David Johnston's blog

The Economic Blame Game

Why does it continue to be so tough in the building industry? A lot of our current economic situation is a direct result of banks and their lending practices. Somehow the blame for the sub-prime meltdown has been deflected from the banks to the “greed” in the building industry. I for one have known very few greedy remodeling contractors who are big enough to rattle the global economy. Production builders have always followed the market, “if there is demand for housing we will provide it”.

I think America is dependent on the expectation that someone else is going to fix our problems. Now that we have Obama in office, he’s going to figure it out and the government is going to take on big bad industry and big bad Wall Street and the government is going to fund solar and fund wind and fund the solutions that bring us into a greener economy than what we have. All we have to do is be supportive of the government and we will get the benefits of their largesse.

How much more will it cost is always the first question from someone new to the field. The answer will always be: “It depends”. A comparable question is “how much does a car cost?” Is it a Kia or a Mercedes? What year is it?

Homeowners have been remodeling their homes to:

• improve the aesthetics
• increase space
• make the home more kid-friendly
• or to raise their quality of life.