Roof financing — options for every budget

1. Free inspection first. We look at the roof, photograph every slope and give you a written, itemized price. You cannot plan around a number nobody has given you, and you should never finance an amount that was never written down.
2. Insurance first, if it applies. If storm damage is involved, the claim comes first. Financing should only ever cover what insurance does not — typically the deductible, an upgrade, or a portion the policy excludes.
3. Then we review options. We walk through the vendor options that fit your situation and answer questions in plain language, including the ones that make salespeople uncomfortable.
4. You apply directly with the lender. Approval, terms and rate come from the finance company, not from us. We do not set rates and we do not decide approvals.
5. You decide. No pressure, no same-day-only pricing, no requirement to finance anything. Paying cash, using your own bank or using a lender we work with are all fine with us.
6. The work gets scheduled and the job gets done to the written scope.

The inspection, the written estimate and the financing conversation are all free and carry no obligation.

A contractor tied to a single lender has exactly one answer for every homeowner, and if you do not fit that lender's box, the answer becomes “no.” Working with a range of financing vendors means a homeowner with excellent credit, a homeowner rebuilding credit, a retiree on fixed income and a landlord with four properties are not all pushed toward the same product.

It also removes a quiet conflict of interest. When a contractor earns more by steering you into one specific plan, the recommendation is not really advice. We would rather tell you honestly that your credit union will beat anything we can bring you — and we do tell people that, regularly.

There are only a handful of ways a roof actually gets paid for, and it is worth knowing all of them before you pick one.

• Insurance proceeds — by far the best outcome when a storm caused the damage. You pay your deductible; the policy covers the rest of the covered scope.
• Cash or savings — no interest, no application, and worth comparing against a low-rate loan if depleting your emergency fund is the alternative.
• Contractor-arranged financing — what this page is about: a loan through a finance company we work with, applied for directly with them.
• Home equity loan or HELOC — usually the lowest rate available to a homeowner with equity, because the house secures it. Slower to close, and your home is the collateral.
• Cash-out refinance — rarely worth it for a roof alone unless you were already refinancing.
• Personal loan from your bank or credit union — often genuinely competitive, especially at a credit union. Always worth one phone call.
• Credit card — fast and usually the most expensive path unless you have a real 0% promotional window and a firm plan to clear it inside that window.
• FHA 203(k) and similar rehab loans — relevant when the roof is part of a larger renovation or a purchase.

We are roofers, not financial advisors, and this is general information rather than financial advice. The right answer depends on your credit, your equity, your timeline and your tolerance for debt.

Unsecured financing — most contractor financing programs, personal loans and credit cards — is not tied to your house. Approval leans on credit and income, closing is fast (often same-day), and rates are higher because the lender has no collateral. If things go badly, it is a credit problem, not a foreclosure problem.

Secured financing — home equity loans, HELOCs, cash-out refinances — is backed by your home. Rates are lower and terms are longer, but the collateral is the roof over your head, literally. Closing takes weeks, usually involves an appraisal, and there may be closing costs.

The practical read: unsecured is the tool for speed and for homeowners without equity; secured is the tool for the lowest cost when you have equity and time. An emergency leak in February is almost always an unsecured situation, because the water is not waiting three weeks for an appraisal.

Most storm-damage roofs are an insurance job, not a financing job — and the most valuable thing we do on this page is tell you that plainly, because a contractor who quietly finances a roof that insurance would have covered has cost you thousands.

Where financing genuinely helps:

• Your deductible, which is your responsibility on every claim
• Upgrades the policy will not pay for — an impact-resistant shingle, a better ventilation package, a color or product above the covered line
• Depreciation timing, when an actual-cash-value policy pays the recoverable depreciation only after the work is complete, leaving a gap in the middle
• Code upgrades not covered by a policy without ordinance-and-law coverage
• A denied or underpaid claim where the roof still genuinely needs replacing
• Age-related wear with no storm event behind it, which insurance does not cover at all

We will tell you honestly which situation you are in. See roof insurance claims and storm damage.

Your deductible is the portion of a claim you are contractually responsible for. It can often be financed, and there is nothing wrong with that — you are borrowing money to pay an obligation you genuinely owe.

What is not legitimate is a contractor offering to waive, absorb, cover, eat, or “work around” your deductible — including by inflating the estimate to the carrier, writing a fake discount, or billing for work not performed. In Missouri and most states that is insurance fraud, and the homeowner who signs it is exposed too, not just the contractor. It can void your claim, void your policy, and it is a criminal matter.

When somebody offers to make your deductible disappear, they are telling you exactly what kind of company they are, and what they will do to you when something goes wrong later. We do not do it, and we would rather lose the job than put a customer in that position. See the storm-chaser warnings on our storm damage page.

Rates, terms and approval decisions come from the finance company, not from us — we cannot promise a rate, a payment or an approval, and you should be skeptical of any contractor who does. Generally, the factors that move the outcome are:

• Credit score and credit history
• Income and debt-to-income ratio
• Loan amount and the term you choose — a longer term lowers the payment and raises the total interest
• Home equity, for secured options
• Whether a promotional period applies, and precisely what happens when it ends

Two things worth knowing before you apply anywhere. Many lenders offer a soft-pull prequalification that shows estimated terms without affecting your credit; ask for that first. And if you do shop multiple lenders, cluster the applications inside a short window — scoring models generally treat rate-shopping for the same purpose as a single inquiry.

