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#186100 04/16/09 06:40 PM
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 830
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How's work out there? My last option is to relocate so I can make a living. Don't want to go to Iraq though:D I have some friends in Vancouver, Washington. Long way from North Carolina though. I've put in Job Resume's for the past few days and things seem "dead" in my area. 38 years experience and I'm just about open for any type of work right now, electrical or non-electrical. Thought about changing trades if I new which one to go into.. Any idea's out there? Yea, I've thought about holding a sign on the side of the road, "Need work, REALLY!"
Thanks, for listening...

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
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Around here (SW Fla) the work seems to be in the HOAs and other established communities doing renovation and repair.
New construction is pretty much dead. 1&2 family ground to a halt a year or two ago and commercial is really winding down.
The guys who are working are serving those who now realize they will be living in their current homes for a while and want to fix them up.
A lot of the older HOAs that have a stable ownership are still doing OK money wise and their members want to spruce the place up for the same reason. They know they aren't going anywhere.
It isn't like new construction in the boom but it is better than mowing lawns.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 830
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I wonder why my post isn't showing up on my the main page of this forum? It's acting weird on my computer... Anyway Greg, mowing lawns is better than doing nothing, (.... I guess)

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 212
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Not much, actually nothing, in Idaho. Job sites seem to have a lot in Texas, Oklahoma etc. and government Davis-Bacon jobs seem to be holding their own, all over the country. But how many licenses can 1 guy keep up with?

Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 745
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Government-sponsored house flipping seems to be a new business in the DC area, specifically Prince William County, VA. Recently, this county enacted laws where the police are required to verify citizenship of anyone stopped or otherwise detained. This resulted in a mass exodus of the huge illegal alien community living in this county. These people also represented a large number of the local construction force for new home construction. That business is all but dead.

This has resulted in a huge number of foreclosures on homes, far above the national average. These people pretty much abandoned their properties and headed into Marlyand where the immigration laws are less stringent. Prince William County has been left with an inordinate number of residential properties seized for unpaid taxes.

The county has developed a program for real estate developers or investors to work in a partnership with them to flip these homes while keeping the sales price reasonable so that county employees can afford to buy them. At present, civil servants (fire, police, EMS, teachers, etc.) cannot afford to live in the county.

Sorry for the long-winded lead in, but here is a very general rundown of how this partnership works:

The original mortgage company releases ownership of the property for little to nothing just to get it removed from their books. Taxes owed are paid by the investor and they enter into a joint venture with the county to refurbish the house. The investor bears the expense to make the house sellable. Once it has been accepted for market, the county markets the house, arranges low-interest financing for the purchaser, then splits the profit with the investor. The investor is also exempt from paying property taxes during this transition.

Say an investor picks up a townhouse worth $150K for $50K from the county. They spend another $10K in repairs/improvements out of their own pocket. After improvements, the county sells the house to a qualified buyer with a low interest rate negotiated for the mortgage. The investor splits the $90K profit with the county and walks away with their portion of the proceeds.

This version of house flipping is picking up in Prince William County, although not all of these projects are county-sponsored. Still, properties are available dirt cheap in a market that is very attractive due to the proximity to Washington, DC. I'd be willing to bet that similar programs exist all over the country.

Someone who can secure about $50-100K worth of financing can probably turn over several of these houses per year and make decent money. It might we worth looking into. I've only heard this second-hand from someone who is actually doing it, but it seems like an easy way to make some money until the economy improves. Just an idea.


---Ed---

"But the guy at Home Depot said it would work."
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 167
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Originally Posted by EV607797

This has resulted in a huge number of foreclosures on homes, far above the national average.


That's not it. That policy may have resulted in some foreclosures, but the problem started before PWC enacted it.

I believe, when this all shakes out, it will come out that what happened in PWC was the result of mortgage fraud. The FBI states that Virginia is in the top 10 states for mortgage fraud, and furthermore that mortgage fraud and foreclosures are closely related. (What a surprise...)

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,392
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gotta love those feds turning over every rock sniffin' out mortgage fraud , when they themselves perpetrated the biggest ponzi scheme ever

but the lack of enforcement and/or regulation(s) doesn't stop there, because now all the unlicensed hacks are having a field day undercutting the bona fide trades

THAT's who working now....

in fact, the punishment justifies the crime here.

by the very same sorts who, over the years, have demanded that i be the ambassador of the nec, the point man to present and validate electrical safety to the public

the hacks have used my co. name so many times i've lost track. And these places they've wired have never had their doors closed, or business impeded via the powers that be. i've asked that something be done, and no one ever gets back to me

we've dropped a dime on them, with little to no action here. By the time they actually DO corner a hack , he's done 5 zero's of biz and faces a two zero fine and simply leaves for the next locale' to do it over again


so maybe it's better to stand by the side of the road with a sign that says HACK FOR HIRE!

~S~

Joined: Jul 2004
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One of my friends is actually making a nice buck fixing and flipping distressed properties these days.
Grow houses are his favorite. He can sometimes find one for $15k or so in a sheriff sale, fix it up inside and sell it quickly for $60-70k. Usually the outside is immaculate since they want to blend in. Inside you usually need a lot of drywall, appliances and carpet. I never really understood why someone wanted to finance builder grade refrigerators and carpet for 30 years but they seem to want to. Personally I would rather get a break on the house and buy what I want myself.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 821
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Originally Posted by gfretwell
Around here (SW Fla) the work seems to be in the HOAs and other established communities doing renovation and repair.
New construction is pretty much dead. 1&2 family ground to a halt a year or two ago and commercial is really winding down.
The guys who are working are serving those who now realize they will be living in their current homes for a while and want to fix them up.
A lot of the older HOAs that have a stable ownership are still doing OK money wise and their members want to spruce the place up for the same reason. They know they aren't going anywhere.
It isn't like new construction in the boom but it is better than mowing lawns.



Heck, that's what I'm best at. I'll do new construction but it just seems like the lowest bidder always gets the job and even then it's not even worth the headaches at such a low profit margin. I'm about to go out on my own and I don't think I'll be doing much new construction because of the "lowest bid" mentality that's out there. Old is what I love doing so it's good to hear people are spending on capital improvements.

Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 821
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Oh hey.... hang in there SparkyNC, things are going to get better soon.

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