Fact or fiction?

http://www.foreclosure.com/education/webinars/foreclosure-clean-out-business-secrets.html

Fiction for the most part. Companies who provide services in multiple states can do that in GROSS RECEIPTS but probably not in profit.

To me, "MAKE" = profit, which is not the same as income.

Just my opinion...... but we kicked butt last year and still didn't see that much in "profits". We did 3 times that much in work but paid most of it out to vendors and staff.

I get so upset when I see all the "get rich quick" hype out there. But people will believe it until they fall on their faces trying and risk losing their homes in the process.

I've been in business for myself for almost 15 years and I'm in my 4th year of preservation. There are lean times in any business and that's where you have to make the most important decisions ever. Do you struggle to hold on, in case things get better? Or do you find a job as quickly as you can and sell off your equipment? Seen it happen too many times.

Linda

Linda,

I know some local property preservation vendors who will not work for certain national companies any longer, because they keep cutting pay. Their requirements are getting increasingly crazy, and they come up with the kookiest demands that required the pp to go back out and take additional photos! It's getting more difficult to actually meet the demands in one trip.

It's absolutely nuts when it comes to the nationals. We won't work with them because of their ridiculous demands, low pay scale, and bad, bad attitudes.

I won't even go into chargebacks [much], which in our case have been minimal [less than .01% in 4 years], but have heard what vendors lose in chargebacks as opposed to what they acually got paid for the jobs.

Banks need to go back to using independent contractors instead of the nationals. I'm sure not all nationals are alike but the ones I've worked with in the past ARE. Sure, it's extra work for the banks but I believe it would be worth it and serve their interests better than they are being served by the nationals. Nationals don't care. The biggest percentage of the people who actually DO the work do.

Linda

Linda;
I believe the reason for the shift to nationals has more to do with many agents inability to fund, padding bills and such then any cost savings. These nationals bid low and then hire idiots willing to work for dust to make a profit. Couple that with any excuse in the world to avoid paying and they add even more profit. AMS is the only company I've seen that has a clue and communicates with the agent. The other end of the spectrum is FAS. No communication with the agents, less with their subs and hardly a clue as to what's needed. Plus they add on "plumbing repairs" and such when none are needed.
Give me my dependable, honest, responsive locals and I'm a happy camper....and I pay upon completion.

I like working with the nationals WHEN I KNOW THE LOCAL VENDOR and am allowed to communicate with the local. It's when the national gets between the local agent and the local vendor that things go wrong. When the local vendor can phone me directly with questions, the two of us can work out a solution.

Stupid decisions get made on the national level too often.

One such stupid ruling last summer forced the vendor to cut up and haul away a section of privacy fence that had been removed and set aside so professional lawn equipment could gain access to the back yard. The section of fence was intact and could have been reinstalled by the new homeowner. Instead, some Cyprexx cubicle-dweller saw the set aside fencing and deemed it to be trash. He forced the lawn man to go back, cut it up, and haul it away (with accompanying photographic proof) before he would approve the vendor's invoices.

The first thing I knew about it was when the buyer (who was already under contract when the fencing disappeared) threatened to walk because the fence section that was present when he made his offer was now gone.

I had one recently that was a CFK. The only item left in the house was the hookup (handle, nozzle, hose etc) for the central vacuum system.

Guess what was removed by the national property preservation company's local contractor.

The Central Vac Unit itself ?

No - they left the main unit in the basement, but took all of the hoses, sweeper attachments and cords that were in a closet