I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy this time of the year.
It feels different.
There are smells and sounds around the holiday season that you don’t get to enjoy at other times.
It begins for me with the lighting of the Christmas tree at the Jacksonville Landing the Friday night after Thanksgiving and is reinforced with the wonderful Lighted Boat Parade in Downtown the following night.
Like most people, when December rolls around, I find myself reflecting on what has happened over the past 12 months.
When it comes to your work, you probably think about the houses you sold and the sales that got away. Or maybe it’s contemplating how many homes you’ve built.
I’m sure you also are thankful that 2013 has probably been a better year than 2012.
For me, it’s all about the numbers.
It just doesn’t seem like it has been 365 days since we were planning last year’s company holiday party.
We were talking about a budget for the event and trying to find a time to hold it that was convenient to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules.
When I walked in my office last week and noticed the holiday party poster on the wall, it reminded me of all we have done and what we have gone through in the preceding 12 months.
It’s been a busy — and a pretty good — year.
Not only did we proudly celebrate the 101st anniversary of the Daily Record, we replaced some outdated equipment, renovated a portion of our Downtown office building and we hired new, talented people.
Honestly, I even considered retirement and spent more time than I would have ever expected on an offer to buy my business.
I’ve always told my wife, Donna, the day I don’t enjoy it is the day I change my calling card to spend more time with my six daughters, ages 18-36.
Frankly, one thing that triggered my thoughts about retirement was when I recently went to grandparents day with my grandson at his school and later that day, I went to my youngest daughter’s high school open house.
It was special.
Of course, I quickly washed the thoughts of moving on right out of my head.
After all, as we marched through the first year of our second centennial as a company, there are a lot more reasons for me to hang around than to hang it up.
We thoroughly enjoy our “place” Downtown.
I look forward to coming into work each morning where I can engage our employees, work with our advertisers and customers, and participate in community activities.
Celebrating 101 years in business, leading the company for 38 years and turning 60 are all important to me.
But they are not as important as the pride that comes with knowing we have published our newspaper, the Daily Record, more than 26,000 weekdays without a single interruption.
With this publication, you are reading the 168th issue of Realty Builder Connection. That means through the past 14 years we have published more than 6,000 pages of industry news without missing an issue.
Our partnership has been successful for you, as well as for us.
Maybe as important as all of these milestones are the positive things happening in the real estate and building industries in our community.
If you look at the story on this same page, for the first time since 2007, we are approaching the 6,000-mark for building permits issued in the Jacksonville MSA. Even though that’s down from the incredible 17,500 permits in 2005, it is double where we were in 2011.
Without question, it looks that we are on our way back.
Those of us at Realty Builder Connection wish you all of the best during this holiday season, and we look forward to a great and prosperous 2014.
Changes come for
loan requirements
In the midst of our optimism about the future, I want to close out the year with a cautionary note.
There is still more fallout from the housing crisis as the goals of the Dodd-Franklin Act are bringing on more regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will be implemented in 2014.
It’s certain to impact real estate sales.
For people buying a home or considering refinancing a mortgage, January will be an important month.
The pressure on lenders will be increased to prove a borrower’s ability to repay a loan. As a result there are new hoops to jump through, including a tighter maximum debt-to-income ratio. It will be set at 43 percent and will not allow a large down payment or significant cash reserves to offset a higher debt ratio.
People with credit problems or high debt-to-income ratios are being encouraged to close their loans before the new regulations take effect.
The new restrictions will likely affect the number of sales and the number of building permits issued, but they will have everyone rowing in the same direction.
So if we hit a milestone like 17,000 permits in a year again, it won’t be an anomaly, but true and sustainable growth.
— Jim Bailey is publisher of Realty/Builder Connection and president of Bailey Publishing & Communications Inc. He can be reached at [email protected].