All Forum Posts by: Hugh Ayles

@Alex Craig

I have never heard of a general contractor franchise.  I think that speaks to your comment about an easy rehab process.  I assume Open Door may be trying to set up a franchise business.

Yes, you can find paint, blinds, and flooring franchises.  But there are too many variables in general contracting.

I find it interesting that they consider Austin an oil and gas boom city.  There is not much oil industry in Austin.  As of the late '80s, Austin is more of a tech center.  With the new med school coming on line over the next year, I anticipate a biotech boom and hopefully it has a similar affect as the new fab plants did around 1992 when they came on line here.

In any business you must have cash reserves.  The trick is having enough cash and still being able to run your business the most profitably.  That means you have some cash in reserves and some cash is working capital.

In TX there is a licensing website which indicates which trades must be licensed.

If Nebraska indicates general contractors must be licensed, then you must have a license.

I would call your local permit office for clarification.

Are you looking to create floor plans or scan floor plans and mark them up?

If the latter, Planswift is good for takeoffs.  I think you could use it to mark up floor plans for scope of work.  It was a lower priced program that was only $795 the last time I checked.  Similar programs were $3k and up.

Modified bitumen is not the same as shingle roofing.  How much of your roof is modified bitumen and how much is shingle?

 It depends on how you define wasted potential.

For you, it is wasted potential because you want to grow assets. For Mike, he is taking a defensive mode so he is using his potential to protect assets.

My previous post was about potential being defined differently for different people.

@Simon Shih

We just paid a bit more than that in Austin.  We had a couple of quotes that were within a couple hundred of each other.  That is why I was asking.  In Austin people were mentioning pricing similar to what you listed and they were not sure it was a complete system.

And this excluded finishes.

That being said, if you are adding a complete system, make sure you locate vents and ductwork.  In our case, there was an existing low roof addition and to fit the ductwork into it we had to create a chase to conceal the ductwork feeding each of the 2 rooms in the addition.  In one chase, we made it into a coat closet since the house did not have one.  

Unexpected costs we had to cover.

 This is something that I do not get.  For years I have heard you must always be growing your business.

If you have sustained income and it can keep up with or surpass inflation, why must you have more?

It is important to pay attention to your own risk tolerance and cash flow needs.

@Simon Shih

Does $5-7k included condensing unit, ductwork, and new electric service?