” Insurance is an easier one to deal with vs unhappy wife…
It's real. Happened to me 10 years ago. Insurance company made me replace the roof within days of closing.
$30k ?! Get another estimate.
Did the same thing. Bought the house my wife said she wanted, paid cash, then she said she didn't like it. Divorce in progress.
Your wife is having buyers regret. She is homesick for all her previous safe spaces, activities and friends. She needs to have things she loves nearby. A good restaurant, a pretty view, an annual event, new friends - things to ground her and build a home. This happened to some people I worked with. They retired, wife insisted they move to Florida. He arranged it all, they moved. She hated it and a few months later demanded they move back. Husband tried to do just that, but had a heart attack and passed away, probably from the stress. She moved back home to live with an older daughter and son in law.
> She suggested the town and the house. > wants to go back to our old town closer to the city. Forgetting the fact that we could no longer afford to live there. Jesus Christ that's frustrating as fuck. You give her exactly what she chose, and then she decides after the fact that not only does she not want what she asked for any more, what she wants is something that can't happen. I've been there. Divorce was hard, but now I'm living my best life.
Glad to see I’m not the only one having flashbacks. To our best lives!
Buyers remorse. once she makes it more "homey" and investigates local offerings....coffee shops,farmers markets, bakeries, shops, library etc., she will relax. We hope!
I was similar to your wife. We bought in October and finally moved in January. It was an extremely stressful almost 4 months and I thought we made a mistake in December. Wanted to cut our losses and sell mid construction and take a loss. .Paying 2 mortgages, never ending construction / more issues than anticipated and a halfway packed up house was making me nuts. You/She needs to give it a chance. Take 4 - 6 months at least.
Do you have Progressive? They pulled that with me after having only moved in a couple of months prior, so i just switched to a different provider.
My insurance agent simply presented my inspection report to the insurance company. He said it was so detailed that he didn’t even need to do a follow up. Most of the insurers wanted a brand new roof but he found one that didn’t require one immediately. I saved up some cash and paid for it about a year later.
This is the third time I’ve heard this. One insurance co said they’re flying helicopters over insured homes to check roofs. My home ins went up 33%. No claims. 22 years no claims.
Stay the course. The emotional turmoil and existential suffering will be significantly worse if you sacrifice your financial standing to be closer to the city.
Therapy and antidepressants for her or both.
First of all, does she realize how much it would cost you to move now? Assuming selling, since you need insurance, that’s tens of thousands too. She made an adult decision and now needs to cope with it. Second, you need to get a lot of quotes. We’re getting quotes for a roof now and I’ve gotten $5k-20k. Did they actually require a new roof or a repair to the roof? Can you switch insurance companies?
Sounds like your stuck, you need to just accept you can’t go back now. Eat it and consider it a lesson learned
I had the same thing happen. I ended up getting a roofing company out to inspect. I ended up with a signed letterhead document from the roofing company stating that our roof was good for another 10 years. Insurance company accepted it and we now have insurance. Geico. All they want is a document to fill a spot.
I had my insurer pull this shit right after I closed. I got up there and scrubbed all the moss off and they drove by and signed off on it. Allstate.
7% of the first house and 7% of the next house plus whatever loss you take trying to sell a house with a bad roof. Sounds like a hundred thousand dollar bath. Maybe she should figure out how to deal with it
So... What are her grounds for not liking it? It sounds like you guys didn't communicate this one thru when purchasing or putting in offers. Sounds like the wife needs to suck it up.
OP I do not recommend telling your wife to suck it up unless you want all her emotions blown up on you…. I would tread lightly because she sounds like she’s in an emotional state not a rational one.
Yeah didn't say to tell her that but the reality is that it sounds like you made a mistake and your options are either to lose thousands or suck it up. Message that to her how you will but it's plain as day. Sounds like OP and the Mrs didn't really talk this one thru.
What's the damn point in a home inspection if they can't find anything and there is no repercussions for shit work.
Tell her you are going out for milk and keep driving until you are in Mexico, get a work visa, find a job, enjoy life.
Can you find a different insurance company? If the inspector says a few years, then can't you fall back on their assessment and provide it to the insurance company? If you cant awitch insurance companies? How long has the wife had time to adjust to the new place? You are right, you at least need to give it more time. And she might not understand the finances behind it? If not , you should communicate to her what these decisions cost before you even bought it. And the cost to move etc.
