“WE ARE BACK!!!” The housing market in our area is back. Lots are being developed, houses are being built and homes are being sold….. and doesn’t it seem GREAT??
In 2015, according Johnston County Inspections Department, building permits were up 23% to 1134. This compares to; 926 in 2014 and 834 in 2013. Additionally, prices are on the increase too. It seems as though we have made the turn from the days of the “Great Recession.”
The big question is; what will you learn from the down period we are coming out of? Will it be just more experience you get or will you gain real wisdom this time? I once heard a man say that the difference between experience and wisdom is, when we get more experience we do the same things and many times, make the same mistakes again and again. Wisdom on the other hand is different, with wisdom, we learn from our experience and the mistakes we made, never to repeat them again. Which will you be, more experienced or wiser?
I hope that you have learned from the past some of the following:
-It is all about profits. It does not matter how much you touch, it is how much you keep that counts.
-Cash reserves will help you make it through the difficult times of the market, build them up very month.
-Plan for the next downturn, it will happen again and hopefully you will be better prepared this time.
-Do not out run your headlights; every business has a limit as to how much it can safely produce.
-Do not bet the farm; consider the risk before you make the decision. Do not jeopardize it all for the “big payoff.”
-Be teachable, you can learn from other people’s successes and failures.
-Lastly, communicate, communicate, communicate. Stay in touch with your Realtor, suppliers, bankers etc. It you succeed they succeed. Seek advice from wise people. There is a verse in the Bible
Proverbs 11:14 “In a multitude of counselors there is safety.”
I hope 2016 is a fantastic year for you and I hope you will take the steps now, to not be more experienced but wiser.
Bill Clarke
Senior Commercial Relationship Manager
KS Bank Inc. Smithfield
Treasurer, JCBIA