Why Your Roof Matters More Than You Think!

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In this video, we discuss the importance of roof maintenance and how to protect your home from costly repairs. Our experts share valuable roofing insights and practical roofing tips to help homeowners avoid common mistakes. Plus, we dive into gutter maintenance and its crucial role in home improvement. 🏠✨

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Key Factors Podcast is Powered by LoanBot.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_04 (01:00):
And welcome back to another discussion on Key
Factors Podcast Real Estate AF,where the AF stands for and
finance.
And I'm your host, Mark Jones,and we are powered by Lone Bot.
And um lately we've been havinga lot of off-the-wall
discussions, and I figured we'dcontinue that.
Um, today I am gratefully joinedby some important guests that um

(01:24):
we're gonna be getting intoroofing, insurance, uh, real
estate, mortgage, how it allties together, and what you guys
should be focused on, eitherhomeowners or home buyers and
realtors out there, um, and someadvice in the end, hopefully.
So, without further ado, I wouldlike to introduce my guests, and

(01:45):
I will introduce the mostimportant last um because it is
her first time on a podcast.
I don't know how the hell theother guests got her to join,
but um uh so without furtherado, let me introduce my first
guest.
I've got Marcus Loffy sitting infront of me.
Marcus, how are you?
I'm good, Mark.
Good to see you.
Likewise.

(02:05):
Um, so after I introduce theguests, I'm gonna give them a
moment to talk about themselves.
Uh, we've we've got Tom Mosley.
What's going on, Tom?
Morning, Mark.
How are you?
Doing well.
I never thought I'd see you uhin my podcast studio uh rapping
about good stuff.
So I'm excited about this one.
That makes two of us.
And then my last but not leastguest is Kristen Jones.

(02:28):
She's finally joining thepodcast.

SPEAKER_01 (02:30):
Finally joining the podcast.

SPEAKER_04 (02:31):
Hello, Kristen Jones.
How are you?
I'm wonderful.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, good deal.
So, real quick, um, Marcus, ifyou want to kick us off, tell us
a little bit about yourself,sure, what you do, um, and why
people should be listening toyou today.

SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
Sure, sure.
So I I do own a real estatebrokerage.
It's obviously, you know, how weknow each other, how I know
Kristen.
And um, you know, a few yearsago, Tom, Tom and I have known
each other for 40 years.
Uh he'd been in roofing andsolar for a long time and
talking about uh, you know, wantto make that jump.
And we finally partnered up andand took that uh that leap of

(03:03):
faith.
It's been it's been very nice.
So currently running bothbusinesses, but uh, you know, we
run into a lot of issues and andum a lot of times we have to
bounce things off of insuranceagents in the industry.
And I thought it'd be a greatidea if we could all get
together and kind of see how itall ties together, you know, uh
real estate, loans, roofinginsurance.
I mean, ultimately, you know,that's pretty important to the

(03:24):
loan officer when they're tryingto figure out DTI issues and all
of that, right?
So insurance agents are a keypart of the process.

SPEAKER_04 (03:29):
Absolutely, and I'm excited about this one.
So, Tom, tell us about yourself.
Um, not really associated withreal estate other than buying
it, um, but what's going on andrenting it and owning it, you
know.
Tom, how are you?
I'm well, Mark.
Tell us about yourself.

SPEAKER_02 (03:46):
Well, I like long walks on the beach.
Uh, seriously.
I think that the reason I agreedto do this after Marcus came to
me was because I find out a lotof homeowners are very lacking
in knowledge about insurance andthe coverages and stuff like
that.
So I got into solar and roofingback in 17, 18, somewhere in

(04:08):
there.
And I find a lot of homeownersjust don't know what their
coverages are.
So I think a talk about thiswith a nice licensed uh
insurance person is gonna helpeducate folks.
And I think that goes a longway.

SPEAKER_04 (04:20):
Absolutely.
And I have to agree.
Um, we have uh a plethora of uhexperience from different angles
in this room today.
Um, so Kristen Jones, that beingsaid, tell us about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 (04:36):
Oh, well, you know, what can I say?

SPEAKER_04 (04:38):
And you get you get a little bit of longer time
because you've never been on thepodcast before, and the folks
out there want to know who thehell Kristen Jones is.

SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Do they?

SPEAKER_04 (04:48):
Yes, yeah, they do.
Go for it.

SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
So, fun fact, I was a nurse before diving into the
real estate and insurancemarket.
So I feel like that gives mekind of a little bit of an edge
um on the sympathy factor whenit comes to real estate and
insurance.
Um, when Marcus called me onemorning last week, he's like,
Hey, be on the podcast.
And I was like, No.
Um, and then he said, Yeah,that's what Mark said you'd say.

(05:11):
And I was like, Oh, okay, well,then now I have to.
Um, so now been in insurance inreal estate for gosh, six years.

SPEAKER_04 (05:19):
Just like that.

SPEAKER_01 (05:20):
Um, it flies by fast.
And I'm getting the same thingthat Tom is talking about about
home buyers and clients of minethat have no idea what insurance
means, no idea what theircoverages cover.
I get the question all the time,so what does this like do for
me?
You know, and how much am Ipaying?
And what are my deductibles?
And they just they have no idea.
And I can explain it to themtwo, three, four times, but it

(05:43):
doesn't really stick um untilthey're in it.
So I feel like this, andespecially now with the roofing
climate that we're in andeverybody and the storms and the
pricing of insurance hasincreased substantially.
Um, it's good to educate them,to let them know, you know, hey,
this is what it does, this iswhat it covers, and how can we

(06:03):
help you, you know, find thebest coverage for you?

SPEAKER_04 (06:06):
Well, let's get some of the basics out of the way
before we jump into a uh morenuanced conversation and and to
kick that off.
The idea of insurance and thecustomer understanding it came
out of all three of you guys'mouths.
And I want to kick around ideason why we think that is.

(06:28):
Are they just not payingattention?
Um, does their mortgage lenderor realtor take care of their
insurance up front so theyreally don't have a say in it to
a certain extent, or theybelieve they don't have a say in
it?
Um are they just uneducated inthat subject matter?
I mean, what what are you guys'thoughts on that?

(06:49):
Why do you think that it is soum how do I say it?
It is so neglected.

SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
Sure.
Yeah, I think it's a combinationof both.
Um, you know, especially comingfrom the real estate side, and a
lot of times customers are verytight on their debt to income
ratio.
Very good point.
And so you have the loan officertrying to get the loan done.
Obviously, they want to getapproved.
They go to an insurance agent.
The insurance agent probablyquotes out a certain policy, it
kicks back in your system.

(07:17):
Now we're over.
And sometimes those adjustmentsmight be made where deductibles
are higher, and maybe thecoverage isn't quite what they
need.
And really, what they're puttingin place is a policy more for
the lender than the consumer.
Right.
Is the lender protected?
Boom.
This is the bare minimum.
Yep.
So let's issue that policy.
And I think it takes somebodywith sympathy and empathy to

(07:38):
maybe follow up with those folksafter the fact yes, the house is
important, but now that we'vedone that and we've closed,
let's revisit this insuranceconversation to really get you
coverage that that you want,need, and understand.
And I think a lot of peoplejust, you know, they'll buy a
property, somebody gives them aninsurance referral, and they
never think about it until theyneed to.

(08:00):
And that's where the issue is.
And we see that almost everyconversation with everybody.
People don't even know whattheir deductible is.
Uh, they don't know what thecoverages are, they don't know
what the exclusions are.
And that's why we wanted to talkto Kristen as well, because
being an insurance agent,obviously she can work with many
different companies because somecompanies are just setting the
3% minimum, no matter what.

(08:22):
There is no other policy, or orwe're not gonna have um coverage
for metal roofs on cosmetic.
And so they're making thesedecisions where you can't even
get a policy maybe that youwant.
So if you're shopping with thatparticular company, then you
might think that's just how theinsurance industry is.
Right.
Instead of working with a brokerwhere a broker can say, well, if
that's important to you, thenlet's shop some other companies

(08:43):
and get you the coverage youreally need.

