Property preservation, answered.

Property preservation is the work of maintaining and protecting vacant, foreclosed, and bank-owned homes until they're sold. When a property goes into foreclosure, the investor that owns it — HUD, FHA, Fannie Mae, or a bank — still has to keep it secure, code-compliant, and in good condition. But maintaining homes nationwide isn't their business, so the work flows down a chain: the investor hires national field-service companies, who assign the work to regional preservation companies, who dispatch the field crews who actually do it. On the ground, that means securing the property (lock changes, boarding windows and openings), winterizing the plumbing, cutting the grass, removing debris, and bidding and completing repairs — keeping the home secure, free of code and HOA violations, and brought to "conveyance condition" so a realtor can sell it.

A property preservation contractor rarely does just one thing — or just one property. Crews cover a territory (often a 30–40 mile radius) and complete anywhere from 5 to 10+ work orders a day, traveling between homes. Each property has orders flowing into the queue, and every work order spells out the job: an initial secure, a winterization, a debris removal (trash-out), or recurring work like biweekly grass cuts and monthly landscaping. What you can do on the spot comes down to allowables — the approved line items and dollar limits on each order. If a fix is under the allowable, you do it and document it; if it costs more, you bid it and wait for approval. Contractors also handle rework orders, where the office sends a job back for a missed photo (crawlspace, attic, hot water tank). The role runs on proof: do the work, photograph every step, and submit it clean the first time.

People use the two terms interchangeably, but mortgage field services is the broader umbrella, and property preservation is one piece of it. Mortgage field services covers everything tied to managing a defaulted or vacant property — occupancy and condition inspections, "eyes on the property" checks, coordinating with realtors and appraisers, vacant property registration, mail-drop and eviction services, and ultimately the sale. Property preservation is the hands-on subset: physically maintaining and protecting the home so it stays in good, damage-free condition — securing it, winterizing, lawn and debris removal, and completing approved repairs to bring it to conveyance condition. In short: mortgage field services watches over and ultimately sells the property; property preservation keeps it in the shape that makes that sale possible.

REO stands for "Real Estate Owned" — it's a status, not a task. When a foreclosed home doesn't sell at the foreclosure auction, ownership reverts to the bank or investor that held the loan. That property is now REO: owned by the lender and sitting on its books until it can be resold. REO is the engine behind property preservation. Once a property becomes bank-owned, someone has to keep it secure, maintained, and damage-free until a buyer is found — and that's exactly the preservation work: securing, winterizing, lawn and debris removal, and approved repairs. So REO is the status of the property (who owns it), and property preservation is the work performed on it to protect its value and get it sale-ready.

You can be working within a few weeks if you set it up right. 1) Learn the core trades first — winterizations, securing (knob locks, deadbolts, lockboxes), boarding windows and openings, lawn cuts, tree trimming, and trash-outs. 2) Register the business — this is 1099 work (you'll file a W-9); a few companies accept your SSN, but most require an LLC with an EIN, so set that up first. 3) Get the right insurance: at minimum $1M general liability + errors & omissions (roughly $150–$200/mo), plus workers' comp even with no W-2 employees (most states allow a zero-employee audit, and skipping it usually costs ~10% off every check). 4) Pick your coverage area — not by ZIP, but 2–3 counties (a ~30–40 mile radius) around your city. 5) Pass the background check — get an ABC# (Shield Hub ID), about $69 with a rating; a clean record earns an IC01 rating, the ideal score to start. 6) Apply to several national companies — they'll call when they have volume in your area; work with multiple so your income isn't tied to one client. 7) Get your gear — a truck and trailer (trash-outs are your biggest revenue), mower/edger/blower, a chainsaw, an air compressor (for winterization pressure tests), HUD-coded locks, and plywood for boarding. Then set up one app to run your work orders and photo documentation, and you're ready day one.

