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How Rehabbers Are Adapting

2025 shortages in electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs are worsening — and every rehabber is feeling it.

Walk onto any job site in America right now and you’ll see the same thing: not enough people, not enough time, and too many houses waiting in line for the three trades that keep civilization running — electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs.

This isn’t a temporary shortage.

This is a structural shift.

A shrinking workforce meets rising demand, and what do you get?

Longer timelines, wider bid spreads, ballooning change-order costs, and permit offices moving slower than a medieval scribe copying manuscripts by candlelight.

Rehabbers are frustrated. Contractors are exhausted. Homeowners are confused.

And cities? They’re still printing new permit forms like it’s a sport.

Let’s break down why this is happening and — more importantly — how smart rehabbers are adapting.

I. Why Trades Are Scarce (and Getting Scarcer)

1. Demographics Finally Came Due

For 20 years I’ve been warning that the skilled-trade workforce was aging out and as a society we have place too high a value on “going to college”.

Well, the future arrived — and it brought a walker.

Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC pros skew older than almost any other profession.

A massive wave of retirements is happening right now, and the replacement pipeline is thin.

2. Cultural Messaging Went the Wrong Direction

For two generations, we told kids that success meant college, a desk, and a laptop.

Meanwhile, the trades quietly became:

• high-income

• low-supply

• recession-resistant

• essential

People with degrees are struggling to find work while a 26-year-old plumber drives past them in a new F-150 pulling a trailer full of future earnings.

But changing the culture takes decades. We’re paying the price now.

3. Skilled Trades Take Time — Real Time — to Train

You can’t create a master electrician by sending someone through a 6-week course and handing them a multimeter. Apprenticeships take:

• 2–4 years in HVAC

• 4–5 years in electrical

• 4–5 years in plumbing

And many of the best teachers just retired.

4. Construction Demand Is Exploding

Population growth + aging housing stock + climate impacts + renovation booms =

far more work than people to do it.

The labor shortage isn’t cyclical.

It’s mathematical.

5. Regulatory Overload

Permits get stricter every year. Codes update faster than many cities can train inspectors. Skilled labor is required for everything, but there’s less of it available.

More rules + fewer workers = slower everything.

II. How This Affects Rehabbers

1. Project Timelines Stretch Like Taffy

Your electrician might be available next week.

Or in three months.

Or after he finishes rewiring a hospital wing he forgot he agreed to last summer.

2. Bid Spreads Widen Dramatically

You ask three HVAC companies for bids.

One says $8,000.

One says $14,500.

One says, “We’re booked out six months but can maybe swing by tomorrow for $22,000.”

They're all telling the truth — their truth.

Scarcity creates volatility.

3. Change Orders Multiply

Trade pros know they’re in demand.

And when the schedule slips, or surprises arise, they charge accordingly.

A $2,000 change order is the new $500 change order.

4. Permit Delays Compound the Pain

You finally get the electrician lined up…

and the inspector is out sick…

and no one else can sign off on your rough-in…

and suddenly you’re 3 weeks behind.

Welcome to 2025.

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III. How Smart Rehabbers Are Adapting

Good news:

You can’t fix the shortage — but you can outmaneuver the competition.

Here’s how.

A. Become a “Preferred Client” Instead of a Casual Customer

Tradespeople prioritize:

• people who pay on time

• people who don’t micromanage

• people who communicate clearly

• people who don’t haggle every line item

• people who are organized

If you treat them like partners, you get premium service.

If you treat them like commodities, you get scheduled for “whenever.”

Strategies:

• Pay deposits and balances same day.

• Provide clear scopes of work.

• Approve change orders fast.

• Keep your job sites clean.

• Bring bottled water.

• Be the investor they want to work for.

A reliable investor can jump ahead in the queue simply by being less difficult than 80% of the world.

B. Consolidate Your Trades — Build a Core Crew

This is the new reality:

You need a core team of trusted pros.

Stop reinventing the wheel on every project.

Stop calling random contractors from Google.

Stop acting like every job is a new adventure.

Your future flips will run faster, cleaner, and cheaper if you assemble:

• 1 primary electrician

• 1 primary plumber

• 1 primary HVAC tech

• 1 lead GC

• 1 reliable handyman

• 1 cleanup crew

If one of them retires or moves, replace with urgency.

This is your lifeline.

C. Pre-Plan Your Sequencing Like a GC

Don’t wait until demo is done to find your electrician.

Book trades during due diligence if the deal is solid.

A rough timeline should be drafted before closing:

• Week 1: Demo

• Week 2: Plumber rough

• Week 3: Electrical rough

• Week 4: HVAC

• Week 5: Inspections

• Week 6: Close the walls

Trade scheduling is chess, not checkers.

D. Sweeten the Deal (Legally and Wisely)

If your schedule is tight:

• Add a rush fee (small but appreciated)

• Guarantee future work

• Offer milestone bonuses

• Provide job site storage space

• Make your jobs easy to approve

This isn’t bribery.

It’s professional incentivizing.

People move faster when they’re rewarded for it.

E. Use Technology to Fill the Gaps

Savvy rehabbers are adopting:

• AI estimating tools

• Automated scheduling apps

• Before/after visualization tools

• Scope of work generators

• Project communication platforms

• Digital permitting portals (where available)

• Vendor management dashboards

Tech doesn’t replace trades — it makes your operation smoother so trades can move faster.

F. Reduce Reliance on Skilled Trades Where Possible

This is controversial, but true:

The more you can prefab, the less you rely on scarce labor.

Examples:

• Prehung doors

• Prefinished cabinets

• Click-lock flooring

• Modular electrical components

• Ductless mini-splits instead of full HVAC runs

• Shower wall systems instead of full tile jobs

Prefab isn’t lazy — it’s strategic.

G. Get Ahead of the Permit Office

• Submit early

• Over-communicate

• Use detailed drawings

• Call to confirm review timelines

• Avoid Mondays (everyone calls Mondays)

• Visit in person when needed — inspectors respond to faces, not emails

Make friends at the permit desk and you’ll cut weeks off your timeline.

H. Make Your Jobs Attractive

Tradespeople will turn down your project…

unless they want it.

Ways to improve your odds:

• Good access

• Clean staging area

• Temporary power available

• Clutter-free workspace

• Clear instructions posted onsite

• Reasonable expectations

• Zero drama

Chaos repels skilled labor.

Order attracts it.

IV. Where This Is Going (and Why This Matters)

The labor bottleneck isn’t going away.

In fact, it will get worse before it gets better.

Expect:

• higher labor prices

• longer scheduling windows

• bigger delays

• more competition

• more negotiation leverage for trades

• more regional disparities

• more skilled workers choosing which clients they like

Rehabbers who adapt will thrive.

Rehabbers who cling to the “good old days” of cheap labor and fast service will age out faster than a rusted-out compressor.

The future belongs to:

• Organized investors

• Good communicators

• Trade-friendly operators

• Schedule-savvy planners

• Investors who treat labor as partners, not obstacles

Construction is a team sport.

And right now, the team is short-handed.

Work smart.

Build relationships.

Stay ahead of the bottleneck.

And you’ll be one of the few rehabbers who doesn’t have to panic when the plumber says he’s available “sometime in July.”

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