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Foreclosure Cleanup Business — How to Avoid Getting Burned On Invoices for Jobs Completed

Article by Cassandra Black

Foreclosure Cleanup Business — How to Avoid Getting Burned On Invoices for Jobs Completed

One major hurdle a smaller foreclosure clean-up company may have to overcome, if they are not prepared, is unpaid invoices from contractors who owe them for work performed. Here’s the gist of how a smaller company can become victim to unpaid invoices.

The foreclosure cleaning industry is still a relatively new business sector that has come alive within the last three years. Cleaning foreclosures, or REO trashout, involves the tidying up, clearing out and maintenance of homes that have been foreclosed upon. Duties involve everything from removing debris from properties, to minor repairs, inspections, securing of homes by boarding windows and doors and changing locks, to initial and ongoing lawn maintenance, roof repair, and more.

Property Preservation Companies vs. Foreclosure Clean-up Companies

Though larger property preservation companies, who often work directly with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), have been around for years, many of the smaller, less formal foreclosure trash out businesses are still in their infancy.

These larger property preservation companies get the majority of their work from HUD, via the organization’s Management and Marketing Contractors (“M&M Contractors”), who maintain and sell HUD-owned homes.

Property preservation companies seek out foreclosure clean up companies to assist them with clearing out, securing and maintaining these HUD homes throughout the nation. The number of homes that trickle down from HUD are in the thousands, especially in the turbulent, foreclosure-ridden real estate market today.

Hurdle for Smaller Foreclosure Trashout Businesses

One major hurdle a smaller foreclosure clean-up company may have to overcome, if they are not prepared, is unpaid invoices from contractors who owe them for work performed. Here’s the gist of how a smaller company can become victim to unpaid invoices:

A larger company will contact a smaller company and ask them to service a number of homes. The smaller company will perform the foreclosure cleaning jobs under terms that may state they will get paid within, generally 30, 60, 90, or even 120 days. In many scenarios, the larger company outsourcing the work to the smaller company will be waiting to get paid from a larger organization, bank, or other financial institution.

In a scenario gone bad, the smaller company will not get paid timely for the jobs completed under the work order request(s). And that smaller, often new business, will have expended time, energy and monies to complete the foreclosure cleaning work. They will have expended energy, time and money on supplies and labor. The work will be complete, but the small business will not have been paid.

More than one job on the books like this can cripple a smaller company’s cash flow and force them to close their doors before they are even solidly open.

Ways to Protect Your Foreclosure Trashout Business

But there are ways foreclosure trash out businesses can protect themselves. If you are a smaller company, here are some tips to keep your small business afloat as you vie for subcontracting opportunities with larger companies:

1. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Payment terms are not set in stone. If a company’s policy on getting paid does not work for your business, don’t agree to it. Simple. You may lose that client, but you can’t work for free or wait forever to get paid. A few clients like this and you’ll be out of business before you know it.

2. Get everything in writing. If you have a “verbal” agreement with a company, you are taking a big risk in working for free. Document your terms in writing. This documentation can be via a formal contract or via a handwritten agreement that you prepare onsite. If a company asks you to sign their agreement, don’t be afraid to scribble in terms that suit you and scratch out and initial terms that don’t. Sure, you can sign their agreement all day long, but read every word and don’t be shy about adding and subtracting items so you are not taken advantage of.

Though most real estate professionals are just that, professionals, you have some piranhas out there lurking about, waiting to take advantage of unsuspecting new business owners.

3. Implement a late fee. If you agree to a company’s terms as it relates to how long you’ll wait to get paid (30, 60, 90 plus days), implement a hefty late fee and stick to it if the client is even one day late. Remember, you are growing a business that you want to be around for long time. So take a strong stance when it comes to getting your money.

How you begin is directly related to how companies will treat you when it comes to paying invoices. So be clear, firm, and if a company doesn’t pay you timely, be LOUD (translation: keep calling until you’re paid). Squeaky wheel gets the oil. Remember, get the late fee in writing at the beginning — don’t try to implement one after the fact — and stick to it. Don’t be wishy-washy on your company policy when it comes to your money.

