As tax day approaches in just over two months and we all begin to prepare our documents and get the appropriate documents in line for our employees, it’s hard not to have money on the brain. This time of year provides a great reason to explore how you manage your business, as Dave Grubb discusses in his blog, Look Into the Numbers.

It’s no secret that the success of our industry is closely tied with the housing market. While some shops are reporting that things have begun to turn around for them and they anticipate this year being better than last, overall we have not made a full recovery. President Obama touched on this in his State of the Union address and proposed to seek refinancing aid for home owners and mend the housing market. In response to this Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) made this comment:

“The nation’s home builders commend President Obama for highlighting the vital role that housing plays in the U.S. economy, for recognizing the high value that Americans place on homeownership and for focusing on how to address the nation’s housing problems. Clearly, more decisive actions are needed to increase refinancing opportunities, to reduce the inventory of foreclosed homes and to prevent additional homes from going into foreclosure. NAHB looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to find constructive solutions in these areas as soon as possible. 

“To create jobs and further stabilize housing and the economy, NAHB is also urging policymakers to end excessively tight lending standards that are preventing qualified borrowers from obtaining a mortgage and home builders from getting construction loans to build viable projects in communities that want and need them.”

A lot of this will go back to what we’ve discussed in previous blogs about how the market is changing and the face of your customers is getting younger. Many of these qualified borrowers are young first time home buyers. As someone who is looking to buy her first home in the near future, I find myself often wondering if things will ever turnaround.

And while August seems so far away still, it might also be a good time to start thinking about IWF. Will you be able to attend this year? Can you budget the money to make the trip for you and some of your employees? If you are one of the shops that has reported that 2011 was a better year than 2010, and is anticipating 2012 to be even better, is there new equipment in your future? IWF provides an excellent opportunity to compare equipment as close to side by side as you can get. There are, as always, a number of great educational opportunities available. Stay tuned for more information on what the show will offer this year in the coming months.

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