On Oct 5, 8:44 am, Swingman wrote:

Right now, you couldn't drive a toothpick in my ass with a
sledgehammer.

Sorry to hear that ... you're not that far from Austin, where I've been
having a difficult time finding subs at all, as those guys are busy as
hell and very proud of what they do. I wouldn't mind the latter except
that the quality of work in that area is decidedly inferior to what we
get in the Houston area, as much as I bitch about that.

We just had an interesting page of statistics in our local newspaper
about our real estate situation. Home building of homes over $400,000
and less than 1.5 million has only decreased about 10 - 15% in this
economic downturn.

Long hailed as a great value market, San Antonio became extremely
inflated in the price ranges of about $150K to $300K. That's my
normal bread and butter market. They don't want to start over again
with a new house, so they refurb. Their payments may be low enough
that they feel like a new bath or paint/tile/carpet/cabs would work
great with a home loan.

With the economy finally catching up to us, many of the contractors I
know that do the remodel/repair stuff I do are either gone or in dire
straights.

And now with the home builders being so desperate, it is hard for me
to sell an $5K - $8K bath when they can literally get in a brand new
house with all new everything and warranties to back it up for about
$2500 or less. They feel like they will be leaving all the old
problems behind if they go new.
We may know better, but if their old house needs a lot of maintenance,
who cares? They are looking at the $$ and bang for the buck.

My bigger, better clients (read: financially secure) are now
downsizing as well, so they are looking more at garden homes. Middle
aged +, they are more economically experienced and savvy, and they are
looking to cut long term costs where they can to prepare for their
futures. They have also adopted a "wait and see" attitude about the
economy, and those old peach and green color schemes just don't seem
nearly as annoying as they did 2 years ago.

My bailiwick is younger to middle aged urban professionals that don't
mind remodeling to get their house the way they like it. Similarly,
they protect their investment by keeping up with repairs and
maintenance. They were also good for the "I wanna" stuff like new
front door systems, Hardie plank installs, skylights, etc. that I
could get on and get off.

Many of my friends in this business are now broke, going broke, or are
living off their spouse's income. We have had four lumberyards close
their locations here in the last 18 months due to lack of business.

The big box guys tell me that they are experiencing anywhere from 20 -
30% fall off of sales in their stores from consumers, depending on the
store location.

It sucks around here. There is work, but I have to hustle all the
time to get it. This is really hard for me after almost 30 years in
business as you would think there would be a certain amount of
business "built in".

I have never advertised but once in all these years, but word of mouth
has kept me busy for all these years. I am used to having a 2 - 3
month backlog on most of my work, so a two week "iffy" schedule
situation is killing me. It reminds me of starting out in business.

My amigos think I am lucky as I am not in bad shape like they are.
But having done this in the late 70s, late 80s, part of the 90s, and
now as a self employed guy, I have gotten the hang of downsizing, and
remembering that ego and pride don't pay the bills. Doesn't mean I
have to like it...

I should have been an insurance salesman.

That said, the next house is stuck in planning stages and may not come
unstuck for some time, so I could well be in the same boat after the
first of the year.

Maybe there will finally be more time to go fishing ...

Actually Karl, that's a good point. I used to eat my heart out in
these times and make myself completely miserable. Never did my self
inflicted misery do me a bit of good.

This time around I have bought some new hiking and camping gear, and
will do more woodturning for Christmas this year. I am thinking of
taking some wood carving classes too, as the Texas Woodcarvers Guild
is having classes here about every six months. I would love to learn
how to chip carve. No Santas or farm animals for me; I like the
Celtic knots and european diamonds. I am wanting to learn how to make
a jewelry box or gun box/case and carve something unique on it.

Rather than just "getting through" the holidays as quickly as
possible, I am going to make a real effort to enjoy them this year
with the family and friends I still have left.

Sorry... just waxing a bit here on a rainy day...

Robert