Home owners Know!

[lxt]

Well the season is slowing here & the home owners in my area are shrewd!

Of the last 10 or so calls Ive gotten & went to bid, the owner(s) are in a "lets haggle" frenzy!! I have bid in the middle of the pack & they tell me their low bid number & even show it to me!! can you match or beat this...

After a few bids like that I started to say what the heck & just told them Ill knock $25 the lowest price you currently have, well.....followup call lets me know some one beat my price by $50 here, $75 there.

I got a call sat. 11-8 & the guy says " 10 limbs, cut em let em lay, take ya 10minutes" yeah!! 13.2 line 10-15ft away, phone & cable underneath..LOL I tell him $250.00 he lives in my town & yeah its a break but hey!! "dude cant you do it for $100?" F%^& NO!! you cant do it yourself for a $100!!

as Im leaving he says "well if its slow & you need a $100 call me!" I laughed & told him I wont be that slow!!

just seems like everyone knows everyone else is strugglin & they want to capitalize on it, anyone else going through this?


LXT.........

 

[tree MDS]

We b!^%$ about this every year lxt, lol. I'm totally dead, it sucks but at least I dont have to worry about hiring another crop of winners. I can get by with my partime crew.

 

[treeman82]

So I get a call last night from somebody locally... an area that's a PITA for me to work in. However I said maybe a winter job... well I go there today and look at the job, it has to be done NOW because they want to put a new roof on the house once the trees are down... plus put up a new fence once the old one gets cleaned up. Of course the old fence is keeping the crazy dogs in the yard. Well my problem of course is that my dump truck is tied up for the next couple of weeks. So getting to this job is going to be a REAL PITA.

 

[treemandan]

Well the season is slowing here & the home owners in my area are shrewd!

Of the last 10 or so calls Ive gotten & went to bid, the owner(s) are in a "lets haggle" frenzy!! I have bid in the middle of the pack & they tell me their low bid number & even show it to me!! can you match or beat this...

After a few bids like that I started to say what the heck & just told them Ill knock $25 the lowest price you currently have, well.....followup call lets me know some one beat my price by $50 here, $75 there.

I got a call sat. 11-8 & the guy says " 10 limbs, cut em let em lay, take ya 10minutes" yeah!! 13.2 line 10-15ft away, phone & cable underneath..LOL I tell him $250.00 he lives in my town & yeah its a break but hey!! "dude cant you do it for $100?" F%^& NO!! you cant do it yourself for a $100!!

as Im leaving he says "well if its slow & you need a $100 call me!" I laughed & told him I wont be that slow!!

just seems like everyone knows everyone else is strugglin & they want to capitalize on it, anyone else going through this?


LXT.........

When I am in that spot I offer the homeowner DIY kit for sale, its around 100 bucks to buy the kit but the instructions cost a little more.

 

[Nailsbeats]

When I am in that spot I offer the homeowner DIY kit for sale, its around 100 bucks to buy the kit but the instructions cost a little more.

This makes me laugh, good idea.

 

[lxt]

That is funny Dan!! Its not just our line of work from what Im hearing, my buddy frames houses rates for new construction here were between $7-$10 square foot now guys are doing it for as low as $6 sq ft, seems prices are going backwards!


LXT..........

 

[STLfirewood]

What it comes down to is some people are now making a living and not a killing. They were throwing house up around here and the builders would turn a 40k profit in 2-3 months. That's making a killing. They wouldn't just have one house going up. Now you can buy houses in the same subdivision 50-70k cheaper. They are still making money just not as much.

Scott

 

[tree MDS]

What it comes down to is some people are now making a living and not a killing. They were throwing house up around here and the builders would turn a 40k profit in 2-3 months. That's making a killing. They wouldn't just have one house going up. Now you can buy houses in the same subdivision 50-70k cheaper. They are still making money just not as much.
Scott

Yep. Thats why if you really wanna be safe, work as much as you can when the jobs are good, seven days whatever. I had so many nice jobs this year in the two to three grand or better range, I'll bet that same type of job go for nothing this time of year. I guess thats just the way it is.

 

[treemandan]

Yep. Thats why if you really wanna be safe, work as much as you can when the jobs are good, seven days whatever. I had so many nice jobs this year in the two to three grand or better range, I'll bet that same type of job go for nothing this time of year. I guess thats just the way it is.

You sure are one to put your nose to the grindstone
No wonder they keep leaving. The girls , the help; what are you just going to work til you drop dead?
Man, I wish I still had it to work seven days a week. Hang in there, take a break once in a while. YOU MUST BE RICH BY NOW!

 

[tree MDS]

Yer really tryin eh dan. I had a good year until fall - so not rich but should be good for winter already. Good thing I thought ahead. I used subs on the weekends, so I didnt overwork anyone. Wich brings me to my next point: the "workers" during the week were losers, another reason to work weekends, good help.

The old lady was just a pain in my a$$, good riddance.

BTW dan, I forgot to say how sorry I was to hear about your basement.

 

[tree MDS]

"What are you trying to do work till you drop"?

Trying to get ahead I think they call it. And I took it easy on the weekends,
again, good help. Thanks for your consern though, pam.

 

[tree MDS]

Where'd ya go dan?Let me guess, the wife came home and you had to make busy with the toilet cleaning and do your moping real quick, lol.

 

[trimmmed]

That is funny Dan!! Its not just our line of work from what Im hearing, my buddy frames houses rates for new construction here were between $7-$10 square foot now guys are doing it for as low as $6 sq ft, seems prices are going backwards!


LXT..........

Heck $6 would be a step up around here, mexi-framing goes for $5. Which is what we could get in the early eighties. :censored:

 

[lxt]

Wow, $5 to frame by the mexi....eighties wages seem to be the ticket I guess! I agree with the one post about making a living and not a killing however........with all the layoffs taking place do you guys think maybe thats spilling over into the different trades thus driving prices down? I just heard that the company with the apple in their name layed off 120 crews...yep 120!

tell me there wont be an abundance of pickup truck trimmers out there in the spring!! I just hope making a living doesnt turn into barely surviving!!


LXT...........

 

[Jacob J.]

Wow, $5 to frame by the mexi....eighties wages seem to be the ticket I guess! I agree with the one post about making a living and not a killing however........with all the layoffs taking place do you guys think maybe thats spilling over into the different trades thus driving prices down? I just heard that the company with the apple in their name layed off 120 crews...yep 120!

tell me there wont be an abundance of pickup truck trimmers out there in the spring!! I just hope making a living doesnt turn into barely surviving!!


LXT...........

I know a group of fairly shrewd construction contractors here. They were socking money away when times were good, so now that it's lean, they can walk away from the cheap jobs. This forces the hiring of out-of-town contractors who have to charge for travel expenses...keeping prices somewhat moderated.