E-Newsletter
12.02.09

Pre-Christmas day key indicator shows we might be better off than last year – things are looking up! We all hope they are right. However, that actually translated to .05% above last years results. Not sure what that means in dollars, and it is sure to be an adjusted number (either up or down) in the next couple of days. Internet sales could have a big difference in those adjustment numbers, and it will be interesting to see if online sales were disproportionately more than last year

What was not expected was the slide in the DOW. Did anybody go to work that day except retailers and stock sellers?? Dubai was the culprit, I guess.

The stories we like the most in the last 7 days are:

Yahoo discusses United Arab Emirates backing banks to calm investors.
UAE to back banks amid Dubai meltdown –
Conference Board: November US Consumer Confidence Index better 49.5 Vs 48.7 In Oct
Consumer confidence in October.
Resale home prices and pace edge higher: There were 239,000 new homes for sale at the end of October, the lowest inventory level in nearly four decades. At the current sales pace, that's a 6.7 months of supply, down from last winter's peak of more than a year.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34145680/ns/business-real_estate/
Wells Fargo says that none of the bank's $1.1 trillion in conforming OBS [off balance sheet] exposures need to be represented or reserved. From Seeking Alpha WFC loans at Seeking Alpha
U.S. Economy's Growth Rate Revised Down to 2.8% it was reported higher last week!
New home sales were up 5.1 percent from a year ago, the first yearly increase since November 2005. HanleyWood home sales october

“I am not a ‘spec’ builder especially in this market. My sales folks are fielding questions about the tax credit extension. A big concern is whether the house will be built in time.”

This is a great question. For speculative builders it was probably a disappointment that the tax credit was extended if you had standing inventory you hoped to sell this year. But if you were a builder without many completed homes the question will be whether you can start and complete a home in time for the buyer to take the credit. The answer is that homes contracted for sale, by the end of April 2010 (the official deadline) will still be able to qualify for settlements before June of 2010.

See this NAHB article:
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq1.php

Have you made your business plan for the New Year? It is not too late. Just focus on the following:

Pick just 5 initiatives, but be sure each idea does two things; lower costs and improve sales. Nothing else matters.
If you haven’t already, start moving your computing to the cloud, and learn that the internet is how business and advertizing gets done. It is cheaper and efficient and it is here to stay.
Make your sales teams start using CRM and understand the data related to your business.
Use consultants. Many companies cannot afford to hire but there are vendors and talent out there that wants your business. Take the time to find ones you can trust and create relationships with them to be with you in the future.

Contributed by the staff at Builders Copilot and iConnect amitesh@builderscopilot.com