RISMedia
  • News
  • Premier
  • Reports
  • Events
  • Power Broker
  • Newsmakers
  • More
    • Publications
    • Education
No Result
View All Result
  • Agents
  • Brokers
  • Teams
  • Marketing
  • Coaching
  • Technology
  • More
    • Headliners New
    • Luxury
    • Best Practices
    • Consumer
    • National
    • Our Editors
Join Premier
Sign In
RISMedia
  • News
  • Premier
  • Reports
  • Events
  • Power Broker
  • Newsmakers
  • More
    • Publications
    • Education
No Result
View All Result
RISMedia
No Result
View All Result

Where Did All the Contractors Go?

Home Agents
Commentary by Olivia Mariani
May 12, 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Where Did All the Contractors Go?

Man holding blue helmet close up. Construction man worker with office and people in background. Close up of a construction worker's hand holding working helmet.

If you’re having a difficult time finding contractors to help you get your listings ready for market, you’re not alone. Agents and homeowners across the country are struggling to find contractors to complete even the simplest of jobs—so what’s the deal?

To tell the full story, it’s best to rewind back to the Great Recession of 2008.

The Great Recession stretched from 2007-2009, but the effects on the construction industry lasted from 2006 to 2013. Millions of jobs were lost, and thousands of businesses were affected. To put it into perspective, pre-recession, the total monthly valuation for all construction was $1.2 trillion. When the industry bottomed out in February 2011, the value of construction in place was just under $755 billion dollars. The number of employees also fell drastically—from 7.7 to 5.4 million.

Now, let’s fast forward back to today.

While the industry has largely recovered, many skilled workers left the workforce when the industry bottomed out, never to return again. Another set of workers is simply ready for retirement. Finally, the industry hasn’t received the same influx of new workers from younger generations because of negative perceptions toward trades as well as an assumption that attending college is the only way to earn a livable wage.

Most Americans are aware that there’s a lumber shortage because it’s garnered a lot of media attention—but there’s also a skilled worker shortage. According to the Associated General Contractors of America’s 2020 Construction Outlook Survey, 81% of construction firms had trouble filling trade positions and 72% anticipated labor shortages to continue to be a big hurdle.

While the number of skilled workers is on the decline, demand for their services is on the rise. Why?

There’s a serious mismatch of supply and demand within residential real estate. Not only are there not enough new homes to fill the needs of millennials—who represent the largest generation since the baby boomers as well as the current largest home-buying generation—but the condition of homes in existence also doesn’t meet consumer preferences.

Almost 80% of homes in the U.S. are now at least 20 years old and 40% are at least 50 years old. The aging of America’s housing stock means we need contractors to not only build new homes, but also to fix up the existing ones, especially since buyers have a huge preference for move-in ready. The COVID-19 pandemic has only put more pressure on the home improvement industry, as homeowners continue to transform their spaces for a different kind of life.

Pair the aging housing stock, millennial preferences for turnkey homes and the spike in home improvement projects brought on by the pandemic with the skilled worker shortage, and you’ve got an incredibly overstretched workforce. This is resulting in countless project delays and steep costs—and that’s if you can even find a contractor to do the job!

So, what can we do?

Home improvement has been done the same way for decades. Most of the work is completed by independent contractors in the US, who each have their own approach. The problem is these different approaches are almost all rooted in inefficient labor and manual processes—resulting in waiting weeks just to get a proposal. Once projects do get started, they often suffer from poor communication, frequent delays and the surprise of added costs. For real estate, this can be a deal killer and present a lot of risk to agents who need to get their client’s homes market-ready.

The industry needs streamlining, which is why Curbio is reinventing home improvement for real estate with its tech-powered process that takes the coordination away from contractors, so they can focus on what they do best—their trades.

Curbio is readily available to provide an estimate for your project within 24 hours. Our full-time project managers and network of vetted and trained trade professionals allow us to start immediately on any project. Finally, we’ve leveraged our relationships with national vendors to ensure the materials we offer are ready to ship immediately to prevent unnecessary delays in you getting your listings on the market.

