Help me come up with a business idea!

[Account Closed]

What type of service could you use? What are some pain points in your business? How could I support your business?

Looking to start a real estate investment support business. Phone answering service? Virtual assistant business? 

[Chris Ramos]

Good Question.

I buy a lot of rental properties in Michigan and here are a few things I'm trying to get my management company to offer to me and the rest of their clients.  House sitters - When my properties go vacant I often board them up but that's like a huge neon sign saying come rob me. One of my contractors offers this for free if he does the rehab and if not then he charges $100 per week. He has people that bounce from property to property and for years they live for free and he deals with any hassles that might come up and vets out his house sitters.  

Next service - Semi Annual gutter cleaning and maintenance. In Utah I'm trying to keep all the vegetation alive, in Michigan I'm trying to keep it cut back. I never knew trees could grow in rain gutters. It's important to have them cleaned out, secured and diverted away from the house. I need this done every spring and then every fall just after all the trees lose their leaves. I pay about $200 per house for one level houses and $250 per house that has a second level. These are normally about 1000 to 1500 sq. ft. homes. 
If you take photos of before and after it helps the client feel like they are spending money for something worthwhile. Also keep in mind the grading next to the house if it's on a negative slope then you could add that as an additional service by adding dirt and around the foundation and to give it a proper slope away from the house. Diverting gutters and correct slope around the foundation have helped me remedy water intrusion on 95% of my properties.

I think with your background in Lawn Maintenance that these would be good additions to your business. Hope this helps.