Roofer on Roofing Subcontractors | Illegal Roofers | Kareem Hunter
Dmitry discusses subcontracting issues and illegal immigration with Indianapolis roofer Kareem Hunter. Let us know what you think about both issues. We value all feedback.
How do you think we can solve the labor problem? Comment below.
00:22 How often do subcontractors not get paid?
02:42 Big companies shorting subs
04:43 Illegal roofers
06:34 Border talk
07:22 Kareem's passion
Dive into the full Kareem Hunter story:
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I grew up in a family buisness. My dad Started me out at 12 13 years old duting summers. Then at 16 i went full time. Roofing nasties. Every week. And i mean every week 10/12 4 layers, resheet. Day in day out. In 2004 i started my own companie. I dont very well, each year was a learned lesson. I started subbing. (Shingle roofs) but i consisting made a average week was $1500 to $1800 a good week. $2300 to $3000. If i was contracting my own job easy 4k 5 k a week.
Unfortunatly i had to shut the doors in 2018. I was 40. Early on in my cardar i was told (young buck) its gonna make a old man outta you fast. Now im 43 and am pretty much 65. Tore up, shoulders done, hips done, hands done, i live in pain.
Now after all my success im a repair man for a big companie. Decent steady W2 job. But i live in pain
Roofing fxcks you up. Do it smart
I worked like a manaic and paying for it now
Amen my friend… im 38 tomorrow and I feel 60… take care and be well
Total respect for a guy who busted his tail and then is running his own shop. These are the best business owners.
I started roofing at 16 for a family companie then started my own in 2004 at age 24. Done very well till 2018 i had to shut the doors
Right.. I have a hard timing seeing suits start a roofing biz without ever nailing a shingle on. Lol. No respect!
@Roofing Insights now where is Kareem?
100% agree with you. Not easy transition but those who make it make good owners
He is exactly right with everything he said. Really enjoyed that.
@Roofing Insights um ya thats cuz they commit a crime then get paid for it…. My boss is from Bosnia he can here legally
Ur a idiot then dudes acting like he makes 400$ a sq and pays his guys 235 a sq all his numbers are bullshit i was roofing for one of the top 150 roofing contractors in 2015 and my boss barely cleared a few mill after overhead. No one is running 3 jobs a day for 40 weeks either. Unless u have shops in 50 states
Thanks for feedback, not everyone agrees with Kareem and hate on illegals but we have to be open minded and focus on solutions not on problem.
What a great interview! Kareem really nails it with his opinion. The root of the issue is educating the youth about learning a trade skill. College is not for everyone, and that doesn’t mean those people can’t be successful. I went to college, got my degree in radio/TV and ended up working with my dad on roofs. Honestly it was the best decision I have ever made!
Thanks Victor for sharing your story!!! I agree 100% college is not for everyone and if young guys learn opportunities in trades early on they can make amazing careers.
I feel like there definitely is interest in the younger generation but it’s mostly Hispanics whose parents whether legal or illegal were in roofing/construction, or kids from lower income communities. My dad has been roofing for about 25 years working for the same company and I’m 19 and looking into getting my c-39 license here in California and starting a company with him. I am still in college though I am considering dropping out completely since I am going to be an entrepreneur regardless, or completing college and running the business while still in school while my dad does most of the actual work.
Also about the illegals, it’s really 50/50 like he said, there are those that only know fast and low-quality work as is done in most Hispanic countries since they’re not regulated like the US, but there are those that are very skilled and contribute greatly to a team. I feel like those that do good work in the trades and live good lives here are very underappreciated.
I was really fortunate to have been brought to the US legally and as a small boy from the shithole that is Mexico. But I also see the detriment of high illegal and legal immigration. High amounts of immigration has lowered our wages and that’s why many kids see the trades like roofing as a low paying line of work that the Mexicans do. Now if we had more restrictions wages would go up and you can be a field guy making good money to raise a family, yes roofs and things will be more expensive but the native worker will earn more to have a house and family and only be him working like in the 1960s. And also society won’t collapse because you won’t import so many people who don’t assimilate to the American culture.
