Revealing the Truth Behind Roofing Inspections: A Buyer's Guide

On Top Of Roofing

💥 Get ready for a riveting episode! 💥 Today on our podcast, we're diving deep into the world of real estate with some jaw-dropping stories that will leave you on the edge of your seat. We're sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the real estate industry, giving you a firsthand look at what really goes on behind the scenes.

🏡 Strap in as we recount our encounters with realtors, homeowners, and insurance companies. These stories are not only entertaining, but they also serve as important lessons for anyone looking to venture into the world of real estate. We'll shed light on the challenges, the twists and turns, and the unexpected obstacles that can arise during the home-buying and selling process.

🌟 Join us as we uncover a tale of a homeowner in denial, who refused to acknowledge the glaring hail damage on their supposed class four impact-resistant roof. You won't believe how this story unfolds and the lengths we had to go to resolve the issue. It's a rollercoaster ride you don't want to miss!

💡 But that's not all! We also discuss the ever-changing landscape of insurance companies, the importance of thorough inspections, and the power of trust in real estate transactions. From negotiating tactics to financing options, we've got all the insider tips and tricks to help you navigate the real estate world like a pro.

🎄 As the year comes to a close, we want to wish all our listeners a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We're grateful for your support, and we can't wait to continue sharing more captivating stories and valuable insights in future episodes. So, don't wait another second – tune in now and get ready to be captivated by our latest episode! Trust us, you won't be disappointed.

[00:00:00] It's.

[00:00:21] There you go. Pull that microphone. There we go. We're back. We're back.

[00:00:25] Number four man. Today it's going to be story time, going over some things we've encountered.

[00:00:54] Today we wanted to talk about good, the bad, the ugly of real estate.

[00:01:36] These stories will somewhat educate things to look out for when going into real estate.

[00:01:51] We're going to start talking trash about people. This is going to be fun.

[00:02:16] Eric has some stories with good interactions we've had with realtors and homeowners.

[00:02:24] It feels like Honolulu outside today, pushing 80 degrees in December.

[00:02:46] I've kept hearing that we're going to have the coldest winter ever.

[00:02:54] Our company is growing. We've hired a couple of guys in the past couple of weeks.

[00:03:18] Cody is going to tell a specific story that happened to him a week ago.

[00:04:01] There's the general inspection that took place on the home.

[00:04:17] When it's a steep roof, inspectors aren't really doing a super thorough inspection.

[00:04:47] The homeowner preemptively filed a claim on his roof but the carrier said there's no damage.

[00:05:12] The buyer's roofing company said the roof is in terrible condition, with hail damage.

[00:05:28] The homeowner says they have a class four impact resistant roof.

[00:05:53] Another roofing company who put the roof on says it's functioning as it should.

[00:06:25] The insurance agent asked Cody to go take a look and provide his opinion.

[00:06:41] Knowing I won't get the job, the homeowner has a trusted contractor.

[00:07:01] Homeowner claims to have a class four impact resistant roof, asks me to check it.

[00:07:17] I see the impact resistant roof and acknowledge it, but still need to inspect further.

[00:07:40] Shockingly, I find hail damage everywhere, larger than golf ball size.

[00:08:07] Unsure how to handle the situation, I discuss options with the homeowner.

[00:08:38] Homeowner refuses to accept that hail damage is still damage despite the roof functioning.

[00:08:54] I continue inspecting the roof, finding damage everywhere as expected.

[00:09:15] Insurance adjusters require a minimum number of hits for a claim, which the roof surpasses.

[00:09:30] I break the news to the furious homeowner that the roof is indeed damaged.

[00:09:44] Homeowner realizes the sale may be affected and tells us to leave.

[00:10:19] I speculate on why the roofer doesn't want to sell a new roof.

[00:10:44] Contractors representing seller and buyer may not be fully honest due to motivation to sell.

[00:10:58] Insurance denial prolongs the process of resolving the roof damage issue.

