Contractors/Business Owners: thoughts about economy in '24?

zilla68 said:
a guy i work for on the side has been buying up single family homes, and is self financing. Mostly hispanics are buying with large cash deposits down. owner finance, they take it as is and hasn't had one default yet. 

hell they are all tradesmen, i've seen them brick houses, do ornamental iron fences, completely rehab the insides, so he figures worst case i get it back in better shape than i sold it lol.

he has quite a few. they can't qualify any other way, but always have large cash for the down.

i think he's getting 25-30k down cash, 
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that is a phenomenal business model as long as it works.  That 'demographic' (most of my employees are hispanic and I have immense respect for their work ethic and morals) will do whatever it takes to keep that house and not default......

 
1newbie said:
that is a phenomenal business model as long as it works.  That 'demographic' (most of my employees are hispanic and I have immense respect for their work ethic and morals) will do whatever it takes to keep that house and not default......
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that's why he is so confident it will work. one guy built a whole damn brick fence all the way around the property. if he defaulted I doubt he's taking it down lol

 
1newbie said:
that is a phenomenal business model as long as it works.  That 'demographic' (most of my employees are hispanic and I have immense respect for their work ethic and morals) will do whatever it takes to keep that house and not default......
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Had a friend that was carrying financing on a subdivision be was developing. Then the market crashed. All those people he was carrying the note for walked. He almost lost his whole life savings, work and even his own house. It still cost him alot long run. Could have made millions if we didnt have that crash. Big risk big reward or big risk big loss. 

 
zilla68 said:
that's why he is so confident it will work. one guy built a whole damn brick fence all the way around the property. if he defaulted I doubt he's taking it down lol
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You know how many gutted properties i looked at after the crash? One house every fixture was removed. One Dood even pulled up the front deck and tore down a steel shop.

its a very risky venture with big potential for wins and loss

 
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All the stories on how your business is doing has a lot more meaning if you tell us what area of USA you work in !

for me in north San Diego county, dump trucking hauling mainly dirt and demolition was a little slower last year but we were down 50% in gross for the first 3 months due to rain the rest of the year was pretty good but I know some people that have not been in the business as long as I have are have tell me they are slower 

definitely takes longer to get paid 

 
Defense contractor. Usually pretty steady, but can always tell something’s up because I have  a lot more people applying. Right now, getting easier to find employees when it was insanity to find anyone who could fog a mirror for the last 3 years. 

 
Healthcare chiming in...

Seeing a progressive decrease in insured folks exercising their insurance benefits (i.e. they're not getting preventative care services).  The un-insured volume has been steady but they DGAF.

 
TheSPAINishLover said:
Healthcare chiming in...

Seeing a progressive decrease in insured folks exercising their insurance benefits (i.e. they're not getting preventative care services).  The un-insured volume has been steady but they DGAF.
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Add me to that list. Our health care system is so broken. Can't get an appointment for 6 weeks. Got to wait more than 3 months for a specialist. Anything other than using a stethoscope takes three visits to get scheduled, and then takes six months to get any kind of procedure done. Every time I go, there's a new doctor. My doctor of 23 years retired in 2020 and I haven't had a decent doctor that gave a chit sense..So impersonal now.. I did have an urgent need which I sought out a cash doctor and boy that sure is a different world.. things happened in days, not months..

And just for the record, we have pretty decent EPO insurance. We get to choose between UCSD Scripps and Sharp..

 
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LegitDuner said:
Add me to that list. Our health care system is so broken. Can't get an appointment for 6 weeks. Got to wait more than 3 months for a specialist. Anything other than using a stethoscope takes three visits to get scheduled, and then takes six months to get any kind of procedure done. Every time I go, there's a new doctor. My doctor of 23 years retired in 2020 and I haven't had a decent doctor that gave a chit sense..So impersonal now.. I did have an urgent need which I sought out a cash doctor and boy that sure is a different world.. things happened in days, not months..

