First of all, let me tell you that the previous comment from “Erika” is totally dead-on. You will fork out at MINIMUM, for every job:
# Your gas to and from the job, on average 2 trips for beginners.
# Dump fees- Anywhere from $35 for a self-hauled truckload of garbage to thousands if you need dumpsters.
# Labor $$- You can’t expect any good worker to wait 30-60 days for payment.
# Cost of cleaning supplies (sometimes you CAN find these already in the home)
# Trailer rental (if needed) to haul garbage
# Add extra for any tires, paints, stains, if an item is too heavy to lift (junk hot tubs, etc) you’ll need to factor in some kind of equipment.

This is just for starters, as sometimes you’ll show up at a house and realize the bank has cut the power and you can’t vacuum or even SEE into the closets… time to bring in a generator.

Banks and Agents don’t feel like waiting for you to piece together the required tools to get their home done. Most agents can say that their vendors are doing 24-hour turn-around and if you don’t think you can do that, don’t try.

I started and ran a successful property preservation business for 3 years, made a mint but worked my tail off for every single penny and have since moved on to bigger and better ideas.

And let me not forget, it’s a bid war on some of these jobs, and even when you do a good job, you put up the money and the house is done the realtor might still tell you it’s a 90-day turn-around on repayment!!! You can NOT control when you get the money, it all depends on when the bank processes the job and when the asset managers sign off on it. So no, if you don’t have at least $3k to toss out there and not see it for a month or more, don’t get involved here! It will sink you quick, and some realtors just prey on the newbies… fair warning.

Oh yeah, PLEASE take pictures of EVERY single job (before and after) and have the knowledge of how to share these with your realtor. They expect that. It also protects you, when your insurance company doesn’t want to.

What I do not have is, cash to get me through the tough times, equipment (other than trucks, lawn tools, and basic handyman tools), and the ability to take too large of a risk. Of course any new business involves risk, but I do not have the flexibility to float money for three to four months.

I have read up on Property Preservation companies, I understand that there could be a lot of lag time between the job and when you get paid, but I want to know if with my strengths as well as my needs will I be a “good candidate” to start a business in this case?

Any help will be grateful!

I’ve been doing fieldwork for just over a year. I made a whopping $18,000 last year and that number doesn’t reflect the countless hours I spent trying to “get my name out there”. This was a full-time effort and I made part-time wages.

The fact is, you have to cover the entire costs associated with each job for sometimes up to 30-days before you get a check. You can not start a Property Preservation Company without some savings (and tools).

My first job cost me over $4,500 in dumpster & equipment rentals and I didn’t see a check for over 5 weeks! I put everything on the line to continue the business and now I have a proven track record with two local real estate agents, but banks still won’t even talk to people like me.

Not to discourage anyone from trying, but if you want to keep up, get some solid contacts with agents involved in foreclosure listings (not all real estate agents are) and know how to pressurize, winterize and properly eliminate moisture penetration on a home before you try to get involved, as banks will make you pay for repairs if your work fails.

Have fun & best wishes!