All Forum Posts by: Tim Porsche

 Yeah I don't plan on continuing to work with this contractor unless they would agree to finish the job at the original price, which I think is doubtful at this point but we'll see. I have two other roofers that were recommended by other landlords in the area scheduled to come out and give two separate quotes each. One for what the main section of the roof would cost to replace, and one for what all the other sections would cost. 

@Mike Reynolds yes I did give them permission to remove the extra layers of roofing at the extra cost since that was in the original contract. 

 Thanks for the input Manolo. So at the end of the day if the contractor would end up filing a lien, do you know what the process is like to get it removed? My knowledge of liens and the rules governing them is very limited...something I need to read up on I guess. 

I did give them signed permission to take off the other three layers, so I'm fine paying that. It was in the contract that extra layers would be removed at $x.xx per square so that's alright. What I'm not fine with is paying full price when only have the job was done.

@Mike Reynolds thanks for the feedback! I'll be calling some roofers for quotes shortly and we'll see what they come back at. 

If it would go to court, do you think the email I sent to the contractor and his assistant would have any weight in showing they had knowledge I wanted the entire roof replaced? Here's the email.

""Hi Name,

Thanks for the quote, I appreciate it! A couple of quick questions for you on the roofing product used though. Will .060 TPO be used on both the flat portion of the roof and the slanted portion and porch roofs, or just the flat section of the roof? Also what is the average life expectancy of .060 TPO roofing for flat roofs? I'm not familiar with the product so I have no idea.

Thanks!"

I guess at least in a worse case scenario, if we couldn't come to an agreement and it would go to court, it would only be small claims so the legal fees would be pretty minimal. 

@JD Martin thanks for the feedback, that is great advice! I'll see if I can get two other roofers out who have a good reputation for quotes on the entire roof and compare what I paid with those estimates. My realtor told me the whole roof replacement shouldn't be more than $3,500 so when I got the $3,300 quote I thought it seemed about right. That price would be consistent with the going rate for a similar roof replacement around here I believe.

On a side note, I've only paid 1/3 (around $1,000) of the cost for the job so far for the down payment. If two other roofing companies come back with quotes and say, "We would only charge you  $2,000 for the main roof and $1,300 for the other sections", would you advise just paying the originaly contractor $2000 then and waiting for them to come after me (if they would decide to) for the extra $1,300 or would it be better to initiate the court case? Obviously I'd much rather stay out of court altogether...just wondering what would be most advantageous. 

@Clayton Barnes they charged me an extra $540 for removing the two extra layers of roofing. I thought it seemed a little high but not totally unreasonable. 

Hi All,

I have a bit of a situation here and would greatly appreciate any advice on how to proceed. I purchased a rental property back in Spring of this year and decided to replace the roof on it because it's quite obvious it has reached the end of its useful life. The roof can be divided into four main sections.

1. The main section of the roof. This is about a 600 Sq. ft area and is a flat roof.

2. The front porch roof. Relatively small section that is rubber.

3. Back area of house roof. This is about a 150 sq. ft area that covers the back of the house where the kitchen is. Also a rubber roof.

4. Back porch roof. Very small section that covers the back porch. Maybe 50 sq. ft.

The contractor replaced the main section, but nothing else, and is claiming that is all he bid on. He also charged me extra to remove two extra layers of roofing underneath. Now, when I originally contacted the roofing contractor to get a quote to replace the roof back in June, I never differentiated between any of these sections. When I told him I wanted "the roof" to be replaced I assumed he realized I meant the WHOLE roof, not just the main section. I had never thought a contractor would replace only certain sections of the roof when you tell them you want "the roof" replaced. Looking back this was a mistake on my part, and in the future I'll make sure to have as much detail as possible listed in the contract about EXACTLY what is included in the price and what is not. 

The only written proof I have that I wanted all sections replaced is an email where I stated the following to the contractor's assistant, and also the contractor himself who was copied on the email:

"Hi Name,

Thanks for the quote, I appreciate it! A couple of quick questions for you on the roofing product used though. Will .060 TPO be used on both the flat portion of the roof and the slanted portion and porch roofs, or just the flat section of the roof? Also what is the average life expectancy of .060 TPO roofing for flat roofs? I'm not familiar with the product so I have no idea.

Thanks!"

The contract itself states the following:

"Specifications: Proposed Cost

Roof

Remove & dispose of the existing roof, if additional layers are found they will be removed at $50.00/sq.

Inspect current roof deck, if replacement is needed it will be completed at $1.65/s.f.

Install 1⁄2” fiber board to the entire roof deck using screws and plates

Install .060 TPO to the roof with all needed flashings and trims

Install perimeter metal with all needed flashings

Proposed Cost: $3,300"

I guess my question is, what options do I have at this point? Do I just suck it up, pay, and then get someone else to finish the other sections of the roof? I know I made a mistaken not specifying exactly what needed done in more detail...but honestly, when you say you want the roof of a house replaced, wouldn't most people assume you mean the whole roof and not half of it? 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Unless you have good reason to expect a lot of appreciation over the new few years, I'd stay far away from those two houses. After you factor in capex, maintenance\repairs, and vacancy, you're likely going to be cash flow negative every month. 

Hi Dilan, welcome to BP! 

To answer your question, getting started in real estate with no money at all is going to be hard but certainly not impossible. Some viable options would be to partner with someone on a flip or rental deal who has the money, and you do the work. Another option would be wholesaling. If you can save up just a small amount of money, enough for a 3.5% down payment you could purchase an owner occupied 1-4 unit building and live in it rent free while the tenants pay your mortgage. Brandon Turner has a great book out that goes into more detail about these strategies and others that you can find on Amazon called, "The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down".

If you're looking to get into owning rentals long term, you will definitely need to save some money at some point. Even if you purchase for 0% down, you're going to want at least enough cash reserves to pay for 3-6 months of PITI on all your properties. Most people on here seem to advise trying to save between 20-50% of your take home pay to put towards investing. Hope this helps.

My goal is to have an end product that looks nice that will attract good tenants. I feel if popcorn would turn me off as a potential renter, it will probably turn off others as well, so best to get rid of it. I am going to live in the property for at least a year before renting it out though, so I also want something that I'll like myself. 

Thanks for the replies everyone! Appreciate all of your input and suggestions. I've decided to not do beadboard or plank but instead put some more work into scraping the popcorn off, and then touching up any areas that need it, and painting with a good flat paint to help hide any imperfections. 

It seems like I'll need to do at least two scraping sessions to remove it...one to take off most of the paint so the water can actually penetrate and soak in, and then a second scraping to get the rest of the texture off. I did the first scraping in the dining room a couple of days ago so we're making progress :)