Subcontractors need to have a contract with contractor specifying conditions of work. If payment is not made initiate a mechanics lien on the property. That bad publicity is something a contractor will avoid.
Good advice. Works every time. Also talking to home owners in worst case scenarios
Seen his roofs around town..great residential guys
Kareem and his team are beasts
All I can say is we need more men like this gentleman. Great interview!
I don’t know Kareem personally, but I’m from Ft. Wayne and know of him and i think what he’s doing out here is awesome. We need more local business owners like him. And I appreciate what he’s doing with some of these youngsters. They are learning a skill, making good money and learning how to do life the right way. Plus I’ve seen his jobs and they do good, solid work! If I worked for somebody like him when I was younger I would probably still be in the trades. Anybody that is doing right by our youth and younger generation is good in my book. THESE are the kinda men our youngsters need to look up to. Especially on the Southside (where I’m from and live).
Thanks you so much for sharing!!! You make great points and I agree: we need more guys like Kareem in this industry as leaders for youngsters
FINALLY! Someone’s talking about this! I live in Miami and we’re the illegal subcontractoring capital of the country. Everybody is inexperienced and nobody wants to learn the craft correctly. They just wanna be a middle man kinda like what a broker is to a buyer and the bank in real estate just to make their easy cut!
You hiring ?
Thanks for sharing Andy. Tell us about what you do?
For those of you that are in the roofing business maybe my customer POV might help
I got 6 roofing quotes 1 Latino crew 2 Amish crews and 3 American crews (yes they’re all American I’m just being specific)
1st American was the first to answer after calling several others didn’t even put me on hold and for that simple reason I almost hired him till I met with him I felt like he didn’t think I could afford it and his bid was the cheapest
2nd American stopped by didn’t even care to talk much and never even sent me the estimate I felt he thought I also couldn’t afford it
3rd American taught me lectured me on roofing and really showed professionalism he was now Ahead
1st Amish gave me options on shingles explained everything and also lectured me on roofing his bid was one of the highest
2nd Amish stopped by for few minutes (raining) said he would send me the estimate but never did
The bid for the Latino crew was in the middle of the others and I went with their bid the reason why I chose his bid was because he simply had the skylights he said he would throw in for free and he also explained the process
Now had he not thrown in the skylights for free I would’ve gone with either the 1st Amish crew or the 3rd American crew but the Amish guy was the one to really sell me on the job even though his bid was higher
Btw only reason why I didn’t reshingle myself was because I have mild epilepsy so wifey and mother didn’t want me up there even with a harness
This was a great interview. This channel has so much value in the content. Top notch entrepreneurs that have alot of wisdom to share to other trades in similar circumstances.
Thanks Jeremy, glad you find value in what we do. We learn from our guests as much as our audience!
Dmitri you are man. Great job. Keep giving all the small business hope and a way to do better tomorrow
First of all I like listen to your stuff. You have good coverage This was my second day of listnington to it.
About the contractors skipping out and not paying people is very wide spread on storm troupers.I fallowed hail storms for the last 25 years before I retired in 2006 because of a wore out body. I don’t know how much money I had been cheated out of. One time I did go in to the office with a loaded .25 pistol. The company owed me for me for two jobs. I wasn’t worried because everyone in the office had warrants for their arrest. 2 were for felonies. A guy had to run from Austin to Dallas and back but I got my money. (I was drunk as hell when this happened. I did more work for the company in Phx. a year later and by then I had quit drinking and the 3 guy were gone.
Just a case of the liquor talking and I could of put in some time in the pen easy.
You are right where that fighting don’t solve anything, thats what courts are for. There is always small claims court for under $ ??.
On the illegals. If we did not use any for 5 years there would be a backlog or roofs for 10 years easy I was in business in the Far northern Panhandle of Tx. I also done lots of work in Ok. and Kan. I don’t know how many I used over the years and didn’t worry about it much as long as they had something to say they were legal. They could get false papers anywhere for $100 back in the 80,s and 90,s. In the whole time I only had one picked up on a job.
