| By :
Frank Patrick
Foreclosure Clean Outs Will Be Big Business for Some Time to Come At the beginning of 2010, the unemployment outlook continues to be bleak – 85,000 more jobs were lost in December of 2009 and the joblessness rate won’t budge below 10%. Not only that, but 661,000 Americans just plain gave up looking for work at all. Working-age men, however, have been hit hardest of all. Economists have termed this recession a “mancession,” because figures state that the jobless rate for this group is closer to 20% – with just about one out of five males 25-54 unemployed. The good news is that there are still business opportunities out there, for those willing to give a new skill category a shot. And one of the hottest job categories right now is property preservation. Property preservation – also known as mortgage field services – involves performing foreclosure trash outs, repairs and doing ongoing maintenance, and is truly the biggest business opportunity in this climate of ever-increasing home foreclosures. The foreclosure situation, like the unemployment problem, is not expected to improve soon. As a matter of fact, the rising joblessness is helping to continue to fuel foreclosures – experts predict over 10 million of them over the next 2 years, an incredibly high figure. When a home is hit with foreclosure, the ownership reverts to the bank or financial institution which holds the unpaid mortgage. These kinds of home are frequently left in horrible shape – and the banks must hire companies to perform what are called “trash outs” to clean out the homes, which are often still filled with the previous homeowner’s possessions. In addition, homes must be rekeyed and secured, so no vandalism will take place, and certain maintenance, such as winterization and pool draining and covering, must be performed to keep the homes safe and habitable. Property preservation work is essential to banks and financial institutions, as it allows them to resell the homes as REO properties, currently one of the biggest-selling sectors of the real estate business. Many start-ups in the mortgage field services industry have found themselves working Monday through Saturday, 12 hours a day, trying to keep up with the demand – and finding themselves making up to $60,000 a month. $60,000 a month – especially in this economy – is certainly an amazing number. And that’s because the need for property preservation companies is so great. In difficult times such as these, an incredible business opportunity like property preservation should be considered.
|