Remodeling? Slump means idle contractors eager to make deals

A year ago, contractor Ben Collins was crisscrossing Charlotte with a cell phone and a clipboard overseeing home remodeling projects that often topped $1 million.

But on a recent afternoon, he was swinging the hammer himself on a $20,000 bathroom remodeling job in Myers Park.

A year ago, he'd have turned the job down without thinking twice. But in the current economy, Collins is grateful for a $4,000 job overhauling a closet. He's even switched out light fixtures himself. "Anybody who's too proud to get out there and get to work is in big trouble," said Collins, owner of the Salins Group General Contractors.

But the deepest home slump in recent memory is great news for homeowners across the region who need work done and have the money to pay for it.

Some remodelers say they charge from 10 to 30 percent less for most jobs these days because their subcontractors will work for less just to keep their businesses going. And the workmanship may be better too. Even smaller jobs are being done by expert carpenters who have nothing more lucrative to do.

"Everyone's hungry," said Bob Pugh, renovation manager at Simonini Remodeling, the remodeling wing of luxury home builder Simonini Builders.

"We've lowered the bottom end of what we'll look at. We don't call it 'handyman' work, but that's essentially what we're doing. We'll provide carpentry at an hourly rate," Pugh said.

In recent years, it seemed Charlotte's housing boom would never end. Builders and contractors flocked to the Carolinas from other parts of the country, happy to supply the city's growing need for new homes and renovated old ones.

Now, with new home construction and high-end remodeling jobs drying up, those builders and remodelers who are left say they're having to rethink how they run their businesses. Just considering new home construction alone, building permits were down 54 percent in 2008 compared with 2007.

Doing what it takes

For his part, Collins has had to lay off seven workers in the past year and is left with a crew of three, including himself. Pounding nails used to be a waste of his time. Now, it's keeping his business alive.

"I think a lot of the clients have as much if not more respect for me, that I'm able and willing to get in there and do what it takes," Collins says, "instead of sitting in the office bemoaning the fact that we don't have any business."

Tom Pruitt of Thomas Pruitt Builders was one of several builders who noted an upside to the downturn: They're far more connected to customers than they were when they were swamped with work .

"I had to reduce the size of my business, and that got me back in touch with people," he said. "Somewhere along the way, I lost touch. That's what I built my business on, and I'm never going to let that go again."

And he hopes people who still have steady incomes will realize that now is a great time to remodel a home -- costs are lower, and even the highly skilled workers who once only did large jobs are available for small jobs on quick turnaround. He's far more accommodating to potential customers than he was a year ago.

"Now, someone calls and I say, 'A bathroom? It's only a quarter 'til four. I can meet you today.'"

Mike DiFabion, president of Indian Trail-based DiFabion Remodeling, has taken a chin-up approach. "We made a decision in our company that we're not going to participate in the economic downturn," he said.

But DiFabion has been calculated in his business moves. He launched a new home repair service last month aimed at helping existing customers with smaller handyman jobs such as minor plumbing repairs, fixing door hardware or cabinetry -- tasks he normally would have referred to other contractors.

He says he's increased his marketing presence in the past few months, hiring a small public relations firm and taking out ads touting his 10-year-old company's excellent ratings by services like the Better Business Bureau and Angie's List.

He's sent his employees to special training for the Certified Green Professional designation, and his company has attended more trade association meetings and national supplier training programs.

The payoff so far, he said, is he hasn't had to lay off any of his 10 employees.

"I think half the battle is creating a mindset in the culture of a company of saying, 'We're strong and we've worked hard for our reputation and we're going to capitalize on this,'" DiFabion says. "We're not only going to survive, we're going to thrive."