20,000$ enough to start,moving from EU (Phoenix: fit in, apartment, to rent)

[ben_lumumba]

Hallo , Sunny Valley
Greeting to Sunshine people!
To put it simply , can 15,00-20,000 $/euro be enough to start in Phoenix?
Well , that mean that I have it cash , debt free.
1) I am single, male,42 years old , construction trade , residential mason , plastering , painting , drywall , stone and tiling , bricklaying...
currently located in Vienna , Austria.
I am GOOD in my trade , BUT not the BEST , but I still like to learn new stuff
as technology progresses.
-European school of masonry .GERMAN WAY , what does mean I don´t do crap work,only quality , decent work , discipline , hard work , precision , on time , clean cut , but still flexible , don´t fucg around , don´t bust somebody a§§ , easy to get along.
I am honest in my trade , still like what I do that´s why I work what I like ,so the success will come , respect follows and ultimately money.
These are words of my teacher back then when I was in school for ,bricklayer journyman
Living cost per month , approximately :
2) DON´T dream American dream ,big money in short time ,just read above under 1)
3) food(organic not junky food)
4) I need to buy a car ,not for 1,000$ junk and I don´t need to fall apart when driving from car saler´s yard end he says it is written in contract .
5) Renting , cheap one ,I am single ,but want SAFE area ,NOT meth ,heroin (...put what you like) “dirty” pockets/area ,safety above all.
Could be condo , room ( but not shared ,just for me) , house ,apartment…what ever
6) Probably I should need storage for my tools and light masonry equipment machinery.
like power saw , driller and alike , all can fit in one room , no scaffolds
5) plus 6) that´s maybe why should I concider likely some house with back yard where I can built some portofolio/live presentation what can I do,so clients should see my work physically , something as Construction park for my customers
7) Cell phone to choose , maybe land-line , fax ,computer with Internet…
8) Masonry tools to buy
9) The rest of costs you can add for what you think I should take into consideration ass this thread progresses.
This is thread is addition to those thread :
//www.city-data.com/forum/phoen...plastring.html
That is a part , what should be important to consider and I delve in it .
“…As worker or as sole trader or LLC sole buisness LLC?...”
Thank everybody for any input.
Bets reagards,
Ben

P.S. Bottom line is (ha,what ´s the heck??) that I get choosen for DV 2011 Green Card Lottery

[adolpho]

there is a maximum repair one can do without a contractor's license. Might be about a 1000. Your uncle Arnold would be the first to tell you don't move to California. Arizona is way cheaper. Construction business is very poor right now, but you sound like you could get something going.

[asufan]

As someone that has worked as a Developer in the area, I can tell you that GOOD masons are hard to find in Arizona. I have always told people, if there was a good masonry company in the valley, they would be rich people, because they seem impossible to find. I think the reason is that masonry labor is considered bottom rung as far as construction workers, so most of the people with skill move on to other (more lucrative) trades. The market is slow right now, but you have a lot of different skills and may be able to pick up odd jobs here and there.

As far as transportation, since the market has crashed, there are A LOT of used Ford F-150 pickup trucks being auctioned for $2,000-$3,000 at the auto auctions. My friend got one with an extra cab for his business about 6 months ago for under $3,000. So that is an option for you.

20,000 Euro's is a decent amount of money, I think it's more like $25,000 to $27,000 in American dollars, and Arizona is relatively inexpensive as far as cost of living. You should be able to rent an apartment in a decent part of town for $650-$700/month, maybe less. As long as you think you'll be able to find work, go for it. But be warned, the residential industry is ridiculously slow right now, so it may be a bad time.

[AZJoeD]

Yes, as ASUFAN mentioned it won't be easy, but you can do it.

People have come here with a lot less than what you have.

[Finger Laker]

You have a good start financially so it's not impossible

however, for jobs it may be very difficult - there is pretty much no residential work out here right now

commercial work is drying up - the metro phoenix area has 8 millions sq ft of vacant commercial space right now

the metro really is overbuilt and the construction market is a bloodbath

as ASUFan mentioned you may have a leg up if you are a skilled mason who is reliable ...... it really is a bottom of the rung trade out here and those with skill sets that go beyond masonry do so and do it rather quickly

with that wages are on the lower end for masonry contractors

it can be done, but it's not a pretty picture right now for what you do

[ben_lumumba]

