Studies Show that Looks Do Matter

It’s more common than ever for buyers to want information about the condition of the roof, and can certainly be a potential deal breaker if it’s in poor condition. However, recent studies also show that just as important is the design, style & color.

In fact, according to this article, one of the largest roofing manufacturers, GAF, has completely rebuilt its marketing program to accommodate many of the new questions that contractors are receiving. They realized that rather than starting with a contractor, many people making improvements to their property are starting their search online at manufacturers’ websites, and most will check them out before buying.

Surprisingly, 91% of the people making the buying decisions, both for new and replacement roofs on homes are women. When it comes to their home, appearance is generally pretty important to women, so more and more tools are becoming available to help homeowners select the type of roofing material that will look good on their homes before the project gets started.

We’ve touched on these tools before, but in case you missed that post, here is a recap.

Owens Corning (http://designeyeq.owenscorning.com) has a great tool that allows you either upload your own photo, or find an architecturally similar home (by zip code) and then test all the different looks of roofing materials.

The Home Visualizer Program from CertainTeed (http://www.certainteed.com/colorviewlanding2) allows you to play with paint color, roofing materials, trim and much more. The great color coach tool shows you some of the current trends, teaches you what to look for in your own neighborhood, and teaches you want colors complement each other.

And finally, the Virtual Home Remodeler (http://www.gaf.com/Roofing/Residential/Virtual_Home_Remodeler) allows you to select homes by model type, and then change the siding, brick, roofing materials and colors.

While commercial roofs tend to be flat or low-sloped (and are therefore less visible), and we couldn’t find any statistics on who is making the buying decisions, looks are still a very imporant factor. There may be views from taller or nearby or connected buildings, and of course, Google Maps and satellite imagery are pretty popular readily available on virtaully any internet device these days. We’ve discovered that many commercial real estate buyers turn to Google Earth and Google Maps for initial looks at buildings before even approaching the owner. Most commercial property owners (male or female) will definitely care about what the roof looks like.

In short, it pays to make sure your roof is not only in good condition, but attractive as well.