Roof Inspection Tips for Real Estate Investors | Storm Damage & Insurance Claims

Charleston Howard (00:00)

You walk up to the homeowner and you say, “I will take care of everything myself. You don’t even need to get insurance involved. I will pay out of my pocket, I will fix your house. I’ll be out here every day, I will close my company down and we’ll all be out here to fix your house.” That’s how I look at it. Now did they make a claim?

Yes, they made the claim. They made the claim before I could present that to them because and did it turn out better for them? I don’t know. I think I could have helped them even more. But the insurance company, and they took care of them and at the end of it, there was nothing brought against us because we showed the proof that it was just an accident and accidents happened. But you take care of it.

You face it. You don’t run away from it.

Freddie Steen (02:13)

Welcome to the Investor Fuel podcast brought to you by Real Estate Pros. I’m your host, Freddie, and today I’m joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Charleston Howard, who’s been making serious moves in the roofing space for quite some time. And just a quick hint, folks.

He’s got so much experience. He’s even a consultant because he’s a legacy. Charleston, let’s dive in. I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching roofing in multiple markets in the Texas area. Not only that, but you have great experience with natural disasters. So Charleston, I’m glad to have you here. Let’s dive in. First off, for people who may not be familiar with your world, give us the short version.

What’s your main focus these days at 3 Kings and what markets are you operating in?

Charleston Howard (03:02)

Absolutely. Thanks for having me. I’m in the South Houston area, in the Pearland and worked this area. I’ve lived here for over 30 years, grew up in Texas. I was born in Dumas, Texas. So started in San Antonio and moved over here in 1992-ish. And excited about the industry today. A lot of companies say there’s challenges to it.

But I think with this company that I’m with now, 3 Kings, that we come up with solutions to overcome all of those challenges and look forward to their future.

Freddie Steen (03:35)

Love it. Well, when you talk Texas, you get lean in for me, having been the son of a Texas-born father in San Antonio. So I’m well familiar with tea cakes, chopper bikes, and those fiery red ants that can bite you on the ankles. Charleston, let’s talk about this 1958 legacy with your father. Your family’s history in Texas roofing goes all the way back to 1958 in Corpus Christi.

Where your dad started the foundational family business. Growing up around that old school coastal Texas construction grid, what was the number one mindset or lesson your dad passed down that you still lean on today?

Charleston Howard (04:18)

Wow. Yeah, my dad, big footprint. Even in Houston when adjusters met my dad in San Antonio and they found out that I was his son, they always said how generous and giving and he would always take time with them. And repetition re the way that my dad spoke and that the way that he took care of them and the customer, the adjuster always wanted to be around him.

When adjusters came in from out of town, as soon as they got into San Antonio, they would call our office. So first of all, my mom answered the phone. She was a salesman and they always wanted to talk to her. Then in the field it was my dad and my brother and myself. And yeah, that you’re not gonna find a person that said anything negative about my dad from A to Z, from the suppliers to the people who work for him.

The guy who trained me had worked for my dad for 10 years when I came back from Florida. And I wanted to start a career in roofing when I was nineteen. And he put us together and I started putting on roofs. So it was just a legacy of people being there many, years and many, customers and agents. My mom is almost eighty.

And agents that had dealt with my dad still call her and see how she’s doing. See if they need if they can help her in any way. And that’s rare in the industry of being in being there so long, fifty, sixty years, people calling checking up on a widow because they just knew the family.

Freddie Steen (05:42)

I love it. And Charleston, let’s talk the micro to macro shift. I mean, you went from that deeply personalized, family-rooted background you so graciously just shared with us to now acting as a roofing consultant and regional branch manager for 3 Kings Roofing in the hyper-competitive Houston market. How did you take that localized, legacy-driven customer service and successfully systemize it?

To manage multiple corporate crews across the entire Houston metro area?

