# Best Companies To Work For



## vendor1

We like to help contractors get a good start in this industry and value the opinions of the veterans. Which companies are good companies to work for?


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## PropPresPro

vendor1 said:


> We like to help contractors get a good start in this industry and value the opinions of the veterans. Which companies are good companies to work for?


The GOOD companies to work for are the ones that you personally feel comfortable working for. The ones that pay on a scale & schedule that is acceptable to you. Those companies are not the same to each person in this profession. I may have had nothing but negative experiences with a company you do well with, and you may hate a company that I think treats me well.

No matter how it's cut, company recommendations are a slippery slope!


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## jlgivensandsons

nobody on here is gonna tell you anything, because if they told u that kind of info, you'd be a competition for their market. no insults intended, but everyone gripes about being screwed over by national/regional but wonder why the so called fng is excepting low pay, if everyone in this business stuck together and looked out for the new guy, it would help to start weeding out the bad apples ruining this industry. just my .02 cents


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## GTX63

I've worked alongside most of my competition or outlasted them thru the years. Not my concern.
If you think the Nationals are getting a bad rep on this forum, start calling them and signing up. Then you can share your own real world experiences.
I can't help the guy who took the hatchback off his pinto to fit a mower and a shovel in the back. I could hire him and train him to raise his level and standards, but he is pretty much suited to the $20 mows and $40 wints at this point.


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## PropPresPro

jlgivensandsons said:


> nobody on here is gonna tell you anything, because if they told u that kind of info, you'd be a competition for their market.



Not true!

Most of the experienced folks here are here to help. If that means guiding a new vendor towards a better source of income, I don't have a problem with that.
As far as fear of competition, 99.9% of the people on this board are never, never, never going to bid against me on a Freddie Mac rehab, or trashout, or anything. So why wouldn't I help if I thought I could?

There are 5 or 6 local companies doing preservation work here that I know of. Of them, none really compete with me for the same jobs either, that I know of, and even if they do, more power to them. I have a relationship with the brokers that I work with that goes far beyond being "the lowest bid", and I know for a fact that the 1 regional company I work with prefers using my company over all other venders within 300 miles. Even if that we're to change, I would figure out a way to replace that income. Competition doesn't scare me, it makes me better, not cheaper, BETTER!

MTMTNMN & I probably compete the most with each other in the local market. That doesn't scare me either. Tomorrow we are scheduled to work together on a 55CY trash-out and initial services for a broker. Plus we are there to cover for each other when one goes on vacation or just needs an extra hand. That is the kind of competition everyone needs!


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## vendor1

If there is one thing that I have noticed from being in this field is that there is a lot of work to go around and helping out and watching you fellow contractors back is a good way to help your business stay in this industry for a long time. Since my company passes on leads to contractors from nationals and regionals I’m not your competition. My company is out to help more than anything else. I’m a preservation REO supplier, so my main focus is customer service and support. PropPresPro I actually have a lead for your area that I’m going to send your way. Hope it helps


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## Craigslist Hack

I say Doberman Properties! HA HA

I like Corelogic some days and hate them others but all in all they are probably one of the best.

I hate REO stuff so my vote probably doesn't count.


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## PropPresPro

vendor1 said:


> . . .PropPresPro I actually have a lead for your area that I’m going to send your way. Hope it helps


Thank you for thinking of me, but like I said, I've been working with that company for a few years now. They are looking for help in some of the hardest to cover counties in Montana. Best of luck to them!


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## PropPresPro

Doberman Properties said:


> I say Doberman Properties! HA HA
> 
> I like Corelogic some days and hate them others but all in all they are probably one of the best.
> 
> I hate REO stuff so my vote probably doesn't count.


Please disregard Dobermans vote. It does not count.


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## 68W30

what do we think about miken construction we just got an email invite to become a vendor


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## GTX63

Google them. 2nd or third from the top you can read all about them on Complaintboard.com, Reviewstalk.com, etc.


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## PropPresPro

michael.biasi said:


> what do we think about miken construction we just got an email invite to become a vendor


They are just another middleman paper shuffler. I've bid against them a couple of times, but have never done any work for them. Everything they get the opportunity to bid here is REO. Find out who the brokers are on the properties they are bidding & see if you can just bid the job direct to the AM. A lot less headache and more money.


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## JDRM

michael.biasi said:


> what do we think about miken construction we just got an email invite to become a vendor


We did also, I know they have been around a while and the fact they are looking kind of scares me! If you google them there are alot of complaints....


