Starting a Foreclosed Home Clean out Service (fees, licensing, real estate)

[CTR36]

Hello
My husband and I own a commercial cleaning service. We mostly do model homes, specs, offices, etc. But since the construction industry is down, we are looking to get into the trash out/clean out business with foreclosed homes. Do any of you do that? If so how much do you charge? We are in the North Texas area in a county that has lots of foreclosed homes. We are about to contact some banks but want to know any tips on bidding, the pricing, etc.
Thanks.

[SuSuSushi]

Good luck with that. Aren't foreclosed homes normally sold as-is? Be surprised if the banks are going to want to spend anything more than they absolutely have to.

[CTR36]

Nope! Saw a guy on Oprah who is raking it in in Sacramento! He does trash out/clean outs. He basically goes into the house and takes in all the junk the people left behind. I know someone in our area doing it too but I can't find his info.
I am looking for people who can help with an answer not discouragement!

[yachtcare]

CTR, I've been giving some thought to this myself. First step is to contact the local (county, and city) to find out what "category" of "occupational" licensing you need. The toughest part may be getting to the proper "manager" in a given region to present your proposal. One of the important things to remember is to have a "point of difference" in your service being offered, compared to what others may be offering. Perhaps the banker would be willing to spend a few extra dollars to have you check on certain properties, to make certain they are secured on a weekly basis. A problem we're having here is high schoolers breaking in and trashing vacant houses with weekend parties, etc.

If anyone else has ideas, they should feel free to share them. I'm in Florida, so it's not like any suggestion I make to someone in Texas will loose me any money here. Maybe we can create a viable business and make some lemonade out of all these lemons......

[MaryREI]

Hi CTR,
I'd market your services to Real Estate Investors who plan to buy and flip the property. Most of them do not want to clean up a foreclosed home; they need to calculate costs to refurb before they know how much to offer to buy it. Check out www.realestateinvestor.com
As the previous responder stated, be sure you get all the proper licensing required by your county/state.
If you find anyone in San Diego, CA cleaning foreclosures let me know.
MaryREI

[CTR36]

Ok, I've been researching this all day. Here's what I came up with from others doing the same:
Going rate $25 per man hour plus dumpster rental. This one guy does "trash out" debris clean up and is very successful. He does it up north somewhere. Makes about $75K year. He gave me a copy of his ad and I tweaked it a bit, put it up on craigslist with my husband's info and within 30 mins. he had a guy call!! He wanted to know how much my hubby would charge to clean out his rental property some people skipped out on and paint it! So it works. My husband will have to go and look at the property to see about how much to charge him (how much time he'll think it'll take, how many people he'll need and what size dumpster to rent). The guy told my husband that he called some other guy and the guy quoted him $500 for the clean out only. I think that sounds about right. Also, my husband's brother, who does bank foreclosures in Houston, said we need to contact the Realtors who do specialize in selling REO's bank owned properties. So my hubby will hit the streets tomorrow morning and take his flyer and business card with him to give out to realtors. If you want a copy of the flyer you can DM me and I will only give to people who are not in my area!! LOL

[timesaversetc]

I already have a cleaning and Organizing business, I was thinking of doing this very thing when I saw it on the news. Any suggestions I would appreciate it. Thanks timesavers_etc@yahoo.com

[Heiwos]

I think it's a great idea CTR36. I've read that this is a viable and growing business.

[wanneroo]

My friend got involved in this and has been doing pretty well until recently with winterizing foreclosures and doing security of different foreclosed homes and cleaning them out as well. Business slowed down a bit, but he made out pretty well.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by CTR36

Ok, I've been researching this all day. Here's what I came up with from others doing the same:

It's like they say, when everyone is buying, sell, when everyone is selling, buy. So when everyone is making a mess, clean up.

Just be careful about the dumpster thing. I don't know if there is some limit to the weight or capacity of filling the dumpster (based on possible landfill dumping fees). Example, this one below notes additional fees for certain items. Other items can only be recycled and not dumped, etc...

Make cleaning up easier - use a dumpster. Spring - Fall cleaning, remove trash, debris, appliances

I was thinking about this idea awhile back too. Just the drywall and painting and stuff would be pretty good. Heck, take pictures before then demo the drywall so everything is visible (better for buyers).