If you're brand new, start with regional companies, not nationals. Regionals have far lower requirements to get going — usually they just verify your general liability insurance and a background check, they give you their app (no software to buy), and you only need basic equipment to handle simple first jobs like a lock change. The real advantage: regionals receive the national work orders with full instructions, so you learn the work-order types and exactly what each property needs by reading and doing. Most regionals prefer experienced crews, but if you know a few trades, can do the work, and communicate consistently, you can be trained up within a month. From there you decide how big to go — plenty of crews are happy staying regional, while going national means building a whole operation behind you. One rule from day one: documentation is everything — no photos, no money. Whatever you do at a property, take multiple clear before/during/after shots.

Once your business is set up — LLC and EIN, $1M general liability + E&O, workers' comp, and a background check (ABC# / Shield Hub ID) — you apply directly to the nationals as a vendor. Most have a "become a vendor" or "become a contractor" application on their site where you list your coverage area, trades, equipment, and insurance. When a national has volume in your area, they reach out and onboard you to their portal, where work orders arrive with full instructions. Apply to several nationals and regionals so your volume — and your income — never depends on a single client.

Requirements vary by client and state, but the standard stack is: an LLC with an EIN (this is 1099 work, so you'll file a W-9); $1M general liability plus errors & omissions (E&O) insurance; and workers' comp — even with no W-2 employees, most states allow a zero-employee audit, and skipping it usually costs about 10% off every check. Most clients also require a background check / vendor screening (an ABC# or Shield Hub ID) and any trade or contractor license your state mandates. Each national sends its exact requirements during onboarding, so confirm before you start working.

Property preservation isn't really about the price of any single job — it's about volume. Every property you visit is a chance to bid, every bid is a shot at an approval, and approvals are where the money is. So the range is wide: an inconsistent operator visiting a property here and there might make only ~$200 a month, while a consistent solo crew with a good-volume regional (even on a ~60% split) can realistically make $5,000–$10,000/month, and up to ~$20,000 when volume is strong and bids convert. Big renovation or large-scale jobs can push a strong month to $25,000–$30,000. To grow past that you build a team — hire field crews, cover more area, and manage the operation while keeping roughly 40–50% of each crew's production, which can take a serious operator to $25,000–$50,000+/month. None of it is guaranteed: with no volume or unreliable crews you can make almost nothing. The operators who win work with multiple companies, stay consistent, and track every payment.

Winterization protects a vacant home's plumbing from freezing and bursting over winter. The core steps: shut off the main water supply, open all faucets to release pressure, and use an air compressor to blow residual water out of the lines. Drain the water heater and any holding tanks, add antifreeze to all drains, traps, and toilets, secure the main valve in the "off" position, and post winterization notices on the fixtures. A pressure test confirms the system holds and there are no leaks. There are different types — dry, wet/steam, and radiant — depending on the home's plumbing and heating, and every step is documented with before-and-after photos so the work is provable and gets paid.

The initial secure is the first visit to a newly assigned property — making it safe, locked, and documented. It typically includes a lock change or re-key so only authorized parties have access, installing a lockbox, boarding broken windows and open access points, posting required notices, and a full photo inspection of the property's condition inside and out. It's the foundation of the file: it establishes the property's starting condition and secures it against vandalism, weather, and unauthorized entry before any other preservation work begins.

Common scopes include securing (lock changes, re-keys, lockboxes, boarding), winterization, lawn maintenance and landscaping (grass cuts, shrub and tree trimming), debris removal / trash-outs, inspections (occupancy and condition), and a wide range of repairs — roofing, plumbing, electrical, drywall, flooring, and damage mitigation. Each task is either inside the client's allowable budget (done on the spot) or bid for approval. Many properties also get recurring orders, like biweekly grass cuts or monthly landscaping, until the home sells. Every task is documented with before/during/after photos.

A lock change replaces the existing locks with new, often HUD-coded hardware so the property is secured with a known key code; a re-key changes the existing lock's pins to a new key. It's usually required on the initial secure, and any time access needs to be controlled — after an eviction, when a property is confirmed vacant, or when a client standardizes key codes across its portfolio. To get paid, photos must clearly show the installed deadbolt and knob (and a clear photo of the new key code for a re-key).

