Cost & supply of mortgage money a key

By Grady R. Haynes Haynes Brothers Lumber Co. Murfreesboro, Tn.

URING the past three years all of us who are a part of the shelter industry have been made painfully aware of how much our own individual businesses are affected by the cost and supply of mortgage money. Therefore, any forecast about our business must be clearlv attuned to that subject.

Even at today's reduced interest rates, the level of success that we can expect in our communities will depend to a large extent on how well our local financial institutions utilize the new and innovative mortgage instruments that have become available during the past several months.

Now. what can we do as retail

Story at a Glance

You'll have to make your own business increase. lower interest rates mean more home buyers. replacement items a growth market . . . new financial instrumenls must be mastered.

lumber dealers to make sure that these new type loans are made available to our customers?

(1) Take the time to educate yourself thoroughly about all types of mortgages being offered in your nearest metropolitan market by visiting with leading realtors and mortgage brokers.

(2) Make regular visits to the heads of all financial institutions in your community. Find out what type of loans they are offering. If they are not now in the mortgage broker business, encourage them to set up a mortgage brokerage department to process all types of loans, especially those that make use of the secondary money market through such firms as FNMA. They should all bemaking FHA and VA loans and, by all means, processing the below market rate loans financed bv the housing finance agency in your state.

I think that we can look forward to a very substantial increase in business nationwide for our industry in 1983. How much of that increase we get in our business will depend largely on our own efforts. The demand for housing should be very good and the lower interest rates expected will increase the pool of eligible buyers.

The sale of replacement items should continue to substantially increase during the coming years. Such big ticket items as roofing, carpet, and other floor covering, windows, exterior door units and appliances wear out and must be replaced. Since they are usually replaced one item at a time, they may be overlooked when we are making our usual remodeling sales effort. The sale of energy efficient windows and metal clad exterior door units has been growing so fast that some leading manufacturers of metal clad door units have had a hard time meeting the demand for their product this past year.

Indeed the future looks bright for our entire industry-especially for those of us who will get out and work to make something positive happen.