SPEAKER_04 (08:44):
I think you hit it on the head there.
Um, you raise a good point thatbrings up a good joke, which um
I think it was maybe Chris Rockthat said it a while back.
You don't really pay attentionto your insurance, uh, and he
called it something else thatI'll delve into here short
momentarily.
But the the idea is you don'tnecessarily check your

(09:05):
insurance, what you're covered,how much it covers until shit
happens.
So he calls it in case shit.
The idea is you don't haveinsurance and until something
happens, and then anywho.
Um so that being said, I wouldlike to shift it back to Kristen

(09:26):
in the sense of just basicallyexplaining the difference
between, let's say, a broker andan online insurance company.
Because even if the customer, toto add to your point, Marcus, if
the customer is picking theirown insurance, shopping for it
themselves, let's say the onlineform that they go through is

(09:48):
pick your option, pick youroption.
And by the time they're done,it's been five minutes.
And have they really gonethrough it?
Any of that?
Do they understand it?
Um, and I'm thinking that thattoo could be uh an issue with
why they don't understandinsurance and also a reason why
they should maybe use a broker.
But if you could tell us thedifference, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (10:10):
So they're gonna make it complicated.
It there's no easy way aroundit.
Now, I think people know a lotmore about their auto insurance
than they do about theirhomeowner's insurance because
they're having to deal with itconstantly.
And, you know, it it is very cutand dry.
You need this, this, this todrive, period.
There you go.
With your homeowners, there's somany different caveats that you
can have on there that they justreally don't know what they're

(10:31):
picking.
They're just going for thecheapest rate.
And for instance, as a broker, Ican shop, you know, 20 different
companies all at one time, tryto save them money versus them
going online doing 20 differentcompanies, but it's taking them
20 minutes each company becausethey can't shop them all at the
same time.
It's it's all separate.
So then when they're doing that,then they get frustrated and
they're just like, well, I'mjust gonna pick this one, and

(10:53):
they have no idea what theypicked.
Um, so they also a question thatI get a lot is is it more
expensive to use me like abroker versus going online and
doing it themselves?
And usually it's not.
Most of the times I can savethem money with discounts, with
bundling, with all kinds ofother options.
So even if they are maybe saving5% on the front end, by the end

(11:15):
of it, I've saved them that plussome.
And then most of the time, myinsurance clients have my cell
phone in their back pocketanyway.
Mark knows.
They call me all the time ortext me all the time.
Hey, what is this?
Or what's going on?
Or uh shingles just flew off ofmy roof.
What are you doing?
Shingles of shingles.
I'm like, call Marcus.
Yeah.
Um, so yeah, I mean, for me, itit just makes sense to use a

(11:38):
broker, although I know somepeople like to do it themselves,
and that's fine.
And a lot of times I can compareit.
I'm like, hey, if you're gonnashop it yourself, at least send
it to me so I can see thatyou're picking the right things.
And even if you don't use me,it's okay because maybe down the
line you will.
But um, yeah, I I feel likeusing a broker is just, you
know, kind of like using atravel agent.
Like you're not paying for it upfront, but they're saving you

(11:59):
all the money.

SPEAKER_04 (11:59):
Sure, that's a great point.
I mean, the the idea that I thatcomes to mind for me in well, is
it more expensive?
Well, no, they're gonna shopyour insurance to find the best
one according to what your needsare, but at the same time, when
something does happen, when thatshit happens, you're going to
need to have somebody thatadvises you on the process

(12:22):
because if you mess up one stepin that process, that could
determine them covering it ornot.
Um, and I don't know if peopleunderstand the gravity of that
uh concept.
I mean, you got your AC goesout, you got flooded basement,
you got all of these things thatcould go wrong, electrical.
Um, one little caveat that leadsto not being paid out that

(12:45):
$25,000 to$50,000 for thatincident could leave you uh
broke completely and homeless.

SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, and I think there's twogood points when when Kristen
was talking, I was thinkingabout, and I'll let Tom talk
about when we were in Kerrville,um, you know, with this with
this most recent storm.
But I think a lot of peoplereally focus on their auto
insurance because you're payingit every month.
You're paying attention and yousee it goes up 50 bucks, and now
you're making calls.
Whereas a lot of people, theirtheir homeowner's insurance is

(13:15):
in their escrow.
Yeah.
So they just get a notificationevery year, hey, we disperse
this and and they're not reallypaying attention.
So once they set up thatoriginal policy, I think it's
forgotten about.
People don't think about ituntil, like you said, shit
happens.
Yeah.
And with auto, people are alwayspaying attention to that,
probably calling you all thetime trying to change auto and
in their rates.

(13:36):
Um, so I think that's that's animportant part of it.
And then Tom can talk about thisbecause when we were in
Kerrville and we had that bigstorm, you know, he could be on
the phone for an hour and a halftrying to talk to an insurance
company on behalf of ahomeowner.
But when he picks up the phone,you had a bunch of agents on
speed dial, and we wereliterally getting questions
answered on the spot, right?

SPEAKER_02 (13:56):
Yes.
So I find that a lot of folksjust don't realize what their
coverages entail.

SPEAKER_04 (14:02):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (14:02):
And you you you hit the nail on the head, Mark, with
the Chris Rock thing.
So um most people don't becomeaware until it's too late.
And that's kind of the point ofthis.
We want to we want to educatefolks on being a little
proactive and making sure thatthey know what they've got, what
they are planning for in the uhI'm not gonna say unlikely

(14:26):
event, the horrible event thatsomething happens and they're
not covered.
Right.
And we've seen this.
So I think the biggest thing isjust making sure that you talk,
you ask questions from youragents, brokers, whoever it is,
because I've spent so much timeover the last six months just on
hold, trying to get through tothe bigger companies, trying to
get through for folks who justneed answers.

(14:47):
And unfortunately, what theytell some folks they want at
times, that's not what they havewhen the rubber meets the road.
Right, right is the best way tosay.
Uh, some people don't realizethat a simple$50 a month could
replace their roof in the longrun.
And the reality is, I mean,shingle roofs in Texas, I know

(15:09):
they are 30 years, uh, is whatthey say on the warrant.
Yeah.
Thank you, Kristen.
I concur, and nobody concursanymore.
Um they don't last 30 years herein Texas.

SPEAKER_04 (15:19):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (15:20):
So even metal roofs, I mean, my house, my roof was
nine months old.
We had this hail storm in March.
And I mean, when I say hailstorm, I tell folks all the time
a uh a big hail storm istypically about 12 minutes.
Ours was 45 minutes straight oftennis ball size hail.

SPEAKER_04 (15:35):
Yeah, have you heard of Purville size hail?

SPEAKER_02 (15:37):
Yeah, purville size hail is a good way to put it at
this point.
So again, I just my hope is thatmost homeowners, if they see
this, they're gonna call,they're gonna get information,
they're gonna figure out hey,what is my deductible?
What are my coverages?
If it does hit the fan, where doI go next?

SPEAKER_04 (15:53):
Yeah.
No, that makes good sense.
Um, and before we shift over tothe predominantly roofing
conversation, I want to ask youboth, uh, being in roofing now,
um is it easier dealing with aninsurance broker when you have
claim issues, or is it uh easierdealing with the big names

(16:16):
directly, like your uhprogressive, your state farm,
that concept, or is it dependenton the agent you get?

SPEAKER_02 (16:24):
Ooh, I'll take this.

SPEAKER_04 (16:25):
Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 (16:26):
So I have I have a lot of relationships, obviously.
I know several insurancebrokers.
Chris and I've used for years aswell.
Uh I've also got some agentsthat I have on speed dial, and
they are amazing because we're asmall town out in Kerrville.
Right.
So the couple that I go to outthere are amazing.
I don't have a preference perse, but typically typically, if

(16:47):
somebody has a state farmquestion, I will ask them, but
then I will also go and asksomebody else, like Kristen,
hey, what are the otherinsurance companies saying like
this?
And that's why it helps you tohave these folks on speed dial.

SPEAKER_04 (16:57):
And that's your trust validator.
You you've got to have someoneto be able to validate based on
their experience and theiraccess, uh, if this person is
doing their their shit right, tobe honest.
Um, and I think everyprofessional should have a trust
but verify person, if that makessense.
Sure.
Um, and an insurance broker is agreat uh person to be that for

(17:21):
for you guys' situation.
Um, so as we jump into more of auh over-the-top kind of
conversation, uh, and when Imean that I mean roofs, the idea
that was lame with you, Mark.