Charleston Howard (06:16)

Yeah. It’s just when you grow up in it, it’s just something that you always do. When I was around eleven years old and we’d go out of town and work storms, I was they we’d bring in eighteen-wheelers full of trucks because we had to rent a warehouse because they didn’t have a big enough supply company to keep up with the work and the how the insurance companies were recommending us. And eleven years old, I was driving the forklift to unload the trucks. And then

When our guys came in that needed materials, I’d load the trucks for them. So it’s just something I grew up in. It’s not something I have to think about. When someone calls me today, I don’t have I have pretty much all the answers because I’ve done it for so long. But it’s finding the right people. And the guys that have worked with me have, nineteen years and we have history and we’ve done stuff for each other, for each other’s families. And when you just you have to set

You just can’t start off and do this business and stay in this business that long. You have to have family, extended family that will help you. And once you have that and you get in the right group of people here in Houston, they’re fantastic people, you have the bridge that you need for to have a successful business.

Freddie Steen (07:26)

I love it. Charleston, Houston and its surrounding areas present a unique beast. We’re talking extreme humidity, intense heat waves, hail, and hurricane risk. For real estate investors watching this, Charleston, what makes managing roof integrity in the Greater Houston footprint different from almost any other market in Texas?

Charleston Howard (08:37)

Yeah, here in here in Houston you have to learn to be able to adapt if you’re gonna be long-term business. And when I think about roofing, I was just speaking to our district Zoom meeting with all the guys do together once a week. This is what I am. I don’t think about maybe tomorrow I’ll be something else. There is no nothing else. This is all I do. This is all I think about.

It’s just part of me. So you have to be able to get really small really quick because there could be a couple of years that it’s slow and you try to adapt and keep your guys busy doing other things. And then there’s times that it just explodes overnight with a hurricane. But you have to have the your portfolio ready to help homeowners and to insurance companies and the city to get back on its feet.

And you have to have all the people that have trusted you through the years of paying them correctly, what you say you do. If a job doesn’t pay you because for whatever reason the home, the homeowner, I don’t know, they get a divorce or whatever. They just don’t they just lost the money. You pay the guys yourself, you pay the materials yourself, even if you lose money and you go to the next job, you have to look at this industry as a 12-month

business and you make money over the 12 months, not just on each job. So it’s taking care of taking care of your people, taking care of homeowners. And in today’s industry, if you do a few things wrong, the public’s gonna know about it quickly. So you want to be on your toes and every day running your business, not putting it on cruise control. You don’t put a section of your business on cruise control because you think it’s running well.

No, you’re in your business every day. You’re taking care of your business. This, your business is your name, and that’s all you have. Like, yeah, I can go start another company or I can do something else, but that’s not, that’s not who I am. It’s my name that stands behind every customer I run into and every subcontractor, every employee, every part of the industry. When they hear my name and my business, they know that they can relax because we’re going to take care of them.

Freddie Steen (10:38)

Charleston, as a dedicated roofing consultant for a major powerhouse like 3 Kings Roofing, you look at roofs differently than a standard residential retail contractor. When you walk a property with a real estate investor or asset manager, what are you looking for that the average investor completely misses?

Charleston Howard (10:59)

Yeah, I think my God-given ability is always whatever business I look at and spend fifteen minutes with you, for some reason I can improve on it and help you. And I always try, no matter who I come across, to help them with their if it’s real estate or whatever, give them ideas to help improve their business so they can if they grow together, if we if they grow, we grow, we all grow together and that’s the goal. But yeah, there is

If you’re in a certain part of town, you have to put the right type of materials, right type of flashing. There’s different things that and then if it’s an insurance job, you have to be able to look at that the right way. So the right endorsements and codes that are in today’s industry that need to be brought up, like in our area, you have to get a wind certificate.

And a lot of new homeowners don’t know that. There’s certain ways you have to get the roof installed to get that certificate so they can get their insurance renewed. But if I was meeting with a realtor at a new property, sometimes the roof doesn’t need to be replaced. They have a product they called GoNano that they can coat the roof that it can extend the life of the roof now. And instead of getting a roof replaced, it’s like when you get a new car and they put the ceramic

on it, today is real popular. It extends the life of the paint of the car. So same thing in the roof. You need and just being honest, I’m not here to replace every roof because, that’s how I make money. I’m here to make sure the general public from if you want to look at it going green to making sure the homeowner doesn’t have to spend extra money at that particular time that’s needed.

