# Why'd I get such little sub work from a company?



## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

..i find an ad that sounds like good easy money mowing. didn't know reo/pp and it's complexities existed.work was very slow even though I told em I had good carpentry skill and just needed steady work to afford equipment and materials to do almost anything at low price..aparently the company just couldn't provide enough work.


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

holy novel.


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

KnottyWoodwork said:


> holy novel.


We're working on paragraphs next semester :thumbsup:


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

DaVinciRemodel said:


> We're working on paragraphs next semester :thumbsup:


I read the first one, but got lost somewhere in the middle. I'll have to hit it tomorrow, when I'm on my reading game. :laughing:


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

Good Evening,

My advice: Drop that company as FAST AS YOU CAN. Seriously, find a different job in order to build up a captial fund (CASH FOR YOUR BUSINESS TO OPERATE), get real insurance, and start applying to national company. 

If you do a search for nationals you can find them. google + "property preservation" = search.

Only bad things will happen. Also, I never do wet/radient/boiler wints. Not worth the hassle to me. To others on this board they love them but I would rather do without.


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

You have no business trying to be in business.

The kids down the street from me make a killing mowing yards at houses where people live.

When you write try taking a breath & try using the space bar...:laughing:

I can't imaging talking to you in person...:no:


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

Sorry guys, I was going to edit the op's novel & give the reader's digest version. I tried......honest I did, but I just couldn't get past the first paragraph! :laughing:


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

Is it just me or does it seem the PP guys are always in trouble somehow?


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

I read the whole thing, splinters right.


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

Splinter hands said:


> Is it just me or does it seem the PP guys are always in trouble somehow?


It's not that we are always in trouble.... :whistling

It's the fact that the nationals and regional companies the banks and brokers use are always raising their discount (Not a discount, but a what they take out of our contracted service fee) and then they are always lowering the service fee they offer. Those of us who have been around the block for a few years start turning down low $$ work orders or even drop the nat/reg all together due to pricing being to low to even pay expenses. 

Now said nat/reg throws up a CL add and finds someone who will do it for even cheaper and then that process starts all over. 

This is where the $40 wints and $20 lawn cuts have came from!

Example:

Take national "ABC" they contacted us in August looking for securing, clean outs, lawn cuts, refreshes and wint work to be done right here in town, sent low ball pricing like above. We nicely told them we would not even hook the trailer up at those rates, they countered with a raise, we turned it down and they countered once again. This time they were close enough to the high average that we took on some of their work. Well no clean outs, securing or wints have came across, only routine lawn and maid work, little of which was in town, but close enough to still make payroll/expenses.

Fast forward to Nov 1, they stop all routines and ask for bidding for a fall clean up (lawn cut, maid refresh, gutter cleaning, leaf clean up, spider webs down from outside eves on so on... basically the initial minus the trash out) and stated bidding was around $50 minus their 20%. Well kids that is 20-25% less then we were getting for the re-cut and maid refresh alone :wallbash: Decided not to even bid, they contacted us requesting a bid once again, so we threw them what we felt was a good bid for the amount of work :thumbsup: NEVER HEARD A WORD!

Fast forward to Wednesday of this week and we get a hand full or 2 of fall clean ups in our Que. Think right on until we open the work orders and see they are only paying $55, still way less then our routine amounts and not even close to OUR BID. We contact our rep and turn down the work orders at that rate, someone above him contacts us and tells us that we "reward" work to the lowest bidder with the best score card and that was good pricing. 

Care to take a guess at what our response was :clap:

Can't wait for lawn season to roll in again, as we are dropping most bank work and only keeping those who pay good and on time to use as fill work!

Sorry for the long post


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

carl75r44 said:


> My post at http://www.contractortalk.com/f118/why-didn-t-i-make-money-107720/ got locked when I edited it to blank before I could revise it as a simpler chain of events.


We had the same vision when we first climbed on this sinking ship, submit a bid for this and for that, THINKING WE WILL BE RICH :no:

But the truth is you will find little of the nationals/banks will pay to have actual damages fixed. It is more about curb appeal and meeting the bare HUD or Fannie requirements. Generally we go in and do the secure, clean out, lawn and janitorial; then it's just re-cuts and maybe the end of season wint and that is it. Missing doors stay missing and dirty carpet stay dirty, vacuumed but still dirty!

