Bidding Property Preservation Jobs
Bidding jobs correctly and completely should be a top priority for professional contractors. Quite often, more than one bid will be obtained and compared. The contractor that is able to give the bid reviewer a visual image of the true situation at the property is the contractor that more than likely will be awarded the job. Contrary to popular belief, the deciding factor is not always price. In fact, the bid that outshines the others gives the reviewer the impression that the other bidders are either sloppy, blind or just plain out don’t care; all of which are warning signs of trouble to come later – rebids, shouting matches, etc.
Not every contractor can submit a perfect bid at the beginning of their career in the business, but every contractor should be able to look at a bid she submitted today and see a huge difference between it and a bid she submitted a year ago. There should be improvement in every aspect of your business and this skill is definitely in the top five of the most important improvements to make.
If you will, picture a remote real estate investor three thousand miles from you. You are a field agent assigned by this investor to inspect properties in order for a decision to be made to buy or not buy a property. Picture also that you are allowed to submit only written field reports – no pictures and no telephone conversations. When your reports, bids and any other written documentation you submit is good enough to allow this real estate investor to make buy or pass decisions, then your field reports are where they need to be and you will actually find yourself with more work.
A contractor in the field really has no idea who all will see their bids and reports but even if your bid or report is molded and squeezed into someone else’s system, the output from that system can contain no more than what you reported. In fact, your bid or report will probably be sliced and diced to make it much smaller and less wordy so it can be passed up line to their client or an investor. Be sure that you have developed the ability to show a correct and complete picture even after all the “and’s, the’s, but’s and such” have been removed.”
The first review of your work will be by the company that sent you the work order so let’s discuss RTV.
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RTV is slang for “Return To Vendor.” Bids, forms or practically any work submitted to a company by a vendor can become RTV for a multitude of reasons. RTV is used as both a noun and a verb. Example: “That RTV is in processing now”; “Better go ahead and RTV this one.”
Each company will have their way of doing things and therefore have their own list of reasons for returning your work. Here are some of the top reasons that contractors’ bids are RTV (returned):
(1)
Problem: Correct unit of measure was not used.
Solution: Use the HUD regulations units of measure:
Example:
Debris and health hazards are to be submitted in “cubic yard(s)”
Lock changes and boarding should be submitted using “each”
Paint and chemicals are to be submitted in “gallon(s)”
(2)
Problem: Descriptions used on bids, reports and invoices are inadequate
Solution: Tell the whole story – help them visualize what you see.
Example:
Poor: “Remove int house hold debris.” Good: “Remove interior debris consisting of toys, clothes, cardboard boxes, assorted pet supplies and urine stained pet bedding.”
Poor: “Removed tires and debris from exterior.” Good: “Removed 8 cubic yards of exterior debris consisting of 3 aluminum lawn chairs, water hose, tree limbs 1 foot to 12 feet in length, rusted gas grill, 8 automobile tire rims without tires, 4 discarded fish aquariums, child’s broken swing set and broken merry-go-round 12 feet diameter.”
Poor: “Removed apx 3 cy debris from garage.” Good: “Removed lumber scraps consisting of assorted lengths of 2×4, 2×6 and 2×12 boards; one empty 55 gallon steel drum and 32 one-gallon plastic buckets filled with scrap metals and sawdust.”
(3)
Problem: Surprises on invoices
Solution: Give a complete description of what you see on your initial visit and make sure you comment on any potential problems that may arise. Your initial visit inspection and report sets the foundation for all that is to come. If a potential problem is mentioned at the start, it will be much easier to introduce into a discussion or invoice later. If you have reason to believe additional charges may arise later, make sure that fact is stated in your initial visit report.
Example:
Poor: “Mold on kitchen cabinets and wall.”
Good: “Mold is visible on kitchen cabinets and the west wall of the kitchen. There is a strong probability that additional mold will be found beneath the vinyl flooring of the kitchen and inside the south wall of the kitchen pantry.”
(4)
Problem: Photos do not coincide with narrative or are inadequate, faulty or missing.
Solution: Contractors should treat each visit to a property as if it is the initial visit. On each visit, all work, all damages, all work needed, hazards and all bids should be submitted with photos even if previously reported and photographed.
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