Yes, I compiled my own mailing list, too. We are fortunate here in Omaha to have two metropolitan counties with awesome County Assessor websites. After all, that information is public, but they lay it all out there in map form for you. If any one is really bored, see what I mean @
http://douglasne.mapping-online.com/...lId=2222327002
Anyway, back to Craig's List...I think that it has actually picked up just in the last 15 months or so here in Omaha. Honestly, several of my biggest jobs came from it, ie. $6000, $4000, $3500, etc. (I'm probably with Terre, those might not seem big to some of you, but we're not talking about $7.00/hour either). Sure, I have had some duds from it, but no more than any other medium, maybe even less.
RE: guys that will whore themselves out. I have run into that just this last week. And YES the lead was from Craig's List. People had three trees removed and roots and stump ground up. Basically, 1500 square feet of area needed to be re-graded, soil ammended, seeded, erosion control, etc. Would have had to take a section of fence off to get back there then re-set it, too. I quoted them $1700. He responded that they were going with someone cheaper. I politely asked how much the other guys were going to charge. This is how he responded:
$685 to remove all the woodchips & dirt where the three trees were; grade those spots to level, add a layer of top soil and Turf Builder seed to the two outer trees; and grade the third tree area to 7" below level so I can put paver stones up! I said that I wished them an excellent job would be done!