Realtor and entrepreneur Jereme Willner is not afraid of hard work, and that determination and persistence has paid off. His side business JunkPro, which he owns and operates, has been in business since 2008 which was about 2.5 years after he got into real estate.
JunkPro which is the tri-state area’s largest junk removal service owns the motto, “We can remove 40 years of junk in 4 hours.”
“To be honest, I started this business as a side income for the first couple of years that I was getting established as an agent,” Willner explains. “I had walked into a foreclosure with a few agents and asked who usually cleans these out. They said whoever we could get.” That’s when Willner says a lightbulb went off and he decided to go out and start his own business. Now that side hustle continues on all while being a successful full-time agent in real estate.
His business performs work for residential customers, landlords and business owners. He has also completed many farm cleanups, storage unit clean-outs and still the occasional foreclosure preservation which has diminished after the market crash of 2009.
“I started out with a borrowed trailer and a truck I already had and built my business until I was able to get a custom built truck to exactly what I needed,” Willner said.
His equipment now travels a 2.5-hour radius serving anywhere from Owensboro, Evansville, Bowling Green, and the Louisville metro area.
“Basically, we can haul away anything. There’s honestly nothing we don’t take unless it’s a biohazard,” Willner said. He stays intrigued by the constant treasure hunt. “You find stuff from the early 1900s, stuff from the area you were born in, it’s really interesting.”
The junk that his business hauls away is either taken to the dump, recycled, donated, or resold with the client’s permission. He works with many realtors in his service area as well as community members that call for junk to be removed, oftentimes after the death of a loved one.
The biggest job completed to date was a foreclosed property in Spottsville that the after-effects of hoarding lead to 14 roll off dumpsters and five or six truck and trailer loads of junk.
To the resident, landlord or business owner, JunkPro brings relief and peace.
“They are just overwhelmed and don’t know who to call,” Willner said. “More or less when we get the call, we handle everything from that point forward. They can leave in the morning and come back at the end of the day to a house that is cleaned and restored to its original decluttered state.”
Willner has recently launched a new website for his side business, GetJunkPro.com where potential clients will find before and after pictures of his cleanup projects, contact details for a quote and information to refer someone who is struggling with hoarding. If the individual agrees to let JunkPro clean up their property, Willner’s business offers a $100 reward to the person who made the referral.
