Going outside of my comfort zone today with a quick, vacant (hopefully) property inspection today. I have been signed up with them for awhile but they never have good fees so I pretty much got into the habit of ignoring them. But an email and text came to me yesterday with something that needed to be done by end of day today. I responded to the scheduler that it was too far and there was not much else in the area for me to do so no thanks, sorry. We went back and forth a few times. The shop fee was $8 and she offered PAD of 20 to which I said no, still not worth it. I was surprised when she came back and doubled the PAD to $40. Well, ok, I guess I can do it. I mean, there are a couple of other shops I can do in the area so will be worthwhile.

Seems easy enough so fingers crossed. I like that it is something different and would love to do more of their inspections but they really need to pay better. They make you jump through hoops to get certified and background check to do their bigger inspections, the least they could do is offer a better fee. I mean I can go to best buy and get paid the same fee for asking questions about ear buds! No hoops there.

I've felt the same way about a lot of their emails - $7-10 and requires the background check and certification, but I have gotten some gems. Had one that was a closed fast food restaurant that needed about 11 pics for $35 and got paid in 2-3 days.

@joanna81 wrote:

I've felt the same way about a lot of their emails - $7-10 and requires the background check and certification, but I have gotten some gems. Had one that was a closed fast food restaurant that needed about 11 pics for $35 and got paid in 2-3 days.

Those are the types of thing I like!! I can hold out for the gems!

Their property inspections have always intrigued me, but I stayed away from doing them, as I was a bit scared to do actual inspections where you have to go inside a place. At the end of last year, I saw that they also have Property Photo Audits where I live now - you have to take a bunch of pictures of all sides of a property without stepping foot on it - so I grabbed one. Super easy. I did another one earlier this year. On both of them, I got the bonuses I asked for - one bonus was for $40 and the other $50. I like doing those. If you see them where you live, I recommend trying them.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2023 03:52PM by shopnyc.

@shopnyc wrote:

Their property inspections have always intrigued me, but I stayed away from doing them, as I was a bit scared to do actual inspections where you have to go inside a place. At the end of last year, I saw that they also have Property Photo Audits where I live now - you have to take a bunch of pictures of all sides of a property without stepping foot on it - so I grabbed one. Super easy. I did another one earlier this year. On both of them, I got the bonuses I asked for - one bonus was for $40 and the other $50. I like doing those. If you see them where you live, I recommend trying them.
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I guess that is what this one is considered. I don't have to go inside, just take pics of the outside. However, when I look at the property on google maps, there is a large line of hedges in front of the property so I am going to have to walk past those to get the pics. It looks easy enough. Total fee will be $48. I'm looking for that niche. Nobody else around here seems to do these at the moment.

Did you ask for a bonus flat out first? I quit following them because the pay was so dismal, it was insulting.

@Livsmarbs wrote:

Did you ask for a bonus flat out first? I quit following them because the pay was so dismal, it was insulting.

I didn't ask for anything. I told her it was too far and there weren't really any other jobs in the area for me to do so it wasn't worth the drive. At first she just said ok but then a few minutes later she came back with a higher PAD. I was surprised but I took it because it just seems too easy to pass up.

Agreed. Anyone else just flat out asked them for more pay for an unassigned job?

@Livsmarbs wrote:

Did you ask for a bonus flat out first? I quit following them because the pay was so dismal, it was insulting.

I just replied to one of their notifications about the assignment and said, "I can do it on [date] with $50 PAD. Please let me know." And I was approved.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2023 06:53PM by shopnyc.

Maybe I will sign back up. Lol.

I will say that, for both of the ones I did, it was wintertime and the weather was bitterly cold and windy. So, they may not have had many people willing to freeze their butts off taking pictures, which could be a factor in why they approved my request.

Yes, but it really does depend on the other shoppers in your area and the urgency. You might want $45 but someone else might take it at $35.

@Livsmarbs wrote:

Agreed. Anyone else just flat out asked them for more pay for an unassigned job?

I almost always ask for PAD based on distance, tills, and time spent driving. If they approve it, I go. If they don't, then I stay home.

The close location photo audits, and really any of the photo audits are quite easy if you have good phone service and can complete them as you go on the app. I received a $150 payment for a closed location before. I've also received between $50 and $75 several times. Their website makes it relatively easy to put in pad requests. Just put in what you think would be fair for the time and distance, and you might be surprised at how many you get. The only thing that sometimes is a problem is when you apply, and they come back 3 weeks later and say okay you can do it but it's due tomorrow. I might not have time then. Sometimes they can work with me to find a day to do it, but sometimes they end up having to give it to whoever is available at that time.

@shopnyc wrote:

Their property inspections have always intrigued me, but I stayed away from doing them, as I was a bit scared to do actual inspections where you have to go inside a place. At the end of last year, I saw that they also have Property Photo Audits where I live now - you have to take a bunch of pictures of all sides of a property without stepping foot on it - so I grabbed one. Super easy. I did another one earlier this year. On both of them, I got the bonuses I asked for - one bonus was for $40 and the other $50. I like doing those. If you see them where you live, I recommend trying them.
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On home property inspections they never ask you to go inside, as you only take pics of the outside. The only inspections you have to go inslde for is usually a fast food resturant as they want pics of inside and outside.
Also all the business inspections that I have done over the years, it is only the outside and the parking areas.