And a professional, honest eye on that is very important. And there’s a lot of other things you can go in different directions, but we’ll stay within that. It’s very important when you’re looking at a roof and who you let on the roof, who you let on that property is critical because roof is not a ten thousand dollar item any longer. They’re mostly twenty-five thousand in Houston. So do you need a new roof? Well, not necessarily. We can invest in other things

to get you another five, ten years out of that roof and then look at it. And then there’s some things that the roof is needs to be replaced. And you don’t try to give the homeowner bad advice, well let’s put a patch on it. You’re kind of wasting your money because in another three months you’re gonna be putting another patch. And in another three months you’re not gonna know what the problem is because it’s gonna be leaking in your attic. So it’s just having that honest opinion and experience matters

In the roofing industry.

Freddie Steen (13:22)

Love it. I mean, what caught my attention about you was that experience from nineteen fifty-eight, that legacy with your father and your mother and the company that they built with their blood, sweat, and tears that you’ve expanded and now in your new role where you are doing more corporate, larger projects and also coaching in markets while still keeping margins strong. I mean, that’s not easy, especially in this climate.

Charleston, what’s been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly?

Charleston Howard (13:52)

Longevity helping people and eventually comes back to them helping you, regardless of sitting down for 10 minutes and coaching a new couple that just started a roofing company, just quit their jobs, giving them 10 minutes that can really save a lot of time. Like don’t grow too quickly. Sure. Take a year and develop it yourself. What I want to do in my in

my business is why I started out when I was 19 installing roofs myself and I got to hire crews and let and I got to let go’s got let go of guys and I hired guys and I trained guys and like I said my dad put someone with me that could help me that was with the company for 10 years to help to show me how to put on roofs. So basically what I’m saying is I can do it myself and that’s the key. Can you install a roof?

Because I’ve met owners who go out and meet with a crew and the crew’s telling them one thing and I will sit there and I’m like, that’s not the right way to do it. Because I know, because I’ve done it with my hands. I’ve done metal roofs, gravel roofs, commercial roofs, shingle roofs. I’ve there’s been times that we’ve just had repairs to do all day and I went out there by myself and just did the repair myself from A to Z. And then you move into,

I was an insurance adjuster for five years, many years ago, traveled the nation. I was inside the insurance companies. I know how they work, I know how they think, because I was one. And it is just knowing it yourself is the big key. I can go and try to bake a cake, but and then hire someone to do it, but you’re not gonna stay competitive doing that. You got to do it yourself to grow

and grow slowly, then after two years, when you do every aspect of it yourself, you’re not doing third-party supplements, you’re not doing third-party writing estimates. And you can I can do everything. And I think that’s the key of learning it yourself. Because you I mean people can take advantage of different situations that you don’t know about. But when you do it yourself, it really can’t happen unless you’re

just too busy in another area. Know yourself.

Freddie Steen (16:33)

That’s a good point, Charleston. Now every operator I know has a moment where things got real. Maybe a deal that went sideways or a time they had to pivot fast. You’ve given us so much already on the Investor Fuel podcast brought to you by Real Estate Pros. Charleston, do you mind sharing one of those moments for you?

Charleston Howard (16:53)

Yeah, there there’s been some moments. Yeah, there was a windstorm came up that wasn’t predicted, rainstorm, and we had a roof tore off and it started just pouring down rain. And we got the the weather information to show to the insurance company that it just came out of nowhere and that happens here in Houston. And just within a few minutes it

damaged the inside of the house, two-story house. I’m not saying it didn’t got different rooms with. There’s a hundred thousand dollars in damage. Now, whose fault was that? What could have been done? ‘Cause you reevaluated, because that’s terrible. That’s the worst thing you could ever think of.

It’s just one of those things. That’s that’s hop that’s happened twice to me in the last forty years of tens of thousands of roofs. It was just one of those things. So what do you do? You walk up to the homeowner and you say, “I will take care of everything myself. You don’t even need to get insurance involved. I will pay out of my pocket, I will fix your house. I’ll be out here every day, I will close my company down and we’ll all be out here to fix your house.” That’s how I look at it. Now did they make a claim?

Yes, they made the claim. They made the claim before I could present that to them because and did it turn out better for them? I don’t know. I think I could have helped them even more. But the insurance company, and they took care of them and at the end of it, there was nothing brought against us because we showed the proof that it was just an accident and accidents happened. But you take care of it.

