Should i Replace my deck before selling?

last year

So I have a very large deck attached to my house. its about 1000 square feet, 15 foot off the ground and has multiple levels. The problem is, it is 22 years old and on its last leg. I am selling my home soon. I live near a military base and know this thing is not going to pass a VA inspection. I talked to a few deck builders and they said there is really no way to repair it and it would need to be replaced soon. I have about 85K in equity in the home. I can replace it with a deck half the size for about 30K which is what I would probably do. so the question is. Should I try to get the deck replaced before we sell it, or should I just knock 20 to 30K off the purchase price when/if it comes up?

Featured Answer

sushipup2

last year

Get the deck downsized and replaced prior to listing. A buyer will see the old deck as a lot of work to do, even if you give credit for the work. It might not pass VA but it also might not pass general inspections an even affect appraisal value. and the prospective buyer might ask for a complete rebuild, not a downsized one.

Get it replaced first.

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Comments (7)

schnoodlemom
last year
Is it unsafe? If it is safe, leave it. If an inspector fails it, you can offer to replace it.
Adam Tolfa
Original Author
last year
I mean, it is not going to come down soon.
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KW PNW Z8
last year
Is there a door from house to deck & is deck elevated at that point? If yes, & if deck doesn’t pass inspection, it’d likely be a required fix to get any kind of financing for buyer since the existence of a door will require some safe surface to step out onto.

What’s the rest of the yard look like - nice & maintained or a major clean up project? Maybe you need to have a serious conversation with a good realtor & maybe you need to have house inspection done now so you can make an informed decision. Don’t know if your calculated equity includes or is net of all your costs of sale but sounds like the deck issue will take a big chunk of your equity either way.
function_first
last year
Even if there is only a small chance it would pass, I would cross my fingers and hope for the best. And even if it failed, I might only offer the cost of tearing it out and putting in whatever small thing would get me to code. You never know what the next person has planned, they might envision a different use of the yard altogether.
Susie .
last year
Your realtor will give you the best advice. If it is unsafe, you would have to replace if a government funded loan, but your realtor may just say “wait and see.” I don’t think that giving cash would suffice. A good realtor has contacts that can help you understand your particular options.
mxk3 z5b_MI
last year
Yes, talk to a local realtor. It seems you're presuming the only buyers you'll get are those with VA loans, and that may not be the case; a local realtor should be able to provide insight on that as well as how to handle the actual deck situation. And if you price it right, it may attract buyers who jump at the reduced price and will deal with the deck themselves -- heck, they may even build it themselves.

A story of my own about a bone-headed financial decision regarding a patio: My old house had a walk-out lower level with a patio that was below-grade and surrounded on all four sides by ground. Over the years it started to cave in so needed to be replaced regardless of whether I sold or not. I knew we were going to move within the next 3-5 years but me being me I decided to disregard advice I got and fix the problem by spending over $20-grand on something that didn't need to be done. In my head I thought I needed to do it up to the nines for it to be "good enough" but in reality a bare-bones fix would have sufficed. Stupid, stupid, STUPID ! It was a helluva patio, but we in fact did end up moving in just 3 years, and a $5-10K fix would have done just fine. No way no how did I recoup that money.