[00:11:21] Steps include documenting the roof, sending estimates, and getting a second adjuster.

[00:11:39] Appraisal is another step that can take months, causing problems for home sellers.

[00:12:02] Homeowners are frustrated having to trust their insurance company over contractors.

[00:12:31] I reiterate to the homeowner that I am an independent party not invested in selling a roof.

[00:12:44 to 00:12:54] I'm going to be 100% transparent, open and honest with you, which I was. But I think insurance has changed a lot just in the last six to twelve months. Absolutely. You trust your insurance guy, whatever.

[00:12:54 to 00:13:17] But now because they've gotten so tight on everything, everything that I think it's a harder thing to overcome. It really is. Yeah. But again, who do you trust in that situation? Right?

[00:13:17 to 00:13:31] I trust you, Cody. Well, I wish everybody did, Mike, but that guy didn't know, you know, as upset as he was with me and as uncomfortable as that situation was, I felt bad for him because he really got put in a bad situation. Four different people telling him four different things. Absolutely. But it started with this specific adjuster who went out there and told him he didn't have damage.

[00:13:31 to 00:14:02] I don't care if you've been roofing for a year, a month, a week, I could have never shown you a picture of hail. You're like, holy crap, what's wrong with this hail? What's wrong with this roof? Yeah, what's going on? So it's just a really bad situation there.

[00:14:02 to 00:14:10] Just fix the roof. But if you don't fix the roof then we're not going to buy the house. And that's kind of my story. Yeah. And they can't really because they're not going to be able to insurance.

[00:14:10 to 00:14:34] It'd be enough time. So what will happen is the insurance company is going to write a policy for that house and then they're going to send an inspector out there after that policy has been taken into effect. And then that guy's going to say well you have 60, 90 days to get this taken care of. And this isn't a small repair, this is a whole roof and this is a big roof. I mean we're talking, I think it was probably a 4000 square foot house.

[00:14:34 to 00:15:04] We're talking to 80 squares. But again, it's the time that becomes so problematic. So yes, you could still close and again, I'm speaking way out of school here with regard to the negotiations and the realtors and what all they can put in the contract, but you all still could do that and we carry it out and we can still fight that fight for you just knowing if things don't go well, I guess, well. Couldn'T the seller's insurance company, couldn't they go out and say, okay, yeah, we're going to replace this roof and then you still close it may take a. Little while, put it in the contract and have timelines out there.

[00:15:04 to 00:15:22] Absolutely. Yeah. And then let's say for whatever reason they can't make it work within the time constraints. Maybe they meet in the middle and there's just money involved and we can still get the roof done or whomever can get the roof done. But yeah, so that's the worst case scenario for both of them because he's not getting an insurance policy.

[00:15:22 to 00:15:41] I told the guys like man, I personally if I was buying this house I couldn't do it. I wouldn't buy it. Just knowing full well that I'm going to have problems long term. And the other problem is, let's just for hypothetical sake, say that insurance did go ahead and write you a policy. Well, then another year later, you have a hailstorm and you want to file a claim.

[00:15:41 to 00:15:51] And maybe it's small, but then they see all this other big stuff. So you would think hail is hail, and we're going to write it. They're going to say, no, I'm sorry, that hail predated. It doesn't correlate now. Exactly.

[00:15:51 to 00:16:18] So, sorry, you're out of luck. You're going to have to pay for it out of pocket. So there's just a lot of negative that can come from these situations. So you got to trust your contractor, you got to trust the insurance carrier, which, as Mike said, it's really difficult right now because they have tightened up, but you got to be willing to fight the fight. Well, that's why it's super important to get an insurance company and a rep based system.

[00:16:18 to 00:16:42] I tell people all the time when they're getting mortgages, don't go with the GEicos and the progressives of the world, because when you're calling 1800 numbers and you're trying to get stuff, you got nobody fighting in your corner. You have to have an agent because representation, like car insurance, whatever, but with your house, because all of the premium is built into that roof. I mean, that's what you're paying for. When you pay for insurance, that's what you're paying. Yeah, yeah, no doubt.

[00:16:42 to 00:17:00] So having that in your corner is big. And know we have Brad on last time, Brad would be the first one to go. Look, we've got a sale going on here. We need to bump this up and we need to get somebody else's eyes on this. But knowing this specific carrier and how they work, this one's going to be for them.

[00:17:00 to 00:17:09] You'll be drugged up for a long time. So anyway, so the problem sounds like. It'S the insurance company, really. Right. Because they won't admit or they won't come to terms with the fact that there's serious damage on that roof.

[00:17:09 to 00:17:23] Yeah, it's kind of the mo nowadays. You just hear the. No, there's no damage. Hoping that that homeowner or seller buy or whatever goes away, that's where we kind of step in and we can have that further conversation. We know the next steps.

[00:17:23 to 00:17:34] And again, in a real estate transaction, time is of the essence. So sometimes you don't have that time and you got to extend things out. Well, he's always going to have that problem. Any new buyer that comes, the next. Buyer is going to do the same thing.

[00:17:34 to 00:17:54] And really in that situation, I don't know who the people are involved in here, but the listing agent, the one that needs to be the one to tell him, hey, look, I've done this before. We've been down this road. It's your insurance. Your insurance is the problem. Well, and again, I don't fully know about all the real estate disclosure and everything, but they've got multiple inspections now stating that there's roof damage.

[00:17:54 to 00:18:04] Yes. So that has to be turned over to any potential buyer. So it's out there. Whether that buyer has another contractor come in and look at or not, it doesn't matter. It's been fully documented.

[00:18:05 to 00:18:21] And that's the hardest part for people to understand when it comes to claims.

[00:18:21] Let's just assume it wasn't hail damage. Insurance adjuster says it's not storm damage.

[00:18:33] But that doesn't mean the roof is good. Buyers need contractors to differentiate.

[00:18:46] Age is a problem, but even carriers won't write a policy with missing or torn shingles.

[00:18:59] Get us involved early for sellers and buyers so they know the condition of the roof.

[00:19:45] You might not know about missing or torn shingles if it's not visible.

[00:20:21] Sellers and buyers need to involve contractors early to address any issues beforehand.

[00:20:32] Sometimes, there's a lack of trust when working on behalf of buyers.

[00:20:48] Representing buyers can be challenging as sellers already have their preferred contractors.

[00:21:14] A realtor contacted a roofer early during the option period for a newlywed couple's potential home.

[00:21:33] The roofer found hail damage and negotiated with the seller's realtor to file a claim.

[00:22:03] The claim was approved, and the roof was totaled. The process went smoothly.

[00:22:10] The happy ending dispels the myth that insurance companies won't cover roof damage.

[00:22:31] The realtor wrote the roofer into the contract, and the buyers were relieved to have the issues fixed.

[00:23:10] The process took place after the option period and closing, but both parties were satisfied.

[00:23:33] With a good realtor and contractors, foundation issues and repairs can be explained and resolved.

[00:23:45] Working on the buyer side from the beginning makes the process easier and more reassuring.

[00:23:57] As a buyer, it's crucial to know if the warranty will transfer to you.

[00:24:21] If there's no warranty, any repairs will come out of your pocket. Quality matters too.

[00:24:39] It's important to gather information about the roof, its age, shingle manufacturer, and more.

[00:24:50] He made me walk the roof, ensuring I knew everything about it.

[00:26:00] Listing agents will play a bigger role in transactions, and commission structures are changing.

[00:25:07] Don't just settle for a new roof, demand details and quality.

[00:25:22] Work with the sellers and get involved in the roof, ensuring transparency and trust for the buyers.

[00:28:00] Relationships should be based on trust, not just transactions.

[00:28:39] Choose the right people who have everyone's best interests in mind.

