Steve Payne
President Trump’s speech to the home builders
Canadian ContractorThis is what the new president told the National Association of Home Builders last August
Editor’s note: We ran this last August but now that it’s “President” Trump it’s probably time to revisit it. The excerpts below are from are Donald Trump’s speech to the U.S.-based National Association of Home Builders, at their conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on August 11, 2016. See the whole video here.
“My father built houses”
“My father built houses and he did it beautifully. And he’d go into the homes and he’d check for nails… see, the bigger companies don’t do this but the individual guy who built one, two, eight or 10 homes would do it… My father would go in and he’d pick up the extra nails and the scraps of wood and he’d recycle it or sell it… and it was a constant process. And he did a beautiful job. He would build a house (and sell it) for $39,999.99 in the really old days. I would say, ‘Dad, why? It’s only a penny, what’s the difference?’ And he would reply, ‘I can sell this house for $39,999 but at $40,000 I have no chance…’
“He did great. And people across the street would build a house and it would take them longer and it wouldn’t look as good – and it wasn’t as well-built as my Dad’s. And he’d sell (his) and they wouldn’t (sell theirs). So he’d go across the street and buy them out. And then he’d fix up their house and sell it.”
“If you can build a home you can build anything, because you have 38 trades and you have to know every single one of them.”
“And you’d better have the right subs… because if you don’t you’ve got yourself a problem. And over the years you get familiar with them. And the subs get so familiar with you that they start giving you higher prices – because they know you’ll never use anyone but them! [Laughter from audience.]”
Advertisement
Print this page
The homebuilders may have applauded over the cost of sub-contractors but in my experience they are directly responsible for cost increases, They use the sub-contractors as their bank, having unreasonable terms such as 90 days or more for payment. They also tend to be unorganized and have poor project management skills. A good homebuilder works in partnership with competent sub-trades to produce a good product that self promotes and builds clientele based upon quality. This is simply not the case for most homebuilders.
Probably would have enjoyed this article more if Steve Payne had not inject his anti Trump view and played to the Trump haters. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Trump support or am I a Clinton supporter. I just feel that this article and the Canadian Contractor should take an objective factual position and not be subjective or play to sensationalism. Some researched factual information about Trumps father would have been interesting and a worthy injection.
Where did I “inject (my) anti Trump view” and/or “play to the Trump haters”? By posting the video of his speech to our 17,500 subscribers and telling you the context of the speech in my introduction, this is somehow “anti Trump”?