Hi
And thanks for fast response.
[/quote] there is a maximum repair one can do without a contractor's license. Might be about a 1000. Your uncle Arnold would be the first to tell you don't move to California. Arizona is way cheaper. Construction business is very poor right now, but you sound like you could get something going[/quote]
Anyhow , I am aware of " ... licensed,bonded,insured ... "
So I WILL go legal way .I do everything officially .
Without losing time I can do this licensing story over here , in Vienna.
That´s no problem , I can get whole pack from Arizona department of commerce .
So , that ´s about legal issue.
[/quote] [b] s someone that has worked as a Developer in the area, I can tell you that GOOD masons are hard to find in Arizona. I have always told people, if there was a good masonry company in the valley, they would be rich people, because they seem impossible to find. I think the reason is that masonry labor is considered bottom rung as far as construction workers, so most of the people with skill move on to other (more lucrative) trades [/quote] [b]
“ …GOOD masons…” as workers (employees ) or contractors going independent .
I don’t understand this part . Nuclear biology , rocket science , aerospace engineering are not bottom line and house is falling apart . Masonry is honest trade.
When discussing over web or when chatting about USA/World economic crisis everytime (many times) I get response like “… well you are lucky ,Ben,you have A TRADE…”,
Or like “… many are jobless but if you are GOOD mason (whatever on construction I mention in my original post) don´t fear… or “… you are not one who will be without GOD paying job..”
This is very encouraging.
But recent infos on unemployment in construction-really devasting 30%.
In some areas .Well maybe too many low skilled were employed in industry and it is now time for cleansing . so those 30 % is just above 100% what is really needed , something as 130 %,this 30% is just “ I miss english word” or alike . The same here in Europa . Before , I was laying in the bed and good paying job will come naturaly , without me looking for it , now if I want to get the same amount of money , (read same standard of living ) I have to go independent . But here , man , tax ,man , I really lough when seeing you USA people complaining over taxes .UK also got a lot of problems with new EU-Eastern EU countries
and their workers really dumping the prices.
[/quote] [b] You should be able to rent an apartment in a decent part of town for $650-$700/month, maybe less [/quote] [b]
Huu , I expected a bit less, on craiglist.com 300$-400$ range can be found easily , official property
Menagers. Or it is just a ad:
GATED COMPLEX-EZ2QUALIFY-LUXURY/AFFORDABLE-LOW MOVE-IN SPECIAL (http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/apa/1602800625.html - broken link)
[/quote] [b] commercial work is drying up - the metro phoenix area has 8 millions sq ft of vacant commercial space right now[/quote] [b]
I don´t like commercial construction : too big companies / corporations , screwing up their subcontractors , 60-90-120-days pay time .This is what happening here . Just go for
private clients . We had never problems when doing that way , and private homeowners
were satisfied . Big GC , fergetabouit .
I was looking for threads about Arizona and its construction here around but not so many.
The first thread about construction trede didn´t draw a lot of intention.
I hope when people see 15,000$ -20,000$ will be maybe way more attracted to it , of course
that was not my idea when posting this . Just REAL start up finance.
Best regards,
Ben

[lizzy1981]

I know you are wanting AZ but San Antonio, Texas is doing quite well in relation to the rest of the US. Yet the heat here is not a dry heat! Don't expect to get paid bookoo here either as the cost of living is very cheap.

[ben_lumumba]

Originally Posted by lizzy1981

I know you are wanting AZ but San Antonio, Texas is doing quite well in relation to the rest of the US. Yet the heat here is not a dry heat! Don't expect to get paid bookoo here either as the cost of living is very cheap.

well,you are right.I was thinking about Texas, concerning only Sun Belt states-read weather.
Why? Why is weather an an issue?
Well,I work in construction and I am not programmer.So the WEATHER IS an issue because I am sick of rain,cold,moisture,freezing temperature,wind, I am wet mostly all day long.Here in Vienna first days below zero temperature start
in november and van last to mid march.So first really good days start in
april.Above all, we can´t go all from exterior to
interior construction/remodeling .There are interior jobs but not for all in construction.Also,when winter weather -- many other brunches related to construction seasonally decline .Just live goes sllooowwer for 4 months and that IS not good for me.
No sun,no fun.Just psychologically no matter what problems one might have,sun makes it easier to overcome and when going good times enjoy is biger .

To be continued

Best refards,
Ben
At the moment ,Texas is doing better then others, nowhere is very good now, just little worse/better then somewhere.
San Antonio,best in USA,7% UE rate-source:Get Involved
So,Texas,Arizona,Colorado,Utah,California were all considered.
After some 1-2 years search I narrow choise on Arizona and Texas.
I was thinking about DC, Northern Virginia-South Maryland hub as big
economic centar..but...
I looked for cities comparison sites what is worth the same amount of money and found I wouldn´t go so far on the east coast D.C. area, though I can get higher wage,but justified the costs?
Mr. Murphey is pure gold,when there is slight possibility something could go go wrong,be sure, will go wrong.So I prepare with the worst,i.e. I come to "______" city end how far I can go with this money without job for 3-6-9 months?
Simple math.Arizona,Phoenix better then Taxas and some big cities there?
Don´t know but maybe I might have been thinking with heart and not with brain.Just read some posts Phoenix vs. Dallas ( Dallsbeing initially the choice ).
or Phoenix vs. "__whatever__city"…
Also,some issua I want to point out the cost of doing/starting business in Arizona/Texas.
In AZ,Phoenix you have to license to almost any type speciality work as tiler,stone,plasterer,
Painter,masonry.In San Antonio no speciality licensing.Maybe that´s make difference.

[Finger Laker]

Ben - I only mentioned commercial drying up because residential is pretty much dead, at least from a new construction standpoint ..... service/home improvements is alive, but very competative

if you are just looking to come stateside than maybe a place like new orleans could be a fit .... louisiana is pretty much the only state that has posted growth or even flat construction numbers

construction unemployment in AZ is between 20%-30% and it isn't just a cleansing of the unskilled .... i know many contractors who are laying off employees they've had for 20+ years

[myravenge]

The weather during the summers in Phoenix will be very hard for you. An average of 100 + degrees can kill you if you don't know how to deal with it.

Texas seems to have a better economy than AZ does at this time. Dallas is a good choice and you might want to check out Austin. Whatever place you choose, try to learn some Spanish. It will come in handy. Good luck!