Large communities of the Central American contractors left here in the housing slump. But there are still plenty of GCs (mostly long established firms) and lots of subs around. I'm over towards Charlotte so I'm not really in the position to make recommendations over in Fayetteville.

We are in the Piedmont area. I was told by a local builder that labor costs have gone up 25% in the past year due to a shortage. Add that to increased material costs and we are seeing an approximate 33% increase in overall building costs from last year. Yikes!

Beth......the builder is giving you complete BS to increase their profit!!!!!!.....period!! Where are you in NC? I'm next to Charlotte.

I'm in Randolph County. Due to a new highway, over 300 homes have been destroyed, so there's a flux of new construction in our specific area. Local builders are building spec houses left and right. Over 40 houses are being built within a 2 mile radius of where we just sold (our house sold in 8 days on Zillow). So, no it's not BS to increase profit... costs have risen in our specific area.

The GC is giving you 'complete' BS. Subs did NOT get a 25% raise!! Seriously?? 99.99% of people building a house has NO idea what it REALLY cost to build and the GC's KNOW this!