NOTE: And there’s no rule stating you have to wait to get paid. Your terms can be the following: Payment Due Upon Job Completion.

4. Check the references of the company seeking to hire you. Yes; that’s right. You check the larger company’s references. Ask the primary contractor or larger property preservation company for the contact information of no less than three subcontractors with whom they’ve worked within the last six months. You call these subs yourself to see if they were paid timely by this company you’re considering working with. If the larger company questions you about this, let them know it’s your “company policy” to check references of new clients before you take on jobs.

5. Factor your invoices. Factoring is simply the selling of your company’s invoices for a percentage of the total due you so you don’t have to wait to get paid. If a larger contractor owes you $ 6,200, when you factor, you will sell that $ 6,200 invoice to a finance company (factor) for a certain percentage of the amount due you. The factor will pay you the $ 6,200 within a matter of days, minus their fee (a percentage of the invoice).

When you sign on with a factor, the credit of the larger contractors with whom you’re considering doing business will be checked; not your business’ credit. This is yet another reason you want to be sure you’re working with financially solid primary contractors. If you can’t factor invoices due you because of a larger company’s credit, your business will be greatly disadvantaged when it comes to cash flow.

For More Information

The above are some simple tips and steps to take to ensure you don’t get burned on invoices when you start your business. Find more information on factoring in How to Start a Foreclosure Cleanup Business (Stone Cottage Books). Much success to you with your foreclosure cleanup business.

Question by mkarias1: Can an employee request an employment contract? If so, can the employee’s attorney produce one?
My friend recently was offered a job at another firm (Company B). She has not told her current employer (Company A). When she does, she believes that her current employer will make a counteroffer as she is a valuable employee. She will ask for a promotion and pay raise but wants protection.
She is considering making Company A give her an employment contract for 1 year which guarantees her job (she cannot be fired or laid off) and protects her new salary (company has cut salaries for all employees).
I think this is a great idea but is it? Who normally puts together the contract? Should she let her employer produce one or have her attorney? Any advantages or disadvantages to this idea? thanks

Best answer:

Answer by brenda
I would hold the door open for her as she walks out if she did that to me.
She could ask that the pay is put in writing but in this economy when other employees are getting pay cut and laid off, she most likely will not get that. As for not being fired what if she just stops working her job well cause she has a no firing deal I can not think of any company who would sign that.

Give your answer to this question below!

Government Contracting- A unique business opportunity

When the economy goes down or when business seems to be failing, one starts to look out for other opportunities which can be safe and profitable as well. For some people doing business with the Government starts to look more attractive. Government Contracting has become an excellent market to explore.

A government contractor is a private company producing goods or services under contract for the government. Though there is a huge set of rules and regulations being followed but most of it covers a whole range of situations that won’t apply at once. The rules related with government contracting are contained in a document with more than 1,000 pages, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

Doing business with the Government depends on the amount one invests.

• If you stay under the thresholds ($ 2500), doing business with the Government is just like doing business with a customer.

The procedure requires fewer administrative details, lower approval levels, and less documentation. 

• If you go above $ 25,000 you’re on your way to become a Government Contractor and things can get complicated. Because there are certain rules to prevent corruption you often have to show and account for your costs as well as the price. 

Government Contracting require many of the usual marketing techniques and strategies:

• Know the agency and understand the context where the product or service could be used.

• Do market research for past records and market to be targeted.

• Become known to potential purchasers and improve contacts. 

For small businesses that often face considerable hurdles when trying to win federal contracts, the Small Business Administration (SBA) can help overcome these barriers which ensure to obtain a fair share of government contracts and subcontracts.

When we talk about successful government contractors, Ohio Contractors are impossible to be missed.