@sueac101 wrote:

@shopnyc wrote:

Their property inspections have always intrigued me, but I stayed away from doing them, as I was a bit scared to do actual inspections where you have to go inside a place. At the end of last year, I saw that they also have Property Photo Audits where I live now - you have to take a bunch of pictures of all sides of a property without stepping foot on it - so I grabbed one. Super easy. I did another one earlier this year. On both of them, I got the bonuses I asked for - one bonus was for $40 and the other $50. I like doing those. If you see them where you live, I recommend trying them.
.

On home property inspections they never ask you to go inside, as you only take pics of the outside. The only inspections you have to go inslde for is usually a fast food resturant as they want pics of inside and outside.
Also all the business inspections that I have done over the years, it is only the outside and the parking areas.

This one I did yesterday was difficult because I could not get a good shot of the one side of the house from the street. There were definitely people living there so stepping on to the property and in front of the trees would have been the only way to really get that corner shot they want. I pretty much went to the edge and crawled few a few bushes to get a picture but I am not sure if they are going to accept it because it did not show the full front view of the house along with the side. I put a long note in there about it and I emailed the scheduler today. I am not sure if it would have been appropriate to walk onto the property and I certainly was not comfortable doing that. If it had been clearly vacant, then sure but not the case here.

@Datagirl wrote:

@sueac101 wrote:

@shopnyc wrote:

Their property inspections have always intrigued me, but I stayed away from doing them, as I was a bit scared to do actual inspections where you have to go inside a place. At the end of last year, I saw that they also have Property Photo Audits where I live now - you have to take a bunch of pictures of all sides of a property without stepping foot on it - so I grabbed one. Super easy. I did another one earlier this year. On both of them, I got the bonuses I asked for - one bonus was for $40 and the other $50. I like doing those. If you see them where you live, I recommend trying them.
.

On home property inspections they never ask you to go inside, as you only take pics of the outside. The only inspections you have to go inslde for is usually a fast food resturant as they want pics of inside and outside.
Also all the business inspections that I have done over the years, it is only the outside and the parking areas.

This one I did yesterday was difficult because I could not get a good shot of the one side of the house from the street. There were definitely people living there so stepping on to the property and in front of the trees would have been the only way to really get that corner shot they want. I pretty much went to the edge and crawled few a few bushes to get a picture but I am not sure if they are going to accept it because it did not show the full front view of the house along with the side. I put a long note in there about it and I emailed the scheduler today. I am not sure if it would have been appropriate to walk onto the property and I certainly was not comfortable doing that. If it had been clearly vacant, then sure but not the case here.

Knock on door...
I really like the way you have your yard landscaped/ the brick you used/ the color of the siding/ etc
Do you mind if I take a few pics? I just purchased a fixer upper house and want to do show this to my contractor.

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

@Datagirl wrote:

@sueac101 wrote:

@shopnyc wrote:

Their property inspections have always intrigued me, but I stayed away from doing them, as I was a bit scared to do actual inspections where you have to go inside a place. At the end of last year, I saw that they also have Property Photo Audits where I live now - you have to take a bunch of pictures of all sides of a property without stepping foot on it - so I grabbed one. Super easy. I did another one earlier this year. On both of them, I got the bonuses I asked for - one bonus was for $40 and the other $50. I like doing those. If you see them where you live, I recommend trying them.
.

On home property inspections they never ask you to go inside, as you only take pics of the outside. The only inspections you have to go inslde for is usually a fast food resturant as they want pics of inside and outside.
Also all the business inspections that I have done over the years, it is only the outside and the parking areas.

This one I did yesterday was difficult because I could not get a good shot of the one side of the house from the street. There were definitely people living there so stepping on to the property and in front of the trees would have been the only way to really get that corner shot they want. I pretty much went to the edge and crawled few a few bushes to get a picture but I am not sure if they are going to accept it because it did not show the full front view of the house along with the side. I put a long note in there about it and I emailed the scheduler today. I am not sure if it would have been appropriate to walk onto the property and I certainly was not comfortable doing that. If it had been clearly vacant, then sure but not the case here.

Knock on door...
I really like the way you have your yard landscaped/ the brick you used/ the color of the siding/ etc
Do you mind if I take a few pics? I just purchased a fixer upper house and want to do show this to my contractor.

LOL.. great idea but this WAS the fixer upper!!! Tiny, run down house compared to the mansions on the block! Its ok, the scheduler told me it was fine and because it was covert, they don't want you on the property. Good to know. I do love your idea though.

If the instructions say to not put a step on the property, don't go knocking on the door!

@sueac101 wrote:

On home property inspections they never ask you to go inside, as you only take pics of the outside. The only inspections you have to go inslde for is usually a fast food resturant as they want pics of inside and outside. Also all the business inspections that I have done over the years, it is only the outside and the parking areas.