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## SwiftRes

We got an email from them too. But the states they listed they needed help with, didn't include Iowa, fortunately.


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## vendor1

I know Sentinel Field Services is looking for vendors in Iowa I'm going t send you the ad that is on my site so you can take a look at it.


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## JDRM

Sentinel is always looking, the pay is terrible!!!


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## Craigslist Hack

I worked for Miken years ago it was awful!

They paid pretty poorly had low volume and would drive you 90miles one way to replace a light switch cover and make you fill out a 15page PCR.

It took longer to fill out their PCR than it did to do the work.


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## MortgageFieldGuru85

Miken Construction is good folk. They are also NAMFS members.


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## PropPresPro

MortgageFieldGuru85 said:


> Miken Construction is good folk. They are also NAMFS members.


I assume you have completed work for them then? How do you explain all the other comments here vs. yours?

Should I change my opinion of them because they are NAMFS members? Why?


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## GTX63

_"Miken Construction is good folk. They are also NAMFS members."_



Yes...go on.


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## 68W30

*okay her we go*



GTX63 said:


> _"Miken Construction is good folk. They are also NAMFS members."_
> 
> 
> 
> Yes...go on.


i just got an " example " allowable" sheet or should i say [email protected]@t sheet 

i was told 45 percent positive bid return , but that means nothing either


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## bella anne

Has anyone worked for tom at new image property preservation.... Please inform me public or private please!


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## GTX63

Looks like Tom is working on his website right now...


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## GTX63

Here is my gold nugget of prophetical wisdom for rookies (my only one)-

A. The best companies for you to work for are the ones that you can physically reach in one days drive. The ones that have an office you can walk into if you ever have a question or a concern and need to see someone face to face. Not a PO Box, an apartment, some everchanging suite. Living in Nebraska and working for a company out of Florida or Ohio is roulette. Your only hope for resolution from them is a promise over the phone or another look in the mailbox.

B. Do a little homework. A "Welcome to IOU Preservation" email doesn't mean your in prime time. The two vendors in the above posts are examples. If it smells... it's rotten. It's that simple. Waste no more time.

C. Work for someone in the Preservation field first, unless you have the money to pay for your own lessons.


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## JDRM

MortgageFieldGuru85 said:


> Miken Construction is good folk. They are also NAMFS members.


Please elaborate....................


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## JDRM

bella anne said:


> Has anyone worked for tom at new image property preservation.... Please inform me public or private please!


There was a thred recently, it got pretty ugly, he "Tom" chimed in as several different screen names, basically trying to save face. Apparently others have had problems collecting monies for work performed. I have not worked for them and do not have any input on that, just read other stories from other contractors.


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## bella anne

You are absolutely right... If I can't greet u in person on the first day of business there's no need to go any further 
Thanks!


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## GGC

Miken Construction was good by me. I only did lawn service for them though. They tried to get me to do more, but once I heard prices and amount of paperwork I turned them down. They sent us around 250 orders a week for lawn services and paid $35+ for re-cuts and good money for bush and tree trims for the 2011 and 12 season. They tried several times to get me to travel outside my area, but it was not happening. I hear they are done with property preservation though which kind of sucks because they provided a lot of work in Chicago land area for us.


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## STARBABY

GGC said:


> Miken Construction was good by me. I only did lawn service for them though. They tried to get me to do more, but once I heard prices and amount of paperwork I turned them down. They sent us around 250 orders a week for lawn services and paid $35+ for re-cuts and good money for bush and tree trims for the 2011 and 12 season. They tried several times to get me to travel outside my area, but it was not happening. I hear they are done with property preservation though which kind of sucks because they provided a lot of work in Chicago land area for us.


 
problem with all these companies is they think if $35 lawn in Chicago ,it works everywere


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## GGC

STARBABY said:


> problem with all these companies is they think if $35 lawn in Chicago ,it works everywere


Well, it was $35 per lawn up to 15,000 sqft which is actually not bad in my opinion. That is actually about what we charge our residential customers. Anything over was a bid. We covered actually all the west and south suburbs of Chicago, not Chicago itself. Yes, there was downsides with Miken, but I found that the downsides came with doing any work outside lawn service and outside debris removal. To be honest we made really good money just doing lawn service and we were happy with it. 

From your response I take you are saying they paid $35 for large ass lots that they have in other areas? Because even in the Burbs we rarely serviced a property over 15,000 sgft. Sorry, just wanted to clarify.


