Landlords as clients can be fertile ground for real estate and foreclosure cleanup businesses. In the turbulent rental market, landlords are great for move-in and move-out work.
Any Rental Activity is Good Activity for Cleanup Businesses
The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter what the state of the rental market is. For real estate and foreclosure cleanup businesses, ANY rental activity means income. This is because when new tenants move into an apartment, the place has to be cleaned and prepared; when old tenants move out, the same applies.
Simply read the following if you want to target and service landlords and their rental properties with your real estate and foreclosure cleanup business:
Services You Can Offer to Landlords
At a minimum, your real estate cleanup services for landlords should include move-in and move-out cleaning, yard maintenance, and debris removal. You could add lock changing, carpet cleaning, painting, and minor repairs to this if you have the capacity to handle those services.
Your foreclosure cleanup business should already be set up to handle real estate cleanup as well. Why? Because when the foreclosure business goes quiet, you will be able to target any contacts you’ve made through this for real estate cleanup. Your foreclosure and real estate divisions can offer the same services; you will simply market them differently.
While real estate exists, you will have an evergreen business handling lawn maintenance, repair work, painting, trashouts, cleaning, etc. This applies whether you are servicing an apartment building, dealing with a foreclosure client, or preparing a property for a new buyer.
How to Locate Landlords in Your Area
Internet Searches
You can find landlords in your area by scouring local websites. You can also find landlords by searching for real estate investment groups in your town or city. Using Miami, FL, as an example, you could start with keywords such as:
Los Angeles, CA, landlords
Los Angeles, CA, real estate investors
Los Angeles, CA, real estate investment meetings
Los Angeles, CA, real estate investment groups
Los Angeles, CA, landlord groups
Forums and Chat Boards
As well as internet searches, visit landlord forums and real estate investment chatrooms. Read their questions and answers. After a while on these interactive web boards, you will be able to focus on your local geographic area. Begin to network and participate on these forums yourself. This will enable you to gather information on potential clients for your business.
Property Management Companies
Many landlords, especially those with multiple properties, use property management companies to handle their rentals. These companies do everything from screening tenants to collecting rent and handling evictions. They also deal with property cleanup, maintenance, repairs, and inspections. Contact property management companies in your area to offer your services.
Working with Landlords in Eviction Scenarios
You can set your company up to work with landlords in eviction scenarios in two ways:
1. You can work with the sheriff’s office to remove items from a property after a landlord has been through the formal eviction process.
2. You can focus on post-eviction cleanup, which means working with the landlord to get the property ready for rental once the eviction has been completed.
It is important to stress that when working with landlords in post-eviction scenarios, you must make sure the eviction process is completely over before you enter the property. If you suspect that the landlord has not completed the eviction, do not touch anything in the home. You need to be sure the legal process has run its course to avoid being caught up in litigation (or worse!).
If you’re not sure about an eviction scenario, but you have a gut feeling that something is amiss, ask the landlord for proof of the eviction. Tell them this is your company policy when working in eviction scenarios. It will protect you, your workers, and your business.
The Landlord’s Tenant May Be Your Next Foreclosure Cleanup Client
It is not uncommon for you to find your next client in the landlord’s apartment or rental home. This is because many tenants have to rent again when they come out of default or foreclosure.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, many owners of apartment complexes actively look for tenants who are in default and nearing foreclosure. This can be a successful marketing tactic for many landlords and management companies.
Working with Landlords Can Be Evergreen!
Once you have established a good relationship with a group of landlords, you can expect work from them time and time again if you are reliable and you do a good job. I am a landlord and foreclosure cleanup owner, and reliability is key in all my associations. If you do what you say you’re going to do, landlords will come to trust and depend on you and your company.
Landlords and property management companies can be fertile ground for foreclosure and real estate cleanup businesses and could very well be your bread and butter for years to come.
