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Show Summary
In this conversation, Dylan Silver interviews Tyler Minor, a framer and handyman from Lawrence, Kansas. They discuss the trends in new construction, the vocational training programs available for young people, the dynamics of the housing market in Lawrence, and the common requests for handyman services. Tyler shares insights on entering the handyman business, the importance of education in the trades, and his current projects.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Tyler MINOR (00:00)
would say ⁓ one, a lot of people getting into the handyman thing I think is becoming a new thing. So first it was like, hey, everybody get a trade, trades are making a comeback. But then you start to realize that new construction, where these apartments are just popping up out of nowhere. You’re driving somewhere and like, I didn’t even see this side of town being built that fast. So I see a lot more people going towards the handyman and more personal business. If you want to get into it, I would say the best thing is,To go to a school where you’re not going to be paying too much in tuition, somewhere where you basically can jump into it hands-on and then it’s not going to take more than about 12 months.
Dylan Silver (02:15)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Tyler Minor, is a framer, handyman, and carpenter out of Lawrence, Kansas. Tyler, thank you for taking the time today.Tyler MINOR (02:28)
Thank you guys.Dylan Silver (02:28)
It’s great to have you on here. And you know, I have to say, I know very little about this geographic area, Lawrence, Kansas, but you were explaining to me that, you know, it’s about 40 minutes from Kansas City, Missouri. Is that accurate?Tyler MINOR (02:43)
Yep, depending on how fast you drive.Dylan Silver (02:46)
That’s right. That’s right. I lived in DFW Dallas-Sport Worth Metro and you know, I lived in this area Denton and someone told me, hey, it’s commuting distance from Dallas. It turned out to be like about an hour away. So depends on what whose commuted is, right? But what I really want to talk with you about today on the show is, know, howinvestors are both maintenance in their properties and then also to we’re seeing a movement into ground up new construction, not just from folks who may have lots of experience, but also from folks who may not have done a new build before. And so as someone who’s involved in really all sides of the business, framing, handyman, carpentry, how
much movement are you seeing in ⁓ this space, in new construction? Are you seeing more people get into it? You know, not just folks who maybe have a background in new construction.
Tyler MINOR (03:42)
Basically, I don’t know about the rest of the United States, but I know that from Lawrence, Kansas, we have a couple programs. It’s like a vocational school. It’s called a Easley-Dwayne Training Technical School. basically, they’re driving kids straight out of high school, whether you’re a freshman, sophomore, and you don’t really know if you’re going to go to a major university. So they’re putting you directly into the vocational school, and they’re getting you directly into the field. And it’s a lot for theThere’s a lot of high school kids jumping right into it.
Dylan Silver (04:14)
So are these like people that are framing homes, building brand new homes?Tyler MINOR (04:19)
Mainly, you know, Lawrence Candace is expanding right now. It’s like 85 % the college and then the town’s kind of small. So like a lot of the seats and the expansion with the Super Bowl and the cheese and everything. So it’s a lot of farming complex.Dylan Silver (04:35)
Okay, so they’re doing apartment complex. Let me ask you this. mean, I’m again, fish out of water in this space. What’s like the salary or the wages that those young folks are making when they’re jumping into these programs?Tyler MINOR (04:47)
They you know they give you a list and they tell you demographically off you’re in York You’re gonna make this or you’re here. You’re gonna make this you can make 35,000 40,000 so roughly about $15 nowDylan Silver (04:59)
Now, when we talk about the career path of someone that’s building homes, building multifamily, do these folks typically think from an entrepreneurship perspective, like, I’m gonna build my own business at some point in time? Or is there an element of this which is, hey, I’ve gotta work for myself or work for others for an extended period of time before I can go out and do that?Tyler MINOR (06:12)
I’d say mainly it’s more working for other people. I don’t think some of these people, maybe only a few rare ones, to take it into their own opportunity. Or maybe some people think they do, but they’re not being taught how to jumpstart their own businesses.Dylan Silver (06:28)
You know, and that’s a big thing, right? Because when you have the skill sets to work on homes, I mean, this is coming from a realtor myself and someone who’s worked with a lot of investors. This is going to be one of the most in demand skill sets, I think, in our country, right? Because when people need someone to fix something that may seem, you know, superficial to someone in the trades, but is very intensive to them, they can either get highly specialized work that’s going to cost them a lot, or they can go to someone who mightbe more of a generalist, right? And that’s important to have because if you’ve got a short-term rental and you’ve got a stay coming up and you don’t want a bad review, you need something fixed quickly.
