All Forum Posts by: Scott Le

 Colleague request sent.  Thanks.

I asked my REI mentor (who owns 30 houses in the area and co-owns a subcontracting firm) for roofing contacts. Of the 3 he gave me, 2 of them didn't return my call and 1 no-showed an appointment.

It's been really shocking how horrible this has gone so far.  I find it so hard to fathom that not one roofer in this area is interested in a paying job.  I've called 6 more firms today.  2 of them I left unreturned voicemails for, 3 of them said "we'll call you back", and another is able to come out for a bid...in 9 days (if they even show up).    

My mentor's firm is going to handle a lot of the other tasks for the house, but like I said everything is logjammed by waiting for this roof.  I'd be getting cleaned out if I actually used hard money on this.

As a form of catharsis this morning, I made sure to leave scathing reviews on every single roofer who no-showed's Angie's List page (god knows I have enough free time on my hands with the house just sitting idle).

Originally posted by @Mike T.:

Well first of all business is good in Tampa! I have a friend that owns a roofing company here in the local area, he replaced my roof in December.

Do you know what type of shingle and underlayment you are looking for?

What are you looking to pay per square?

I honestly don't know what type of material is on the roof. It's not shingles and it's not metal. They're these large 10x10 squares. I don't know what they are made of to be honest. There's about 21 of them.

My REI mentor (who owns 30 houses in the area and co-owns a subcontracting firm) firmly believes I shouldn't have to pay more than $4.5-5k for the whole roof. He's going to be doing a lot of the other projects on the house, but unfortunately he doesn't have a sub for roofing in-house.

Originally posted by @Robert Curls:

Scott,

I've used Duncan roofing in the past. Their gimmick is that they get it done in one day. Other roofing companies that I've heard have good reputations are:

Heaberlin Roofing

Done Right Roofing

Very much appreciated! Calling all 3 now.

Hi William. I closed on my first house with all cash 10 days ago (and given that I was the agent, it was also my first official closing). I about-faced and decided I had enough money to buy & hold one house while still being able to go flip another, even without access to a mortgage. So the plan is to rent this one.

Unfortunately, nothing has gone right since closing. The house needs a new roof and it needs to be rebuilt on a pitch since it was a crummy old flat roof. I have been extraordinarily frustrated by the roofers in this area. I've called 12 companies, of which 7 never returned my call, 4 made an appointment for a bid but never showed up (including one company that outright lied to my face that they were there at the same time I was), and the 1 showed up but bid twice my budget.  So basically nothing has happened to the house in these 10 days, I have no bids scheduled until next week (assuming any of these guys actually show up), and I don't want to start anything else until the roof is done.

I suppose you can say I'm learning some valuable lessons about subcontractors the hard way.  That said, I have no idea what to do about the roof if I can't get anyone to come bid on it!

Does anyone in the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater/Brandon area know of a good, reliable roofer who they have used for a re-roofing before?  I have been extraordinarily frustrated by the roofers in this area.  I've called 12 companies, of which 7 never returned my call, 4 made an appointment for a bid but never showed up (including one company that outright lied to my face that they were there at the same time I was), and the 1 who showed up but bid twice my budget. I mean there has to be someone in this area interested in a paying job, right?

I remember reading an article last Spring stating that 7 major hedge funds had purchased something like 6500 homes in the Tampa Bay area in the prior 24 months.

Are there any websites or is there anyway on Trulia/Zillow to see expired/filled rental listings? I am trying to stack up my SFH right now, but the only resources I have available are other rentals on the market. I think it would be just as beneficial to see listings that were actually rented. Is there anyway to do this?

Yes, I think this is exactly the answer I was looking for.  Turns out the sellers agent hadn't even submitted the contract yet, so that bought me another day.  I believe that by law I have until Tuesday or Wednesday, but I will contact the title company to make arrangements.  

Thanks to everyone who answered.

There is no financing contingency.  I'm paying with my own money.  So at least that's one less thing to worry about.

My boss works in commercial so he doesn't know any more than I do about escrowing.  All I have is an email from the sellers broker with an address for a title company.  Do I just send them a check?  

I just go my license a month ago to supplement any investments I would make going forward.  I hung it under my boss, who is a commercial broker and has no background in residential, and therefore he is of no help here.  

I just put this house under contract and have 7 days to inspect.  The sellers agent sent me a title company they wanted me to use.  How do I go about getting my deposit into escrow?  Is there anything else I need to know?  Thanks!