Repossessions

[haribo]

Just wondering in todays financial situation how many of you have seen an increase in your services on repossessions. I am the Locksmith for the majority of the letting/estate agents in my area and I assume mortgage companies goto a local agent to assist in the repo as I have had before.
Has anyone any different knowledge of this. ???
Obviously this is a profitable avenue to explore without seeming like a vulture preying on the unfortunate. and was wantng to know what avenues the mortgage companies use to get locksmiths.?? or do they go get the bailiff to organise the Locky?

[EvoRed]

With residential properties it appears they go to repo firms who seem to supply a general handyman rather than locky to gain access, change locks, drain down, cut lawn, etc, etc, and most pay peanuts and you may have to inspect the property on a regular basis until sold...

A rep I know was out visiting a property when the repo team were there repossessing it and the 'locky' when advised to use mica to slip the nightlatch said he didn't have any so drilled the rim and still couldn't get it open. There were sash windows so the rep again advised opening them so he came back from the van with a jemmy at which point the rep opened the sash catch for him with mica!

[Eyes_Only]

In the US we have a major housing crisis and the shop I work for has been getting a lot of work from banks and real estate companies to open and re-key foreclosed and abandonded homes. But lately they've been looking for companies that also do cleaning work along with the locksmith work cos 99% of these homes are in horrible conditions, been trashed or have been stripped of any valuables by the renter/homeowners before they left.

[NKT]

If someone was going to take my home and sell it cheap to repay the rather smaller sum I owed, I'd strip everything out of it too!

With the price of metal as it is now, even the pipes are gone from some of the places I do warrants on. Certainly more empty, mid-range places than before. Whether that's partly due to higher fuel bills, so the middle classes are feeling it more, or not, I don't know, but there are defo more repos and for sale boards about.

[zeke79]

The banks locally go through the locksmith I apprentice for as do many banks from out of state. Not always fun work when the power has been shut off for three months in the summer but it helps pay the bills. The worst I have seen looked like the people just left for a trip to the zoo with the kids and never returned. Foof on the table half eaten and a box with about a third of a pizza in it. Worst of all, they HAD a cat which at that point had lost most of its hair and was engrossed with maggots. By looking at the tongue, the cat did not starve but died of thirst. Needless to say, the carpet was ruined.

[bruce hall]

feeling of deja vue there!!!

[Engineer]

Hi Haribo,

I'm in the UK as well. House reposessions are one thing, but you might want to check out warrenty work (letting the gas and electricity in to cut people off). Sadly that is a growth area at the moment, as either they have not paid, or the house/flat is now empty and the services need disconnecting.

[greyhond]

hey this sounds interesting, where would one go to seek employment as a repo locksmith.

[Engineer]

Word of mouth is one way of getting these jobs, another is to contact directly the companies or their agents who might be responsible for the repos and advise them of your services. As has been pointed out here though, straighforward repo work of residences is getting less and less as the compaines want someone to do more than just open them up and then secure them again.

[raimundo]

Banks are the ones who make the decision to repo and they do the hiring, your best bet would not to tell them that youre looking for a little pickup work, but tell them you're full service and have a crew, it will involve a bit of many trades, locks, plumbing heating, even lawn work, for which you supply the mower and you find the person to drive it at the local big box store, hanging around looking for day employment. You'll have to be a business man more than a tradesman to run this kind of shop. You will be priceing various services and never hesitate to say the magic words when they start piling on the work, "OK but it'll cost you more". In fact, the way to run such a company is to hire the people who do the work, and spend all your time on the phone talking business and sending out bills. You won't have any time to do the hands on work.