In case you haven't seen or read enough about Roofstock, here it goes:
I just completed my first experience using Roofstock through the closing process, here are some of my experiences. Note: I did not close on this property.
My offer was accepted and the next day was received a call from client services to go through the next steps. As there was no inspection done on the property, I was assured that an inspection would be done and paid for by Roofstock. The rep also told me that she would introduce me to all the relevant parties (lenders, property managers, insurance brokers, and title company).
The next day, I was notified, that in fact, Roofstock would not pay for an inspection, but that there was an inspection contingency so I can pay for one and Roofstock will help schedule it and I can use their preferred inspection company. At the same time, I started to the process with Better Mortgage (Roofstock’s preferred lender) on this property (I had already received a pre-approval from them before offering on properties). I had a few questions for the rep at Better, to which I asked for the answers she gave to be emailed to me. I never got that email. That was the beginning of a frustrating experience with Better throughout the entire process.
I received the PSA to sign after a few days, and realized there was no inspection contingency, the rep at Roofstock later added the addendum to the contract. In the meantime, reps at Better Mortgage were very hard to get in contact with. They’re goal was to make it a smooth process by taking everything online, what that did was, make it harder to communicate with real people in a prompt fashion. I was made to send documents in, and answer questions to questions I had already answered and sent documents in for. The online reps were clueless as to what was going on, it would take at least 24 hours to get any response, and usually the response was incoherent and not helpful at all. All in all, they did nothing to tailor to my personal needs and made getting a mortgage a very frustrating experience. In the end, I looked into other lenders until I found a local bank that was understanding and helpful and worked to find solutions that worked for me.
In the meantime, the inspection happened, I made some requests from the seller that was passed on by Roofstock. Then an appraisal happened, and I found that there was actually an HOA fee on this property, then the title company sent more documents, that the HOA fee was higher than what was on the appraisal. All of this occurred after the due diligence period was complete, and yet I was told that the inspection period wouldn’t be extended and that I had to accept the inspection. However, I would be allowed to terminate the contract due to the HOA’s.
After Roofstock tried to persuade me to go ahead with the contract, I decided to cut it loose. My dealings with Better, and the HOA fees not being disclosed were too much for me.
In summary: My Roofstock experience with their reps was pretty smooth and consistent, however, I learnt that: (1) Don’t assume their preferred partners are trustworthy or easy to communicate with, just because they say so. As is the case with all the information they provide, do your own due diligence (2) Roofstock, generally, is the seller’s agent, so they must always work in the best interest of the seller, not you, the buyer. Remember that.
Update: After I terminated the contract, I got a phone call from my original Roofstock rep who was helping me find properties, and the Manager, @Zach Evanish to reach out and hear my thoughts and experiences and how they can be a better help in the future. I thought this was a very nice touch from the rep and Zach to hear me out and make sure they’ll do better in the future. They are processing a refund for my marketplace fee as well.
One last comment: Roofstock strategy is not for everyone, and definitely not the ideal way to create wealth through Real Estate. That comes from buying properties under market value and adding value through renovations or other means.