• What is the APR, not just the monthly payment? Payment-only sales pitches hide the cost.
• What is the total amount I will repay over the full term?
• Is there a prepayment penalty if I pay it off early — say, when my insurance depreciation check arrives?
• Is this a deferred-interest promotion? If so, what happens if there is a balance left at the end — does interest get charged retroactively from day one?
• Are there origination, application or dealer fees, and are they rolled into the amount financed?
• Is the rate fixed or variable?
• When does the first payment come due, and when do funds release to the contractor?
• Is the loan secured by my home? Never assume it is not — ask, and read it.
• Is any lien or mechanic's lien involved?
• Who do I contact if there is a billing problem — the lender or the contractor?

Any honest contractor will slow down and answer every one of these. If asking them causes friction, that is your answer.

• “We'll cover your deductible.” Insurance fraud, and it exposes you.
• A price that is only good today. Real prices survive until tomorrow.
• Payment-only selling with no APR, no term and no total disclosed.
• A blank or incomplete contract, or a document you are asked to sign before figures are filled in.
• Financing tied to an inspection you did not request, from someone who knocked after a storm.
• A contract that assigns your insurance claim to the contractor. Read anything labeled assignment of benefits very carefully.
• Full payment or the entire claim check demanded up front, before work begins.
• No local address, license number or certificate of insurance.
• Pressure to sign while the salesperson is standing in your kitchen at 8 p.m.
• Any lender document you are discouraged from reading or taking time with.

A roof is a five-figure decision that lasts 20 to 30 years. There is no legitimate reason it has to be decided in one sitting.

Financing gets discussed around full replacements, but the situation that puts homeowners in the worst spot is a repair they postpone. An active leak does not stay a roofing problem — it becomes drywall, insulation, framing, flooring and mold, and those repairs are not covered by a roof warranty and often not by insurance once the cause is long-term neglect.

A repair postponed because of money frequently costs more than the repair would have. If cost is why you have not called, call anyway — the inspection is free, the written price is free, and knowing the actual number is better than guessing at it. Sometimes the honest answer is that a modest repair carries the roof for several more years, and we say so even though replacement is the bigger job. See roof repair and emergency roof repair.

The cheapest roof financing is the kind you never take. If your roof is 15 years or older and still sound, you are in the window where planning is possible:

• Get a free inspection now, while there is no emergency, so you know the realistic remaining life
• Set aside monthly against a real written number rather than a guess
• Keep up maintenance — clean gutters, clear valleys, sound flashing and balanced attic ventilation add years to a roof
• Photograph your roof in good condition each year; it is useful documentation for a future claim
• Know your policy — deductible amount, whether it is a flat dollar or a percentage of dwelling coverage, and whether you carry actual cash value or replacement cost
• Handle small repairs promptly, since deferred maintenance is the most expensive way to own a roof

The homeowners who end up with the fewest financing problems are the ones who knew the number two years before they needed it.

The conversation is different for an apartment owner, property manager or commercial building owner: budget cycles, capital expense planning, tax treatment, phased work across multiple buildings, and coordination with tenants all enter into it. Insurance handling is also usually more involved, with larger deductibles and sometimes per-building or percentage deductibles.

We work with property managers and multi-property owners across all seven of our markets, and we can scope work in phases where a single capital outlay is not practical. Talk to us about the portfolio rather than one roof at a time.

Financing is a promise about the future, so the company you sign with matters as much as the terms. A 25-year workmanship warranty from a contractor who will not exist in three years is worth nothing, and storm season fills this region with out-of-state crews who will not be here next spring.

John Beal Roofing has been in business since 1947, family-owned through three generations, with more than 50,000 satisfied customers, our own in-house crews in seven local markets, a lifetime workmanship warranty, 24/7 emergency service answered by a person, and a permanent local address at 12181 Prichard Farm Rd, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Licensed and insured (License # 104.011957/105.007037), BBB Accredited, and a BBB Torch Award for Ethics recipient — an award for ethics, not for advertising.

We roof in 143 cities from seven local offices, and financing options are available in every one of them. Open your market for the local number.

• St. Louis — (314) 429-6000
  Our home market since 1947, with the largest crew base and the fastest response on emergency repairs.
• Kansas City — (816) 572-9500
  Serving both sides of the state line, with heavy hail-claim volume and in-house crews on both.
• Indianapolis — (317) 726-6000
  Full residential and commercial service across the metro and surrounding counties.
• Springfield — (417) 429-1927
  Ozarks-edge hail country, where storm claims drive most of the work we do.
• Columbia / Jefferson City — (573) 343-8993
  Mid-Missouri residential and commercial roofing with a local number and local crews.
• Lake of the Ozarks — (573) 343-8993
  Lake-area homes, second homes and rental property, including owners managing work from out of town.
• Metro East & Southern Illinois — (618) 549-0800
  Storm corridor along the Mississippi, with frequent hail and wind claim work.