Hello, I am a roofer/contractor and I am looking to purchase a local REO and have been watching it for a few months now. 

We have fix and flips going in 12 states along with 10 to 12 homes new constructions at anyone time.. that's  12 dig out guys.. 12 Architects we buy plans from.. 12 municipality we buy permits from ( this gets a little much)  12 foundation guys framers siders insulation ,, electricians, plumbers , roofers painters flooring and counter companies.

The roofer had given me a square price on the roof,but failed to realize that there were three layers underneath when looking at it.

.#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor PricingCall local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating SoftwareOnce you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing.

If you are not going to that extent then yeah go do the inspections; what I have done because I do buy very old properties, I bring all the disciplines out such as electrician, masonry, roofer, plumber, foundation, etc....

I have already bought a duplex, realized mistakes I made, but luckily am on the mend with a slight positive cashflow.Now I am looking for an apartment deal of $800k or less and have 20 to 25% downpayment with a lender setup for the loan.Looking around Loopnet, Realtor and Crexi I have found the options are a few types: either large number of units - older in bad shape in a city (cap rate 9%), small number of units - older -that have been rehabbed in a city (cap 6%) or newer small complexes in smaller towns with cap rates all over the map.

What's funny is the inspector I used for my first property claimed the roof would need repaired in a few years (turns out he didn't even go up on the roof - he used binoculars - not kidding) and I just had a roofer go up there for the first time because I wanted to see if a tune-up was needed and the guy tells me the roof looks good and there's no work needed. 

About 5 roofers quoted me to do the whole roof saying the entire thing was affected.

You should have 2-3 plumbers/HVAC companies/roofers/etc to call if stuff breaks. 

The roofer and the plumber says I can hold off on the repairs for a few years, but they are necessary.Any thoughts?