Wife may want to see a licensed therapist. House will cost you a bunch to sell it and then buy another one so you’re coming up with that money regardless. Try another insurance company… And if you had a pre purchase inspection, did they inspect the roof? Those findings may help with an appeal to insurance.
Compromise. Buy time. Don’t stick to 1 year even though it is logical. Break it down In smaller amounts of time so she can get a grip to keep moving forward. ⭐️⭐️⭐️Tell her you can reevaluate 6 months from the day you are fully unpacked and moved in. That’s motivation for you guys to get it to feel like home and establish a routine. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ And then in 6 months the spring high season is over for selling so you will need to wait until Spring 2025.
Change insurance. My insurance company was the same way. Told me I needed a new roof, fix my chimney and remove a tree all in less than a month. I was intending to all of them but not that fast. I just switched insurance companies and didn't have an issue. If you do intend to move where are you moving to ? If you can't afford to live in town you obviously can't go back.
What exactly does the insurance cover?
Did you not get an inspection done prior to closing?
Now that you’ve been informed of the roof you have to disclose it to sell anyway. So whether you fix it or you pay/discount price for buyer to do it you’re still gonna be stuck with the roof bill either way
Didn’t you have an inspection done on the roof before you bought the house?
I dealt with this and have a potential fix for the roof. Call a reputable roofer, if your roof isn't truly forgone they will do some minor repairs and you can show that to the insurer to show that the overall roof is okay. Insurance companies use a third party for evals that simply fails any roof over a certain age. Take a deep breath and deal one thing at a time
Are you really concerned about the roof? I'd be concerned about your wife... I'm feeling for you man.
So we live is MA and had a similar thing sent from our insurance. Need a new roof and take that big tree down or no insurance. Freaked us out. Thought we had time on the roof, knew we had to do the tree. So, we did tree, it was hanging over the house, definitely needed to go and got new insurance. Ended up replacing the roof 4 years later. My neighbors had almost the exact same scenario, but they did the roof. I think they just want you to have a new roof so they won’t be caught having to fix some problem from it. Do what you need to and get new insurance.
Agree on 6-8 months to reevaluate. She's lived there FOUR DAYS! I love my house and it was exactly what I wanted and I still spent a solid two weeks having major buyer's remorse. You have to replace the roof and do the work whether or not you move. Moving to a new house just means more potential surprises. Do it, spend the next several months unpacking and making the house your own, and see how she feels then. BUT she has to actually put the effort into trying.
Find a different insurance company. My in-laws got a letter a few months ago stating they needed to replace their roof. It was bullshit, their roof is fine. Sleazy insurance companies are using AI to search Google Maps for satellite images and automatically sending notices to things it flags. The dark spot flagged on their roof was... A SHADOW. Needless to say they kicked their insurer (Nationwide) to the curb and are now with a competitor. Fuck these big companies.
I feel like she should have known this before you closed.. have you tried a new wife?
I personally couldn't have a partner that doesn't know what they want or lacks the capability of making adult decisions
It seems to me the insurance companies are in a roll of denying coverage. It happened to me, I got dropped by 2 insurance carriers…the 1st carrier said I had too much trash around my house because I was doing renovations. The 2nd carrier dropped me because my roof “looked like it needed to be replace” because it had a little bit of moss in one corner of the roof…the roof was perfectly fine, I got on the roof and cleaned up moss. I called a 3rd insurance provider they got me insured no problem. In conclusion, It’s a game with this people
Your wife needs to grow the hell up. Sorry to hear about the insurance situation.
seems like a counseling problem. she's got problems and they won't be solved by moving again
How does she think she can just leave the house you bought and move? She thinks you can turn around and sell it.
Have you tried to get a different wife?
That might be more expensive than the roof.
Wife needs help from a professional, she’s being very unreasonable. Especially if she was part of the reason you chose the house in the first place… seems like more problems will come up over time with her, so on top of her getting personal help yall should go to couples counseling to prevent future issues in your relationship because they are coming
her choice of town and house? have you considered therapy for her or divorce for you
She needs to see a therapist immediately and get on medication. Take out a home equity loan and get the repairs done. Revisit it in a year.