SPEAKER_00 (17:37):
We got you covered.
Is that better?

SPEAKER_04 (17:41):
That's a lot better, yes.
Um what made you guys decide toget into roofing?
And I know you mentioned thatyou got into roofing.
What what what was the what wasthe real driver of that?
Because you are a high-producingrealtor, the idea and
essentially shared broker, theidea behind it is yeah, I can

(18:04):
make extra money doing it thisway, or I can create another
legacy uh going this route.
I have set things up onautopilot, and I mean, there's
so many different things.
Um, and the reason I ask this isshit, I go through it as well.
It's like I'm a producing branchmanager that owns a lead

(18:25):
generation company that decidesto start a mobile app, and she's
like, What the hell are youdoing?
Yes, and now fast forward fiveyears and it's whoa, okay.
Um, but you never know when youset out on things like that.

SPEAKER_05 (18:39):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (18:40):
Um, shit could hit the fan.
All of the things, what whatallowed you guys to take that
leap?

SPEAKER_00 (18:47):
Sure.
Well, you know, Tom and I hadthis conversation years ago.
Um, and he wound up going intodifferent direction.
He stayed in the industry.
Um, but you know, I think Tomand I, and we've known each
other for 40 years, have beenbest friends since we were 10
years old.
And so it was one, theopportunity to work with him.
Um, a lot of people can't dothat.
Yeah, I can.
Yep.
Uh but one was was theopportunity for us to build

(19:11):
something together, um, legacyfor the family type.
But you know, even in realestate, being super busy,
there's always some time.
Yeah.
You can always carve out sometime, right?
You're you're technically incharge of your own schedule if
you manage your businesscorrectly.
So there's always a little, alittle extra time.
And you know, Tom really hadthat that expertise when it came

(19:32):
to um, you know, the product andand uh roofing and and and solar
in general.
And you know, I was veryfamiliar with building a
business.
You know, we put Andy and Ibuilt that brokerage together
and and uh with Shannon's helpas well.
And it was one of those thingswhere, you know, really you've
got kind of the sales and thenthe operations side of a
business, and both of us are areobviously salespeople, so we're

(19:56):
really a sales organization andunderstand that.
But when it comes to theoperation side, and there's so
much, and you would know tobuilding a business, there's
insurance and there's LLCs andthere's attorneys.
There's things that the peopledo not see.
That's right.
And so a lot goes into it.
And so we we worked really hardbuilding this business, and it
just gives us the opportunity towork together and and um try to
deliver a different product thanwhat's currently being

(20:18):
delivered.
Um, one of the first things Tomdoes with everybody is ask them
for a copy of their policy, andhe's gonna review their policy
before we even talk aboutreplacements or anything else.
Let's see what your coverage is,let's see if this is a good
decision for you.
And every now and then we meetsomebody where it isn't a good
decision for them, but then he'scoaching them on look, you've

(20:38):
got a 4% deductible and you haveexclusions, and basically this
policy covers just aboutnothing.
Right.
And let's let's rethink that andtalk to a broker, an insurance
agent to get you lined up andget you protected like you
should be.
Yeah, and that's typically thefirst conversation he has with
every client.

SPEAKER_04 (20:56):
What are your thoughts?
What we're we're where you'relike, you know what?
Screw retirement, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Yeah, so I I have different motivating factors for
me.
Yeah.
Mine, obviously, legacy.
Uh I think everybody knows Ijust I keep having kids.
So uh, you know, I I would loveto have a little legacy for my
children to come back to at somepoint.
I would also say that differentthan most insurance companies,

(21:26):
we are looking to protect ourteam.
So there are very few insurancecompanies out there who have W-2
on their roofing companies.
Roofing companies out there thathave W-2 employees.
Yeah.
And that's all we're doing.
Uh, we want to make sure they'recovered in the event, God
forbid, something happens.

SPEAKER_05 (21:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (21:43):
So I don't want to see somebody get hung out to
dry.
I don't want to see somebodystuck with$100,000,$150,000 in
medical bills.
It happens.
So, you know, in thosesituations, this is the bigger
thing for me.

SPEAKER_04 (21:54):
And we've we've seen many friends that have had
roofing companies over theyears.
So you've seen the good, thebad, and the ugly, and what not
to do, what to do, how you'regonna do it this time.
Um, and that's that's a prettycool uh concept.
Can you tell us uh a couple ofthings before you set out that

(22:15):
you said, you know what, I'm notgoing to do this?

SPEAKER_00 (22:18):
Tom just mentioned it.
The biggest thing, and him and Italked about this for years, and
you know, we we know each othervery well, obviously.
So we'd always bounce scenarios.
I'm struggling in real estate,he gives me advice, vice versa.
And you know, when I was digginginto this roofing business,
because I'm a sponge, when Idove when I jump into something,
like I'm absorbing everything,like a toddler, and I'm asking

(22:40):
him all these questions, and Ijust can't understand why.
Essentially, with a lot ofroofing companies, you have an
owner, and then most of theother people are all 1099.
And so now, don't get me wrong,you have a salesperson that's
super successful, they want anLLC, there's tax advantages,
etc.
Right, that's fine.
But what happens is you need tomake sure that you're a

(23:00):
responsible owner and make surethat they are providing the
correct insurance for themselvesif they're not going to be
covered under yours.
Right.
And roofing is is is dangerous,you know, even for our sales
folks that are doinginspections.
You never know when whensomething could happen.
And, you know, there's nodisability insurance, there's no
workers' comp insurance, there'sno health insurance, there's no

(23:23):
benefits, right?
And so that was the very firstthing that we above everything,
that was the first thing wetalked about because we love to
create jobs.
Yeah, it's not just about, hey,we got that roofing project, we
see six guys or girls that arethere working, and and they got
a job today because we were ableto create those jobs.
And we're doing the same thingwith our admin and and our

(23:45):
operations and our sales folks.
We want to make sure they'recovered.

SPEAKER_06 (23:48):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (23:48):
And so that was the number one thing we talked about
is yes, there's gonna be a lotmore expense to us, but we want
to have the liability so thatour folks can go out there, earn
a living, support their family,but do it in a safe way.
Yeah, and so that was thebiggest thing, probably we
talked about, right, Tom?

SPEAKER_02 (24:05):
Not probably, it's 100%.
Like, I can't even tell youguys.
Like the fact that we know whenwe send somebody out, God forbid
it's just that one day, youknow, there's a saying in
roofing you've either fallen offa roof or you haven't fallen off
a roof yet.
So it's gonna happen at somepoint if you do it long enough.

SPEAKER_06 (24:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (24:23):
So the reality is just we can lay our heads down
at night knowing that they areprotected, god forbid something
does happen.

SPEAKER_04 (24:31):
Well, that's starting with uh something else
that typically insurance doescover it, which is a good
foundation, right?
Um that that being that didn'tnot land.

SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
Um literally land.

SPEAKER_04 (24:46):
Yeah, it landed on its face.

SPEAKER_01 (24:48):
Only if you add it on your policy today.
That's right.
So it's excluded.
I'm like, it's excluded.

SPEAKER_04 (24:54):
So what I'd like to do is take the folks through
those that own a home, thosethat are looking to buy a home,
etc.
I'd like to take them throughthe the process or the journey,
let's say, of from the time youthink you need a new roof, what
what are you what are your signsthat you're looking for all the

(25:17):
way through insurance, nowrepairs, now that journey all
the way through?
What is that supposed to looklike?
Because there's plenty of folksout there that either have gone
through that process and canvalidate or verify this one or
you guys' process, or there'speople plenty that have never

(25:38):
had to have this happen.
And when it does occur, theyknow how it should look.
Uh, and I think that's somethingthat, for example, the mortgage
industry, nobody talks about themortgage process start to
finish.
They always give you the upfrontand the joy of the uh uh getting
pre-approved and then theclosing, nothing in between.
Um, so yeah, that that beingsaid, what are some things that

(26:02):
me as a homeowner, futurehomeowner, home buyer, am I
looking for on a roof that wouldmake me go, hmm, maybe I need a
new roof?

