Rex Called

"Rex" subbed a couple of minor jobs from me a few years back. Did not do too bad. I kind of liked him. But then he disappeared, same old story.

Well he called last week.......he has no work and no money. Of course he wants some work, wages, whatever.

What struck me of course, was his talk of doing so much insurance work. As a contractor, not sub. Well......when a guy goes to work and is losing $40-80 per sq on every job, guess what happens?

Of course he is willing to sub for $60 / sq. which is even less than he would make on $220 sq ins. work (maybe $90-100 labor with all cheapest materials possible?)

So if he can afford to sub for $60, why can't he make any money @ $100 sq? :dry: :S :woohoo:

I got to stop thinking about these clowns. Waste of energy.

I have a hard time getting them to pay my figures, too. But they always say "I can't change the unit pricing" but I don't know what other line items to add unless they are obvious. And like twill said, 'cutup' (which I always thought was a technical term) isn't in their vocabulary.

As far as Rex goes, he doesn't know where the nail line is, or ignores it. And can't flash around a corner, among other things.

I agree Lefty that the amount of energy/ paperwork is a job in itself.

Are you saying that code upgrade clause upgrade is required and not optional? I've had many adjusters tell me it does not apply in certain cases, i.e. the one that I am dealing with

I have a Rex working Monday. He has worked for me about 4 or 5 other times. We will see how long he lasts. But I will make a profit while he is here.

Twill59,

I do not know what the base rate is. I remember you saying the adjuster told you this is what we pay. Study that and find out how to itemize the estimate the way they pay. They also need to include items that bring the replacement roof up to code. They will miss these things on their pricing.

What ever price they are paying is relative to the area that you are in.

If it was not for my son, we would not get insurance work, because doing the paperwork the way it needs to be done to be profitable is something I can not do.

twill59 Said: Are they paying $220 sq in PA Lefty?

Cause I dont think either Rex or me are making anything at that rate... :)

crickets............

They were paying $175 sq. here and people were willing to beat on every door in town ( and beat each other in the head ) to be the one to get the job.

Hey, January has been a terrible month for roofing here in Alabama. Anybody got any work for a Rex that was a Willie, who's now a Chuck in a Truck?

Are they paying $220 sq in PA Lefty?

Cause I don't think either Rex or me are making anything at that rate... :)

We do shingle work for insurance companys. My guys have health insurance, paid vacations and holidays. We do not do it to keep the guys working. We do it to make money.

Tim:

When shingles were $45 sq., $300 was a good base rate to work off of. Now that shingles are $80+ the insurance pays about $220 base rate.

Do the math.

I don't blame them. With their marketing power, why would they pay retail? Your market niche seems to be different.

Lefty: I see your point about Rex. If I could open my mind to short term gross profits, I'd be more likely to take Rex on. Except, my experience with the local Rexes, is that once I really get a workload, they are gone.

They usually want the work until I get the work. Then I end up with discounted/ rushed jobs playing the price game to...... to give Rex a job!

I realize that my problem is that I don't sell ahead of the market curve. I am not the 1st guy called. Seems I am not the market leader here :woohoo: Many times I seem to be the last one to get busy.

Rex is mostly a disruption to me. Not Rexes fault. He has his own agenda

I am bad with insurance work, because I am bad with paperwork.

My son is great with insurance work. I go out on an insurance estimate. I will call my son and the first question he ask me is what insurance company. One of the things he will say depending on the insurance company is "whatever they give will be good".

He always gets to the price I figured just by itemizing the bill which is impossible for me.

I have a couple of Rex's. When they call I start to smile, because they are great workers. I am going to get a lot of work done with no complaints. They will work long hours. I will need to step up the selling because of them.

Just because they can not run the rest of their life does not mean they can not work.

Am I my brothers keeper? Yes, when someone is in need I help.

Work is work. Actually we usually make far far far better margins on insurance work. Starting one next week in Arlington where the adjuster paid $450/SQR where we normally would charge $176/SQR. He added for 2-story, it's not 2-story. He added for difficult access, it's not. He had a laundry list of add-ons. Frankly I was shocked to see how much he came up with and I didn't work with him.

And I think that some of you anti-insurance claim guys may not see the whole picture. We use hail as an effective marketing tool to win new customers. Hail gives us a chance to go in and pick up a few new large commercial customers and then we try to keep their business forever. Starting another one soon in West Texas where the guy is using us because I got him a decent settlement, and he may not know it yet but he will keep using us because we will do an outstanding job on his roof.

Now that you mention it GKRFG, I've only had 2 "Rexes" call this winter

There used to be a lot of "Rex's" around. Guys who stayed busy all year just keeping their head above water and then come winter and the money runs out they're calling anybody they ever knew to try to find some work. Around here it seems those guys have dwindled away as most of the work is done by SOB crews and it's harder to find someone to give you any work at all. Those guys are all getting too old for roofing anyway, especially winter roofing. Come to think of it I used to be one of those guys. :ohmy: