Contractors- the good (is there?), the bad and the ugly

[Shai Flax]

Hi BP!

I'll start with that- I am really (really) frustrated.

I'm investing in Pittsburgh PA and one of the things that is holding me the most is the fact that I can't find a contractor. At all.

I have a rental property that needed just a minor fix so the PM took care of that for me. Now I want to buy a duplex that will probably need a nice amount of work and I afraid to do that because I don't have a contractor yet.

I have tried to look search (and reach out) in Home advisor, Angie's list, Yelp, Houzz. Also looked here in Pittsburgh forum and couldn't find any refferals. I was looking in the Facebook area group but I have a trust issues with refferals from Facebook.

I'm OOC so I don't know anyone from Pittsburgh (exept my agent which have no refferal for me).

I know that I'm doing something wrong obviously and I would really like to know what.

Any input or recommondation will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Jim K.]

@Shai Flax

Pittsburgh is a special situation, Shai, and that's one of the reasons it's not a particularly good city to invest in from OOS or OOC. The problem is  multifold:

1. In general, the city's infrastructure is gravely degraded and the population is shrinking. The few young people who are interested in the trades are employed almost immediately out of trade schools by big contracting and construction outfits with city and county maintenance contracts. This leaves us with a deficit of young people who are willing to replenish the existing numbers of home improvement contractors.

2. The city's housing stock is seriously out-of-date and needs constant maintenance. This gives the existing home improvement contractors a very large pool of work that always needs to be done. The only ones advertising are the ones who don't have work lined up for six, seven months in advance, and that generally excludes everyone but the incompetents.

3. I'm selling a house right now to a renovation company. Why work for others and take part of the proceeds your work can earn, when you can work for yourself and take it all?

4. The Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is the oldest in America. This gives existing contractors a readymade pool of work -- you can't expect a 70-year-old to lay flooring or fix a porch. The health care industry is also the largest employer in the area. Specialized health care workers are also typically not big on DIY -- it's part of the culture.

All in all, there's a serious shortage of small to mid-size contractors who are able to do good-sized renovations, a serious shortage of handymen, and the people that are available to hire are typically less competent than you might find elsewhere.