EDITORIAL

Hitting One lceberg Can Ruin Your Whole Day

.FlNE interestingdeveloprnent of the current lf housing depression is the new and innovative financial and building ideas triggered as industry and government struggle to cope.

Sears Roebuck & Co. is testing new areas in their retail stores that, for the first time, offer customers a wide range of financial services and investments. Glendale Federal Savings & Loan's new Wilshire Home Service Center in Los Angeles, Ca., has become the nation's first s&l to go into the home improvement business. Savers can take out a loan, order a new roof, a den or a swimming pool and have them installed by a licensed contractor supplied by the home service center. The contractors will be chosen by the s&l on the basis of their reputation and credit stability and will be paid by the s&1, not the customer.

Various government agencies have been initiating new ways and re-working old methods in an attempt to subsidize mortgages to help both home buyers and builders. Southern California's Orange County recently released the latest in a series of tax exempt mortgage bonds, thus becoming the nation's leader in issu-

DAVID CUTLER editor- publ i sher

ing bonds to aid lenders and builders to offer below-market-rate mortgages. Mortgage rates to homeowners will be 1390, roughly 490 below prevailing rates. Directed at the so-called affordable housing market, they are restricted to first time home buyers or those who haven't bought a home in three years.

The City of Milwaukee, Wi., has approved construction of two experimental homes built with polystyrene blocks 20 inches thick, 4 feet tall and as long as 8 feet. City fathers predict that the plastic houses, the first in the nation, could reduce energy costs by 2590. Heating will be from body heat combined with the heat from electric lights and appliances. In extreme cold, space heaters can be used to provide an additional source of warmth.

These new ideas and concepts are only the tip of what we see as a mammoth iceberg of change floating out ahead of us. However we maneuver to meet these new challenges, it seems more and more likely that the dream of returning to a comfortable past is just that, a dream.

When dealers compare computer systems their overwhelming choice is Dataline.

The underlying reason is that Dataline understands the complexities of your business. We speak gour language. Direct, results-oriented dealer language.

Unique among computer companies, Dataline has specialized for over eleven years in designing only programs to meet the special needs of building supply and home center customers. We start by helping you ask the right questions, by exploring the various aspects of your business, by identifying problems and opportunities. Only then do we begin applying the flexibility of a Dataline system.

And we don't stop there. Working with your staff, we make sure that every program i s runn in g smoothlg, efficientlg, pro fitablg.