G'day all,I hail from Perth Western Australia and I'm keen to roll my sleeves upI've been surfing the BP site for about a month now; I've watched a couple of dozen podcasts, read a bunch of articles and delved into the forums.

Since December 2015 the local area was hit by a major tornado and several hail storms. 

I originally hail from Queens out by JFK airport.

I'm currently working with them on a hail damage claim and they've been a little slow but customer service and coverage options are good.

The property taxes are too high, and turnover costs combined with CapEx will be higher than you expect (hail and wind damage to roofs, blown down fences, AC overworked and dying prematurely, the aforementioned clay soils, etc). 

(this one has hail damaged siding and roof not noted on HUD inspection).

But Nola requires flood & wind/hail insurance not required in other regions, very old housing stock that requires additional maintenance, and solid understanding of the city as it can vary widely block to block.

I have a SFR rental with hail damage in Independence Missouri and need a recommendation for a roofer.  

The seller and I agreed they would file a claim on the roof due to hail damage, and I would cover any out of pocket costs like deductibles, overage, etc.

and you self profess to being new.. lets see how you like it in 5 years of landlording :)and in Texas Tax's and foundation issues along with hail storms and wind storms will eat into your cash flow regardless of what the market is doing.