Tyler MINOR (07:08)
Mm-hmm.Dylan Silver (07:09)
Now, when we talk specifically about the Lawrence market, I was looking up demographics before hopping on here. You it’s about 100,000 people, right? So this is, I said like it would be a small city or a large town, right? What are you seeing as being some of the trends? And I believe you mentioned that there’s a college out there. Are you seeing like lots of multifamily housing going up over there? Are there subdivisions being built in the single family space as well? What are you seeing out there?Tyler MINOR (07:36)
⁓ I know that sadly, ⁓ you have kids like a family of a two or three plus, ⁓ it’s kind of becoming hard to, ⁓ purchase a house because the, house market market I’ve heard is declining badly. So after like the college kids, it’s more of like a one bedroom, ⁓ kind of like a studio thing. They’re building like giant apartment complexes, like they’re huge.You got like your own studio to focus on your school and then you got a golf course, a pool, it’s kind of more just self for you instead of like after like the two to three bedroom apartments, a lot of those are getting turned and remodeled into the one bedroom studio apartment. So everything’s kind of getting modeled into this like self driven single type home type thing here.
Dylan Silver (08:29)
Well, like workforce housing is what I’ve heard or like renting by necessity. Basically, it’s it’s you know, people are, you know, not able to buy. So they’re they’re renting. Do you know what those the rents are going for out there? Like, let’s say a one bedroom at one of those locations.Tyler MINOR (08:45)
I would say about 2-3 years ago, ramp was anywhere from like 400 at the lowest maybe to about 700 which was a little bit in the price range now. It jumps quickly from UK 405 for one bedroom to about 1400.Dylan Silver (09:04)
Wow, that’s a huge jump. Is the primary driver of that, like the schools that are around there? I know you mentioned there’s a college out there. Is that the big driver of business and of the population shift, or is there other business out there as well?Tyler MINOR (09:19)
It’s mainly the hundred percent of definitely the colors YeahDylan Silver (09:23)
Okay, so it’s a big influence.One of my…
One of the things that I’ve noticed about colleges is there is really, unless we have another COVID situation, it’s really a huge opportunity for student housing. Because what I’ve seen is you don’t just have the student housing that’s on campus, it also kind of has this concentric largening of the city. I’m sure you’ve probably seen that where you have the students who may go to school, that they may stay in the area afterwards, or they may potentially live off campus. ⁓
but be effectively commuting to the school. And that just keeps growing the city and the demand for housing as well.
Tyler MINOR (10:39)
Yeah. It just kind of seems like more of their building like after, what do call it, after graduate type homes, but there’s still living areas that are kind of like blocked off or gated off.Dylan Silver (10:42)
Yeah.Now I do want to pivot a bit here Tyler and ask you if I can get into the weeds here about the typical ⁓ work that you might come across as a handyman, as someone who might be working with investors or just folks in general. Of course that’s gonna run the gamut, but what are the typical types of calls or folks who might be reaching out to you? What are they typically asking for?
Tyler MINOR (11:22)
At most I mean I would say they’re looking for more like a finishing carpentry person As for rough framing like I said, it’s a lot of farming complexes. A lot of people are not building houses from Ground up. I know people doing porches and back decks and things like that Haven’t been doing very good. So really I’d say it’s more like kitchen cabinets Kitchen remodels bathrooms kind of moreNecessities that you actually really need daily. So just like, I need my porch done, you know.
Dylan Silver (11:57)
I mean, the kitchen remodel thing is huge, though. I mean, that’s going to drastically affect the price of the home, right? When someone is reaching out to you for, let’s say, a kitchen remodel, is this typically someone who’s getting ready to sell their home or is this someone who’s, hey, they’re living there and they just want something that’s upgraded?Tyler MINOR (12:15)
more of an upgrade.Dylan Silver (12:17)
Okay, so they’re staying there. Now, what’s of course, it’s going to vary depending on the area and you know, how much of an upgrade they want. But typically speaking, what’s the range that you would give folks if they already have an existing kitchen and they’re looking to get some type of upgrade? What can they be expecting price point wise?Tyler MINOR (12:18)
Yep. Yeah.I would say the most $4,000. It depends if you price too high. Like I said, a lot of people here, $4,000 is actually pretty deep in the mouth. I’d say it’s the lowest $2,000. If you don’t want to go below that, you know, you only go below $2,000.
