HUD And REO Property Preservation

samccard

So they call there cut a Discount?

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www.destinyhomesinc.com

KMB540

I have looked through every post on here and I was wondering if you all could tell me what HUD is calling a unit?
On their guidelines it has a price for one unit, two units additional units and so on?

Thank you!!!!

FremontREO

Brickie

You are kidding, right?????

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“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

FremontREO

That may be your competitor!

drasylum

A unit is an apartment or a house. i just did five "units" and they were apartments. that's the bomb when you are getting 450.00 plus 250.00 for sales cleaning and $152.00 for weatherization per "unit". took five hours, do the math. However i did do a house that took 4 days so it ain't all the same (though my provider authorized a total of 2250.00 for that one.....and no discount!!!!

KMB540

Thank you drasylum,
No, I wasn't kidding. I figured it pertained to apartments but not houses. If I have two houses to trash out and they each have 12 cubic yards of debris, then what they are saying is that the maximum they will allow is $825.00 for both (15 cu yd). But if I did one now and one later on they would allow $660.00 each. Thats a big price difference.
To do 5 apartments (units) at one time I could see where that would be a good thing.
Glad I could entertain you two this morning! I have read all the posts on here and have seen where some people could not even find the HUD guidelines without you all giving them the direct link to do so. So I know that to you it may have been a dumb question but I like to make sure I fully understand the things I am looking at!

FremontREO

Sorry not laughing at you but at the industry as a whole. I watch at least 90% of the newbies working for free but they don't know it till 6-9 months later. This business is for the brave few that know what they are doing and we know the risk and the reward. If "someone" does not know the answer to some of the very basic questions then I really do suggest that "that someone" works for a Property Preservation Company (not a service company) for a minimum of 2 years so they can learn the ropes and they will protect "that someone" from the potential liabilities and the potential chargebacks. This business has changed 100% in the last 2 years due to the increased number of homes and contractors and the service companies have realized that the pay is better to them by "finding loopholes" for not paying the contractor. As an example a contractor made a very minimal mistake and as a result we were awarded a $115,000 job and the contractor who made the very simple mistake is paying for our work. Not my choice of how to get the work but in seriousness this business trully is not for amateurs...Just a kind thought! Good luck.

catly21

Ok I have done preservation work for over a year now. I work for a *** Field Services. I have had no major problems with them paying(though not always happy about the discounts!!) until recently. I know that everything is based off of HUD price guidelines. Or at least thats what i thought. After submitting a work order on a FHA property, I was told that my price(which was standard HUD price) was too high. They stated that FHA pays a lower amount then what HUD pays. They have only ever giving me a pricing sheet for HUD and are now saying that I should have known it. After searching, I can only find a VA, Fannie Mae and the HUD. Does anyone know where the FHA one is? Does it even exist or are they trying to get me to bill less so that they can make more then their 15% profit? I am about fed up with this company and their bull***x ways.

And to anyone getting into this....it is not necessarily a hard business to start but know that its not cheap to get into. You can't buy cheap equipment because you have to count on it being reliable. Expect to pay $1500+ just on a lawnmower!!! Not to mention weed eaters, edgers, blowers, generator, air compressor, locks(cuz you foot the bill for them), cleaning supplies, etc. Plus a truck/trailer to haul it all in and the gas to get you to the job sights. Then everything that you bill gets a discount. So lets say you make $100 on a grass cut. Then its discounted(amount depends on company you work for) 25%. So now you made $75. But you have to figure in your cost of fuel to get there, fuel to do the job, time that the job took, sub-contractor wage and dump fees for the grass clippings(which you dont get reimbursed on). So now you are looking more at an income of $10-$12. But then you have to consider the office time you put in. Roughly for every hour you are in the field doing a job, it requires an hour in front of the computer. I work as many hours on my computer doing invoices as i do mowing lawns or changing locks. Every ounce of work has to be documented with pictures of before and after. And all those pics have to be uploaded and named. I work 7 days a week. I am up at 7am and if I am lucky I am in bed by 1am.
Everyone thinks that there is sooo much money to be made. I put out $400-$600 in gas in my truck. Per WEEK. I do make a profit and I won't lie about that. But it took over 8 months to finally make that profit. But when I started, my start up costs were over $7,000 not including my truck I bought. I also didnt get paid for the first 45 days so all my expenses were fronted by me. Banks dont pay weekly. They pay every 30-60 days.

