How to handle roof repairs

David

How many individual roofs and what size?

One HOA I know arranged for a bank loan to do massive repairs. Owners could choose from a 5 year or less payment plan directly to the bank.

If you have a property manager, you may want to start with having them (or an expert roofer) evaluate all the roofs and list one which are more in need of repair, and plan that way. If you have a contractor who "can't seem to explain where the water's coming from," I'd move on to someone with a better track record. Then again, i some problems can't been diagnosed without taking something apart, so that may be your problem.

You have inadequate reserves (it seems everyone does, including my own HOA), which likely means you have deferred maintenance and now it's caught up with you. Deferred maintenance means repairs can and will be more expensive by the time you have no choice but to address it, so you may not like the $3K estimates, but that may be something you'll have to accept.

You don't say how old your HOA is, but the older things get, the more expensive they are to repair, so your homeowners may as well get used to paying higher assessments to take care of this stuff unless they LIKE having a few special assessments. Keep them in the loop with the Board's efforts - they may not like higher prices, but usually appreciate openness as to why they're necessary. If they don't like the Board's plan, that's fine - tell them to come up with another one.

As for having more than one contractor enter the home, I can understand the objections, so it would behoove homeowners to be a specific as possible with describing their problem. Saying "the roof leaks every time it rains," may not be enough. Is this happening on one side of the house as opposed to another? Have there been issues with the gutters? When was the last time the roof was replaced? And so on.

Start with identifying the houses with the more serious problem and getting a contractor, and then tell homeowners there may need to be several visits before the problem can be identified, so the more documentation they do (dates, photographs, etc.) and information they provide, the better the chances of pinpointing the problem sooner rather than later

When looking at contractors, I'd get at least 3 estimates and be sure to do your due diligence: check if the contractor has the proper licenses/certifications, bonds, as appropriate, check with your local BBB, Angie's List or whoever investigates consumer complaints in your area, ask for references and check them (look for someone who's worked with HOAs before).

> as we try to find new contractors and wait for estimates,

If repair is a continuing issue- then you should only need to get multiple bids once (or at worst twice) and then use one contractor.

Maybe you can negotiate a better deal for continuing service.

It might be better in the long run to replace all the roofs now and if necessary finance the cost.

We have had roof problems in the past and we now do yearly inspections to look for issues.