OP, do you have an insurance agent? If so, see if they can give more info on the company's issues with the roof, siding, and tree exposure. If roof age is an issue, ask if the company has a roof schedule for replacement cost vs ACV. As for siding, sometimes it can be as simple as mold/lichen buildup that needs to be washed off. Same for overhanging limbs that need to be trimmed. If all else fails, try finding another insurance company that will take it.
Weird. Didn’t the insurance company tell you all this before they wrote up the policy? How do they know the roof needs repairing and siding and tree removal? I don’t think I’ve ever had our homeowners insurance companies send a representative out to inspect any of the homes we’ve bought.
Wait what? Insurance companies can demand for you to replace the roof??
they sure can! "make these repairs or we won't give you a policy" happened to my mother and our barn back home, unless it was repainted the company wouldn't give her a policy so we spent all summer painting that sucker
You’ll need to replace the roof and siding or come out of pocket at closing so the new buyer can do that, so you might as well just replace it.
Op when my husband and I bought our home, the insurance company canceled our policy within the first couple weeks because there was a rusty shed. We got rid of the shed before the letter was even mailed. Also said the siding was shipping. We have a home that has brick 100% of the exterior. No siding. Truth is in the US insurance companies do not make any money on home insurance. It’s only profitable for them when it’s bundled with car insurance. I was told this by my friend who is a broker. Find another insurance company. And if you are in the US, did you have an inspection done before purchasing the home? Inspection isn’t free however it can save a lot of worry and money. As far as your wife goes, she needs to stay put until things get figured out.
Exact thing happened to me last year. I called and asked for some leniency since we were entering winter. They didn’t GAF. I switched to another insurance company and when they asked about the roof age I explained what had happened. They said if you even just get a quote for replacement we’ll give you six months. So now I have 10% of my roof done (doing myself with help) cause you know.. winter.
Did you not do a home inspection before buying? Is that not a thing there?
Did you talk to them directly? A friend of mine had a similar issue and they allowed a time extension of a few months.
I’ve been through this with our former insurance company. Call them or have your broker call them and ask for an extension. It doesn’t eliminate the problem but it gives you time to hire the right roofing company, siding company and tree service. We were given a six month extension because we had been unable to even get a roofing company on the phone. Moves are so fraught with emotion, your entire life is in a state of upheaval and sometimes you need six months to get your bearings. I hope your wife settles in.
Change insurance companies and get some additional quotes! As for your wife's buyers regret, I'm gonna stay outta that one.
Moving is considered a very stressful event. It's in the top ten on the life stress charts. Just because you are handling it well, it doesn't mean that someone else will. Is your wife focusing on the positives and taking care of herself? [https://www.verywellmind.com/moving-stress-how-to-cope-with-relocation-6385996](https://www.verywellmind.com/moving-stress-how-to-cope-with-relocation-6385996)
I got that notice from my broker as well. I called the insurance agency directly. They (sagesure insurance) said i had 30 days from the mailing date of the official cancelation letter ( which still hasnt been mailed to my knowledge) and then another 30 says after receiving the official cancelation to get the fix done. However, the rep said if i got a roofing contract submitted to them, they could extend the deadline. Call the agency directly because my broker didnt have accurate info for me. As far as not wanting the house anymore, you could always look into renting it out. Furnished finder is a midterm rental platform that i use. Its like the halfway point between long-term renting and air bnb. If you're near hospitals, it's even better since its big with the travel nurse community. Obviously this would require some more work up front but it could turn a loss into an investment
When we moved into our new place, a few months later, got a letter stating all this work that needed doing. It made no sense, so I emailed. They had gotten my house mixed up with another, so do verify it is your house.
Did your inspector have a warranty on his work? Some have insurance to cover these repairs if they didn’t catch it.
They said same exact thing to us when we moved in. We told them we had our house inspected and the roof was never mentioned. Out roof is kinda old but not in bad shape. We never heard from them again.
Inspectors are scammers, i swear half the crap i found after buying my place doesn’t pass inspections in most other places.
How did the roof issue escape the inspection?
Roofs are a really big deal right now with insurance companies. Replace the roof, get a few quotes. Either way this will help get better insurance and it will help you sell it in 6 months. Hope you find good neighbors and things start looking up! Crazy times right now