Have you heard the news? Firms in the real estate and construction related industries are not having a good year. Alright, I am being a bit silly, but I noticed that many people are not too sympathetic to the financial plight of these industries. Some people imagine that we are making money, and that we would be willing to part with it. At a recent meeting of home inspectors, there was a discussion about other means of earning income through our current business model, so we are all looking into ways of improving our lot.

You may think that the problems my industry is facing originated with the housing and credit crisis of last year, but you would be wrong. The decline in house values began before that fiasco. Builders were doing well up to the crisis it seems, but remodelers were seeing a decline in major projects for some time before that event. The housing and credit crisis has just made the situation worse by causing less work to be available.

This morning saw a press release from a creative Builder/Remodeler in my alerts. Mark of Excellence Remodeling are starting a home maintenance club. The details were sparse, but I could see this idea being a benefit to homeowners in the same way that a home warranty could be a benefit. All too often, I see that simple home repairs were not carried out by the owner, which allowed further problems to ensue. As an example, I recently saw a chimney where the mortar needed to be redone. Vines (which could have been pruned) grew through the chimney; water leaked into the structure causing damage; and damage to the flue occurred which made the fireplace a fire hazard.

This home maintenance site is said to launch this fall. I would like to check it out to see how it will serve their community. This may be a good source of income for them, and they could provide a service which can prevent major expenses in the future. Of course, if you take the time to learn a little preventive care of your home, such a service is not needed.

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Tags: building, chimneys, financial impact, fireplace, FIRM, home, housing crisis, inspectors, maintenance
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm and is filed under The Art of Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.