SPEAKER_00 (26:11):
Sure.
Well, I'd start if there'sshingles in the yard, right?
We get those calls.
Hey, there's a shingle in myyard.

SPEAKER_01 (26:18):
Just one, and I'm like, there's more.

SPEAKER_00 (26:20):
There's more.
And and and a lot of timesthey've lifted up, maybe they
haven't released yet, right?
Um, but we try to do a very goodjob of, you know, the first time
we contact, Tom reviews thepolicy, makes sure that we've
got the coverage.
Um, but we go through the entireprocess up front.
We let them know what theexpectations are.
Um, you know, we do theinspection, we show the damage,

(26:40):
we offer to partner with them.
Um, we have a third-partyrelease that they can sign that
allows us to talk to theirinsurance on their behalf.

SPEAKER_03 (26:46):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (26:47):
Um, because let's face it, when the insurance
sends the estimate, typicallyit's gonna be lower than what's
actually needed.
Almost always.
And you don't even know, right,Kristen, you get up there and
then all the all of a sudden youfind out there's six pieces of
rotted decking that we did notknow until we uncovered it.
Right.
And those are things where, youknow, if you're gonna work with
a roofing company, I would saymake sure that they're they're

(27:09):
experienced in working withinsurance because ultimately, if
insurance isn't covering thoseadditional supplemental issues,
then you are.
You're under contract with aroofing company, and if there
are incurred costs, you areresponsible for them.
And so we try to run through allthose and and explain the entire
process from the time that wefirst meet them all the way till
the project's 100% complete.

(27:31):
And so we put them through allof those steps so they know.

SPEAKER_04 (27:33):
So I want to kick it over to Kristen for a second
because Marcus mentionedsomething about that initial
call and finding out that, ohshoot, I actually need a little
bit more money.
And then lo and behold, thatmore money is released.
What, what, what is it thatthey're experiencing?
What why do they initially notgive you enough for whatever it

(27:57):
is?
Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 (27:58):
Yeah, yeah.
I I I like to say I have alove-hate relationship with
insurance because I do love it,but I hate it at the same time.
Um, so what they're going to dois try any way that they can not
to pay you.
I mean, it just it it is what itis.
So whenever you have a policy,and how many times have you
asked a homeowner, hey, let mesee your insurance policy?

(28:18):
And they're like, Well, I don'teven know where to look.
Where is that?
I don't even know who it's with.
Like, I don't even know thecompany.

SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
You're right.

SPEAKER_01 (28:24):
All the time.
I guarantee it.
Um, so most of the time, aninsurance company will start
out.
So a homeowner will call andsay, Hey, we just had a hail
storm.
I think I need to replace myroof.
Well, then they'll call andthey'll make a claim with their
insurance company.
When they pay out, they usuallywill only give you actual cash
value first instead of givingyou the entire amount that it's

(28:47):
gonna cost to replace your roof.
Then they're gonna ask for proofthat you've actually done all of
the repairs.
So used to before, I don't know,let's just say 10, 15 years ago
and have done the researchbecause I haven't been in the
business for that long, but Ihear it all the time from
customers.
I replaced my roof, they gave me20 grand and it only costs 10.
So I got to keep 10.
And I'm like, don't tell methat.
That sounds awful.

SPEAKER_05 (29:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
But they used to do that because it it just was
easier back then.
And now with all of these stormsand all of that, our risk,
especially here in South Texas,is just increased substantially.
So now what they're doing,because our risk is so high, is
they will only give youbasically what you need to
replace it at actual cost value,which means what it is minus

(29:29):
depreciation.
So let's say if your roof is 10years old, they're gonna give
you the money for a 10-year-oldroof, not a brand new roof.

SPEAKER_05 (29:37):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (29:38):
Then you replace it, and then you have to submit
photos and submit evidence thatyou've actually done the work,
and then they'll give you therest.
So that's kind of how it starts.
Um, most of the time, it's justa phone call from a homeowner
going, Hey, what do I do?
And then that's where you guyscome in.

SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
I'd also like to point out that over the last
year or so, they have Alsostarted asking for the
deductible check so that theycan see homeowners are paying
it.

SPEAKER_05 (30:05):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (30:05):
They will not release a depreciation.
Um, just to elaborate a littlebit more on Kristen's comment, I
think homeowners really don'tunderstand the difference
between RCV and ACV policies.
For sure.
I think that is a huge thing.

SPEAKER_04 (30:21):
Let's talk about that.
I mean, that's a good point.
Go for it.
Whoever knows, becausehomeowner.
Oh no fucking, no clue.

SPEAKER_01 (30:28):
I'm gonna I'm gonna pick the professional.
I guarantee Mark does not knowif we have guarantee.

SPEAKER_04 (30:35):
You win.

SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
Um but what it is is is replacement cost value versus
actual value.
So oh oh hi.
Um so what it is is you'rereplacing your roof for the
actual cost that it costs toreplace it at full value minus
depreciation.
So replacement cost is that fullamount versus actual cash value,

(30:59):
which is the amount minus thedepreciation.
So five-year-old roof,10-year-old roof, you know,
whatever the case may be,they're gonna give you that.
Now, if you only have an actuallike ACV on your roof, actual
cash value, they're gonna giveyou the least amount of money
that they can for your roof.
They're not gonna give you whatit would be to actually replace

(31:20):
it brand new, they're gonna giveyou less.
Now, it used to be you couldget, you know, replacement cost
value on a 20-year-old roof,like we were talking about
earlier, but now it's gone downto where they'll only give you
replacement cost value if yourroof is 10 years old or less.
Some companies, five years oldor less.
So most of the time, if you havea roof that hasn't been replaced

(31:40):
in 10 years, you have actualcash value on your policy and
you don't even know.
So the difference is how muchthey're gonna actually pay out
when you do have to replace yourroof.

SPEAKER_04 (31:49):
Yeah, that's super important.
Super important.
Go for it.

SPEAKER_02 (31:52):
So just to elaborate a little further on that, so to
simplify it, because this iswhat I do when I'm talking to
homeowners all the time.
If you have an ACV policy, andlet's say you have a 30-year
shingle architectural, and withthat 30-year architectural, it's
15 years in.
So if it was 30,000 to replacethat roof, you are only getting
$15,000 all in if you replaceyour roof, which is not enough

(32:15):
to replace your roof in today'sworld.
Right.
So with our CV, that's thereplacement cost value.
What it does is for that 30,000,they may say, hey, you are 15
years in, but we're gonnawithhold 15,000 of this until we
know you actually replace yourroof.
And that's usually only if youare grandfathered in on a policy
where they didn't change itbased off of the 10 years.
So keep that in mind when youare looking at policies.

(32:38):
If anybody mentions an ACVpolicy to you, my suggestion is
to tucktail and run as fast asyou can, because this is going
to hit your uh piggy bank in amajor, major way.

SPEAKER_04 (32:52):
Well, I mean, it's so much so that it we're
dedicating an entire episodediscussion uh surrounded by it.
I I think that it is um verymuch misrepresented on the
gravity that it could cause ifsomething happens.
I mean, uh the roof, the thingthat protects the rest of your

(33:13):
home.
Uh if something is notprotected, you've got to come
out of pocket for it.
And that's I mean, I'd like tolook up here in a bit how many
people have gone throughbankruptcies, have gone through
foreclosures because they didn'thave enough coverage and
something happened.
Um but anywho, so going throughthat process, what customer

(33:35):
comes to you and they have youguys look at their insurance
policy, they have you look atthe damages or what they think
or believe is damages.
What are they looking at?
Range, and I know it's tough togive a price range, but the idea
of I just need to replace someshingles all the way to I need a
new roof, and that roof is a30-year shingle or a 30-year uh

(33:59):
uh metal or what have you.
Take me through that because Ihave zero understanding of how
much a roof is to cost.

SPEAKER_00 (34:07):
Sure.
Um, a lot more than what youthink.
I I would imagine so.
A lot more than what you think.
We we have one that we're doingin Bandera.

SPEAKER_04 (34:14):
Worst case scenario, we pull that roof off the top of
that house, we sell the metal.

