Originally Posted by
t_ross33
Awesome post LaGrange,
The recent softwood lumber trade dispute between Canada and the US has been a big topic up here, what's your perspective on it and has it impacted building supply costs there? Not to get political, just wondering about the "man on the street" view.
Trev
P.S. Sorry to hear about your Mom. I've been down that road with both my parents. Thoughts and prayers, dude!
What is really killing home buyers regionally (Ohio,Kentucky,Indiana,Pennsylvania)
Illegal Immigrants! HUGE numbers of them flooded the area about 6 years ago (when I was 19 ) and started taking the skilled labor jobs - bricklayers,Framers,Carpenters - for DIRT CHEAP. Contractors, and homebuilders alike hired these sub-contractors at thousands of dollars less a house but still sold the houses for around the same price. A housing boom went up but, since these people building the houses were illegal you cannot tax them. Houses, whole businesses were being run under the table. Tax money was being ushered south of the border and the governments around picked up on it. The residential areas were booming, lots of money were flowing into the construction supply yards, anything connected with what the illegals had to buy to live also. So all the Homebuilding companies were making loads of money BUT fronting to the government they weren't. Local sheriffs in counties and states around here started going to jobsites and busting illegals - they got permission from the federal govt. to do these operations. Fischer Homes were busted BIGTIME, having over IIRC 200 Illegals working for them. They posted a statement saying "It is our sub contractors job to make sure of the legitimacy of their employees"
So couple that with bloating lumber costs - that only the builders and people who care hear about - and skilled labor costs going through the roofs and 9/11 (still affecting the construction ind. in the US and esp. here) home costs are insane. Hamilton County in Ohio (the county where Cincinnati is) has the highest foreclosure rate in the country as of now also.
Thats about the condition from me perspective.
Guitars: Epiphone Special 2 LP modded with a SD Pearly Gates and a SD Alnico 2 flat strat pro.300K pots.Tone pros Brass Stop tailpiece.Dunlop frets dressed to .031,LSR roller nut, Spezel custom stainless steel locking tuners. Satin finished neck.Fender MIM 50's strat modded with LSR roller nut, graph tech string tree,sperzel satin chrome locking tuners, graph tech saddles,300K push pull volume for "neck on pup" and 200K tone pots.PUPS:Neck seymore duncan QP single coil for strat. Middle: Seymour Duncan JB Jr with coil tap (so actually a 9 way tone selection). Bridge: Same as neck.Amps/Cabs.2 Epi Valve Jr's, Peavey Delta Blues 1x15. Randall RG200es,Guitar research 4x8 cab loaded W/celestion super 8's and rewired for two-2x8 operation.Marshall 4x12 slant lead cab,Johnson cab 1x12.