[MTUCache]

Originally Posted by mike231

I'm in that industry (Construction) 21 years self-employed; The light is dim and the tunnel could be very long.
Still working for 20 - 30% less than I was in 2006 and working a lot less hours. The work is streaky; people need to get comfortable again.
How long will that take ?

Agree. Working in the surveying/engineering field, we'll usually get the initial wave of work from the developers before anything new is going start up and then it will get to the contractors the following spring/summer.

As of right now... almost nothing. Engineering consultants that I know in the Detroit area have laid off more than half their staff, taken huge pay-cuts, and are depending on public projects for 75+% of what's left of their work. Private development dollars are either completely gone or nearly so.

Unless that private development money starts up in the next two or three months, I'm not seeing anything better next construction season than in this one. Especially with the contraction in the area, there's just no need to build anything new, even if the developers could get the banks to lend them money to build it. There's a huge glut of residential and commercial space available out there. Most of the construction projects out there in the near future are going to be maintenance type stuff, rather than new construction.

I personally don't see a return to construction around Michigan for quite a while, just based on the fact that the state may have a few hundred thousand extra houses and office buildings by the time this thing is said and done. Whether the banks own them or not doesn't really matter, there's still no reason to build new ones when the one next door is empty.

[mike231]

MTU Cache
You see it very much as I do. I'm very doubtful that next year will be any better. And the only work that I have been doing is the necessary stuff, such as re-roofing.
So many people are struggling now, and with Winter coming it could be a very interesting Spring. What do people do when they become desperate to heat their home or feed their family ?

At 44, I've gone back to school in an attempt to create a few more options. Because if I wait for construction to bounce back, I will probably be in my 50's and I really don't think that I will want, or even be able to go back on those roofs and be productive.
And I have not built a new house in 3 years.