SPEAKER_00 (34:17):
Yeah, so this is a good example of knowing what
your policy is.
Um, we have one we're doing, uhit's gonna be standing seam in
in uh metal roof in in Bandera,and he his policy shows that he
currently has a three-tabshingle on his roof.
It's a 40-year shingle, it's nota three-tab.
It's you know, it now he paid$2,500 for the entire roofing

(34:41):
system back then.
So it was a long time ago.
Wow.
But that is probably yeah, itlasted 24 years.
Um uh, but that that's probablya$30,000,$35,000 roof today.
Um, you know, for you know, forthat size home for the shingle.
And um, you know, if you'redoing metal, you know, that

(35:03):
could be anywhere from$50,000 to$100,000 and even more depending
on the size of your house.
Oh wow.
So it's it's pretty substantial.
I can give you an example onmine.
Um, and this is why, you know,it's good to work with an
insurance company because theindividual I talked about, we
had the receipt, it showed40-year shingle.
And now instead of insurancepaying for a three tab, which is
entry level, very inexpensive,we were able to supplement that

(35:26):
and get him what he's supposedto get.
Now, if he doesn't have somebodyinspect and just files a claim
blindly and gets a check, nowhe's taking that lower amount
and trying to shop, sorry, tofind a roofer.
And at that point, it's a raceto the bottom because not only
is he compensated probably halfof what he should have, now he's
trying to price out somethingthat clearly you'd have to leave

(35:48):
something out in order to getthe price that low.

SPEAKER_05 (35:50):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (35:50):
Um, on my roof, it started out$42,000 and it was 63
at the end.
Right.
So without those supplements,and I have a metal roof, so
there's a lot, a lot that goesinto it, right?
Yeah.
Um, they forget exteriorbuildings all the time.
We've got one right now wherewe're going back and we're
having to say, hey, you forgotthis entire building that is on
the policy, you know, 1,500square foot building.

(36:11):
I don't know how you missed it,but you did.
But because we're able to helpand and represent, we're making
sure that they get everythingcovered according to the policy
that Tom's reviewed to make surethat you know everything is
covered.
Right.
But as far as pricing, I mean,that could be anywhere from
$8,000 to$150, just depending onthe size and the material and
everything else.
But it's it's very expensive.

(36:32):
The days of two, three, four,five thousand dollar roofs are
are way gone, way gone.

SPEAKER_04 (36:38):
So that that kind of sparks a question, random
question, but the idea of if I'mpicking a more substantial, more
robust, more longer lasting,more durable roof, would that
then not correlate to a muchcheaper policy on the insurance

(36:59):
side?
Or is that not really doing thesame because you're now insuring
something that is worth more?

SPEAKER_01 (37:05):
It's brand new, right?
So it depends.
Um yes, you would think that ifyou got a brand new sparkly,
shiny roof, metal, you know,shingle, whatever, that it would
drop your policy down becauseyou're not insuring a super old
roof.
But honestly, right now in theinsurance market that we're in,
the cost is not that muchdifferent.

(37:25):
Um I mean, yes, they areinsuring it.
Yes, you can probably getreplacement cost value, which
already will increase yourpolicy.
That's why a lot of people gowith actual cash value, to be
honest, is because their policyis cheaper with an actual cash
value roof because they'rehaving to pay out less.

SPEAKER_05 (37:40):
Sure.

SPEAKER_01 (37:41):
Um, and everybody's looking for cheaper, better
right now, right?
So high deductibles, actual cashvalue.
Um, but if you're replacing yourroof um and it's brand new, yes,
it will decrease your policy forthe most part, usually, but it's
not gonna be like this hugesubstantial amount that people
are thinking, oh my God, I'mgonna be saving a thousand

(38:02):
dollars a year.
That's that's not the case.

SPEAKER_04 (38:04):
Which now leads me to, and I I figured that was
going to be the case, didn'tknow, but leads me to my next
question, which is what are youguys advising customers in
regards to them knowing thisinformation?
Because they got with a goodinsurance broker, they asked the
right questions.
Insurance broker says, you knowwhat, you can put a hundred

(38:26):
thousand dollar roof or you canput a fifty thousand dollar
roof.
Either way, your insurance isgonna be high.
It is what it is.

SPEAKER_00 (38:32):
Sure.

SPEAKER_04 (38:33):
What do you say to an individual that says, you
know what, put the bare minimumversus upgrading it to XYZ and
then parlaying that to why dopeople choose metal over
shingle, sometimes requirementby neighborhood, et cetera?
But if you had to pick, why andwhat are the benefits, if that

(38:54):
makes sense?
Sure.

SPEAKER_00 (38:55):
I mean I mean, ultimately, we're gonna we're
here to serve the consumer.
And you know, if that's ifthat's what they're looking for,
we're gonna make those offers.
But even on, let's say, just abasic three-tab roof, we're
always offering um a 30-yearshingle as an option.
Now, if their policy is covering$15,000 and it's a$1,500

(39:20):
difference, maybe to do theupgrade, obviously we're passing
that on to them and giving themthat option.
But they have that opportunityto do so.
And so we're not just up therethrowing on whatever it is, the
cheapest materials.
You know, typically we want tooffer the quality and give them
the option.
But ultimately, if they don'twant to do that, we're we're
gonna provide what they'relooking for.

(39:40):
Um, and then on the discounts,you know, sometimes if it's a
class three or class four, youknow, we can get the paperwork
to the insurance agent.
You get a little bit of discountfor that, a little bit of
discount for new roof.
Um, but ultimately, you know,you're still paying a deductible
every time you have a claim.
So you might say, oh, well,let's just go with the cheapest,
right?
And try to try to save a littlebit of money.

(40:01):
But ultimately, you know,between going with the very
base, base, base and gettingsomething that's maybe a class
three or class four impact,maybe you're not having to file
during the next hail stormbecause that shingle held up a
lot better.
And if your deductible is fivegrand, essentially that's five
grand that you're not spendingfor the deductible two, three,

(40:23):
four years from now when we getthat big storm because you
wanted to go with the leastexpensive product that quite
frankly isn't gonna hold up asmuch as, say, a class three or
class four impact shingle,right?
Um, and then the same thinggoes, you know, for metal and
metal exclusions, right?
A lot of people are somecompanies are a hundred percent
metal exclusions, meaning nocosmetic damage.

(40:43):
Unless we get up there and finda lot of seam and structural
damage, they're just not gonnareplace it.
It could look like somebodywalked around with a baseball
bat on it, they're calling itcosmetic.

SPEAKER_01 (40:53):
Well, because it's still functional to them, right?
Correct, even though it looksawful.
And there's no holes, yes, andthere's no holes.
So technically it still workstoday, right?

SPEAKER_00 (41:02):
But then as that water pulls up and it starts to
rust, and we see those yearsdown the road, right?
And take my house, it's not verybig and a$63,000 claim.
You know, you got a couple ofbuildings or or a larger home,
you know, it's it's you got toput the pen to paper with your
agent and really understand thebreak-even um when it comes to a
metal exclusion or the differenttypes of policies or different

(41:25):
deductibles.
And I think that if people wouldpay attention to homeowners'
insurance, like they do carinsurance, you can ask most
people what's your deductible onthe cars and they'll say it's
500, it's a thousand.
They know right away, right?
They know how to file the claim,they know how to take care of
it.
I think because it gets lost,they buy the house and it just
gets lost in escrow.
Most people got to call theirmortgage company to find out who

(41:47):
their insurance company is.
Who are you paying it to?
And then they're kind of reverseengineering to find their
insurance company, right?
And I think if more people couldjust pay a little bit more
attention and really understand,then you know, if I show up to
your house and you have a$30,000deductible, I'm it doesn't
bother me a bit.
You chose that, you've beensaving for five years on your

(42:09):
policy, right?
So your responsibility is thirtythousand dollars.

SPEAKER_01 (42:13):
Makes sense, right?

SPEAKER_00 (42:14):
Press hard three copies.
That's right.
So you're present.
We're adults, right?
We're adults.
And so now could it be that,yeah, you just kind of jammed in
first-time buyer or lender orrealtor says, Hey, use this
company and you never paidattention.
It's it's an unfortunate factthat that could happen, right?
Um, or you know, your unclesells insurance or whatever the
case may be.

(42:34):
But I think just if people couldjust take a minute and, you
know, if if they get nothing outof this today, pull your policy
and review it.
Absolutely.
If you have questions, call youragent.
If you don't have an agent, findone.

