Need to replace a roof

[Joe Kim]

My first property has had two whammy's against it. 

#1 Numerous repairs from day 1.   Partly due to the property but partly due to a finicky tenant.

#2  Property manager tells me the roof needs to be replaced - $4500 costs.

At the time of purchase about 1.5 years I got a credit for $2000 for the roof because the inspection said the roof was in poor condition.   

My mistake was listening to the property manager (who sold me the property) and now replacing the roof at the time of purchase and rolled the cost into the loan.

Now my question is the legistics of replacing a roof.   what happens to the tenant when the roof is being replaced?   Do I have to pay for the tenant to move out temporarily during construction?   I have no experience with changing a roof?

thank you.   Oh by the way, the roof cost is wiping out my entire cash flow from the past 1.5 years since i bought the property.   Ouch!

[Steve Babiak]

As others have mentioned, the tenant will stay in the property. @Colleen F.has posted some items to consider with respect to consideration for the occupants. 

Regarding your roof condition at purchase. The seller was also the PM, so sounds like a turnkey and possibly a turkey at that. I would see if that seller, your PM, is willing to consider picking up a part of the replacement expense, since you received a credit for less than half the replacement cost, but two years is far less than half the life expectancy of a roof. So you were under-credited for the condition of the roof. 

Now, you neglected to identify the type of roofing material of the existing roof, and did not state that you were replacing with something similar. So others seem to have assumed asphalt shingles. But it could be something else. 

Depending on whether the existing roof is being removed, the handling of that debris is something to keep a watch over. Some roofers are careless and on even the calmest days they will leave a mess on the surroundings, especially on any nearby landscaping (bushes and shrubs) and getting that all cleaned up might not be something you'll see them do. So you want to find out how they handle getting the debris off the roof, and what they do on any windy days. And tell them it's part of their job to clean up the debris from removal of the old roof and scraps / trimmings from the new roof. 

And then there is the matter of gutters. If existing gutters are in good shape and will be kept, you want them to not lean the ladders against the gutters. And you don't want any roofing debris left in the gutters.