What I didn’t like about the illegals was they were getting a little to smart and contracting jobs on their own. I’m not talking about subbing but furnishing material etc.I had 2 different guys that went on their own in a storm in Dalhart Tx. It was back to back storms in years The first was 1999 then 2000.In 99 these guys subbed of me. I fired one crew for stealing. They got lots of stuff. At times the back door to the shop was open and If they needed a box of nails , etc they just went and got it. Most the time if I wasn’t there then the office girl was by herself and didn’t know what was going on. I caught the guy on the spot and he had 25 boxes of nails along with 2 nail gun that needed repair.
The next year both of the subs were knocking on doors of the jobs we done. Outright telling people they would do the job for $1,000 less up to $2,500.They knocked me out of about $75,000 to $100k profit the best I could figure. I went and told the people these guy didn’t have any insurance, Etc. and told them what would happened if one got hurt on their job.Only one went back with me. It is the old ‘money talks” routine. In all the town of 8,000 pop was overloaded with them knocking on doors
I tried turning the two guys into the state of Tx. but they wouldn’t do anything because one’s last name was Lopez, the other was Gomez. The woman from the state said they don’t go after them with name like that as there is just to many of them and most don’t have a permanent address in Tx.
2 years prior they got me and by the time it was over it cost $85,000 plus. Would of been more but I told them to take that and settle 100% or try to get more and I run. I said either way suits me.The woman took the money and gave me receits saying everything was paid in full..
I was always worried that they would attach my bank account but they never did. In fact they never even audited me once.
How I got caught was furnishing tools, trucks, and telling the men where to go each day. I did not withhold anything and thats what got me. All it took was one guy signing up for unemployment.
I have been on some very big hail storms where one company done 3000 jobs of all types in a year easy. My first storm was Denver in 1984. Two company’s I worked for done about 4,500 to 5,000 each in about 1 and a half years. They had about 40 salesman working for them and I couldn’t even start to mention the crews. They would hire anyone. Most their jobs were good but I sure seen some bad ones when they put me on leaks and repairs.
Also that same year there were about 3 or 4 other pretty big company’s in Denver. The same company’s (if there still in business won’t set up anywhere that they can’t do a certain amount of jobs or money. )
Myself I finely found what I wanted, a small town pop 1,750 and lot lo little towns around. I never went further than 100 miles from my house.
Thank you so much for taking time to share. Respect.
Trades are the way to go! Earn while you learn! I remember all of my friends coming home from college after they graduated and moving back in with their parents. By that time I had three or four years of roofing under my belt and already making 50 Grand a year. I never meant to be a roofer, I just needed a job.. Now 27 years in the industry, as an employee I’m well into six figures a year, family Under full insurance, I’ve had a 401k going for 25 years, along with a pension. Of course more is always better, but I certainly can’t complain. Not only do people not believe me when I tell them what I make, but when I tell them what I do for a living they always give me an odd look lol. Apparently I don’t look the role.
Great feedback and story, thanks for sharing
This is the guy that could be top 10 in the country if he knew how to sell jobs.
I started off in construction, I liked it but then I realized i couldn’t work when it rained, I couldn’t make a decent living first starting out, the shear number of people with job site chronic injuries, and the risk of dying on the job and what would happen to my family afterwards if I had one, I realized I needed a college degree in something that was realistic. Construction is profitable for the owners of a business, or workers who have a high demand skill. The rest of the construction workers are used and abused. At least in my market.
You’re absolutely right Kareem. Great interview.
If your Roofing it’s ideal to have a good lawyer saved in your phone. Also put a lien on a property if nobody’s is paying. And get texts and papers signed with ink before starting a job. Roofers are in high demand and well respected. Its a tough job only a certain breed could do it.
Note: once you have a legal contract written, with all the terms, you can use that exact same “shell contract” on every job. You just change the scope of work, price, and contact info for each new customer
Yes, agreed. Except make sure you have a formal contract written by a law firm. If your lawyer writes your contract properly BEFORE there’s problems, then the clients usually will pay on time and it AVOIDS problems. When clients see a sketchy/sloppy/not legit contract, they’re more likely to try to not pay, sadly enough