SPEAKER_01 (42:46):
Yeah, I know one.

SPEAKER_00 (42:47):
Yeah, most definitely.
Kristen knows one.
Totally, right?
And so it's like you said, youdon't need it until you do.
And the time, you know, it'slike life insurance, same thing,
right?
Life insurance, auto insurance.
We we have these insurances now.
If you're wealthy enough toself-insure, great.
Good for you.
Press hard three copies.
Yeah, right.
We're we're still gonna takecare of it either way.
But I think if if people takenothing away, just review your

(43:09):
policy, make sure you understandyour coverages, and that way
when it happens, because itwill, right?
We get storms all the time.
Yeah.
Um, you're not stuck where maybeyou know you've got those leaks
because we haven't even talkedabout leaks yet.
But you know, we can say, yeah,there's no structural damage,
but when your you know yourridge vent is completely blown
out and you're leaking, now wehave interior damage.

(43:31):
Well, let's talk about leaks.

SPEAKER_04 (43:33):
So now we're talking about I've got one more
off-the-wall topic, but we cantalk about it right after this.
What what do you got to talkabout leaks?

SPEAKER_00 (43:39):
Well, see, that's the thing is um, you know, if
you if you don't first of all,you should probably get somebody
up there every couple of yearsjust to take a look at it.
You got to resill expose nailheads and and other things that
can cause leaks, right?

SPEAKER_04 (43:49):
You've got now you saying that question that can
help our listeners when youmention inspection, get up
somebody, get up there, havesomebody look at it.
Are you talking about a homeinspector or get a roofing
company to come and look at it?
And the reason why I ask is wedeal with a lot of septic home
buyer home buyers that haveseptic tanks.

(44:10):
Every time you send a septiccompany out to do an inspection,
guess what they gotta do?
Pump it.
They gotta pump it.
Yeah, it's like, wait a minute,it's two years old.
Nope, we got to pump it beforewe inspect it.
Well, you just got an extra feefor doing what we probably knew
was gonna be the case.
Sure.
Um, what would you recommend inthat case?

SPEAKER_00 (44:30):
Well, I would think either.
And I can tell you, you know,being in real estate, home
inspectors serve a very uhimportant role, right?
But but let's face it, typicallywhen home inspectors come across
something, they make arecommendation, but they always
say contract certifiedelectrician, a plumber, a
roofer, right?
So eventually that may come.
But um, I I'd say really you cando either or.

(44:51):
Now, a lot of people areprobably listening to this
going, yeah, I'm gonna call aroofer to tell me if there's
damage if I need to.

SPEAKER_01 (44:56):
Because they're gonna tell me that I'm gonna
need a new roof, of course.
Regardless, yeah, right.
It's the same as calling anybodyelse.

SPEAKER_00 (45:01):
Yeah, I mean ultimately, but that's that's
why this is a relationshipbusiness, right?
And so, you know, we we we doquite a few inspections for
folks, and the and the favorite,and Tom says it all the time my
favorite thing to do is to comedown off of a roof and tell you
you have no damage.

SPEAKER_03 (45:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (45:16):
Have no damage.
We're in this for the long haul,right?
Just just like a real estatecareer, and he's been doing this
for a long time as well.
We're we're buildingrelationships and referrals.
And so it's about taking care ofpeople.
And and when we can get down offa roof or it's a quick, easy
fix, 200 bucks, you know, get itsealed up and everything's fine,
that that's what we're lookingfor.
But if you don't pay attentionand and let's say you keep that

(45:38):
insurance check on this verysevere storm and you say, Oh,
I'll just do it in a couple ofyears, money's tight right now.
Yeah, when you start gettingthose leaks and interior damage,
that is not going to be covered.
And so now you have thisextensive interior damage,
you're ripping out sheetrock anddrywall, and you know, depending
on how long it's been sittingthere.
And a lot of times you don'tknow until it's too late.

SPEAKER_06 (45:58):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (45:58):
You know, you don't see that leak coming through.
It's hiding water finds a way,it goes around and then it finds
a way, and then eventually it'sexposed.
Oh, yeah.
And so it's important that youknow you you protect your
investment just like you wouldyour automobile.
You know, if your windshield wascompletely blown out, you
wouldn't drive around in therain with it.

SPEAKER_04 (46:14):
You could get a new car, yeah.
You get a new car, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (46:17):
You get a new windshield, right?

SPEAKER_01 (46:18):
Get a new car.

SPEAKER_00 (46:19):
You just get a new windshield oil change.

SPEAKER_01 (46:21):
So uh new car.

SPEAKER_00 (46:23):
Yeah, you know, it's it's about education, it's about
uh relationships, really.
Go for it.

SPEAKER_02 (46:27):
Yeah, I'd also like to throw in that a lot of folks
go to their insurance companyfirst.
Hey, uh, we have hail.
Do you want to come out andinspect that?

SPEAKER_04 (46:36):
That's definitely what you should not do.

SPEAKER_02 (46:38):
Yeah, that no, that that is a great, great idea if
you just want to get told no.
Okay, seriously.
Like, here's the thing they'reprotecting their investment.
I will also say that mostroofing companies will come out
and do that inspection for free.
We will absolutely do that.
So it doesn't matter what thecause, you should have a roofing
company that will come out andinspect your roof.

(46:59):
And it shouldn't cost you adime.
Again, the reality is uhhonorable roofing company,
somebody with integrity, isgonna tell you again, my
favorite thing in the world,your roof's fine.
We'll be out in a year to checkit for you again.
Again, we're buildingrelationships.
This should not be a quick buckdeal for people, it should be a
long-term plan.
Yeah, unfortunately, roofingcompanies go out of business so

(47:20):
often that you just don't know.

SPEAKER_04 (47:21):
Well, and and the reason for that is the the
descriptive word that you used.
I was gonna use it a bit agowhen Marcus was talking, and
it's integrity.
Um, I think integrity is onething that is missing from that
profession, or is hard to find,I should say, in that
profession.
And you guys starting yourbusiness off, taking care of the
employees first, um, says onething about it.

(47:42):
And then the fact that you'redoing the free inspection says
even bigger thing about it.
Um, but the idea of integrity inroofing, because you don't have
to have a degree to own aroofing company, you don't have
to have uh certain things youknow, of course, you've got to
have insurance.
We all have to have insurance,but I wanted to shift over the
last kind of topic ofdiscussion.

SPEAKER_01 (48:03):
Um before we shift, yeah, go for it.
Absolutely.
Um, whenever we were saying, doyou call your roofing company to
come out and check it?
A lot of people um a lot ofpeople will call their insurance
company first before they call aroofer because they want to see.
So they're like, oh, well, let'sjust check and find out if my

(48:26):
roof actually needs it.
The problem with that is is thatwhenever you call your insurance
company and they're asking,okay, sure, we'll send an
adjuster out.
Then they go and they find out,okay, well, maybe you don't need
a roof replacement.
That still dings you on yourclaims history, which is going
to increase your policy lateron.
So it's it's so much better to,hey, Marcus, I don't know really

(48:48):
if I need my roof replaced.
Can you come out and check itfirst before you file a claim?
It's not like asking forforgiveness later.
They're going to ding you on it,even if they don't pay you out
anything, even if they come outand say, hey, you know what?
I you don't need it right now.
It's still gonna show up on yourclaims history.
So when you're trying to shopfor another insurance company
later down the road, because youwant replacement cost value

(49:10):
versus actual cash, or becauseyou talked to your agent and
we're trying to find you abetter policy, I'm gonna go,
well, man, you had a claim lastyear.
And they're like, no, I didn't.
And I'm like, no, you did.
It's showing on here, even ifthey didn't pay it out.
So it's always best, always,always, I always recommend to
ask your a good, solid roofingcompany, you guys included, to
check your roof before you tryto file a claim so they can tell

(49:32):
you straight up if you need todo it or not.

unknown (49:34):
Perfect.