Debris removal — the "trash-out" — clears all interior and exterior junk so the home is empty and clean. It's measured in cubic yards (the volume of debris), and pricing is per cubic yard against the client's allowable. Because a full trash-out often exceeds the allowable, most are bid for approval first. It's typically the single biggest-revenue task in preservation — and the most photo-heavy: document the property before, each load removed, and the cleared result so both the volume and the completion are provable.

An occupancy inspection determines whether anyone is living in the property — occupied, vacant, or partially vacant — and documents its condition. The inspector looks for signs of occupancy (utilities on, vehicles, personal belongings, mail, lawn upkeep), photographs the exterior and any visible interior, and reports back to the servicer. Occupancy status drives what happens next: a vacant home moves into preservation (secure, winterize, maintain), while an occupied one follows a different track. Accurate, photo-backed reporting is critical, because the entire file depends on getting occupancy right.

Photos are how you get paid in this industry — no photos, no money — so clients hold them to a strict standard: before, during, and after every task; date- and time-stamped and GPS-geotagged to prove you were at the property when the work was done; shot from the same angle and distance before and after; clear, high-quality, and in color; and multiple angles per task, never a single photo. Beyond the basics, the exact shots depend on the service: a lock change must show both the deadbolt and knob installed; a re-key needs a clear photo of the new key codes; a lockbox must be shown near the main entrance; a winterization needs the pressure test and posted notices. Hayvee builds this in across 80 service categories — each with its own required photo "buckets" and on-screen instructions — and auto-stamps every photo with GPS location and the real capture time.

Yes. Clients and investors require proof that the work was done at the right place and time, so photos should carry the real capture date and time and the property's GPS location. The most defensible photos embed that data in the file itself (rather than a stamp added later), so the time and place can't be back-dated or faked. Missing or inconsistent timestamps and locations are one of the most common reasons work orders get rejected. Hayvee captures every photo with embedded GPS + real capture time automatically.

The agencies and GSEs that back these loans require every preservation action to be documented and completed within set timeframes and allowable pricing. In practice that means dated, clear before / during / after photos for every task; adherence to the maximum allowable price per line item; bids for anything over allowable; and completion within the client's required timeline. Each investor (HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) and each national layers its own specifics on top, but the constant is the same: if it isn't photographed and documented to spec, it doesn't get paid. Hayvee codifies these photo requirements across 80 service categories so crews capture exactly what each client needs.

In this business, proof is payment — and most lost money comes down to two things: rejections (your invoice gets cut) and chargebacks (money clawed back after the fact). Rejections usually happen because work isn't documented or wasn't approved — missing photos, blurry or mismatched images, damage you never measured, invoicing over the allowable, or doing work you weren't approved for. Chargebacks hit when you bid a job and don't complete it, or when a scope you skipped on a recurring property grows into a code or HOA violation that gets passed back to you. To avoid both: over-document everything (before/during/after, and each truckload on a trash-out); only do approved work; get every approval in writing (a recorded line or an email) before you start; and work with clients you trust. Time-stamping, GPS-tagging, and organizing every photo by work order — what Hayvee does — is the line between getting paid and getting charged back.

A work order is the job ticket for a single visit. It arrives — usually by email or in the client's portal — with the property address, client and loan info, the scope of work, the allowable pricing, and a due date. The crew completes the allowable work, photographs everything before/during/after, bids anything over allowable, and submits the completed order back through the portal. From there it moves up the chain — regional to national to investor — for review and approval before payment. Many properties carry multiple and recurring work orders over the two-to-three-month preservation cycle.

Allowables are the line items each client lets you complete at a property without prior approval — essentially a pre-set budget for the visit. Most clients give you a list of ~25–35 items you can do on sight, each with an allowed price. If the work fits the budget, you do it; if it's over, you bid it and wait for approval. The money isn't in showing up — it's in catching the work: sharp crews walk the property, spot every issue, match it to the allowable list, and complete everything the budget covers, documenting it cleanly so the client can see it and pay. A practical rule: if a repair is within ~20% over allowable and you're already on site, just do it under budget; if it's 50%+ over, bid it. Every client sends you their allowables/pricing sheet at onboarding, so you always know your limits going in.

