Repair estimates: approve, pay, or ask for changes

When a vendor's estimate for a repair at your home is ready for you, we send you a message in Messages. It lists the property, the work order and the estimate amount, and links to Work Orders & Bills. You may also get an email, a text or a phone notification about the same message.

On Work Orders & Bills, estimates waiting on you are on the Work Orders tab (shortened to Work on a phone). That tab opens first. Work that is already under way is under In Progress, and finished work is under History.

Each work order is one card. The colored bar at the top shows the home's address, the work order's current status, and its number after the # sign. Below it are the description of the work, its priority, how many days it has been open and the date it was created.

Then come the estimates. The heading reads Estimate for one, or Estimates (2) when several vendors have quoted. Each estimate shows the vendor, a status, when it was requested and received, the Estimate amount, any files the vendor attached, and the Approve & Pay button. The status tells you whether you can act on it:

Ready for Approval

Waiting on you. Approve & Pay is available.

Pending Owner Approval

Also waiting on you, and works the same way.

Approved

Already approved. The button turns green, reads Approved and can't be pressed again.

Unknown Status

Something the portal can't act on. The button reads Not Available; contact the team about it.

If the card says Awaiting Estimates from Vendors, no vendor has sent a quote yet, so there is nothing to approve. Every card also has a note below the estimates giving the maintenance team's email and phone number for questions about the estimate, the scope of work or its status.

When more than one vendor has quoted, each estimate is numbered (Estimate #1, Estimate #2, and so on) and the cheapest one carries a Lowest bid tag.

1. 1
   Open any files attached to each estimate, such as the vendor's quote or photos.
2. 2
   Check that the estimates cover the same work: parts and labor, and anything like permits or disposal. A lower amount can mean a smaller job.
3. 3
   If something is unclear, ask before you approve: reply to the estimate message in Messages, or contact maintenance@dvcommunities.com or (281) 729-4229.
4. 4
   Press Approve & Pay on the one estimate you want.

Approve & Pay approves only the estimate you press it on. The portal has no Decline button; to decline an estimate, tell the team in Messages or by email or phone.

Approving and paying are one step. Nothing is approved until you finish it.

1. 1
   Press Approve & Pay on the estimate. The Submit Payment window opens with the address, the work order number, the vendor, the estimate number and the payment amount.
2. 2
   Under Choose Payment Method, pick one:

   • Available funds uses money the home already holds, with no fee. It is listed first.
   • Bank Account has no fee.
   • Credit Card adds a 4% processing fee, and can only be chosen when the estimate plus the fee is $15,000 or less.
3. 3
   Review the details and confirm. Each method's last step is described below.

Choosing Available funds does not spend the money when you approve. It sets the amount aside in the home's balance, so it stays there instead of being paid out to you, and the vendor is paid from it when their bill arrives.

1. 1
   Check the review, headed Approve from available funds. It shows the amount reserved from the home's balance and what the balance will be after this repair.
2. 2
   Press Approve and reserve. The button shows the amount.
3. 3
   The window confirms that the estimate is approved and the amount is reserved. We will schedule the work and pay the vendor from this balance.

The home has to cover the whole estimate: there is no partial approval. If it can't, the card reads Not enough available funds in this home and can't be chosen, so pay by bank or card, or add money to the home in your Wallet first.

Bank Account

No fee. Choose the bank account and press Approve & Pay Estimate. The estimate is approved and our team is notified of your payment.

Credit Card

Adds a 4% processing fee, shown on the card before you choose it. Your card is charged first, and the estimate is approved only once the charge goes through. If the card is declined, nothing is approved and you can try again another way.

Once it goes through, you will see Payment Submitted Successfully. Your work order payment has been submitted and our team has been notified.

Before anything is charged, we check the estimate again with Rentvine. If it has already been approved, or the vendor changed the amount since the page loaded, the payment is refused and nothing is charged. Refresh the page to see where the estimate stands.

The portal has no Decline button, even though the estimate message says to approve or decline. To decline an estimate, ask for another quote, or ask for a smaller or different scope of work, tell the team:

• reply to the estimate message in Messages, or
• contact maintenance@dvcommunities.com or (281) 729-4229, the details shown under every estimate.

Include the work order number (after the # sign on the card), the vendor, and what you want: decline it, get another quote, or do only part of the work, such as the urgent repair.

Once you approve, the estimate's button reads Approved. The team then schedules the work and updates the work order's status, the colored chip at the top of the card. Until they do, the card can stay on the Work Orders tab showing its earlier status; the green Approved button is what tells you your part is done.

Once the work is booked, the work order moves to In Progress, where a bar shows how far along it is. On a phone, only the current step is labeled.

When the team marks the work complete, it moves to History.