SPEAKER_04 (49:35):
Well said, well said.
So that leads me to my last uhuh fun topic.
Um, talking about integrity,talking about damages, things of
that nature.
And and I I was gonna look it upand I still will, but I want to
get your thoughts, all of you,on the idea of solar.
Um, I know long-term, greatsolution, but we're just not

(49:56):
there yet to have the cost meetthe uh benefits of it, in my
opinion.
But I would imagine that youguys deal with that a great deal
on your side of the tracks,whether it be repairing uh
damage that solar has caused,having to remove it because you
have to replace the roof.

(50:18):
I mean, just I'm sure I want toget you guys' take on solar in
general.

SPEAKER_02 (50:23):
Why is everybody looking at me?
Well, okay, so a couple ofthings.
If you have solar, my firstadvice is make sure your
insurance company knows.

SPEAKER_01 (50:32):
Above because some of them don't cover it at all.

SPEAKER_02 (50:35):
Yes.
So make sure your insurancecompany knows because you want
to make sure that you havecoverage on your solar panels as
well.
That is the biggest thing.
Hail comes in, tennis ball sizehail, 15, 20, 30 minutes,
whatever it is, it's going tocrack your solar.
Mine's a prime example.
Mine just got replaced this yearas well.
But the biggest thing, Mark,speaking about return on

(50:56):
investment for solar, um, I'msure the solar companies are
going to be doing somerethinking, all of their
pricing.
I do not want to overstep oroffend anybody in that industry
because I have a lot of friendsin solar.

SPEAKER_04 (51:07):
Sure.

SPEAKER_02 (51:07):
I same here.
Same here.
I know lots of people who ownnational solar companies and
they are amazing.
So the biggest thing for solarfor me right now is the fact
that the tax credit's going awayon December 31st.
So if you were ever going to dosolar and it is something that
you're like, I'm 50-50 on, youneed to do it this week.

(51:27):
I mean this right now.
Call somebody you trust.
If you don't have somebody youtrust, uh, contact us.
I will put you in touch withsomebody who does it.
But right now, the federalgovernment is giving 30% back as
a federal tax credit on yoursolar.
So just so everybody understandsthe mass, the math, if you get a
$40,000 system and you're like,hey, I want to offset 100% of my
energy, great.

(51:48):
Well, right now the governmentis giving you$12,000 of that
back as a write-off.
And it actually does come backto you.
I can tell you firsthand becauseI got mine back in 19.
I paid mine off in four years,but it produces 100% of my
energy.
All I have is my connection feeon my home, which is$27.50.
Oh, sorry.
I'm with C Tech.
They just went to$29.50 a month.

SPEAKER_04 (52:10):
Oh, C inflation.

SPEAKER_02 (52:11):
Exactly.
Um, so solar works.

SPEAKER_04 (52:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (52:15):
Uh, I will say, as far as the ROI on it, the return
on investment, I don't knowwhat's going to happen next
time.

SPEAKER_04 (52:22):
It's individu it's based on individuals, truly.

SPEAKER_02 (52:24):
Um not just that.
The federal tax credit, I don'tthink people realize how big of
a deal this is.
Like it is huge.

SPEAKER_05 (52:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (52:30):
If you're trying to put a solar uh farm almost on
your on your land where you havea a ranch or something and
you're like$150,000 in cash, oryou can get it for$100,000 right
now.
Hopefully wait for somebody elsewho truly believes in solar in
the uh to be elected and vote onit, yeah.
That's fine.
But if it's something you are onthe fence right now, I would at

(52:52):
least call and have one finalconversation because it has to
be installed by the end of theyear.

SPEAKER_06 (52:57):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 (52:58):
To get that 30%.
Again, I've got a longbackground in solar.
Uh that's why I asked.
Yeah.
So I am a big proponent ofsolar.
However, I also am not surewhere they're going after this
year.
So I will tell you, I know thesefolks, they're some of the
smartest folks I've ever met.

SPEAKER_05 (53:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (53:14):
And they're some of the most trustworthy, and they
believe in it too, or else theywouldn't be doing this because I
know them very well.

SPEAKER_04 (53:20):
Yeah.
Well, um, JC, if you could throwit up on the screen there.
Uh, this is what ChatGPT says,and this was a claim uh and
findings.
It says uh there was a paperconducted at a certain point
recently in 2024 uh that claimed65% of homeowners reported
structural issues and 50%reported leaks after the

(53:41):
installation of solar.
So just a statistic for you towrap your head around.
If you're planning on installingsolar, it's probably a good idea
to call your roofer at the sametime to make sure that it's done
properly, to ensure that theyknow what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 (53:55):
Please don't put solar on a 15-year-old roof.

SPEAKER_04 (53:57):
Because the idea is 100%.
Yeah.
Uh and that's a that's a good uhthat's a good advice is if your
roof probably wouldn't supportyou, probably shouldn't put
solar up there.

SPEAKER_00 (54:08):
Well, and the reputable guys are doing that,
right, Tom?
If you've got a roof that'stoast, they they're gonna tell
you that it needs to be donebefore they put solar up there.

SPEAKER_01 (54:16):
However, I have clients that have called and
they're like, I need to renew mypolicy.
Okay, anything changed?
They're like, Oh yeah, we hadsolar put on.
And I'm like, but did youreplace your roof?
Because that'll help.
And they're like, oh no.
So they're still out there doingthose kinds of things.
So just be cautious wheneveryou're doing solar to just make
sure that it's a reputablecompany because it'll hurt you

(54:38):
in the long run for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (54:39):
Listen, my advice to everybody out there if you have
a question on solar, if you feelyou are being misguided, reach
out to me, guys.
I I am here.
This is who I am.
I've been this way.
I mean, I've known Mark for over20 years now.
Uh, this is who I am.
I will answer your questions.
I will guide you the best I can.

SPEAKER_04 (54:56):
If you have a metal roof, we're gonna flash his
contact information like righthere.

SPEAKER_02 (55:02):
If you have a metal roof, my biggest advice is this
tell them do not penetrate yourroof.
It can be done withoutpenetrating the roof.
Okay, stop it, Mark.
So again, they can it's notgonna look as pretty.

I will tell you this (55:16):
you're gonna have a little bit more
conduit on your roof, but youwill not have the holes in your
metal roof.
As far as shingle, Iwholeheartedly agree with
Kristen.
Anything that's more than sixyears old, if you're putting on
uh solar, please just go aheadand replace your roof right
before you do it.

SPEAKER_00 (55:31):
Yeah, yeah.
Protect your investment.
And the cost of removing andreinstalling solar is very
expensive.

SPEAKER_01 (55:38):
And it's not included too, like in the
insurance part of it.
If they break it wheneverthey're doing it, sometimes the
warranties don't include, likefrom a solar warranty
standpoint, right?
Sometimes they don't includewhenever they're replacing it.
So they take it off and they putit back on.
Some roofing companies won'teven touch it.

SPEAKER_02 (55:53):
So, yeah, let me let me be clear, guys.
If you have solar on your roofand you go to get your roof
replaced, the only person whocan remove your solar is the
company you bought it from.
If they are still in business,if you have a question, if
they're still in business, wewent through this last year with
another customer, and they'relike, Oh, they're out of
business.
I'm like, hold off.
And I made some calls, and sureenough, I found out I'm like,

(56:15):
no, they're still in business.
They just pulled out of Texas.
But if he would have hadsomebody else remove his solar,
it would have avoided theremaining 15 years on the
warranty.
So it's stuff like that.
Again, I I can't say thisenough.
If somebody has a question, Idon't charge.
I truly just want to see peopleget taken care of properly and
make sure that they know there'speople out there who will help

(56:36):
with no upside on the back end.

SPEAKER_04 (56:39):
Well, one thing that we continue to discover over and
over on this show is experiencedoes matter.
Um, and when trusting an expertversus somebody else, uh you get
the real you get the real deal.
Um someone that is uh trulyfocusing on your fiduciary uh uh
uh responsibility, truly.

(57:01):
Um so guys, this was a greatdiscussion.
Learned a lot myself personally.
Um, is there anything that wemissed to go over?

SPEAKER_00 (57:10):
Um if not, I I you know what there is one thing.
Please the number one questionwe get from every homeowner can
you wave my deductible?
Not not every homeowner, maybeonly 99.99 just about all of
that.
Can you can you waive mydeductible?
Okay.
Um can medical insurance waiveyour deductible?