The Twin Heart Builders started in 1997 as a tool and die maker; and switched to construction in 1984. They handle light commercial and residential work starting from small jobs to bigger jobs. Ohio Contractors are known for doing the job right, the first time and that is why they have spread their business in numerous parts of the world.

Before doing serious government contracting, one should have a working knowledge of government contracting procedures:

• Comply with the labor standards statutes.

• Comply with the contract terms, particularly the specifications.

• Get well equipped with e-commerce. 

The hardest part to become a government contractor is that a completely different kind of accounting system is required which provides pricing in the right formats, with sufficient justification for Government Contracting. No business is easy to start with. With experience in Government Contracting, it becomes easy to know whom to contact, who the competition is, and how to monitor business opportunities.

Question by Juju: What are some summer Service Work Opportunities for Teens?
Me and my friends found a program to go to Haiti for a week and help orphans during the summer. However, this group is extremely religious. I don’t have a problem with religion or religious work I was only comfortable with it because they make you sign a religious contract. So now I’m looking for a new service work opportunity to help others in the summer. Thanks and any legitimate organization or idea would help!

Best answer:

Answer by Jayne says READ MORE BOOKS
Community Service and Volunteering by Teens: How to Find Opportunities

http://www.coyotecommunications.com/stuff/teenvolunteers.html

Very detailed information that discusses your many, many options – the usual and many activities you probably never thought of. Includes instructions on how to find specific volunteering opportunities (with animals, with children, just for one day, volunteer vacations, etc.).

Add your own answer in the comments!

Rose Hadley: Your One-Stop Resource for Beauty Jobs, London

Beauty jobs London and hairdressing recruitment are the provenance of Rose Hadley Beauty and Hairdressing Jobs, London. Serving London and the Home Counties, Rose Hadley have been in business since 1989–as the original, so at one time the only, hairdressing recruitment business in London. They started helping businesses get staff and industry professionals find places to work when the beauty jobs London scene had absolutely no-one helping them along those lines.

In today’s extremely competitive world, with so many businesses and so many people hungry for work, it can be disastrous trying to staff your business. How many times have you spend your money to take out ads to find people, only to have hardly any responses or all the wrong ones? In the expanding hairdressing and beauty industry, many people like you run into serious problems here with money, wasted time, and frustration. And if you are seeking work for yourself, how many “mismatches” have you gone on interviews to? How many days have you worn out your feet pounding the pavement to find the work you want only to get nowhere? Rose Hadley can quickly find you just the right staff if you are a salon owner, and they can quickly get you placed with a salon if you are looking for work.

Even if you are a salon owner in need of temp workers, Rose Hadley have plenty of experience finding those kinds of people for you. In fact, in the event of something unexpected and untimely such as an illness to one of your key workers, they can have you matched with a temp worker the very same day that you call on them in many instances! Your salon business doesn’t need to suffer a blow to its reputation, you don’t need to let your clients down, just because of misfortune to one of your workers. If you are a hairdresser or a beauty professional, a quickly-found temp job could transform into a permanent job for you, and you don’t need to kill your feet or wear out your shoes finding it!

If you are looking for work in London and the Greater London area, and anywhere within the M25, really, then Rose Hadley can be your easy solution to an income stream.

Registering with them is free, confidential, and simplicity itself. You just email them your CV and photograph, and then they call you if they can help. If they can, then they would love to meet you, and they will contact you to schedule an interview time. Interviews are usually held between 10am and 4pm, Monday through Friday, so no getting up too early or needing to eat a late night dinner! Rose Hadley’s interviews are relaxed, informal, and not conducted across one of those giant, intimidating desks. As soon as you’ve shared your requirements with them, they go to work with you to find the “perfect” job. They do the work of sending your CV to their salon owner clients with jobs that match what you’re looking for, and arrange interviews for you to check out what they’ve got to offer. No stress, no pressure on you.

Hairdressing recruitment for the beauty jobs London industry has never been simpler, faster, or handled in a more professional manner. Just visit Rose Hadley on the Internet!