For real estate investors looking to improve a home, finding an honest, reliable, and cost-effective professional who can work on an as-needed basis is sometimes challenging. Private lenders are also always on the lookout for great home contractors to work around the United States.
If you are an investor or part of a lending company, you probably find people who sound excited to help you rehab a house.
But there’s a catch.
And this one hurts many lenders and investors.
Occasionally you’ll run into someone that is untrustworthy. We love our contractors that keep their word. But like any other profession, there are unfortunately contractors who lack integrity and aren’t the most trustworthy.
These “contractors” will tell you they’ve finished a job and send you photos. You think you’re good to send them money. Once the money goes out, you discover the pictures are from a different house costing a big investment of both cash and time. They either took your money and used it on a home down the street or never did any work in the first place.
Has this happened to you?
If it hasn’t, this scheme has become easier for untrustworthy people. Despite the convenience of networking sites like Facebook, they’ve opened the floodgates for these type of people to reach others and rip them off.
Investors and private lenders looking to review home improvement projects off-site or remotely end up often with the unprofessional types.
We’ve heard the horror stories and here’s how we’ve got your back.
Geotagging for Private Lenders
In discovering how much money some lost on real estate investments due to fake pictures we created a solution to verifying home rehab project photos.
Private lending companies and real estate investors using the Pruvan mobile app require their contractors to login and take verified photos or videos.
Each geotagged photo and video display the location where it was shot, so you have no doubt a contractor’s project was completed at the right address. Plus you can review the videos, photos, and any related forms from anywhere.
Through certified evidence, you can help mitigate risk. Some companies that have worked with us were even successful decreasing their processing fees with credit card companies. Processing agencies determined their businesses less risky with this third party verification.
All that said, do your due diligence on the contractor just like you would on a property. In hiring home contractors get several quotes from different workers and then check their backgrounds. You might not want to choose the lowest price bid if you find another contractor looking out for your best interests.
Remember also most of the time they’re negotiable and if you have several projects available make sure they are aware of that. You can leverage it as that cuts down on the time they spend on business development.
Have any questions or would like to confirm whether Pruvan Private Lending app is a good fit for your company? Contact us today.