(57:33):
Right.
Uh it's or is that just toological?
So it's uh House Bill 2102, Ibelieve.
Not only can we not waive thedeductible, but the company and
the consumer are both liable forplaying any trickery games when
it comes to the deductible.
And so we have to put in 12print um on our contract that

(57:58):
that specifically mentions fromthis bill.
You nailed it, by the way.
That we cannot, is it 12 12font, I think?
Yeah, but we have to have it inour contract.
It the details matter, Mark.
Um, and so it it was very, verycommon a long time ago that that
companies would do that,obviously.
And essentially what you'redoing is you're marking up the

(58:18):
price, insurance is paying it,and then you're pulling it out.
And so the bottom line is, youknow, not only will we not, um,
because it's against the law,you wouldn't want to put the
homeowner at risk, uh, or ourcompany as well.
But if you're reviewing acontract and it doesn't have
that in there, um, you know,it's you're probably thinking,
well, if the guy's gonna pay mymy deductible, then I'm gonna

(58:40):
run with him anyway.
And that's that's your choice,and you can certainly take that
risk.
But breaking the law, breakingthe law, literally breaking the
law.
And so maybe you got to questionsome of the other business
practices, right?
Yeah, and and ultimately we'reout here to feed our families
and for our employees to feedtheir families, and and we offer
a fair competitive price, but wecannot waive your deductible.
Yeah, we have to collect it, andmost times we got a call from an

(59:04):
insurance company yesterdayreleasing depreciation, like
Kristen talked about, which isthe rest of your money that you
are due from insurance, we haveto send them not only the copy
of the check, but that itcleared the deductible in our
bank account to prove that thehomeowner paid the deductible.

SPEAKER_01 (59:20):
So it used to not be a thing.

SPEAKER_00 (59:22):
No at all.
And it's it's most claims thatwe're dealing with, they are not
releasing until we do that.
And so, really, if somebodyasked me that, they put me in an
awkward situation because theonly way that a company would be
able to do that would be to uh,you know, create some type of
check to send to the insurancecompany to say, yes, we got the
deductible when in case that infact maybe that didn't happen.

(59:45):
And so we've got to pay ourdeductibles, plain and simple.
Um, going back to the deductibletalk, sometimes it's not that
much of a difference, right?
I I did mine, I changed minefrom two percent to one percent
this week.
Um, I'm with USAA and It was$647a year,$50 a month.
Um, and it's an eight-yearbreak-even.

(01:00:06):
I ran it based on the additionalone percent.
It's eight point oh two years.
Do I think that there's probablygoing to be some type of major
storm that hits my house in thenext eight years?
You bet.
I mean, it's unlikely thatdoesn't happen.
Right.
And so I come out on top bydoing that, paying a little more
up front.
Right.
Once again, go back to yourinsurance agent, understand your
policy, and do what's best foryou and your family.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:28):
And a lot of times people don't understand, like,
oh, 1%, 2%.
It doesn't sound like it's a bigdifference.
But if you have a$500,000 house,huge.

SPEAKER_05 (01:00:35):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:35):
A 1% deductible is five grand.
So it's five grand out of yourpocket right up front.
You have a two percentdeductible, your policy, yes, is
cheaper, you know, over thecourse of the year, but then
your deductible is ten thousand.
If you have a three percentdeductible, it's fifteen
thousand.
So yes, that fifty bucks amonth, although you know, may
sound like a lot, it yourbreak-even would be what, 10

(01:00:56):
years?

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:57):
Yeah, eight to ten years.
And and that's the thing is ifyou're worried about, you know,
your policy being$30,000,$40 amonth less, then chances are if
you get hit with a$10,000 or$15,000 deductible, that's going
to be life-changing and verydifficult for you.
So sometimes it's easier tobudget, right?
To have that better policy inplace, because that's why we
have insurance.

(01:01:18):
We only have insurance for majorevents, car insurance, health
insurance, life insurance formajor events.
And so if you if you take a stepback and realize that if I have
a major event with my house, doI have the$15,000 or$20,000
deductible?
Um, and even if I do, do I wantto part with it?

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:37):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:37):
Right.
Right.
Those are the conversations.
Because even if you have it, youdon't want to write a check for
$20,000 on your deductible.
And so as long as you have theseconversations and and you can be
informed and you you are able towork with an agent that can
answer your questions, at theend of the day, you make the
decision you want to make.
Uh, but ultimately, you know,those are those are the types of
questions you need to ask andpartner with somebody, you know,

(01:01:58):
that that can help you.
You know, I always tell Tom wewant to be we want to be
surrounded by smarter peoplethan us.
Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 (01:02:04):
Oh, that's not hard.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:05):
Well, that's well, you know, what's funny is um uh,
you know, shout out to Jennathat does a great job and Nolan
and Liberty.
Um, but the bottom line is Ifeel like we are the smartest
people in the room because we'resurrounded by the smartest
people in the room.

SPEAKER_07 (01:02:22):
Boom.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:23):
And we have those resources.
We don't have to knoweverything.
You have to know somebody thatknows everything.
That's right, and make them partof your team.

SPEAKER_04 (01:02:29):
I agree.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:30):
And so that's why relationships are so important.

SPEAKER_04 (01:02:32):
That's awesome.
Um, uh, just to throw it up onthe screen, real quick, JC.
This is uh if you guys want tolook it up and and read more
about trying to dodge yourdeductible.
This is HB 2102, uh,specifically states what Marcus
mentioned here that a consumerhas to pay their deductible by
law.
Just so you know.
Look at that 12-point bold face.

(01:02:53):
I mean, on the money.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:56):
Insurance fraud is a real thing, people.
Oh, please, right?
Please do not risk your futureover saving a few bucks.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:02):
Amen to that.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:03):
Um Mark, if I may, real quick.
Please close this out.
Yeah, you asked a couple ofquestions about things that
people uh ask about.
Number one question I get allthe time, or comment first,
which leads to a question.
I don't want to file a claim.
You know, I know my roof ismessed up, I know I've got a
leak, but I don't want my uhpremiums to go up.

SPEAKER_05 (01:03:20):
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:21):
Let me help you out.
It's it's not going up for youfiling a claim.
Okay.
We are grouped out here in theTexas Hill Country, San Antonio.
We're with Houston, uh, Austin,Dallas.
So if they're raising policypolicy prices for anybody in
there, they're raising yoursanyway.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:36):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:37):
Every time you see a new roof going up, that's why
prices keep going up.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:40):
That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:41):
Their coverage 100%.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:43):
So And we're not talking the consumers' coverage,
we're talking about theinsurance company's exposure and
coverage.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:49):
Law of large numbers.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:51):
Correct, correct.
Say that again in into themicrophone.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:53):
Yeah, the the law of large numbers.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:55):
There we go.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:56):
They group everybody together, so you're all in an
insurance pool together.
So it's not just you, it'severybody.

unknown (01:04:01):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:01):
Yeah.
So again, my biggest thing, Iwant to piggyback one last time,
and I say this if you run into aroofer who says he's going to
pay your deductibles, do not, donot, do not go with them.
They're cutting cornerssomewhere.
I will tell you shinglesspecifically, there's just not
much money in them.
Just so you guys know.
And again, it's not about that.
It's about the care factor.
You want somebody who's going todo it right, take care of you.

(01:04:24):
That way you don't get bit onthe back end.
That's right.

SPEAKER_04 (01:04:26):
Well, guys, I want to thank you for joining me in
this discussion.
Um, like I said, I learned quitea bit in this talk about
insurance and roofing andcoverages and all of the things.
And for the folks out there, uh,the two most valuable pieces
that I took away from this isnumber one, cheaper doesn't
always mean better.
Um, and the most important thingis check your insurance policy

(01:04:50):
at least one time a year.
Um, that way you know whatyou're covered for, ask
questions.
Um, and as new homeowners orthose looking for uh their first
home, get with an insurancebroker, get with a roofing
company, get with an inspectorto determine what you're going

(01:05:12):
to be getting yourself into,what kind of coverages uh you're
gonna need and understandingwhat all the coverages mean.
Um, because the one thing youdon't want to have is the
insurance when the shit hits thefan.
Uh that being said, guys, wewill catch you on the next one.

(01:05:35):
Alright.
You guys rocked it.
Very good.
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