Mortgage and/or insurance field inspections for lead generation

[Owen Dashner]

I was driving by a property last week that I knew was vacant. I noticed a guy in the yard with a clipboard and a camera taking some pictures, so I threw it into reverse and struck up a conversation with him.

It turned out that he was doing a "drive-by inspection" for a mortgage company, but he was an independent contractor. Basically for that particular job, he was to drive over to the house, take 2 pictures and then send them to his client with his opinion on whether or not the house was occupied. For this he got paid $15. He does this for both insurance companies to verify repairs, and for mortgage companies when a borrower is delinquent.

I had never heard of this profession prior to this conversation and was very intrigued by the potential for lead generation on distressed property/owners, not to mention the ability to make some extra cash. The guy told me that he turns away WAY more work than he actually takes on because he works with multiple insurance/mortgage/property management companies. Basically he wakes up in the morning and looks at his email and picks out which assignments he wants to take on that day/week.

Is it just me, or is this not the perfect gig for a real estate investor??? Get paid to do what we already are doing every day anyway (finding vacant houses and taking pictures), all the while finding way more motivated seller leads that we would through almost any other method?

Is anyone out there doing either field inspector or property preservation work specifically to generate leads for your investing business? If so, how did you get started and how has it been going for you?