You face it. You don’t run away from it. And, I saw the guys that were out there, the mitigation company, and they go in there really quick and get the wet things out, the sheetrock, the carpet. They want to take it out quickly so it can save as much as they can. And they saw me coming and they knew they said, “That’s the owner of the company.” And they kind of like all walked away because they could tell this was this I was serious about what I was gonna do and how I was gonna take care of things.

But that ho that customer was taken care of. They got a they got their house put back together. There are other small things like when sometimes inside your attic, you hit a the copper line can be too close to the decking and you hit that AC line. Now if that AC, I guess, runs because it’s leaking and you don’t know about it, can ruin the AC line. That happened to us. It was in the corner, you couldn’t see it. Wasn’t our fault.

Should have been done correctly from the plumber. I don’t know those codes. I don’t know, but it happened. It doesn’t matter. So we, we took we took the decking off. We replaced that line. We charged the AC unit. The husband was out of town calling me, “What’s going on? My wife said this.” I’d I offered to put the wife in a hotel. Offered to to to feed her for free and take care of it until the house was done right and we took care of that homeowner.

And that was one of the more difficult jobs that we had to work on for a few days. But when we were done, the neighbors walked up in that neighborhood and they said, “Mr. So-and-so, you’re very popular.” He was very popular in the neighborhood. “Who did your roof?” And they he said, “This company did my roof.” He could have said, “I don’t know, I’ll tell you later,” but he said, “This company did my roof,” because we took care of them. And it’s no accident.

We were you have to be ready for things to happen, even though they’re not you hope they don’t happen. And when they do happen, your character comes out. Do you halfway do it or do you fix it right?

Freddie Steen (20:07)

Charleston, that’s the kind of stuff that people don’t talk about enough. And honestly, it’s what separates the folks who just dabble from the ones who stay in the game long-term. Let me ask you this. Charleston, what are you most focused on solving or scaling next? What’s the next real goal for you?

Charleston Howard (20:25)

For me. Yeah, like five years ago my family passed away, so I kind of stepped away from my business because I didn’t want to work without my family, being there day in and day out. And you grow a business together, things happen, you stay up all night working on them, and I just needed to step away for a year because

they had all left me and they were my support. Now they didn’t leave me. They passed away. Well it was my father-in-law, my dad, my brother, they all passed away within a very short period of time. And life does that to you. And when you have prolonged diseases, it can take a year for someone to pass about to pass away. And you take care of them and sometimes you put other things on hold. So I stepped away for a year.

And then, pretty much my wife was like, “You gotta go do something. You just can’t sit here and watch the prices ride all day.” And I was like, “Okay, what do I want to do?” And it was just it’s just the selling part, the construction part was in my blood. So I went to work for a solar company just to find out because the way our the way we did business was kind of different from the normal roofing industry. We worked with third-

party companies that we helped in the beginning back in the nineties helped get kind of jump started with the insurance companies. And now they’re developed into nationwide companies that are hundred worth a hundred and some millions of dollars. We’re not part of those companies, but we were there in the beginning to help form that situation in the industry today. And they’re the those are really big companies, they do well. But like I said, I started working for a solar company, I never did solar.

And learned about that. Then I worked for another company and started a roofing division for a builder who built houses. And I started gradually getting back into it and I just from zero just built everything that needed to be done from supplementing to writing estimates to bringing in lead generation and training salesmen. Just, there’s a lot to it.

I didn’t have and I I realized I didn’t have to think about this. It comes naturally and it’s who I am. And I, I didn’t I looked forward to getting up again and going to work. And then I, after that I worked for another few other small companies. And then I got to the point where I wanted to find a company after seeing all the all the things that can hold back smaller companies. I wanted to connect with a company that could really take care

of the homeowner. And that’s a there are companies that only do after interviewing with about 50 different roofing companies, and that was my research, of getting back into the industry, a lot of them do retail, they don’t want to touch insurance. A lot of them do insurance, they don’t want to touch retail. There are very few that kind of do both. And in the last two years, the insurance the ones that do insurance are kind of like that work with insurance companies and they, they make

