BiggerPockets

So those of you that do REOs and forclosure investing...how do you handle trashouts and clean up? Do you hire a contractor? Do it yourself? How much do you pay? Thanks.

Whether it is an REO or otherwise (including tenant move outs) we usually hire a vendor.

There are many franchises and local operators doing this type of work in our area: Dirty Dog, Pig Pen, Got Junk, etc. We use a husband-wife locally owned team. They use an 8 foot high box truck that is approx. 12' long and charge approx. $450 per load. This includes loading, unloading, and disposal.

The price may go up based on the 'ick factor' or if there are many smaller items; thus, we go in with trash bags ahead of time and get all of the ick and small items in trash bags and leave them througout the place. Be it known, that most of these companies recover additional fees by taking the better items to auction houses. Therefore, if you strip out all of the good stuff and sell it off yourself, the hauling cost may be higher.

Like Tom, the REOs I have seen (and bid on) are genrally already cleaned out of junk, though they might not be 'clean'.

If the bank hasn't already trashed out a property, its probably because they are already taking too much of a loss and they don't want to put any more money into it, or there was a miscommunication with an agent listing the property to get it cleaned out.

Use this as a bargaining tool, Offer less because its not trashed out and then hire some teenagers or hired labor from outside of your local Home Depot to clean it all out for $200