Management by Walking Around: The Roof Check That Saves Thousands

I'm standing on the roof of the 25-unit I bought with seller financing in Stephenville, Texas, the one overlooking the campus. The view is nice. That's not why I'm up here.

I'm up here because I noticed a lot of debris on the roof and my contractors hadn't gotten to it yet. And once I was up here, I found something I would never have seen from the street: we lost part of the ridge line for our roof in the latest storm. There's a hole in the roof that is not supposed to be there.

That's the whole point of this post. Not the hole: the fact that I found it. Most landlords never would have. In this one I'll walk you through exactly what I look for when I'm on top of one of my buildings, what I found at this property, which is less than ideal, and how you can save a boatload of money by doing nothing more exotic than keeping a ladder in your truck.

What a Hole in the Roof Actually Costs You

Let's talk about what I found, because the specifics matter more than the general lesson.

A storm took out part of the ridge line. You can't see this from the street. You can't see it from the parking lot, you can't see it on a drive-by, and you can't see it in a photo a tenant sends you. From the ground, this building looks completely fine.

From up here, there's an opening where there shouldn't be one. That leads to mold. That leads to all sorts of problems.

Here's the part that makes it genuinely dangerous as a financial problem rather than just a maintenance problem: the damage is over an awning. It wouldn't flood into a unit. Nobody's ceiling is dripping. No tenant is going to call me about it. But we likely have water going into the roof in an area that really wouldn't get caught for a while.

Related reading: A $30,000 Unit Turn in 4 Months: Why You Budget for This

That's the worst category of building problem: the kind that doesn't announce itself. There can be a chance for a lot of damage before anyone notices. Water gets in, it sits, it rots framing, and by the time it finally shows up as a visible symptom inside somebody's unit, you're not fixing a ridge line anymore. You're fixing the ridge line, plus the sheathing, plus the rot, plus the mold remediation, plus whatever interior finishes came down with it.

An average landlord would not have hopped up here. They would not have found the roof damage. They would have waited until there were cascading problems: the water damage that got in, the rot, the much larger repair. We could be saving thousands of dollars just by getting up on these roofs and checking them out, figuring out what's actually wrong with the property.

What I Do While I'm Up There

So I found a problem. Now I'm going to leave with a better building than the one I showed up to.

While I'm on this roof today, the job list is simple:

• Clear all the debris off the roof
• Clean out the gutters
• Document the overall damage

That's it. That's the visit. I've got a truck, a shovel, and my leaf blower right there, so I can just hop up here and get this done.

Could I pay someone to do that? Sure. It costs a few hundred bucks to have someone else do it. But if you're already going to be at the property (and you should be at the property) just get the work done. Make yourself a few hundred bucks, or save yourself a few hundred bucks. It's well worth it.

I'll spend an hour here and I'll save something like $700. For $700 an hour, you can still get me doing some physical work on a property. I don't care how many units you own. That math works.

And the debris clearing isn't busywork, either. Debris on a roof holds water, clogs gutters, and keeps moisture sitting against materials that are supposed to shed it. Gutters that don't drain dump water where you don't want water. The cleanup and the inspection are the same trip.

Real Estate Is a Physical Asset: Use That

My biggest tip for real estate: it's a physical asset. Make it a physical asset. Enjoy the benefits of a physical asset.

You can touch it. Which means you can fix it. Which means you can make it better.

That sounds obvious, and it is, but think about how few investors actually behave that way. A lot of people buy real estate and then treat it like a stock certificate: a number on a spreadsheet that either goes up or doesn't, managed entirely through a third party, never physically visited. If you do that, you've given up the single biggest advantage the asset class has. You've taken something you could walk on, climb on, improve and control, and turned it into a line item you can only watch.

The old Boy Scout rule applies really well here: leave everything better than you found it. If I'm going to visit one of my buildings and there's trash around, I'm going to pick it up. If there's debris on the roof, I'm going to clear it. It's not beneath me and it's not beneath you.

Regardless of how successful we get, no one is above getting on a roof and cleaning some roofs.

The Other Half of the Visit

The roof isn't the only reason I'm here today. While I'm at this property, I'm also coordinating our contract crews.

I'm going through our unit interiors and making sure the renovations turned out right. Nobody checks a renovation like the person whose money paid for it. And I'm checking our concrete work, because we just patched a lot of our sidewalk in areas that had settled since we originally purchased the property.

That's what one visit buys you. A roof problem caught before it becomes a rot problem, gutters cleared, renovation quality verified, concrete work inspected. None of that happens if you manage this building from a laptop in another state.

This is what it means to be a hands-on owner.

Don't Buy Deals You Can't Justify Visiting

Here's a rule that comes directly out of everything above: look at your properties regularly, go to them regularly, and don't buy any deals that are so small that it doesn't make sense to visit the property.

I think that's one of the most important things you can do. Get around the asset. Make the asset better. Know what you're working with.

If a deal is so small that driving to it costs more than the deal produces, you have bought yourself a problem you will never inspect. And the properties you never inspect are exactly the ones that develop the quiet, expensive damage nobody catches for a year.

This is also a real point about raising money. If you're not doing this to your portfolio, you're doing a disservice, especially if you raise capital for your deals. My investors know that I'm actually here, and that I actually care about the property. That's not a marketing line. It's the difference between an owner who reports on a building and an owner who knows a building.