They the they have hail damage, wind damage, and it’s paid by the insurance. Now they’re realizing they need to do retail. That’s a completely different animal, retail than insurance. For a while I worked with a nationwide carpet company that did retail sales that had it down to a science that was amazing. So I’ve seen that and I can implement that. But it just brought me to where to where I am today, just relearning and re-

I’m learning about a different part of the industry. And once again, it’s just in my blood that I do it myself. And that so and coming to 3 Kings is what was needed to help the homeowner so they don’t get stuck after for whatever reason. You go to a homeowner’s house and they have a tile roof. 3 Kings can do all of that. The insurance

If there’s an insurance claim made, they know the processes to help the homeowner with that. A retail bid, they have the prices down correctly so they can be competitive. They’re the full package. And that’s what I was looking for. And it’s rare in the industry to have that. And it it’s an honor for me to work with them to bring my name to their name so so we can help homeowners.

Freddie Steen (24:12)

I love it. I mean, Charleston, let’s talk about demystifying the claim process before I have to let you go. 3 Kings Roofing is heavily trusted for navigating the complex storm damage and insurance restoration process. What is the single biggest mistake real estate investors in this space make when filing a property claim after a major storm event in Houston?

Charleston Howard (24:35)

Yeah, there’s a lot of factors. How old the roof is, how big the damage was. And actually, even if you have hail, how in condensed was the hail? Did it damage the roof? Was did you have a builder grade material? Did you have a class C shingle? What class was a shingle? You don’t the homeowner, they don’t really remember that. So a professional coming out to evaluate that properly is very important

to have the right contractor come out and look at the roof, to point them in the right direction in the industry is can save the homeowner thousands and thousands of dollars and the real estate person make them look better that when it’s coming time to sell the house and I put my name on it, they know there’s not gonna be a problem from the inspector. And if the inspector comes out to look at it, we can meet them out there and give our opinion.

This is this is what is in this is what is in the industry, this is a standard, this is fine, put our name behind it. To make sure the house sells more quickly. Like and I mentioned the GoNano thing, can it can extend it the life of the roof. So a lot of different factors. That I could talk about that for a long time.

Freddie Steen (25:44)

That’s big, Charleston. I mean, especially when you’ve already got this rich legacy in roofing, this know-how, this ability to be able to actually put the shingles on yourself if you had to. I mean, the next move can either compound things or create chaos, depending on how you play it. Now, for 3 Kings, I know a lot of people listening are either earlier in their journey or looking to level up, and I think they benefit from hearing this.

When it comes to building relationships, Charleston, and growing your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?

Charleston Howard (26:19)

Yeah. What are you what are your strengths? What do you naturally can do easily that you don’t have to think about and everybody has weaknesses? And then finding that person who has the right character that matches yours to so y’all can overcome your weaknesses so you don’t have to try to learn something that you don’t want to do. I can talk to someone for three hours on coaching, on selling jobs, on materials, but

The inside like sending an email to write it. I don’t, I it’s just not what I do. It’s not what I like to do. So, learn what your weaknesses are, what you don’t want to do. And then the things you love to do, you don’t, you get up and go to work and you love your job. And that takes time to develop that, but it can be done. I do it every day, so it’s possible.

Freddie Steen (27:03)

Yeah, Charleston, you can’t fake that. Relationships are everything in this space. Charleston, for our Investor Fuel audience looking to scale their portfolios in Houston and the surrounding areas, what is the best way to get in touch with you and the 3 Kings Roofing team to evaluate their assets?

Charleston Howard (27:23)

3 Kings, you just look their name up on the internet, they’re everywhere. This is not hard to find 3 Kings. They have you they have podcasts, YouTubes, they’ve been on different shows in the in the industry. The owner of 3 Kings has been in the the center of it all and they’re not hard to find

at all. They it’s they’re all over the place. And for good reason because they are they’re a good company. And yeah you just push the name in, it just takes a second and you’ll be able to find 3 Kings.

Freddie Steen (27:55)

Perfect. Well listen, I appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. We need more people in this space who are doing it the right way. So thanks again for being here.

Charleston Howard (28:06)

Yes, sir. Thank you.

Freddie Steen (28:06)

And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like Charleston Howard and 3 Kings Roofing, who are out there building real businesses. We’ll see you on the next episode.