[modhatter]

Just thought I'd post a message that might be of some help to people seeking to re-locate to Las Vegas.
I have read a thousand times, not to come to Vegas unless you have a job. Well, I can't speak for other professions, but if you are a trades person (painter, handyman, plumber, tile layer, do laminate floors, sheet rock, etc.) then hop in your car and get out here.

I have never experienced anything like this before. No one returns phone calls, e-mails off Craigs list etc.
If you do speak with someone and make an appointment, they don't show up and don't call.
So from my experience, I would say if you are a trades man, and charge a fair price, and know what your doing, my guess is you won't be hurting for work here.

I can only assume from a very frustrating month here, that either:

a. There is so much work available that no one wants to waste their time calling you back or even giving you a bid, or

b. There are a lot of lazy people who don't really want to work.

I think that (a.) is the correct answer.

Again, I do not know what the job market is like for all other fields, so I am only speaking to trades people.

[aggrofish]

It's the way business is done in Vegas not an abundance of available work. When I first moved here it took three attempts to get get the phone company out to do an install. Twice they just didn't bother calling or showing up. It took several attempts to get the building inspector out here to get insurance, multiple attempts for Cox for cable, etc.

Probably 1/3 - 1/2 of all people that actually go through the interview process and get hired, where I work, just don't show up.

The work ethic here certainly takes some getting used to.

[damania]

Sign up for angie's list. You can get better results of picking workers from there. What kind of work do you need done?

[jet757f]

I feel your pain. I have had the same experience. It gets to where I don't trust anyone.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by jet757f

I feel your pain. I have had the same experience. It gets to where I don't trust anyone.

Give it a little time -- Las Vegas has a knack for developing the cynic. Then you not only won't you trust anyone, you won't even want to get to know them in the first place.

Moving out here to take advantage of all that sweet handyman work doesn't make much sense, though. There isn't a whole lot of work available -- nothing steady at least. And just as most of the tradesmen turn out to be flakes, most of the HOMEOWNERS turn out to be flakes as well. I have friends in that business who have just as many horror stories about homeowners as we do about the handymen and craftsmen that we try to hire.

And while there's lots of blame to spread around, much of it is the homeowner's fault. They don't know what things cost -- so they just go for the cheapest price. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. (Sometimes you get monkeys anyway. Just chalk it up to living in Las Vegas.)

In general, the more you learn to do yourself, the better off you're going to be.

[modhatter]

Sorry to say, that in some responses, I just don't agree with you. Cox or the utility company may be lax, but if there is a legitimate need for work, then trades people would show up. They would call you back when you call. As for prices, I have been in real estate since I was 20 and have been re-habing houses since since. I always had rentals. I am now 70. I just finished one in Phoenix in a very nice area called Ahwatukee. (not a cheap area)

I know what fair prices are. I know what low prices are and I know what high prices are. The only person who showed up to give me prices was almost double what the cost should be.
As an example, to hang my six panel interior hollow core doors and closet doors, he quoted me $120 a piece. (I have 19 of them. Seven are room doors, the rest are for closets.)

Even Home Depot's people charge $40 a piece. He quoted me $80 per cabinet to install my kitchen cabinets. Even Home Depot does it for $70 (never known to be cheap) Hanging cabinets for a smaller kitchen is at most a two day job, and should not cost more than $800 labor (if they know what they are doing) Laying floor tile (even diagonal) should not cost more than $2.50 per sq. ft. Stone is a different story.

I'm sorry, I don't buy it. If you need work, you answer your calls. You go to people's house and give them a fair estimate. That's how it's done if you want to work. Now trades people being flakey and not showing up for days when they are in the middle of a job. That is different. That happens all over. But to not even start, that only tells me, they don't need the work, or they don't want to work.

The people who show up, seem to be the people who are not working and give the most outlandish prices.
As an example, had a woman give me a price for taking off the popcorn ceiling and re-texturing and spray painting them (about 1500 sq. ft.) First she threw out $6,300. When I looked surprised, she later dropped it to $4,300. The actual cost should be about $2,500. I have had this work done before where labor costs should be higher than LV. The only exception I found that showed up were the electricians. Of course their prices were in the $3,700 range for two days labor running wire and installing six can lights. Not too bad for a days work. I have two more bids coming in for that.

As far as people being flaky, I'm curious just what you mean. I know some people can be real particular and a pain, but that is true no matter what service you provide. I owned a chain of hair salons at one time so I know about dealing with picky people. It just comes with the territory.

So you say, that's just the way Las Vegas is. Well fine. Then my original post is still true. If a good trades person moves to Vegas, and does answer his calls, and does go out and look at the job and give a reasonable bid, then I am sure they will do very well, because they will be in the minority, and will actually get jobs.

To answer Demania's question as to what kind of work I need done. I need everything as it is a complete rehab.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by damania

Sign up for angie's list. You can get better results of picking workers from there....

Exactly.

[AA702]

Originally Posted by aggrofish

It's the way business is done in Vegas not an abundance of available work. When I first moved here it took three attempts to get get the phone company out to do an install. Twice they just didn't bother calling or showing up. It took several attempts to get the building inspector out here to get insurance, multiple attempts for Cox for cable, etc.

Probably 1/3 - 1/2 of all people that actually go through the interview process and get hired, where I work, just don't show up.

The work ethic here certainly takes some getting used to.

The work ethic is different here in Las Vegas. First thing I noticed coming from Silicon Valley where the extreme is working 3 jobs is normal or working 7 days a week non stop for years. Very competitive environment when you have to compete with people like that.

[aggrofish]

Originally Posted by modhatter

Sorry to say, that in some responses, I just don't agree with you. Cox or the utility company may be lax, but if there is a legitimate need for work, then trades people would show up.

You can disagree all you want but the fact remains unemployment is high and there IS more labor than available jobs. Despite that you're still experiencing people not calling back, showing up, giving high bids, etc.

I'm sorry, I don't buy it. If you need work, you answer your calls.

Maybe that's how you expect it to be done and maybe that's what you would do, but that isn't the case is it?

So you say, that's just the way Las Vegas is. Well fine. Then my original post is still true.

The thing that's true about you post is that people are flaky. You cant argue with the unemployment numbers...well, maybe you can but you wont get anywhere.

It's the way people are around here. I didn't create it, you didn't, but we both have to live with it.

[lvoc]

I deal with this a good bit. Generally mostly light weight repairs but virtually always with a deadline....gotta close..

I have a reasonably good string of people mostly three deep. Has to be as I generally need things done in two or three days. I also have a couple of rehab contractors who bathroom refurbs and such.

I use Angies list and a couple of private lists to find them initially and then I try to hold on to them.

I will share these occasionally one at a time...but the full list is classified. One problem of referencing a good trade guy widely is that he may well become unavailable if he is good.

Note the complaint about the difficulty of good help extends to the tradesmen themselves. My floor is limestone laid by a true professional. He spent half the two weeks bitching about how unreliable his helpers were...and he had been using them for years. Unfortunately he got whacked on the 95 right at Craig while standing alongside his truck ten feet off the roadway.