anybody in the construction business (Jacksonville, Miami: bank owned, short sales, 2015)

[StreetSmarts]

What did you get, mountain views somehow?

[chrisacm2117]

here is some work i've done both trim and paint work one is a house smithtown and the other is a park ave apartment not the greatest pictures
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[annerk]

Originally Posted by BrokerHarry

annerk does no one a service by constantly speaking about things of which she knows NOTHING.

From the mid '90s up to the 2008 crash, roughly 95% of all major home improvement projects in CA (i.e swimming pool construction & major room additions) were FINANCED with tax deductible cash out 2nd mortgages.

Lenders like Conseco, GreenTree, SilverStone, & Lyons Financial (among others) partnered with major builders throughout CA & all across the US, including Florida, and they funded these hard money loans with draw checks in both the homeowners' & the licensed contractor's name.

Typically these draw checks were scheduled 40-30-20-10% & were dispersed along the way, upon completion of contractually agreed-upon signposts. The 1st 40% check would be due after permits, excavation, steel & plumbing, paid prior to gunite, typically 2 weeks into the project. The 2nd draw would be due after gunite, at delivery of masonry materials, etc. At all times, I paid all my subs & suppliers in advance. I kept my company capitalized to be able to handle as many as a dozen projects in various states of completion at all times, year round.

I ran that company for 2 decades, without once getting in trouble with the CA license board.

Additionally, in CA, a state well known for consumer protection codes, it is AGAINST THE LAW for any licensed contractor to take more than 10% or $1,000 (whichever is lower) up front as a down payment.

Thus, if annerk's brother tried to operate in CA the way she says he regularly does in Florida (50% UP FRONT!!!)...he would lose his license, & face criminal prosecution.

Does annerk have any other questions about the construction business?



This is not an advertisement. This business was closed at the end of 2008. But it might help establish credentials, & annerk might take notice that I was voted Builder of the Year for several years running by the LA Daily News.

Maybe you are lost. This is a FLORIDA message board!

[annerk]

Originally Posted by BrokerHarry

I wouldn't argue with your strategy, Jul.

If someone has the cash, & isn't carrying other non deductible consumer debt (i.e. credit cards, car loans, etc), it might make sense to forego financing the home improvement, if you can swing it.

There's no reason to pay interest, unless you think you can make more with the money elsewhere.

But if anyone is paying interest on a non tax deductible consumer loan, many experts would say it makes more sense to pay off that car & credit cards, & finance the home improvement (pool), because THAT interest IS tax deductible when it is secured by a mortgage.

ComSense: It is amazing to me that FL law is slanted so pro-business that it allows contractors to collect as much as 50% up front.

That means the consumer has lost all leverage right from the start, because the business has already collected their profit before the work has even commenced. You have to have a lot of faith that the company will do right by you.

When you enter into a real estate contract in CA, liquidated damages are capped at 3%. That is designed to protect the buyer or consumer, foremost.

In Florida, the state Supreme Court has ruled that liquidated damages as high as 20% of the real estate contract price are not out of line. That definitely benefits big business & corporations much more so than the little guy or gal i.e. individual consumer.

Those are just some of the legal differences between 2 of the biggest states in the US.

California laws are more consumer oriented. Florida laws are more business oriented.

I don't argue it one way or the other...that's just the way it is.

You ASSume that anyone doing home improvements is carrying debt. Erroneously I might add.

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by ComSense

What did you get, mountain views somehow?

Almost…we may be able to see Space Mountain from the second floor.

We wanted nightly fireworks views and no rear neighbors, and were able to get a lot with that.

[BrokerHarry]

Originally Posted by annerk

You ASSume that anyone doing home improvements is carrying debt. Erroneously I might add.

Originally Posted by annerk

I call bull. Anyone putting in a pool like that isn't going to finance the project.

There's two more examples of the know-it-all annerk being dead wrong.

I've presented my credentials.

The forum readers can decide who is the ASS in annerk's ASSume.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by BrokerHarry

There's two more examples of the know-it-all annerk being dead wrong.

I've presented my credentials.

The forum readers can decide who is the ASS in annerk's ASSume.

Credentials mean nothing in this situation, unless they somehow allow you to see people's brokerage statements as well.

[StreetSmarts]

Annerk, how are you going to argue this guys points? He built the pools and knows the customers he is speaking about. I think he'd know how his customers were paying (and who cares if its financed or paid cash anyway?!?).

[annerk]

Originally Posted by ComSense

Annerk, how are you going to argue this guys points? He built the pools and knows the customers he is speaking about. I think he'd know how his customers were paying (and who cares if its financed or paid cash anyway?!?).

He built pools in California. How is that at all relevant to Orlando?

[BrokerHarry]

Originally Posted by annerk

He built pools in California. How is that at all relevant to Orlando?

The swimming pool construction industry in the sun-belt states of California, Arizona, Nevada, & Florida have historically been very closely connected. The leading trade magazines are published in CA & FL.

As a nationally recognized 6x award winning Los Angeles designer & builder, I regularly networked with other major builders all over the country, including Miami, Jacksonville, & Orlando. I was included in nationwide industry round-tables & articles in Pool & Spa News numerous times.

Prior to the 2008 economic meltdown, the majority of major new swimming pool construction projects were financed by consumers utilizing cash-out 2nd mortgage refi's, of which the interest paid was tax deductible.

My corporation built approx $25 million dollars worth of projects that were directly financed by lenders like GreenTree & Conseco.

Virtually all cash out 2nd mortgage financing abruptly ceased in April of 2008, when the sun-belt states were red-lined as a declining market. This was a leading indicator of the looming recession that many folks refused to even acknowledge until the final weeks of the 2008 election.

Subsequently, new swimming pool construction plummeted nationally by as much as 90%, & is only now starting to slowly rebound.

Even today, almost 7 years later, most of the surviving pool companies in Orlando, as well as California, are building only a fraction of the numbers that they were doing previous to the Crash of 2008.

It's because financing remains extremely difficult to obtain, due to reduced homeowner equity, & much more severe underwriting criteria.

If a car dealership lost all their financing, they'd lose a very large percentage of their business.

If a new home builder cannot obtain financing for their buyers, their production drops dramatically.

The entire home improvement industry, & the swimming pool construction industry in particular, has suffered severely from the lack of financing options since 2008.