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## JDRM

GGC said:


> Well, it was $35 per lawn up to 15,000 sqft which is actually not bad in my opinion. That is actually about what we charge our residential customers. Anything over was a bid. We covered actually all the west and south suburbs of Chicago, not Chicago itself. Yes, there was downsides with Miken, but I found that the downsides came with doing any work outside lawn service and outside debris removal. To be honest we made really good money just doing lawn service and we were happy with it.
> 
> From your response I take you are saying they paid $35 for large ass lots that they have in other areas? Because even in the Burbs we rarely serviced a property over 15,000 sgft. Sorry, just wanted to clarify.


That is not bad, but you will find some people on here that think they should be getting $100 a re-cut.......


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## STARBABY

JDRM said:


> That is not bad, but you will find some people on here that think they should be getting $100 a re-cut.......


 

No I`m not saying I should get a $100 a re cut!!!!!!! I should get HUD rates! I would do $35 cut alday long if they were in one area were I could park my truck and trail and not have to move them! But were I`m located I norally have to travel at least 30miles between lawns! With cost of fuel I`M sorry $35 just is not enough!

any of you that have been doing this for awhile should remember just a few years ago HUD paid $85(for 15,000 sq ft) after discount I was making $68! now were being asked to mow the same for $35.Not sure were you guys are but here gas,diesel,insurance,supplies,ect gone up up since then!


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## JDRM

STARBABY said:


> No I`m not saying I should get a $100 a re cut!!!!!!! I should get HUD rates! I would do $35 cut alday long if they were in one area were I could park my truck and trail and not have to move them! But were I`m located I norally have to travel at least 30miles between lawns! With cost of fuel I`M sorry $35 just is not enough!
> 
> any of you that have been doing this for awhile should remember just a few years ago HUD paid $85(for 15,000 sq ft) after discount I was making $68! now were being asked to mow the same for $35.Not sure were you guys are but here gas,diesel,insurance,supplies,ect gone up up since then!


I was not speaking of you directly, but we average 25 cuts a day, 25X68 = 1700 a day cutting grass, not bad for a lawn guy. Minus expenses, 1400 daily. I know doctors that dont make that.........

Now, 25 X 35 = 875. Minus expenses, 600ish a day, still not bad for a lawn guy..........


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## Cleanupman

As far as which company is good to work for????
None of them...well....
Most nationals have become an extension of the banks...my opinion...
But each company will bring a different working relationship and new business experiences.
Some people work for Safeguard and have been for many years some people go to work with Safeguard and last a month....
Every company 's experience will differ as there are different people on the other end of the phone...
I always recomend the following.
#1 Know the intricacies of your coverage area, population density for expamle will dictate if a company can provide the "volume" they say they will provide.
#2 Understand the contract you're siging...if you would like more information on this look in the NPPG Update thread for links to video commentary for contracts...we post videos a couple times a week on various sections of a cantract. This weeks video will be on insurance...
#3 have the right insurance...DO NOT PROVIDE A SERVICE THAT YOUR POLICY DOES NOT COVER...
#4 UNDERSTAND your clients policies...these will kill you as this is where the chargebacks stem from....
#5 Understand and know how to competently complete every service you will be providing...
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS INDUSTRY????????
KNOW HOW MUCH EACH SERVICE YOU WILL BE PROVIDING COSTS YOU TO COMPLETE.
I do not know how to stress that enough. If you do not know how much each service will cost you to complete you will be sucked into the volume card every time....just because a company will give $4,000.00 in invoices every month does equate to you MAKING/EARNING $4,000.00 per month....

So I guess the answer to the orginal question is;
Everyone will have different experience with each company as each company has different employees, software for their systems. and requirements that create different experiences.....

We analize a company on the following.
#1 Pay scales....for obvious reasons.
#2 Willingness to negotiate...will the company work with you when the agreed upon number do not work?
#3 Conflict Resolution....Does the company resolve issues in a timely manner...ie; does it take 7-10 days to find out why you are missing $3500 on this months invoice???
#4 Do they pay on time?????..
#5 Frequency of pay...are you on a net 30...45....60....90. It is important to understand how long you will need operating capital before you receive a check...then does the company pay once a week, month...every two weeks????
#6 Do they have the contracts or are they subbing work. Not all 2nd and 3rd tier level Order mills, subbers, whatever you want to call them are bad comapnies. However this is where 99% of the rip offs are occuring in the industry...someone subbing a nationals work....

