Building a house or commercial structure got cheaper due to illegal alien labor just when, exactly?
That’s right, it never got cheaper. The contractors have been taking it in markup. The benefit never was passed onto home buyers or businesses building a new office or warehouse.
An article here about a week ago said that regulations in the USA have added as much as $85,000 to every dwelling built.
“Building a house or commercial structure got cheaper due to illegal alien labor just when, exactly?”
It certainly is MUCH CHEAPER in Texas to use non-union types to build houses than union boys...not even close.
As to California, the same is likely true, but you can thank the cost of land and the local/state regulations for not letting the price of housing reflect that.
As to the contractors pocketing the difference, you’re not one of those types who thinks that Exxon gets rich just because the Arabs raise the cost of oil, are you?
“Building a house or commercial structure got cheaper due to illegal alien labor just when, exactly? That’s right, it never got cheaper. The contractors have been taking it in markup.”
I’m in the highrise construction industry (engineering side).
The illegals are 3 times cheaper but take 2 times as long to do anything right and waste materials. Plus there is time wasted on fake paperwork, etc. The actual difference on a project with illegals is maybe -5-10% while other costs increased. Construction prices havent gone down but up.
Competition is so heated that big profit only comes via “creativity”. Bids are often below the point when a job is profitable. All the profits come from cutting corners and dredging up the max possible change orders.
Developers are the ones who by far extract the most profit on a job and their chunk has steadily increased as shoddy construction became the mainstream. Essentially, people are willing to pay higher prices these days for trash build quality. And developers pocket from people’s ignorance.
If you want quality, you must cut out any developers. Buy your own lot directly from an owner and build to your own specs with a recommended contractor. It’ll cost more per sqft but you aren’t getting garbage slapped together by illegals to maximize developer profit.
Building a house or commercial structure got cheaper due to illegal alien labor just when, exactly?
That’s right, it never got cheaper. The contractors have been taking it in markup. The benefit never was passed onto home buyers or businesses building a new office or warehouse.
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Exactly.
That's possibly the case with general contractors and large developers, but if you're a specialty trade contractor (like me), you've gotten hammered over the last fifteen years.