This is 1099 contract work, paid per completed work order rather than hourly. After you submit a finished order with proper documentation, it's reviewed up the chain and paid out — typically on net terms (often around 30–45 days, depending on the client). Your pay is your portion of the chain's split — the national keeps a cut, and the regional and field crew share the rest — on the approved line items. Because payment depends on documentation and approvals, and money can get lost between layers, tracking every submitted order and what you're owed is essential.

The usual culprits are missing or blurry photos, photos that don't match the scope, work done over allowable or outside the approved scope, invoicing more than was approved, or missing the due date. A chargeback — money clawed back later — happens when you bid a job but don't complete it, or when a missed scope on a recurring property leads to a code or HOA violation the client passes back to you. The fix is consistency: do only approved work, document everything before/during/after, get approvals in writing, and submit on time.

A bid is your price estimate for work that exceeds the client's allowable — a large trash-out, tree work, a roof, or major repairs. You document the damage with photos and measurements, then submit the bid (line items, quantities, and cost) through the client's portal. It moves up the chain for approval, and only once it's approved do you complete the work and get paid. Clear, well-photographed bids approve faster — and approvals are where the real revenue in preservation comes from.

The right app should do four things well: capture photos that hold up as proof (GPS + real timestamp), work offline so you're never blocked in a dead zone, organize everything by work order, and tell crews exactly which photos each task requires. The legacy platforms have done this for years; Hayvee is the modern, more affordable alternative — built around tamper-proof photos, offline-first capture, 80 built-in service categories with their required shots, and one place for both the field crew and the office. The best app is ultimately the one your whole team will actually use consistently, because documentation only protects you if it happens every time.

Yes — and it's essential, because so many vacant properties sit in rural areas and dead zones. Hayvee is offline-first: crews can shoot photos, complete checklists, and update work orders with no signal, and everything syncs automatically the moment they reconnect. Nothing is lost, and the photos keep their real capture time and GPS even when they were taken off the grid.

Yes. Hayvee stamps every photo with its GPS location and the exact capture time, embedded so it can't be back-dated or faked. That's exactly what clients and investors require as proof you were at the property when the work was done — and it's the single best defense against rejected invoices and chargebacks.

Hayvee is the modern, affordable alternative to the legacy platforms that have run property preservation for years. It works offline, auto-stamps every photo with GPS location and the real capture time, knows the photo requirements across 80 service categories, and puts the field crew and the office in one place — crews document in the app while managers run work orders, crews, and financials from the web. Pricing is a simple, predictable subscription, so you know exactly what you'll pay each month. The older platforms have a head start with more years and deeper integrations, and we're building toward that fast; what Hayvee offers today is a cleaner, modern app at a lower price. At the end of the day it's a tool — it makes the work simpler and the proof bulletproof, but the results come down to how your crew uses it.

Yes — that's the point. Field crews use the mobile app (iOS and Android) to capture photos, run checklists, and complete work orders on site, even offline. Managers and processors use the web dashboard to import and assign work orders, track crews on a map, review submissions, and run payroll and profitability. Everything stays in sync in real time, so the office sees the work as it happens and the field always knows what's next.

Hayvee uses simple, seat-based pricing — every plan includes every feature, so you only pay for the number of users. Solo is $29/mo for 1 user; Starter is $99/mo for up to 5 users (+$25 per extra), the most popular plan for small crews; Growth is $199/mo for up to 10 users (+$25 per extra); and Enterprise is custom-priced for unlimited users and integrations. Every plan includes unlimited work orders, unlimited photos and video, tamper-proof (GPS + time-stamped) capture, offline mode, AI task and invoice generation, bid/safeguard/invoice reports, chat, team and client management, payroll and profitability, and iOS, Android, and web. Yes — there's a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.