The trick to making a few extra $$ is to find hazards that need repaired per HUD or Fannie requirements. Stuff like locks missing from windows, loose light fixtures, missing WH down spouts, stair rails and bare wires can add up fairly fast. 

Last month we did an few initial routines and more then tripled our income just off the hazards that were left by the initial contractor (money lost to them in both income and back charges) and they took less time then the lawn cut to complete!

OP--- We will gladly help you with your questions, but break them up and make posts that are easier to read.


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2011)

thanks


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

Lawn Mower Man said:


> We had the same vision when we first climbed on this sinking ship, submit a bid for this and for that, THINKING WE WILL BE RICH :no:
> 
> But the truth is you will find little of the nationals/banks will pay to have actual damages fixed. It is more about curb appeal and meeting the bare HUD or Fannie requirements. Generally we go in and do the secure, clean out, lawn and janitorial; then it's just re-cuts and maybe the end of season wint and that is it. Missing doors stay missing and dirty carpet stay dirty, vacuumed but still dirty!
> 
> ...


I work directly with the brokers and can tell you that the banks DO make repairs. 

I do anywhere from 3-10 capital repairs ($10K to $15K average) per month and probably 8-10 small repairs (fix steps, replace plumbing, install missing fixtures, etc..) a week.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

You said the magic words " I work with brokers".


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

Lawn Mower Man said:



> It's not that we are always in trouble.... :whistling
> 
> It's the fact that the nationals and regional companies the banks and brokers use are always raising their discount (Not a discount, but a what they take out of our contracted service fee) and then they are always lowering the service fee they offer. Those of us who have been around the block for a few years start turning down low $$ work orders or even drop the nat/reg all together due to pricing being to low to even pay expenses.
> 
> ...


Whats involved with your wints? Winterizations I'm guessing. I winterize a couple of cabins for clients that I do regular work for and I tell you what, it's a lot more than $40.:whistling That doesn't even hardly pay for gas to get there. My advice would be to go out and find work on your own.:no:


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

Splinter hands said:


> Whats involved with your wints? Winterizations I'm guessing. I winterize a couple of cabins for clients that I do regular work for and I tell you what, it's a lot more than $40.:whistling That doesn't even hardly pay for gas to get there. My advice would be to go out and find work on your own.:no:


DING, DING, DING - WE HAVE A WINNER HERE!

I'm in the same boat as you. I don't even leave my house to winterize for less than 5x that amount! (And that's when it's local)

I'm getting tired of seeing all these people in our industry (all forms of contracting) who put us in a race to the bottom of the barrel!


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

Sometimes, a low price wintrztn is something some are willing to do for free/lose money to keep clients satisfied and sending work that pays more.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

Cheapest price I ever did one was for AMS @ $95.00 and only because it was literally around the corner from my house and I had nothing else to do on a Sunday :whistling Then the $#@#$% deducted $5.00 because I used blue painters tape to attach a couple of my signs after I ran out of clear


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## BPWY (Apr 12, 2012)

carl75r44 said:


> Sometimes, a low priced wintrztn is something some are willing to do for free/lose money though to keep clients happy and keep them giving sending bid work like carpentry repairs for good money or how i removed branches for like two hours one day and grossed like 655.






Average your income and expenses out over the cheap ass wints and the good tree job.

You're still behind.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2011)

my plan was to work for tons of clients and decline all but good-paying easy work. Sounds easy 'till you learn the industry.


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## BPWY (Apr 12, 2012)

carl75r44 said:


> my plan was to work for tons of clients and turn town everything but the good paying easy work orders. Sounds easy 'till you learn the industry.








Decline too many w/os and you'll soon have no w/os!

I accepted over 98% of the stuff I was sent. Once the service company takes the work from you and gives it to another vendor its unlikely you'll get it back.


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## Tom Stuble (Sep 17, 2012)

carl75r44 said:


> my plan was to work for tons of clients and turn town everything but the good paying easy work orders. Sounds easy 'till you learn the industry.




you should try to invent something that cost a dime to make but can sell for a dollar and be something everybody needs:smartass:


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## david (Apr 11, 2012)

working for brokers is the way to go,but if your in a small market area you dont stand much of a chance because i get we only go through nationals for our work,nationals are ripping off theses banks and mortgage companies so bad and they just dont care,was told from a bank rep that they dont want to deal with 200 different people in a state when they can go through a national to handle everything.


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