My specialty? Why customer satisfaction of course! Hehe.
I have been a licensed general contractor for 25 years. During that time, I focused mostly on finish trades. Somehow, I ended up doing a lot of flooring, so I acquired a C15 (flooring) license as well. I do all the standard flooring materials (carpet/vinyl/wood/laminate/LVT), as well as specialty materials like Marmoleum, commercial non-slips, medical, and PVC. I also do coving and mechanical (heat) welding of vinyl. I don't do ceramic or sand and finish wood floors.
I do like custom work, so hopefully, as housing comes back around I will shift focus once again. I have done a lot of property management over the last 6-7 years, and while it pays the bills, the mantra is usually not "do it right," but "do it cheap." I prefer to do it right.
Enough of this unpaid advertisement (I generally don't advertise at all, but you asked.)
Tucking away this gold nugget for future contractor needs...
In regards to the current market and rent vs. buy. My husband and I were awesome renters who paid on time, communicated with our landlords and made land-lord approved (and they were very happy with the results!) improvements to every property we rented.
We were awesome renters. How were we repaid? Every time we wanted to sign a new lease (often for years) the landlord would jack up the rent by several hundred dollars! I guess they figured that we had invested so much of our own time and money into the house that we were made of money and can afford to be raked over the coals.
It IS hard owning a home, we are paying more for our house payment than for rent but I hope I never have to deal with renting again. Dealing with greedy landlords is something I never want to experience again. It is sad to see a lot of houses being snapped up by investors and rented out in a merry-go-round that we were once on. (What happens when the "1%" own all the homes and we are all forced to rent?) Now I have friends who are trying to rent another home in Folsom, as they are finding their rent sky-rocketing. (They are awesome tenants too.)
It is harder to own but it is much more fulfilling and meaningful. I would rather struggle with less money every month and not have to worry about landlord games.
So, if you can, I vote for buying over renting. Folsom really needs homeowners who care about and are invested in (and live in!) their properties.