SOFI Blog

Some Inspectors Crushed By Gas Prices

California field service inspectors and some other state field service inspectors are being crushed by gas prices as we approach Memorial Day.

Fox News reported this morning that gas prices were about $4.25 in many areas of California. WOW! I purchased some gas in Culpeper, Virginia on Thursday and paid $3.42.

Inspectors paying more than four dollars for gas need to ask for higher inspections fees. Why should California inspectors get the same price for an inspection as a Virginia inspector when California expenses are more.

California inspectors:  Stop getting crushed by gasoline prices. Demand higher inspection fees and explain why you deserve them. Don't let firms take advantage of you.

Dumped By Bank Of America Field Services

Mortgage inspections is the bad neighborhood in the city of the field services industry. It is the home of the $3 ... $4 ... $5 drive-by inspections and about 99% of all of the problems in the field services industry. Travel in bad neighborhoods and you will eventually get mugged ... it will be your own fault.

Bank of America Field Services dumped an area manager in North Carolina and all of the area manager's inspectors lost their jobs. Who got the work from Bank of America Field Services? I don't know ... but, I'm sure Bank of America Field Services has the information. Call Bank of America Field Services ... don't call SOFI. They are not listed in our database, so we have no contact information.

There is NO job security with mortgage inspections. Today, you are performing mortgage drive-by inspections and tomorrow are are not performing mortgage inspections. It's all a game ... someone will always come along with a lower fee and knock you out of the game. It's a game of chance. Are your ready to play? Do you like to take risks?

 There is NO JOB SECURITY with mortgage inspections.  The sweet spot in the industry is commercial inspections.

How To Kill Your Business!

I called a field inspector today. I called the cell number first. The message said the cell voice mail was not set up yet. I called a second telephone number and the message said that they were not accepting any calls.

Two telephones and no way to leave a message in voice mail.

So here is the impact of this lack of voice mail. Hiring firms call only ONCE . just ONCE. They will never call again. You have just killed your business. It's dead!

The Two-Year Old Charge Back Game!

Some of the firms in the mortgage segment of the field services industry have found ways to try to get money from field service representatives even after they have quit working for them as long as two years ago.

The means is called a "Charge Back". It goes like this. The national field services firm claims that the field services representative was the proximate cause of damage to a foreclosure property usually because of failure to take some action. It is now two years after the damage occurred, and the national mortgage field services firm is looking for the field service representative to pay for such damages. Of course, they don't prove that the field service representative is the cause of the damage and they do not document the cost to repair the damage. They just demand money. It's a game.

You Have No Resume ... Are You Kidding With Me?

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Housing Crisis: It's Not Over Yet

According to a report from Foreclosure-Response.org, the serious delinquency rate, which includes loans 90 or more days past due plus foreclosures, increased for the first time after a downward trend between December 2009 and June 2011. Serious delinquencies rose from 9.2 percent in June 2011 to 9.7 percent in December 2011 for the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas.

The mortgage segment is the home of the $2 ... $3 ... $4 mortgage drive-by inspections. Please God ... make them go away. Let's go back twenty years when mortgage inspection fees were 300% higher, field inspectors were paid for photos and the hiring firms' staff took care of all of the report processing.

No Guarantees In Life

There are no guarantees in life.

You usually get what you deserve. If you are stupid and lazy, you will not get very far in life. John Wayne, the great actor, said "Life is tough ... it is much tougher when you are stupid."

At SOFI, we get calls everyday from those asking for a guarantee in life. Some expect to take a new business from ZERO to the speed of sound in one day, not understanding how things happen in the world of business. Some callers have talked to the property preservation specialist who earns $3,000 on every foreclosure house and they want to know how they can earn $3,000 on every property preservation job. There is a lot of puffery in the field services industry ... learn to recognize it. One person called on Monday ... their goal was to earn $250,000 in the first year.

Scott (not his real name) posted at a Yahoo Group that he routinely makes $500,000 a year. He does not specific whether the income is gross or net. I have looked at his home using Google Earth and I call tell you that if he is earning $500,000 a year, he certainly is not investing any of that money into his home. He must donate it all to charity.

You usually get what you deserve. When you work smart and work hard, you will get ahead in life. But, no one is going to give you any guarantees in life. Guarantees just don't exist ... except the one guarantee that says if you are stupid and lazy ... you will fail in life.

Backup Your Important Files

Some field inspectors just don't understand the importance of backing up their important files.

Backup hardware is so cheap today. A 32 GB flash drive goes for about $19.99. A 1 TB hard drive goes for about $99. There is no excuse for not backing up your computer files.

Don't be stupid ... back it up!

Wisdom Is Knowing Where To Get The Proper Help!

If the right side of your mid-section is painful and your feel like you are about to die, do not call 911. Login to a Yahoo Group and ask what you should do. I'm sure you will get a lot of answers. If you are a male, I'm sure someone at the Yahoo Group will be funny and say that you are pregnant while your later autopsy may say "death from acute appendicitis".

Wisdom is know where to get help! The below post was made at a Yahoo Group. Why would a realtor/appraiser post this cry for help (shown in blue below) at a Yahoo Group? I would think that they would contact the firm that issued the broker price opinion (BPO) task and ask the proper questions. When you have questions about the work that a firm sent you and the reports or photos you provided, you call the tasking firm and discuss the situation. You don't ask for guesses at a Yahoo Group or call mom for answers.

Wisdom is knowing where to get the proper help.

I got a phone call last week from this company. I accepted the BPO and went and took the pictures. Does anyone know how the form works? I tried to upload pics and it never showed that it took them. It would come back looking empty. This was just pictures only with very short form. I was trying to review the pictures to make sure that I got the right ones and was also unable to do that. It never showed a form to fill out. I do not know if my pictures were even submitted. Tried it again today and the order is gone. Is there any way to check it? I looked in archives but have not found anything yet. Please help!