Foreclosures are rampant right now all over the U.S. especially in states like Florida, Michigan, and South Carolina. While many real estate attorneys and realtors right now are fighting to stay alive, many janitors and residential and commercial cleaners are becoming wealthy from clean ups.

Foreclosure cleaning isn’t necessarily as easy as it sounds. You really do have to do your dirty work in order to get started. Estimating a cleaning job is difficult if you have never done it before. The first thing you need to do is clean your own home. Take into account the square footage of your home, how many hours it took you to clean the home, the cleaning supplies you used, and how much those cleaning supplies cost. This is a good simple way of estimating a clean up bid for a possible client, but it’s not everything.

Foreclosure cleaning usually involves removing debris from the home (trash that the previous owner left behind), changing locks, landscaping, fixing the roof, changing the carpet, plumbing repair, etc. If you don’t know how to perform these tasks, find people who do and subcontract out the work to them. Of course, you’re going to have to know how much these potential subcontractors charge for this work to be performed in order to give an accurate bid. Nonetheless, it could be a match made in heaven if the subcontractor get a lot of work from the business your foreclosure cleaning service brings him.

Caveat: I wouldn’t suggest doing roof repair as part of your foreclosure clean up business unless you are a licensed roofing contractor. Roofing work is replete with liability. In most states you can be held liable for the injuries of the assistant of a subcontractor whom you contracted with. Believe me, it can get sticky. Do your home work and only (or contract out) those things with which you are comfortable. Then have your contractors sign disclosure notices. I hope this is a helpful beginner’s guide into the world of foreclosure clean up.