Key Takeaways

• Storm damage to the ridge line at my 25-unit was invisible from the street and wouldn't have leaked into a unit: it only got caught because I got on the roof.
• The damage that doesn't reach a tenant is the damage that costs you the most, because nothing forces you to find it.
• While you're on the roof: clear debris, clean the gutters, document the damage. Leave with a better building.
• An hour of your own labor here saves roughly $700: worth doing even when you could pay someone.
• Real estate is a physical asset. You can touch it, so you can fix it and improve it. Leave everything better than you found it.
• Don't buy deals so small that visiting them doesn't make sense. If you can't justify the trip, you'll never catch the problems.
• Management by walking around is also investor relations: your capital partners should know you're actually there.

Watch the full video for the walk on the roof and a look at the damage itself. If you want the fundamentals, our free multifamily course is at multifamilystrategy.com/get-free-training, mentorship details are linked in original episode description, and our free Skool community comes with deal calculators you can start using today.

0:00 Hey YouTube, it's Christian. I'm here at
0:02 the 25 unit. I purchased seller finance
0:04 here in Stevenville overlooking the
0:06 campus, but most importantly, I notic a
0:08 lot of debris on the roof. My
0:09 contractors hadn't gotten to it yet. And
0:12 so, I figured I'll tell you guys what to
0:13 look for when you're on top of your
0:14 properties. This video I'll share
0:16 exactly what I look for, what I found at
0:17 my property, which is uh less than
0:19 ideal, and how you can save a boatload
0:22 of money by just having a ladder in your
0:23 truck. So, by the way, welcome back to
0:25 the channel. If you haven't yet, you
0:26 know, do the thing, like, subscribe.
0:28 helps us grow, get out to more people.
0:29 And if you're already watching a video
0:31 for free, join our free school group.
0:32 Links below, have free calculators in
0:34 there. Huge community. Join us there.
0:37 But so hopped in, saw all this debris.
0:41 What I found in our latest storm, we
0:44 lost part of our ridge line for our
0:46 roof. You can't see this from the
0:48 street, but when I'm up here, there's a
0:51 hole in the roof that's not supposed to
0:53 be here. That leads to mold. That leads
0:54 to all sorts of problems. is over an
0:55 awning so it wouldn't flood into a unit,
0:57 but we likely have water going into the
0:58 roof in an area that really uh really
1:01 wouldn't get caught for a while. So,
1:03 there can be a chance for a lot of
1:04 damage. What I'm going to do today while
1:06 I'm on the roof is clear all the debris.
1:09 I'm going to clean out the gutters,
1:11 document the overall damage, and we're
1:14 going to leave with a better building.
1:15 My biggest tip for real estate, it's a
1:17 physical asset. Make it a physical
1:19 asset. Enjoy the benefits of a physical
1:21 asset. you can touch it, which means you
1:23 can fix it, you can make it better. Uh
1:25 the common boy scout rule, but it's
1:27 really applied well to real estate.
1:29 Leave everything better than you found
1:30 it. So, if I'm going to visit one of my
1:32 buildings, there's trash around. I'm
1:34 going to pick it up. We have a roof, get
1:37 a truck, shovel, got my leaf blower
1:40 there. I can just hop up here and get
1:41 this done. Yes, it cost a few hundred
1:43 bucks to have someone else do it, but if
1:45 you're already going to be at the
1:46 property, just get the work done. Make
1:48 yourself a few hundred bucks or save
1:50 yourself a few hundred bucks. this is
1:51 well worth it. I'll spend an hour. I'll
1:53 save like 700 bucks. For 700 bucks an
1:55 hour, you still get me doing some work
1:56 on the property. So, biggest tip, just
2:00 look at your properties regularly. Go to
2:01 them regularly and don't buy any deals
2:03 that are so small that it doesn't make
2:05 sense to visit the property. I think
2:07 it's one of the most important things
2:08 you can do. Get around the asset. Make
2:11 the asset better. Know what you're
2:12 working with. An average landlord would
2:15 not have hopped up here, would not have
2:16 found the roof damage. They would have
2:18 waited till there were cascading
2:19 problems. the water damage it got in.
2:21 There's rot. There's more to repair. We
2:23 could be saving thousands of dollars by
2:25 getting up on all these roofs and
2:26 checking it out, figuring out what's
2:28 wrong with the property. Uh, by the way,
2:29 I'm also coordinating contract crews
2:31 here. So, I'm going through our unit
2:32 interiors and making sure the
2:33 renovations turned right and checking
2:35 our concrete work as we just patched a
2:37 lot of our sidewalk for areas that have
2:39 settled since we originally purchased
2:40 the property. This is what it means to
2:42 be a hands-on owner. Thing to remember
2:44 and my point of this video here, guys,
2:47 it's management by walking around. If
2:49 you're not doing this to your portfolio,
2:51 you're doing a disservice, especially if
2:54 you raise capital for your deals. My
2:56 investors know that I'm actually here,
2:57 actually care about the property.
2:58 Regardless of how successful we are, no
3:01 one's above getting on the roof and
3:02 cleaning some roofs. Hope this short
3:04 video helped. See you guys soon.