Cleaning Foreclosures: Why You Shouldn't Discuss Prices or Rates Over the Phone
by:
Yuwanda Black
If you own a business cleaning foreclosures, or are thinking about starting one, one thing you should know going in is that you will get call after call from subcontractors wanting to know how to price jobs. They'll call asking questions and make comments like:
"I own a landscaping company and want to pitch my services to foreclosure cleanup companies. I just need a little guidance on how you go about pricing your services;"
Or
"I am thinking of going into the foreclosure trashout business. I wanted to know about how much I can expect to make on a house -- just a rough estimate is all I need, eg, for just doing the cleaning and trashout;"
Or
"I own a general contracting business and want to get into cleaning foreclosures. How do you decide what to charge for things like making repairs, painting, etc.?"
These are actual calls one foreclosure cleaning business owner says she receives on a daily basis.
Don't get sucked into answering these types of questions. It's not that you don't want to share trade secrets or anything, or that you don't want to be helpful to others. Rather, it's for the following very practical reasons.
Foreclosure Cleanup Business Owners: 3 Reasons Not to Talk Rate or Pricing with Others
Time: If you're actively running a foreclosure cleaning business, you won't have the time to answer these types of questions. As foreclosures are a hot topic in the news now, many are interested in starting this type of business. And you could be fielding 5, 10 or 15 calls a day like this -- from all over the country -- and beyond.
These calls can take anywhere from 10 or 15 minutes, on up to a half hour or more, which brings us to the next reason not to take these types of calls . . .
You're Not a Consultant: Many times, the callers will start out with one or two questions, but it rarely stops there. One question leads to the next, which leads to the next, and on and on and on.
You're not a foreclosure cleaning business consultant, you're a foreclosure cleaning business owner. And if you start answering questions for every caller, it won't be the last call you'll get. Many will continue to call as they run into problems.
A lot of what needs to be learned in this business can only be learned by trial and error, as anyone who's actively operating this type of company can tell you.
It's Impossible to Answer Correctly: Prices and job rates in the foreclosure cleanout industry depend on so many variables -- location, size of house, work to be done, contractors to be hired, turnaround time, equipment to be rented, etc. that it's practically impossible to answer correctly anyway. So don't even try.
Cleaning foreclosures -- like any other business -- takes time and commitment. And those who are serious about it will take it upon themselves to learn what they need to know to succeed.
About the Author:
To learn everything you need on how to start a
foreclosure cleanup business, log on to Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business.com for 200 pages of first-hand information from the owner of a leading foreclosure cleanup company in Atlanta, GA.
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