Economy Improving Back East?

Jer

Someone told me things are getting better back east as far as construction work. I am in the west and we will be the last to see improvement so just wondering (and hoping) the rumor is true.
How you guys doing back there?

SelfContract

Ask Rory in Da East, after Back East... is Forward West?.. j/k

rbsremodeling

Definitely doing a lot better. If the pace keeps up we will be back on track next year. We have signed 4 nice jobs in the last month and have 2 big ones coming out the permit office soon.

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nlgutters

I talk to builders of all sizes every day. They are all saying its picked up a lot since spring. And even more so since the beginning of July.

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Aggie67

My humble opinion: the abyss we were staring into in early spring is most definitely behind us. We're back to looking at 4-8 jobs a week, about half design build where we're the only bidder, and half competitively bid. We're nailing about 1/4 to 1/3 of them. Also, lots of engineering work. Haven't lowered prices. I haven't seen any large commercial jobs in a long time, though. Mostly manufacturing sites, surprisingly. But from my perspective I personally think the worst is over with. I also have friends that own their own firms, and they're getting busier as well.

With that said, I have relatives in the trades that are still unemployed, and they're getting nervous waiting for the large infrastructure jobs that Obama promised to start up.

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strathd

NW Ohio is dead. I don't see recovery coming here anytime soon.

rbsremodeling

Who would want to live in Ohio anyway?

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strathd

You got that right ! Guess I'm stranded for now. I have lived away from here more than I have lived here. My daughter has two years of school left. After that I'm outta here !

loneframer

Hey Strat, you still have the Jersey sand in your shoes?

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strathd

You betcha bro ! Hoping for some more work to come in so I can make it out there before the summers over.

cabinet runner

Yep In the Southern Md area I live in my cabinet installs are up 50% the last 3 months .Thank god as it had gotten really bleak though I need it to go up 25 percent more to get back to where I was last year . Overall though it seems as construction in general around here has picked up .

Part of for me is some of the competition has been eliminated i.e out of business or gotten rid of due to sloppy workmanship . Funny how when the market tightens up builders start to care . The bid process has also really tightend up . No more extra money on the table for missed items or unforseen problems . Every filler and piece of trim must be counted in original qoute . Otherwise I or the showroom will eat it depending on who missed it .

The showroom I sub from has stepped up and picked up new accounts and expanded going after more local commercial work . They even hired back one of the sales cordinators .

On my end I adjusted by starting to do some of the remodel installs for them . There is actually some new building going on with the production builders .They have also dropped the prices on multiple specs and these units which have been sitting in the drywall/paint stage for 8 to 12 months are being sold , albeit at 40 to 80 thousand less than previous asking price .

Hopefully they will continue to dump these units so new starts will occur before the winter .

On the other side the smaller custom builders I trim for (or used to lol ) are still really struggling . 2 that I do trim for are having terrible problems with the banks around here . Basically they do not want to do construction to permanent loans anymore . Not sure if they will make it .
And I thought that the stimulus package was supposed to have banks loaning money again to qualified individuals ? WTF

mmike032

not much here in south ga except a few custom houses being built each month.
spec housing is dead.

Jer

Well that is good news. Most of you seem to be getting busier so maybe we will see some improvement here within a few months. Hope I can keep the doors open that long.
Thanks for the feedback

JLTrim

Same here, custom homes and remodels are all I've been doing. Staying fairly busy, but I'll be glad when the last of all these empty spec homes finally get sold.

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Jake Stevens

I'm in Central Maine and we are busy with all kinds of remodeling. We are not home builders but we do additions, garages, siding, roofing, windows, doors, gutters, shutters, decks, steps, and I do GC on some large jobs. We have about 40 jobs ahead of us right now.

vinylguy

just in the last couple of weeks the phones have really started ringing again from all my advertising efforts. this to me is a real good sign. however we did manage to keep on pace with last years #s due to our canvassing efforts.
GO PENN STATE!! GO STEELERS !!!!! GO PHILLIES!!!!!!!
WOW, we had alot of winners this year ahhhh!! L O L !!

Warren

It has crossed the eastern border of Ohio. In the last month, I have noticed some of the "production" builders have started several homes in allotments that haven't seen a start in over a year. While my business doesn't rely on these types for work, I think it is a good indicator of things ahead. Our work has been up and down all year, but has never really stalled completely. Very similar to last year in that the 2nd half of the year was really busy. Thats what I am seeing just now. Now I am regretting spending so much time bidding so many jobs that I will not be able to do now. Oh well, feast or famine.

Dave Ruc

Though Central NY was a little rough last spring with all the scuttlebutt of the national issues, It seemed to recover relatively quickly. For my area it was more of a media scare than anything. New builds never seemed to miss a beat here (especially Ryan Homes) but imo, cny is always in its own little depression. We never saw the property value boom and things here have remained cheap and steady.

The worst thing I have seen though is the number of Joe jobs that popped up after being laid off and hacked homes up far and wide luring HO's in with insane pricing and then landing themselves in court or jail. I have done countless insurance jobs and refinances fixing their monstrosities.

Nail Ace

Suppliers in S.W. PA. are saying metal is going up the first of Sept. by 8% and vinyl to follow by as much as 18%. As far as work picking up, you bet!! My customers are realizing that material isnt going to get any cheaper and its time to get it done before it goes up anymore.

ParadigmShift

Most of my work is commercial and the jobs I had lined up last fall all cancelled as the economy went into the . They are starting to consider putting some of the projects back on. I can't wait for next year