thinking of starting

**lisaflex** · 11-30-2010, 07:44 PM

a foreclosure cleanup biz...any thoughts? greebo?

**Russ** · 11-30-2010, 07:50 PM

I've given this some thought actually and here are a few of them...

Cleanup what? Will you do raw sewage? Basements?
How about yard work?
Small repairs? Electrical/plumbing/ drywall. what are your skills?
License needed?
Will you need to have insurance?

I thought about talking to Real estate offices (not agents)
Bank foreclosure officers.

I'll add as I think of more.

**lisaflex** · 11-30-2010, 08:00 PM

no raw sewage, will do bsmnts (have help for that, not me!!! lol) i will need insurance and now is a time that i can afford to do it. i can also afford a used pickup of some sort.

i will NOT be doing any contracting work. dont want any part of that. just want the initial cleanout....

thanks, russ

**lisaflex** · 11-30-2010, 08:02 PM

also, i have a good friend who owns a small real estate company...we are meeting for tea this week to discuss. i also have a friend who is a mrtg broker....we are meeting next week to discuss my idea.

**Russ** · 11-30-2010, 08:08 PM

please let me know how it goes.

Will you haul stuff garbage away? Dump fees?

I think I would also consider the possibility you might have to haul away things like paint and batteries. In other words figure out ahead of time where to do this instead of waiting until you *need* to do it. KWIM?

**Dancing Lotus** · 11-30-2010, 08:25 PM

I would like to add that you should include a clause that anything found on the property and removed by you is yours to keep. You could find a lot of nice things to resell.

**lisaflex** · 11-30-2010, 09:16 PM

thanks annk...but, truly, i have no intention of going thru other peoples garbage that has been left behind...lord only knows what could be in there...good or bad...just not doing it...and, i will not be doing the cleanouts...i have a crew in place...so maybe you have a point, maybe they will want to look through stuff...not me!

**McD** · 12-01-2010, 01:01 PM

What Ann was referring to was the fact that people just up and walk away from everything or the locks get changed and people have no chance to get any of their items. It's not all just garbage.

Have you thought about what you would do if there is no water to the home? Often case in a foreclosure, the water is shut off at the street or depending on location, winterized so that the meter does not freeze and bust.

**lisaflex** · 12-01-2010, 03:17 PM

the houses will be bank owned. water, etc is their responsibility. not mine.

i will have full insurance though.

and, no, i want nothing to do with other peoples stuff. i just want to start a business cleaning them out. not going thru other peoples stuff.

**McD** · 12-01-2010, 03:22 PM

What I am asking though is how you are going to clean a house if the water is off, the house is winterized, the stop box locked, etc? A lot of banks don't/won't place water services into their name and the water utility won't turn water on unless it is in someone's name. Household cleaners would only you get you so far, especially when some foreclosures are to the point of uninhabitable.

**Greebo** · 12-01-2010, 03:47 PM

My only thought here is that afaik, banks rarely want to pay to do anything with the property other than winterize it.

Worth checking with some REO realtors tho just to confirm.

**monkeywrangler71** · 12-01-2010, 03:57 PM

Are foreclosure rates rising or dropping? Is the unemployment and loan default rate still going up in your area or is it stabilizing? Make sure you have analysed the economic indicators to see if the opportunity hasn't already passed.

**lisaflex** · 12-01-2010, 05:00 PM

i have done plenty of research and foreclosures are going to go up this year again, sadly.

i do not want to "clean" the houses. i want to get all the left behind stuff out of it. so i doubt i need water for that. i would be more of a trash getter-outer....

i am researching and talking to people that we know at banks and that are in the mortgage biz.

i am doing my homework! just wanted some opinions. thanks

**lisaflex** · 12-01-2010, 05:02 PM

i live in a higher income area...so would not be doing any biz around here! which is why i have a crew in place so that i dont have to go out of my comfort zone.

the city we reside in is very very small and there were maybe about 10 forelcosures the past few yrs and there do not seem to be anymore as i research this daily on a bunch of different websites