That is not the case everywhere. Where I live now, Trendsource has what they call Comprehensive Exterior and Interior Inspections, which require photos of the inside and outside, as well as taking measurements of the exterior walls. In Google Street View, some look like abandoned commercial properties, but I suppose one has to meet someone to gain access. Those do pay more, but the idea of entering a building with who-knows-what inside just creeps me out.

They had those in NYC also, as well as inspections where you have to make an appointment and go into a unit inside a building to take pictures and confirm that the business is still occupying that space. Those always intrigued me, but scared me as well because some were in sketchy neighborhoods, and others were in high-rises (I always had difficulty getting into elevators in high buildings, although I did it and actually worked on the 101st floor of the WTC for a year, but it became more of a phobia after 9/11). Plus, for safety reasons, I didn't want to be wandering the halls of a cruddy old building, in which only the workers and delivery people go (not the public), looking for their office suite and potentially encountering someone pissed off about my checking up on them.

In both places, NYC and my current location, I never saw home inspections. I've only seen inspections of businesses and commercial properties. So I will happily just stick to the Photo Audits that don't want me to step foot on the property!

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2023 05:14PM by shopnyc.

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

Knock on door...
I really like the way you have your yard landscaped/ the brick you used/ the color of the siding/ etc
Do you mind if I take a few pics? I just purchased a fixer upper house and want to do show this to my contractor.

The instructions on these explicitly state not to step foot on the property, nor to alert anyone to what you're doing. They do give you a LOA in case you are confronted, and if the property owner or tenant says to go away, you go away. So, if you can't take a photo of a certain view, you just do the best you can. One place I did had the right side of its building abutted against a hill. So I just took it from the furthest vantage point I could. Otherwise, I would be up on the hill looking down on it. They seem pretty understanding that some properties won't be accessible from all sides.
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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2023 05:16PM by shopnyc.

@shopnyc wrote:

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

Knock on door...
I really like the way you have your yard landscaped/ the brick you used/ the color of the siding/ etc
Do you mind if I take a few pics? I just purchased a fixer upper house and want to do show this to my contractor.

The instructions on these explicitly state not to step foot on the property, nor to alert anyone to what you're doing. They do give you a LOA in case you are confronted, and if the property owner or tenant says to go away, you go away. So, if you can't take a photo of a certain view, you just do the best you can. One place I did had the right side of its building abutted against a hill. So I just took it from the furthest vantage point I could. Otherwise, I would be up on the hill looking down on it. They seem pretty understanding that some properties won't be accessible from all sides.
.

Yeah, I don't do these. Actually I've never completed any shop for the company that does these...
Been signed up with them for years, but nothing I like/ pay has worked out.

These photos might be for realtors or companies that auction things like foreclosure properties. I get emails from a real estate auction site and the pics they show seem similar to the pics the msc wants.

TrendSource is one of my favorite MSCs; I've done all kinds of work for them for more than a decade. They pay promptly, which is great. And a couple of times their editors have helped me negotiate via a phone call (!) questions for out-of-the-ordinary situations where the pick-box options don't match reality. For covert reports, don't step onto the property. For revealed reports, TrendSource has a record of the person you're meeting with and their business credentials have generally been established in some fashion through some third party, so I've always felt safety is less of an issue with their assignments than it might at first appear.

I agree the fees they offer are very low and the jobs require phone calls and meeting with clients. After Gas cost and time to travel to site there is not a lot of net income for these jobs they offer. Funny they sent me a text with a 40.00 dollar pad to which I responded and asked to be scheduled only to receive an update that the offer was a mistake and they could only pay an additional 10.00 pad bringing the job to 18.00 in total. I have completed a few shops for them and they were not too difficult, but did require a lot of onsite time,pictures and the filing the report.

@joanna81 wrote:

These photos might be for realtors or companies that auction things like foreclosure properties. I get emails from a real estate auction site and the pics they show seem similar to the pics the msc wants.

The two I did were for a major bank chain, because the property owners had applied for financing. The bank wanted to see the condition of the buildings, parking lots, and landscaping.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2023 08:31PM by shopnyc.

Yes . When you request the job (website or app) there is a box you checked marked "PAD" and you enter how much more money you require to complete the job, and why. Excessive Mileage, Data Entry Time, etc are examples of reasons you could enter. I do exactly zero of their jobs without PAD, if that helps for reference.

@Livsmarbs wrote:

Agreed. Anyone else just flat out asked them for more pay for an unassigned job?

Exactly!
I just did both types of audits this past week, the quick (Scope A) type and even though it was a commercial building in an industrial park the woods to the left and an obstruction from the business next door prevented me from getting a good view of the building sides. I took as many shots as I could and considered it good.
I also did the complex (Scope D) inspection of a HUGE historic building (which I had been in before so knew the history/layout) and then had to measure this oddly shaped 140 year old 6000 ft. structure by myself.
It was fascinating though.

What is PAD

@tcolwell wrote:

What is PAD

Read Cassie's post above.