Dylan Silver (12:54)
I do want to ask you about folks who are building businesses in handyman services. I’ve seen more of this. And as I mentioned earlier, I think especially for folks who are dealing with turnover or a short-term rental or a tenancy, you want to have these really be on top of it because any dip in service can cause an issue. Are you seeing that there’s more people getting into that handyman space? And then as well, for folks who may be interested in getting in, what would beadvice to them if they’re interested in getting into that space.
Tyler MINOR (13:28)
would say ⁓ one, a lot of people getting into the handyman thing I think is becoming a new thing. So first it was like, hey, everybody get a trade, trades are making a comeback. But then you start to realize that new construction, where these apartments are just popping up out of nowhere. You’re driving somewhere and like, I didn’t even see this side of town being built that fast. So I see a lot more people going towards the handyman and more personal business. If you want to get into it, I would say the best thing is,To go to a school where you’re not going to be paying too much in tuition, somewhere where you basically can jump into it hands-on and then it’s not going to take more than about 12 months.
There’s programs where they might tell you, it takes two to three years, four years. But if you can just get in there, knock it out, 12 months, jump directly into the field, directly as soon as you graduate. Go directly into the field. Do not wait, especially not the first.
Dylan Silver (14:28)
Now for tuition, you mentioned tuition. I’ve seen a huge range of what that can be. ⁓ I also honestly don’t know, to be frank, the return on investment and if you’re paying more, are you getting more? Do you know if you were gonna start all over again, how much would you be paying right now, 2026, for one of these schools? What’s a good amount if someone wanted to get started?Tyler MINOR (15:32)
I know okay, we’ll say Lawrence, Kansas like here easily they offered free scholarships So how I got into it I just went to the workforce center in our city and they actually just probably got a computer instead of the spree But it’s only for two classes. So you didn’t know all those who you didn’t get it for free I went to Kansas City, Kansas Community College. They said roughly about 8,000 at the minimum including books and everything like that, but they havevarious scholarships. You have scholarships based on where you live. You have the Promise Act, which I think was given by the presidential before us. they basically said, you live in these certain states, all these listed trades would be considered free. You would happily complete your school. So if you pick HBAC, you pick this, as long as you complete the program, then it’s covered for free. I’ve said it and that, if you go like KU, things like that, you’re looking at about 50,000, roughly.
Dylan Silver (16:30)
Yeah, that’s, that’s… But you’re getting, I mean, I’m assuming you’re getting some type of degree with that, right?Tyler MINOR (16:30)
That’s like that’s not what I’m doing.Yeah, that’d be a degree that I’ve heard they’ve had on other programs. I don’t know why you’d go there for that, you know, but.
Dylan Silver (16:43)
It’s honestly, I, as someone who I haven’t always been the warmest supporter of higher education, but I do see the value in it. But if people can kind of mesh both, wouldn’t it be great if people could get a higher education while also getting some of that, you know, skills in carpentry and framing in the trades? That would be great because you could really be knocking two birds out with one stone. And honestly, I wish there was more of that.Tyler MINOR (17:09)
⁓ that would be really cool.Dylan Silver (17:12)
Now we are coming up on time here though, Tyler, any new projects that you’re working on and then also what’s the best way for folks to reach out to you if they’re interested in contactingTyler MINOR (17:22)
⁓ I would say one to reach out to me. I have social media I don’t know if I can put that on there or something like that Yeah, I’d be a yeah, I have very place to reach me ⁓ definitely you can get on Instagram you can see Tuna Tyler don’t know what they say. I have an email [email protected] and I would say Other than any new project ⁓Dylan Silver (17:29)
Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.Tyler MINOR (17:52)
Right now, we’re looking at, I’d say about two or three kitchens, basically in the other direction on I-70 called Topeka. So about two or three projects. ⁓ Not too many right now. We’re at a standstill because we just had a snowstorm. A lot of decline in that. A lot of people here are struggling with keeping jobs. But other than that, hopefully this can get me some more business and more people to reach out.Dylan Silver (18:14)
Tyler, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for coming on the show.Tyler MINOR (18:18)
All right, thank you, man.
