Topic: Joining up with a realestate agent

[pressurepros]

I have very little success with people that want to sell their property. There is a possession factor that kicks in. Once they agree to that 'For Sale' sign on the lawn, they lose any pride of ownership and since most people do not have a natural understanding of how to sell something, it is hard to get them to invest money in the property. In their minds they do not own it anymore. There becomes this weird mental block about sticking money in. I did an estimate yesterday afternoon for a woman. She is an attorney, lives in a halfway decent neighborhood of $400K houses and has been driving me nuts about getting the estimate and work done very quickly... that is until she heard the price. Her property is covered in mold, her walkways and patios are black and her roof is so black I couldn't tell the original color from the front. The rear roof of southern exposure is fine so I quoted her $375 to wash her 2400 s.f house, and another $400 to do the front roof. Unfortunately, I could not get the opportunity to meet with her and had to email her the proposal. She won't even return my calls. Thanks for wasting my time, lady.

Another thing I dislike about homeowners that are selling is the liability factor. By the time a person goes into default on a payment and I can get a lien filed, the house has already gone into settlement. Not worth it.

I do work with a few realtors that get it. It piece meal add-on stuff. If I based generating any type of real income on it, I'd go broke.

[JC]

I ask for a certified check or cash up front before working on homes that are for sale

[Philip93]

I have very little success with people that want to sell their property. There is a possession factor that kicks in. Once they agree to that 'For Sale' sign on the lawn, they lose any pride of ownership

Another thing I dislike about homeowners that are selling is the liability factor. By the time a person goes into default on a payment and I can get a lien filed, the house has already gone into settlement. Not worth it.

Must be a local thing.  I can get a lien in 15 minutes, and as a result I like working on a property that is for sale because I know that I can hold up the sale until I am paid.

[pressurepros]

I have very little success with people that want to sell their property. There is a possession factor that kicks in. Once they agree to that 'For Sale' sign on the lawn, they lose any pride of ownership

Another thing I dislike about homeowners that are selling is the liability factor. By the time a person goes into default on a payment and I can get a lien filed, the house has already gone into settlement. Not worth it.

Must be a local thing.  I can get a lien in 15 minutes, and as a result I like working on a property that is for sale because I know that I can hold up the sale until I am paid.

While I am certain that state laws vary, this becomes a business/contract management issue. At what point do you file a lien and begin going through the process? Is it when the customer is one day late? Two weeks? 30 days? In PA, and probably other places, you have to have a payment term limit that denotes breech of contract. In my contract that is thirty days. Even when I declare a breech, I do not file a lien but only the formal notice of intention to file one. It may be 90 days from the time we complete work until all paperwork is on record and searchable. In that time, settlement could have come and gone.

[Philip93]

It's very different here.  I can walk in and file a mechanics lein on you today... 

I would check the laws in your state carefully, in most states a "mechanics lein" (a lein for service performed to real property that cannot be repossessed) has different procedures than an ordinary lein against an asset.

[pressurepros]

It's very different here.  I can walk in and file a mechanics lein on you today... 

I would check the laws in your state carefully, in most states a "mechanics lein" (a lein for service performed to real property that cannot be repossessed) has different procedures than an ordinary lein against an asset.

You can but is it good business? As a sign of good faith I give people 30 days before late fees and penalty or threat of lien is exercised. If I planned on filing a lien immediately, I would be obligated to state that in my contract. That would not sit well with potential customers. That was more the pont I was attempting to make.

[Philip93]

You can but is it good business? As a sign of good faith I give people 30 days before late fees and penalty or threat of lien is exercised. If I planned on filing a lien immediately, I would be obligated to state that in my contract. That would not sit well with potential customers.

I operate much the same as you.  But I will get a bit more aggressive when I sense the customer is trying to get out of paying and there is a potential sale pending.  It's a gut call, and it's an option that is *rarely* exercised.  But if I feel they are trying to play games and beat me out of money, I don't want their business anyway. That's when I exercise the nuclear option.

Here's an example;  I did a house, deck refinish, and all the concrete for a couple that was doing some serious renovations (repairs, landscaping, etc).  She was *eager* to get started and always answered my calls right off.  They were home working the final day the work was being performed, but had to run to HD for supplies when we were finishing up. NO problem, I'll pickup a check tomorrow.
FF to tomorrow. The customer who was in the yard working during the bid, strip, housewash, and stain, and every other time I had been at their house was not home twice when I wanted to get paid. Nor the next day.  And now my calls are going to VM and my messages aren't being returned.  I was polite and professional, but persistent.  A week later (still no return call) I drive by and see a For Sale sign in the yard.  I went and got a lien that day.  Several days later I drove by and he was in the yard.  LOTS of BS excuses why we weren't able to get in touch with him. I gave him a copy of the mechanics lien and left with a check.

[pressurepros]

That is the typical M.O for deadbeats. I have had the same problem with just about every person that has wanted to delay or avoid paying. As in your scenario, the lien seems to be the ticket. I have only had to file the lien once and ended up getting beat because the job was under $500. That is under the PA laws for attachment. Live and learn. Often the threat is enough to motivate action. The threat comes in way of formal notice from my attorney's office.

I guess the bottom line is this. I don't need that type of work. Its risk versus reward. My contracts now include that payment must be on the property before any work begins. I only put that on a work order when I get that "spidey sense" tingle about a customer.  The longer you are in business, you learn to trust that instinct.