I think that is 3 cents worth so I'll be shutting up now...:whistling2::whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:


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## GGC

STARBABY said:


> No I`m not saying I should get a $100 a re cut!!!!!!! I should get HUD rates! I would do $35 cut alday long if they were in one area were I could park my truck and trail and not have to move them! But were I`m located I norally have to travel at least 30miles between lawns! With cost of fuel I`M sorry $35 just is not enough!
> 
> any of you that have been doing this for awhile should remember just a few years ago HUD paid $85(for 15,000 sq ft) after discount I was making $68! now were being asked to mow the same for $35.Not sure were you guys are but here gas,diesel,insurance,supplies,ect gone up up since then!


Well, that is a different situation. We average about 250 lawns a week at $35 is $8750 a week. Like you state though we have easy parking and we usually drive about 1-4 miles between lawns. Sometimes farther, but not often at all. So yeah that makes a huge difference when speak of 30 miles. I would never do that. But, I think Miken is done and every other company offering me money has offered quite a bit less and I just will not do it for those prices.


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## GGC

Cleanupman said:


> As far as which company is good to work for????
> None of them...well....
> Most nationals have become an extension of the banks...my opinion...
> But each company will bring a different working relationship and new business experiences.
> Some people work for Safeguard and have been for many years some people go to work with Safeguard and last a month....
> Every company 's experience will differ as there are different people on the other end of the phone...
> I always recomend the following.
> #1 Know the intricacies of your coverage area, population density for expamle will dictate if a company can provide the "volume" they say they will provide.
> #2 Understand the contract you're siging...if you would like more information on this look in the NPPG Update thread for links to video commentary for contracts...we post videos a couple times a week on various sections of a cantract. This weeks video will be on insurance...
> #3 have the right insurance...DO NOT PROVIDE A SERVICE THAT YOUR POLICY DOES NOT COVER...
> #4 UNDERSTAND your clients policies...these will kill you as this is where the chargebacks stem from....
> #5 Understand and know how to competently complete every service you will be providing...
> AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS INDUSTRY????????
> KNOW HOW MUCH EACH SERVICE YOU WILL BE PROVIDING COSTS YOU TO COMPLETE.
> I do not know how to stress that enough. If you do not know how much each service will cost you to complete you will be sucked into the volume card every time....just because a company will give $4,000.00 in invoices every month does equate to you MAKING/EARNING $4,000.00 per month....
> 
> So I guess the answer to the orginal question is;
> Everyone will have different experience with each company as each company has different employees, software for their systems. and requirements that create different experiences.....
> 
> We analize a company on the following.
> #1 Pay scales....for obvious reasons.
> #2 Willingness to negotiate...will the company work with you when the agreed upon number do not work?
> #3 Conflict Resolution....Does the company resolve issues in a timely manner...ie; does it take 7-10 days to find out why you are missing $3500 on this months invoice???
> #4 Do they pay on time?????..
> #5 Frequency of pay...are you on a net 30...45....60....90. It is important to understand how long you will need operating capital before you receive a check...then does the company pay once a week, month...every two weeks????
> #6 Do they have the contracts or are they subbing work. Not all 2nd and 3rd tier level Order mills, subbers, whatever you want to call them are bad comapnies. However this is where 99% of the rip offs are occuring in the industry...someone subbing a nationals work....
> 
> I think that is 3 cents worth so I'll be shutting up now...:whistling2::whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:


well said.


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## STARBABY

JDRM said:


> I was not speaking of you directly, but we average 25 cuts a day, 25X68 = 1700 a day cutting grass, not bad for a lawn guy. Minus expenses, 1400 daily. I know doctors that dont make that.........
> 
> Now, 25 X 35 = 875. Minus expenses, 600ish a day, still not bad for a lawn guy..........


 
my lawn guy can only do between 7 and 8 a day! I once did 14 myself but that was sun up to sun down!


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## JDRM

Many variables, I could not do them at 35 either if only doing 8 a day, we are fortunate to have a small coverage area with alot of volume.... We are looking at around 300 cuts a week this season.


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## STARBABY

JDRM said:


> Many variables, I could not do them at 35 either if only doing 8 a day, we are fortunate to have a small coverage area with alot of volume.... We are looking at around 300 cuts a week this season.


 
Last summer has company tell me they were reducing lawn to $35 from the $50 I was getting! I told them on thanks, after a month I most of them back and I was chancing them $75.


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## FearlessTeapot

MCS is pretty good, comparatively. We get the fewest headaches from them, though we unfortunately don't get much volume there. Corelogic is another one of our big clients, and we have neverending problems there. It's all in perception, I guess.. and who your account reps are.


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