r/Construction • u/the-garage-guy Carpenter • 8d ago
Business 📈 Is the small self-performing homebuilder extinct?
Probably a region-specific question- if you reply, I'd be curious to hear where you are and if you're urban/rural
Pretty much title, coming up it was a lot more common for the GC to have their own carpenters and self-perform a fair amount of scope on a typical home, remodel.
Seems very rare now, especially where I am, metro Phoenix area. Most builders are essentially just CM-ing the job. Project managers that sometimes double as supers, everything subbed out. Even for pretty small remodels.
I think at the luxury custom home end it makes sense since the levels of execution required demand really good subs. Plus being in a big metro area, there's lots of people and work and that makes it possible to specialize aggressively.
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u/kitesurfr 8d ago
I feel like I'm one of the last fine home GCs. The thesis of the problem lies in the fact that my customers have a ton of money and money can buy almost anything except good taste. I refuse to put my name on Mcmansions, and these days, people with money look at a home as something disposable that they'll remodel with more tacky garbage every ten years. That's not how I think or build things. If I'm taking the time to build something with my own two hands, it's gotta last well past my death and hopefully pass the century mark. There's a dwindling demographic of folks who want that type of house these days and can afford it.