One area where government stimulus seems to be helping drive demand is in the home Improvement and renovation market. With up to 15% tax credit from the feds on the value of a project, homeowners are lining up to find good contractors. The better firms are already booked up into the fall.
Some deals we've done in the home improvement sector are not so typical:
- A siding contractor acquired a Bandit wood chipper to process waste panels into recyclable sized chips. This reduced his waste bin removal and dumping charges by multiple factors while also keeping the worksite tidy.
- Including a dump box on a medium duty truck allows a landscaper to haul smaller loads of top soil, gravel or mulch to residential projects without incurring extra expense to bring in full loads by dump truck on contract.
- A start-up flooring contractor acquired good used equipment through a private sale instead of purchasing new.
- An established floor covering sales company expanded into refurbishing old floors by acquiring new floor fininshing machinery. The new service offering opens the door to future sales of carpets, lino and wood flooring.
- Adding a narrow skid steer to their fleet allowed a landscaper to move soil and mulch into client's back yards without removing fencing or gates, cutting down the time to finish most smaller jobs. This also worked well in new residential areas where the houses are very close together... (hauling sod & fencing).
- Good used pickup and utility trucks are available at maybe the lowest prices in decades. General contractors, carpenters, plumbers and electricians could save a bundle. We have financed a variety of privately acquired, wholesale and dealer units with very reasonable monthly payments.
