Cleaning foreclosure properties

Cleaning Foreclosure Properties How to Find Out What the Competition is Charging

Cleaning foreclosure properties is a very lucrative business to be in -- especially since the foreclosure crisis of 2007 started.

What many don't realize is that it's an evergreen niche where you can make some good money -- if you price your services right.

And, this is where many go wrong. This is especially true of those who've never owned a business before and want to start a business cleaning foreclosure properties. Well, if you have no idea how to charge, following is how to "covertly" spy on the competition.

The reason covertly is in quotation marks is because you're going to have to detective a bit to do this, as most foreclosure cleaning business operators are not going to blithely tell you what they charge.

Here's one way to get the foreclosure cleaning pricing information you need.

important in pricing, so don't call one in California if you live in Georgia. Tell them that you're taking quotes on a simple trashout job.

You could say something like, I have a 2-bedroom, 1 bath, 1,100-square foot ranch property. I want it to be surface cleaned, and all the major appliances (stove, refrigerator, bathtubs to be cleaned really well). I have a few items that need to be moved: an old refrigerator in the garage, some mattresses, a bookcase, and some clothing.

By giving this kind of detail, you sound legit.

As cleaning foreclosure properties like this is their job, some companies will give you quotes without asking any other questions. They'll assume that you're a realtor or investor.

This is the best-case scenario.

In the worst-case scenario, they'll ask you specific questions, eg, are you a realtor; are you an investor?

What you do at this point depends on what you're comfortable with. You can either come clean and say, "Hey, I'm new and I need some help with pricing jobs," or you can fudge and say, "I'm a realtor, investor, etc."

A True Story In business, the above is common practice. As an example, when I started my staffing business in New York years ago, one of the ways I figured out what to charge was calling other staffing businesses and pretending that I needed a temp for the day or for the week.

After calling three or four, I got a good idea of what the industry rates were. Based on that, I was able to comfortably set my rates.

Sources: http://www.foreclosurecash.net/ http://ezinearticles.com/?Cleaning-Foreclosure-Properties--How-to-Find-Out-What-the-Competition-isCharging&id=3638123