And just for the record, we have pretty decent EPO insurance. We get to choose between UCSD Scripps and Sharp..
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It's fux0red is all I have to say but that has been said for over two decades.

Pretty soon I'll be flying to Mexico for my healthcare services (some plans cover care in Mexico).

You're not alone, my friend.

 
I found out today that GA is fixing to pay off a bunch of folks.  They have a contract that is not going to get renewed for 12 to 18 months.  

Not sure how solid that info is, it's from somone working there that applied for one of our jobs because he is sure he is getting cut (and his whole department). 

 
Bobalos said:
I found out today that GA is fixing to pay off a bunch of folks.  They have a contract that is not going to get renewed for 12 to 18 months.  

Not sure how solid that info is, it's from somone working there that applied for one of our jobs because he is sure he is getting cut (and his whole department). 
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What is GA?

 
General atomics

And I meant lay off, not pay off..

 
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LegitDuner said:
Add me to that list. Our health care system is so broken. Can't get an appointment for 6 weeks. Got to wait more than 3 months for a specialist. Anything other than using a stethoscope takes three visits to get scheduled, and then takes six months to get any kind of procedure done. Every time I go, there's a new doctor. My doctor of 23 years retired in 2020 and I haven't had a decent doctor that gave a chit sense..So impersonal now.. I did have an urgent need which I sought out a cash doctor and boy that sure is a different world.. things happened in days, not months..

And just for the record, we have pretty decent EPO insurance. We get to choose between UCSD Scripps and Sharp..
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Must be local.  I see my GP within a couple days of calling.

I'm in manufacturing.  Large percentage of our stuff goes to municipalities.  This is good, but it's a long sell.  18 months sometimes. Outside of general money issues, lead times kill us.  64 weeks for a hydraulic valve.  WTF?

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
Must be local.  I see my GP within a couple days of calling.

I'm in manufacturing.  Large percentage of our stuff goes to municipalities.  This is good, but it's a long sell.  18 months sometimes. Outside of general money issues, lead times kill us.  64 weeks for a hydraulic valve.  WTF?
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the only way around that is to hold tons of inventory that may or may not work when you get around to using it.  and corporate LOVES it when you have inventory turns that are out of control.............. 

 
TheSPAINishLover said:
Healthcare chiming in...

Seeing a progressive decrease in insured folks exercising their insurance benefits (i.e. they're not getting preventative care services).  The un-insured volume has been steady but they DGAF.
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Been with Kaiser for 20 years, just reached 2K a month for a mediocre (silver) plan, used to be great but since Obamacare services have been on decline while cost has been rising, doctors are overwhelmed. Switching providers Jan 1 as we left their service area, looking forward to a new start. 

 
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the wife of one of my guys had a kidney stone & Kaiser told her that it would be some outrageous amount of time before they could fit her in (8 or 10 weeks) & if the discomfort was just too great, to "just goto the ER, they will take care of her" (she was almost incapacitated). 

 
my next door neighbor just told me he sold ALL his stock and put it in gold,  thinks its going to be really bad in the next two years and gold is way up

got a text from a friend today, reads,  Mark Zuckerberg doesn't build a bunker in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, but 2023 decides to build a MASSIVE survival bunker along with many other "elites"

 
John@Outfront said:
my next door neighbor just told me he sold ALL his stock and put it in gold,  thinks its going to be really bad in the next two years and gold is way up

got a text from a friend today, reads,  Mark Zuckerberg doesn't build a bunker in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, but 2023 decides to build a MASSIVE survival bunker along with many other "elites"
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Gold isn't way up. I'm sure its price is highly manipulated because the price has been knocking around the nineteen hundreds for the last year with a few dips. It's currently sitting at $2060, approx.. $100 higher than it has averaged for the last year. With the premium the dealers are charging between retail cost and spot, you won't be making much profit if any right now unless you bought gold before 2020. 

 
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