BRADENTON — Tim Robert and his son Nate have encountered plenty of messes on the job.
They’ve spotted rodents, soiled furniture and carpets, and graffiti on the walls. They’ve cut grass that’s grown to knee-length heights, seen trees overgrown into house gutters and filth on houses only a pressure washer can remove.
“The stuff we get into is the nastiest,” said Tim Robert.
That’s what you get when your business is cleaning up foreclosed homes.
N.A.R. Property Management, the property management company they started two months, is booming with business thanks to the rash of foreclosures in Manatee County. Manatee County had 526 foreclosures in August to bring the year’s total to 4,296.
Tim Robert started N.A.R. Property Management for Nate, 19, who is studying business management at State College of Florida.
The business started out doing landscape maintenance for commercial accounts such as banks, gas stations and business. But the two soon saw real potential in adding foreclosed homes to their list of clean-up chores.
Since starting the business, N.A.R. Property Management has done landscaping and yard work on 80 foreclosed homes, and cleaning and repairs to five homes. The company collects between $400 to $600 a job.
“It’s great that we could start a business in this economy,” said Nate Robert.
The Roberts get referrals through a property management company, which works with Realtors and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to gain foreclosed property work orders and hires subcontractors to help clean up foreclosed homes.
After receiving a work order, N.A.R. Property Management has one to three days to complete the cleanup project. Tim Robert said the project can take 90 minutes to 31/2 hours, depending on the property’s condition.
Some homes have been in foreclosure so long that they require a number of clean-up trips.
A foreclosed mobile home in Shadow Brook Park in Manatee County has been a regular assignment for the Roberts.
“It always has more and more projects that pop up at that property,” Tim Robert said.
N.A.R. Property Management has been called on to repair the mobile home’s steps, change the locks, vacuum out the floors, remove debris from the yard and trim the hedges.
“But it’s good because all the jobs pay,” Robert said.
Upon completion of the work order, an inspector must come through the property and approve assigned work to clear N.A.R. Property Management for payment.
Most foreclosure cleanup work comes through Realtors, banks and mortgage companies.
Don Vecchirello, spokesman for Wells Fargo, said the bank relies on listing agents to determine whether a foreclosed home needs cleaning and repairs for it to be resold.
The bank also leaves it up to the listing agent to find a company to clean up the property, Vecchirello said.
Others are tapping into the foreclosure business.
Royal Blue Cleaning Co. in Bradenton started picking up foreclosure cleanups about six months ago, but they still amount to less than 10 percent of the firm’s business, said manager Dean Landman.
“It hasn’t been a major part of our business,” Landman said. “Only because we don’t have the relationships built yet with Realtors.” That networking, he said, will start soon.
Belinda Francis, owner of Total Home Cleaning, says she also is trying to get in on the foreclosed cleanups. Francis’ family-owned Bradenton business has been cleaning commercial and residential properties for 20 years.
In this economy, Francis said, the extra business would certainly be a help.
“We have noticed that it seems like some of the smaller businesses just can’t keep up with what’s going on,” Francis said.
“We are one of the fortunate ones, but adding foreclosures would be a great extent of help.”
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