Curbio gets your listings market-ready fast, so you can get to closing without delays. Get started with your free, same-day estimate.

Olivia Mariani is the Director of Marketing at Curbio. To learn more about Curbio’s pre-listing home improvement solution and how it can help you grow your business, visit curbio.com.

Tags: BuyingContractorsCurb AppealCurbioPre-List ImprovementsReal Estateselling
ShareTweetShare

Olivia Mariani

Olivia Mariani is chief marketing officer at Curbio.

Related Posts

Global Spotlight: Safe Investments, Variety of Buying Options Lure Foreigners to Costa Rica
Agents

Global Spotlight: Safe Investments, Variety of Buying Options Lure Foreigners to Costa Rica

June 10, 2023
Sale or No Sale: Nightmare Scenarios REALTORS® Must Avoid
Agents

Sale or No Sale: Nightmare Scenarios REALTORS® Must Avoid

June 9, 2023
The Power Broker Interview: Donny Samson Shares How a Focus on Learning and Recruiting Supported Success in 2022
Agents

The Power Broker Interview: Donny Samson Shares How a Focus on Learning and Recruiting Supported Success in 2022

June 9, 2023
How Top Producers Leverage the Power of Digital Marketing
Agents

How Top Producers Leverage the Power of Digital Marketing

June 9, 2023
Mortgage Mix: Mega-Lender Sued for Harassment; Foreclosures Rise
Agents

Mortgage Mix: Mega-Lender Sued for Harassment; Foreclosures Rise

June 9, 2023
Preparing Now for What’s Next in Real Estate: A Special Message from RISMedia CEO John Featherston
Agents

Preparing Now for What’s Next in Real Estate: A Special Message from RISMedia CEO John Featherston

June 9, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tip of the Day

Social Media Savvy: How Fostering a Sense of Authenticity Builds Trust and Credibility

Lauren Matera increased business via the use of social media platforms by $10 million in sales in her first year alone. Passionate about all things social media (with 432K followers on TikTok and 17K followers on Instagram), Matera discussed her best tips with us.

Business Tip of the Day provided by

Recent Posts

  • Global Spotlight: Safe Investments, Variety of Buying Options Lure Foreigners to Costa Rica
  • Sale or No Sale: Nightmare Scenarios REALTORS® Must Avoid
  • The Power Broker Interview: Donny Samson Shares How a Focus on Learning and Recruiting Supported Success in 2022

Categories

  • Spotlights
  • Best Practices
  • Advice
  • Marketing
  • Technology
  • Social Media

The Most Important Real Estate News & Events

Click below to receive the latest real estate news and events directly to your inbox.

Sign Up
By signing up, you agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

About Blog Our Products Our Team Contact Advertise/Sponsor Media Kit Email Whitelist Terms & Policies ACE Marketing Technologies LLC

© 2023 RISMedia. All Rights Reserved. Design by Real Estate Webmasters.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Premier
  • Reports
  • News
    • Agents
    • Brokers
    • Teams
    • Consumer
    • Marketing
    • Coaching
    • Technology
    • Headliners New
    • Luxury
    • Best Practices
    • National
    • Our Editors
  • Publications
    • Real Estate Magazine
    • Past Issues
    • Custom Covers
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Podcasts
    • Event Coverage
  • Education
    • Get Licensed
    • REALTOR® Courses
    • Continuing Education
    • Luxury Designation
    • Real Estate Tools
  • Newsmakers
    • 2023 Newsmakers
    • 2022 Newsmakers
    • 2021 Newsmakers
    • 2020 Newsmakers
    • 2019 Newsmakers
  • Power Broker
    • 2023 Power Broker
    • 2022 Power Broker
    • 2021 Power Broker
    • 2020 Power Broker
    • 2019 Power Broker
  • Join Premier
  • Sign In

© 2023 RISMedia. All Rights Reserved. Design by Real Estate Webmasters.

X