[00:29:22] Good realtors aim to take care of clients at the highest level for long-term referrals.

[00:29:51] Sure, you're scratching my back by get me on a roof, but I want to make you look good.

[00:30:08] So you use me in the future, and maybe that homeowner and that homeowner's mother and aunts and uncles use us, too. So we're going to do everything in our power to do it the right way. Well, like you guys said on the last episode where you were talking about how when you go do repairs, you're not making any money on those. You're just going and maybe barely covering costs. Yeah.

[00:30:20] You're helping a new relationship. It's the same concept. You're just trying to help people. So that way in the future when these situations come up, you're the first person they think of because you took good care of them well. And you're saying how things are changing with lawsuits and all that.

[00:30:33] I mean, we've seen a definite difference in real estate deals for us over the past couple of years. The market has been so hot. I mean the sellers had every ounce of leverage. Buy the house, don't buy the house. I don't.

[00:30:49] There's 20 people behind you, so I don't care. So I'd say the roof was so far down the list on things that's changing. Right now we have 60. Our real estate business has picked up quite a bit. I mean, I know the market is soft, but we're getting on more and more houses in comparison because buyers are.

[00:31:01] In control versus sellers and they have a little more leverage these days. That takes me to my next negative story and this is a pretty heartbreaking story. I'm going to bring it down. Turn the lights down, please. Do you want me to talk?

[00:31:22] Really get real close. So this one, it was in the heat of the market, gosh, probably two years ago, two and a half years ago, something like that. Lady calls me, says, Cody, we've recently purchased a home. We wanted to be close to our daughter and when she said close, it was next.

[00:31:42] I don't know about what that relationship is like. I know my wife loves my mom, but I don't know if she want to lives next door. But that said. So they were obviously very motivated to buy so much that I think they did themselves a disservice because they wanted this house so badly. They basically waived the inspection or not?

[00:31:56] Basically, no, they did waive the inspection. So did they not get an inspection. Or did they just, they did not get. Okay, just as a side note, you can waive the as is. Like we're going to take it as is, but don't ever, don't ever waive.

[00:32:04] Always do an inspection. I think. What are they, 5600? Yeah, like $600. That's the dollar amount.

[00:32:29] Never buy a house. Even brand new homes get an inspection. So they didn't. And they were educators for life so they're not swimming in money or anything like that. Well, she calls me, says, hey, my insurance policy or my insurance company is telling me that I have 90 days to get this roof taken care of or we're not going to have a policy at all and just purchased the home, hadn't been in it 30 days.

[00:32:43] I go out, I look at this roof. And it is destroyed. I mean, just blasted. One of the worst you'll ever see. I say, okay, this is a problem, obviously, but what kind of relationship do you have with the seller?

[00:33:06] And they say it was not a good relationship. I said, well, I knew when the storm was, the storm had happened, I think, two weeks prior to them buying this home, literally. And so I said, well, the best case scenario for you is you need to reach back out to the seller by any means necessary and see if they're willing to file a claim. That's best case. Then everything could be handled through insurance.

[00:33:17] You don't have to worry about it. You get a new roof and everybody goes off and they're happy. So they tried that multiple times. The seller wasn't having it. They weren't going to do it.

[00:33:41] They didn't want to be involved. You bought the house essentially as is. You had every opportunity to take a look at all this stuff and you chose not to. So I'm sorry, that's it. But that real side note, so people might not know that you can actually go back to the seller because the insurance company that had the policy at the time of the storm is still, quote unquote, on the hook for that.

[00:33:50] Depending upon the time constraints. Yeah, depending on that. So there is a way to go back. And we tried to have her go back and do that, and it just. I wonder if there's anything they could do with the seller's disclosure thing.

[00:34:03] I guess it's what you know and what you don't know. But if there was a massive hailstorm two weeks before. Yeah, and I mean, devil's advocate, I mean, maybe the people were...