It doesnt make a difference if you are a woman or not. I am and I do the job just fine. Its a learning experience and things are constantly changing.

Sorry this is so long(I tend to ramble!!LOL). I hope I helped a little for anyone thinking about starting out. And I hope someone can answer my question!!!

Thanks
Crystal

DiamondFieldSvc

OMG!!! Thank you so much for that information. And....it coincides with whats 2 quotes above on safeguard. I am so glad I have people to network with on this site so that we can all help each other. U guys are life savers....literally!

DiamondFieldSvc

Do you mind quoting who your provider is? I'm in Florida looking for some. Kinda new to Property Preservation and looking to start by or before next year if I can learn quick enough lol

DiamondFieldSvc

Hi Crystal:

My name is Crystal as well, and I would like to know if we could chat about this. I have been wanting to get into this business, but it seems so secretive that you can't get alot of information or some type of course to teach all that you need to know. I think that I would be ok if I could learn things like winterization and such. Is it possible that you could contact me at : diamond field services @ gmail dot com?
I would really appreciate some help.

Crystal

ARPPP

Hi Crystal,

Linda Hall offers training with her company. She has many posts on here. Look for her posts on this site. Send her an email on training to ppv.training@gmail.com and make sure your state is in the subject line.

Good luck!
Annette
AR Professional Property Preservation

DiamondFieldSvc

Hi Annette:

I've already sent an email for Linda's training a couple of weeks ago. I'm just waiting for a reply. Hopefully, she can respond soon. I know she's a very busy lady so I'm just waiting patiently.

BPWY

A lot of folks like myself and some friends run into is the inability to be competitive on the bidding process.
You have a national company and then a regional company and then you the end guy that does the work. With all of them taking a discount off of the work and the bids you cannot be competitive. For example if you need $500 to do the job you have to bid $890 in order to get the $500 to you.


Its pretty tough.

Right now I'm getting the song and dance about work being slow and there isn't any work available. We all know better than that, but knowledge isnt putting any food on my table.

ARPPP

Are you soliciting your local REO realtors? I work with them. I have not gotten any work from the nationals. I get emails from the nationals telling me my area is saturated with vendors. I have met many "wannabe's" with no experience a nice business cards and website... Find your local REO agents in databases like REOMAC.

Annette
www.arppp.net

BPWY

I am working on a flyer to hand out to local agents and local banks.
Thanks for the tip on where to find the local REO agents.

steven catalano

i have been a contractor doing preservation work for a year now and it has been rough they dont pay fast and find all kinds of reasons as to not pay you,, everything from the b.s forms that they think of using everyday to your photos arent clear enough, yea clear enough, I do turn a decent dollar but the profitt is small after your expenses some months have been a break even others are not record busters either,i take a small salary , i wonder if i should go back to the private sector,, we work seven long days a week and travel across the state my gass and toll fees are though the roof..!!!!!

Preclock

We were contacted by Amy D. in the Vancouver office to rekey several apartments and a house. She never mentioned any flat rate as most of you have mentioned, in fact she mentioned nothing at all except that she needed these done ASAP. She was informed that unless she filled out an application she would be a "pay as you go" customer. She even sent us out to rekey places that were "supposed" to be vacant - they weren't. It has now been several months and we have not been paid. Amy D. returned our call once only to say that she had questions about our fees and that she would come by the next day to talk to us. NEVER SHOWED. No one in her company will return our calls and the agent has changed her cell phone number. The worst of it is she, Amy D. talked our learning disabled daughter into cleaning two of these units for her. We helped her with it to give her some experience - she also has never been paid. The places she had to clean were revolting - filled with nasty mildew and animal crap. I can't believe that they can feel good about taking advantage of a disabled young lady. SHAME SHAME!
RUN AWAY of they call. It's not worth the time it will take you to try to collect.

Brickie

Something tells me you don't have a contract with anyone.

So why didn't you tell her it's ***X per service call plus____??????

You're supposedly a locksmith, yet you failed to discuss your fees with a client???? What's up with that????


How long do you plan on working for free??????




So despite being played for big time chumps by the POS Amy, you decide to then help your learning disabled daughter get screwed over by the same Amy?????

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan