The key to growing your business is effective marketing.
Let SOFI help you grow your business. Post a banner ad at this high
traffic website and post a resume at www.fieldinspector.BIZ.
This is the largest resume download website in the field services industry.
Need Errors & Omissions (E&O) Insurance?
Check out www.orep.org
There is NO RISK with purchasing SOFI products.
We offer a SATISFACTION GUARANTEE.
Call 352-449-1041 (east coast) Call on the weekend!
TALK with Richard or Dorann Law
Many firms do not list their telephone number at a website.
They don't want you to call!
Gas prices are up. Regular gas is close to $4 in California. Diesel is over $4 in west Los Angeles. This is the reason you need to find the higher qualty field services firms that pay the higher fees. Many of these higher fee inspections require no experience. The hiring firms provide forms and easy to understand how-to instructions. They want you to do a good job - they help you to do a good job - as it is to their benefit that you do a good job.
On March 19th I posted an ad where the firm was paying $25-$35 an hour for a field service inspector. Another ad was for $90 for a check of a VIN on four vehicles. Many other ads have been posted this week in the $25-$60 range. The highest fee was $165. Commercial loss control inspections requiring some experience were paying $70-$125. The large majority of inspections require no experience. About 99% of inspections require no license and 98% require no insurance.
The weblink at www.fieldinspector.com will redirect you to the Yahoo Group FIELDREPSNEEDED where you will see these posted ads.
AIM HIGH.
You want to steer clear of the $3-$5 driveby ugly duckling inspections that require you to pay for a background check and a $2,400 E&O insurance policy. You will just wear out your car. Believe me when I tell you that these low-fee inspections are the biggest source of complaints in the industry. Inspector turnover and firm staff turnover is tremendous.
RED FLAG!
Be sure to ASK all recruiting firms to disclose if they have a practice of charging you a penalty (charge back) if you are late submitting an inspection. Some firms charge a huge penalty if you are one day late on a $3-$5 inspection. The penalty is more than a ticket for passing a stopped Nevada school bus with flashing red lights.
We find that about 99% of all firms in the field services industry have NO such charge back policy. The charge backs are often coming from just a few firms in the low-pay mortgage segment of the industry.
RED FLAG!
About Identity Cards & Background Checks
ASK QUESTIONS! Yes, some firms require background checks. One firm is asking for a background check fee of about $90 with no guarantee of work. Some inspectors report receiving no work after paying for the background check. Firms ordering such checks often pay about $8-$12 for such a check. Some insurance field services firms require that inspectors have a company identification (ID) card and charge the inspector about $29.95 for the ID. The ID card brings with it cost replacement type insurance inspections that pay $6.45 - too much work for the money. The sweet spot is commercial inspections. I don't know of a single firm in that segment that requires that representatives pay for an ID card.
We find that about 99.5% of all firms in the field services industry pay for both. They do not charge the inspector a fee.
You will be in good hands with Bank of America.
RED FLAG!
About Bad Weather Days
ASK firms about their bad weather policy. Will they give you extra time to complete inspections because of bad weather?
One firm did not pay for late inspections in 2004 when hurricanes hit Florida. It was impossible to drive in some areas and electric (and internet) was not available in some areas for a week.
The firm did not pay for completed late inspections. No exceptions were made for hurricanes.
Another Late Night At The Computer!
The problem with these five dollar mortgage and insurance inspections is my having to stay up late at night performing the data processing and photo uploads at my customer's website.
Everyone of these five dollar inspections now requires a separate digital photo to manage and upload.
I perfomed these same inspections in 1992 at the same price with no data processing required. I'm perfoming twice the work for the same pay.
I need another cup of coffee to stay awake.
I need to find some higher paying commercial inspections at www.fieldinspector.com
I need more firms like Sand Castle Field Services ($20-$30) or United Field Chase ($25) for these mortgage inspections.
About SWEET SPOTS in the industry!
A baseball bat, tennis racket and golf club all have a sweet spot. The sweet spot provides sports action with the best performance. The goal is to swing to make contact with the sweet spots.
The SWEET SPOT in the field services industry is the COMMERCIAL SEGMENT of the industry. This is were you should focus most of your marketing. Market your services at www.fieldinspector.BIZ. Find the organized higher quality firms with the trained staffs that pay the higher fees. Many of these firms advertise at the Yahoo Group FIELDREPSNEEDED. The weblink at www.fieldinspector.com will redirect you to the JOIN PAGE of this group. Email richard@law.name if you have any trouble joining.
How To Handle The No-Pay Firms
Yes, Alice there are a few no-pay firms in every industry. When you network with other field representatives you will quickly learn obout these sleazy firms.
If a firm solicits you using the Internet and does not pay you for your services, they have committed Internet Fraud. Report them in a detailed letter to the FBI White Collar Crime Center and the state attorney general where the firm is located. MAIL a letter. Here are some mailing addresses:
FBI National White Collar Crime Center
10900 Nuckols Road, Suite 325
Glen Allen, VA 23060
Also, file a letter complaint with the attorney general in the state where they reside. Visit the website at http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php for mailing address information on the attorney generals in each state.
Your cholesterol level is fine.
But, your discount rate is too high.
I would like to see 10% - 15%.
There is a significant shortage of quality property preservation specialists in many areas. Discount rates are negotiable in this environment of record foreclosures.
Some firms have the worst online report processing and photo upload systems. These firms seem to have the most requirements and pay the lowest fees of about $5. The E&O insurance requirements are about $2,400 with their favorite insurance agent. The commercial segment is the best part of the industry. Read below what one inspector has to say about processing mortgage inspections.
Ain't this a terrific way to spend a Friday night!
While the people who created this mess are out having a few beers it is us who are struck here dealing with their Frankenstein.
I wonder if they are out there laughing knowing there are thousands of us struggling with this every night.
Mortgage Drive-By Inspections Are OVERHYPED.
Some firms are offering field service inspectors as many as 1,000-1,500 drive-by inspections a month. These inspections pay about $3-$6 each. No one seems to want them. Inspector turnover is high. I wonder why. The story line is that lots of money can be made because all of these inspections are so close to each other. If you believe the story line you would think that all of these inspectors are on a Segway performing these inspections in a very small area. The facts are that they are wearing out their vehicles on these low-fee inspections and burning the midnight oil at the computer performing all of the online web processing.
One field services software firm says that on a slow day an inspector can perform in excess of 168 inspections. That's one inspection completed (including the data processing) about every 2.8 minutes on the average. Do these numbers seem inflated to you? You decide!
There is a lot of PUFFING in the mortgage segment of the field services industry. You would have to 
be a super inspector to perform according to the overhyped recruiting stories. You are not told about the requirement to travel 50 miles for a single RUSH inspection that pays $10 or the Sale Date inspection that must be completed on a specific date. Some firms to do pay for a bad address. Some firms to not pay for a late inspection. Some charge a $60 late penalty on a $3 inspection. Some charge about $39 for a background check. Some steer you to a $2,400 required insurance policy. Yes, all of the inspections are due within 5-10 days so you will probably be working 12-hr days and weekends. Be sure to ask all of the right questions BEFORE you accept any work.
There is no job security. Some firms start looking for your lower-fee replacement on the same day they hire you. Some firms will just take away all of your work if you do not agree to accept lower and lower fees during the time you are working for them.
The facts are that these mortgage drive-by inspection fees have been flat the last 15 years. Data processing has been shifted from the firm to the inspector. Insurance (as much as $2,400) has been shifted from the firm to the inspector. There is no pay for photos. The fees have been flat the past 15 years, but the requirements have increased dramatically. The operating costs to perform these tasks in the field have increased significantly.
Fifteen years ago, regular gas was about a dollar a gallon. Today, regular gas is close to $4 a gallon in California. Diesel is over $4. The mortgage drive-by inspections fees have not caught up with the overhead costs to perform inspections in the field. Only a few mortgage field service firms in this industry pay fees of about $20-$30 for these inspections. The large majority of national mortgage field service firms pay about $3-$6 for these inspections.
Many mortgage drive-by inspections are OVERHYPED. They are just too much work for the money. You can get a lot of these inspections because no one else wants them. And, some of the national field service firms are hiring some of the worst inspectors in some areas who are hiring other inspectors to perform these inspections. Inspectors working for other inspectors is generally a bad idea. The profit margins are so low that there are many problems in this segment of the field services industry. Mortgage inspections the most complained about segment of the industry. The fees are so low and there are many cases of slow-pay and no-pay situations after the work is performed, especially when inspectors are working for other inspectors and cash flows are so fragile. Network with other inspectors and you will hear the horror stories.
There is more RISK of injury or death in the mortgage segment of the industry. Many mortgage borrowers say that they have been lied to and cheated by mortgage brokers and mortgage bankers. They are very upset with the deal. Many homeowners are very angry. Some homeowners going into foreclosure have demolished the interior of homes to send a message to the bank. READ Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article Buyers' Revenge: Trash The House. Be sure to WATCH THE VIDEO. In another case, pigs were found trapped in a vacant foreclosure home. READ the article. Be sure to WATCH THE VIDEO. Another angry homeowner.
"When you're losing your dream, and you're paying all this money to it...and you're hoping that it's going to go up, and you're going to make 100 grand like everybody else did, and it doesn't happen -- you know, people get upset," says Joe Kraemer, a broker with Century 21 Advantage Gold who deals in foreclosed homes.
The Government reported on April 4th that U.S. employers slashed jobs on their payrolls for the third straight month in March 2008 and unemployment rose to a nearly three-year high, offering the latest signs that the economy has fallen into a recession. People have lost their jobs and they are now losing their houses. The American Bankruptcy Institute said that consumer bankruptcy filings increased 27% nationwide in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period last year. In March alone, 86,165 individuals filed for consumer bankruptcy - a 13% increase over the 76,120 cases filed in February.There are a lot of angry people that you will run into when you are performing mortgage delinquency interviews. Most firms do not disclose this fact to you when recruiting for these low-fee mortgage inspections. Mortgage inspections are the dead spot. Commercial inspections are the sweet spot.
There is significantly more risk to the inspector performing a mortgage inspection than an inspector performing a commercial inspection. And, the fees for a mortgage delinquency interview are often in the $3-$6 range. Commercial inspections often pay $25-$150. Mortgage inspections can take you to some of the high crime areas. This added risk is not usually disclosed.
On April 2, 2008 a female inspector in Sparks, Nevada sent me this email. "This morning while I was doing a drive by inspection [mortgage inspection] a man pulled a gun on me. I just had gotten in my car and looked in the rear view mirror and saw him pointing the gun at me."
In February of 2007, a property preservation specialists was shot in the hip by the owner of a property. This was reported to me by an investigator in the Las Vegas prosecutor's office. He called me to ask about practices in the field services industry.
The sweet spot in the industry is commercial inspections. These often pay $25 - $150. Here, you find the higher quality firms that pay higher fees. Check out the Yahoo Group FIELDREPSNEEDED where jobs are posted.
The field services industry is a great industry that offers a lot of opportunity. But, like any industry, you need to be in the right segments at the right time. When making decisions, be sure to do the math. That will help you make a good decision.
Some Questions To Ask Hiring Firms!
1. Will you require any type of insurance such as E&O insurance or liability insurance either now or later? How much will such insurance cost? Will you be providing me with at least three options on where I can obtain low-cost insurance? Will you disclose to me if the insurance agent you recommend provides any insurance for your firm?
2. How much do you pay for inspections? Will you provide a detailed fee schedule? Have your inspection fees kept up with inflation?
3. How do your fees today compare with your fees from ten years ago - from 15 years ago?
4. How often and when do you cut checks? Do I need to invoice you or do you automatically track the jobs?
5. Will you replace me with another inspector if such inspector will perform my tasks for a lower fee? Will you ask me to accept a lower fee at a later date?
6. Will you penalize me with a charge back if I am late with an inspection? Is bad weather a valid excuse for delays in performing inspections?
7. Will you penalize me in any way if I am unable to perform tasks because of an emergency situation such as jury duty, major vehicle problem, personal injury, sickness or sickness or death in my immediate or extended family?
8. If you agree to pay a higher fee for a task, will you always provide me with a written acceptance of the higher fee and honor such acceptances when sent by any member (current or past) of your staff?
9. Will you always pay me for a bad address and not require me to fix a bad address without adequate compensation?
10. Will you guarantee that I will be paid for any cancelled inspection that is performed on the same day that the inspection is cancelled?
11. Will I always have access to a manager or owner of the firm if I need to discuss a problem? Will I be provided upon request with the names, telephone numbers and emails of the principals in the firm?
12. Will you always return my telephone calls and emails?
13. If I have a complaint, how will you handle it? Do you have written complaint procedures in place?
14. Will you adjust any property preservation bids after they have been approved and executed? There are field service firms in Ohio and Texas that are reducing payments on approved and EXECUTED property preservation bids by as 50%.
15. Does your firms have a written policy on late inspections cause by bad weather or gasoline shortages? Please provide a copy. If you have no written policy, what is your policy on late fees on inspections late because of bad weather or gasoline shortages?
16. Has your firm bounced a check within the last 12 months for any reason? Do you have overdraft protection on your checking accounts?
Banks Love HUD's Alphonso Jackson
Jackson Loves Jackson
HUD is the home of FIXED GOVERNMENT PRICING for property preservation tasks. A HUD lock change pays $40. That includes the price of the lock and a 20% cut to a middleman field services firm. The banks love the FIXED GOVERNMENT PRICING. It cuts their costs. The banks love Jackson.
Alphonso Jackson also loves Alphonso Jackson. He has created an “I Love Me Wall” at HUD’s Washington, DC headquarters. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Alphonso Jackson has decided to honor himself with giant photo exhibitions in two of the lobbies at HUD’s headquarters. The images are each “about 2 feet by 3 feet” and many feature Jackson with President Bush.
Tour groups need not even go through the inviting metal detectors to admire 20 large, color photographs of the secretary, each about 2 feet by 3 feet.
Jackson also recently paid $20,000 of taxpayer money for an oil portrait of himself. A CVS color print was not good enough.
The HUD Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has fewer resources for investigating mortgage fraud as the OIG is now investingating HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
Jackson’s accomplishments include the fact that he is currently facing investigations by the FBI and the HUD Inspector General for improperly awarding a contract to a “golfing buddy.”
READ the Washington Post article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021902606.html
Gas Station Drive-Offs
You know that gasoline is getting expensive when you see more news reports of drive-offs at local gas stations. Fox News reported that gas thieves in Denver were drilling a hole in vehicle gas tanks to get gas. One spark from the drill bit and BOOM.
Gas has become much more expensive. More and more field inspectors are reducing the size of their service areas and dropping the firms that pay fees under twenty-five dollars.
There are many mortgage and insurance inspections that pay $3-$6. You can get all you want of these low-fee inspections. You are not going to make much of a profit on these inspections even if you steal gas for your car.
We, of course, do not recommend that you leave the gas pump without paying. We suggest you look for higher quality firms that pay higher fees. Commercial inspections are the sweet spot.
BIG RISK - Inspectors Working For Other Inspectors
The mortgage segment is the segment with the most complaints from inspectors. Inspectors working for other inspectors is a big source for complaints. Below is an email tallking about working for another inspector.
I was hired as an independent contractor to do field inspections for this company [an inspector]. I was to be paid $15 for each inspection. They were desperate for people to do whatever they could when I got hired.
They assigned me 150+ inspections to be completed ASAP. They told me that most of my assigned inspections were already overdue but they assured me I would be paid. I was told not to worry about the due dates.
I spent 20 hours one weekend driving over 300 miles. I completed 15 inspections. I figured I was making about $3 an hour. I called them and said I had completed 15 but there was no way I could complete the remaining inspections. I just couldn't afford to work for $3 an hour.
They said they understood and had me send them all my pictures and inspections and the list of the inspections I had completed.
That was 9 months ago.
After lots of phone calls and emails, I still haven't been paid. The last email I got they threatened to bill me hundreds of dollars for the inspections I didn't complete.
Gasoline prices hit a NEW HIGH on April 11, 2008. Over the past six months, the average US price for a gallon of unleaded has risen 51 cents per gallon. When adjusted for inflation, gasoline prices are at 27-year highs.
Mortgage inspections fees are FLAT at 1992 prices. This segment of the industry is DEAD. Inspector turnover is high and no one wants these inspections. Some firms can offer you thousands of these inspections every month.
The sweet spot is commercial property inspections with firms like CRM Global, Lease Inspections, EquiCheck, Collateral Specialists, Douglas Guardian ...
Let SOFI help you stay on the smooth road in your business life.
This is an April 12, 2008 photo of a Shell sign in Waiehu, Maui (Hawaii) where gasoline is at $4.08 a gallon for regular. Diesel is at $4.51. Yikes!
Discover 5% Cash Rebates On Home Improvement Purchases
If you are a property preservation specialists, you can get a 5% rebate when using a Discover Card to pake purchases at home inprovement stores. This offer extends until the end of June 2008. Talk to Discover customer service for details.
Discover also offers a card which provides a 5% cash back on gasoline purchases of up to $1,200. We have two cards and together can purchase $2,500 of gasoline in a year's time and get back $125.
Learn From The Airlines Industry (04/14/08)
Four airlines have filed bankruptcy THIS LAST WEEK because of financial pressures. High fuel costs and cheap airline tickets do not mix well.
The same rule applies in the field services industry. High fuel costs and cheap inspection fees do not mix. Mortgage and insurance inspection fees are the lowest in the industry.
Below is an edited ad [parts deleted to protect the guilty] of a national field services firm in the mortgage segment. These firms pay some of the lowest fees in the industry. Ask the firms the fees they paid 15 years ago. They cannot find inspectors to perform the work. This firm is looking for inspectors througout a whole state, one of the largest states in the northeast. What happened to all of their inspectors? Why aren't they working overtime performing these inspections? The answer is that they quit because of the low fees being paid. Turnover is very high in the mortgage segment.
[Name Deleted] is looking for field inspectors and property preservation contractors throughout the state of [state deleted]. If you are interested and are not already a vendor for us, please make application at our website at [website deleted]. Thank you and we look forward to working with you!
Some of these firms can offer an inspector thousands of these low-fee inspections because no one wants them. Perform these inspections and you will be like an airline selling cheap tickets - lots of work for no money.
Mortgage inspections are a dead spot. Inspection fees have been flat for the last 15 years. Inspectors are earning $3-$6 for an inspection.
The commercial segment is the sweet spot in the industry. Inspectors performing commercial collateral inspections are earning $20-$30 a hour without a lot of driving. Inspectors are performing mattress inspections for $25. Inspectors are performing business verifications for $35. Inspectors are performing residential construction draw inspections for $25-$35.
Put a copy of the National Field Service Directory on your desktop. Let SOFI help you grow your business.
Most part part-time inspectors perfom only commercial inspections.
Discount Rates For Property Preservation Should Not Be Fixed.
If you live in Atlanta, the post office charges more to deliver a package to Seattle than to Memphis. The distance is greater. Delivery costs are greater.
I suggest discount rates for property preservation based on the distance to the property.
For a distance of 20 miles, perhaps a discount rate of 20%.
For a distance of 30 miles, perhaps a discount rate of 15%.
For a distance of 40 miles, perhaps a discount rate of 10%
More and more property preservation specialists use a sliding scale for discount rates. One rate does NOT fit all jobs.
Make the discount rate fit the distance to the property.
Foreclosures are up big. Watch the CNN video at the link below:
http://72.41.163.26/foreclosure.mov
April 15, 2008
Washington Mutual, the nation's biggest savings and loan, posted a $1.14 billion first-quarter loss, hurt by mounting credit losses as more mortgage borrowers fall behind on payments.
Copper Theft In Vacant Foreclosure Homes
I have had several conversations with plumbing contractors that have replaced stolen copper water pipes in vacant foreclosure properties. Watch the TV video on a pair of thieves who confessed to steal copper.
http://72.41.163.26/coppertheft.mov
Message for CEOs!
Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered. Let others make money, too. Don't be greedy.
The firms that treat their field service representatives well always do well in the industry. These firms turn their representatives into their business partners.
The CEOs of many of the low-pay firms are just plain GREEDY. They want it all!
Truckers Unhappy About High Gas Prices
Watch the CNN Money VIDEO
http://72.41.163.26/truckers.mov
If you think nobody cares if you're alive,
try missing a couple of car payments
- Merle Travis
Just being busy does not mean that you are a success.
Don't make the mistake of being two busy to do the things you need to do in order to be a genuine success.
Hoping and wishing for things to change will not change them.
I talked to an field inspector in the south working for an Ohio national field services firm.
The inspector is performing $3 inspections. He knows that he is not making any money with these inspections, yet he continues to perform them. He needs to break free of this firm. Action is required.
About listing customers in property poreservation resumes.
Do not list the names of your customers in your resume. I read a resume where the firm performs property preservation work for local real estate brokers. Working for real estate brokers is some of the best work in the industry - market rates (NOT low HUD rates) and no discount rates of 20-35%.
Don't list your customers in your resume as someone with go after them at your expense.
Yes, Alice there are some NON-PROFIT businesses in the field services industry. I talked to the owners of two of these NON-PROFIT businesses this week. They are inspectors working for $3 an inspection (mortgage inspections for an Ohio firm), much less than the price of a gallon of gasoline. For them, the world is upside down. No money there!
We 
This photo comes from a local Dallas television station.
Crude Oil has DOUBLED in price in a year.
