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Follow moving companies to understand your local housing market

Melissa Preddy — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:00:58 +0000

By Flickr user popofatticus

We’re coming to the tail end of the busiest residential moving season of the year, and it’s a fine time to get to know your local van lines.

Moving companies are fonts of data that you can use as local economic indicators and context for jobs and housing stories.

The major companies like United Van Lines and Atlas Van Lines actually publish annual statistical reports, which analysts use to study how the economy affects migration patterns. (Unfortunately my state, Michigan, is the undisputed leader in outbound migration, thanks to years of double-digit unemployment.) U-Pack Moving also publishes an annual report packed with regional and national data.

Scan the links above for fodder that applies to your region, but don’t wait till year-end for the next edition. Most moving companies operate as franchises, from the biggies to no-frills firms like Two Men and a Truck. These operators are on the front lines of the residential market and now is a good time to get to know the ones in your area; consider even convening a panel of movers – including some independents who serve lower-income clients – to talk about what they’re seeing and hearing from customers.

Are more people squeezing into multi-generational dwellings? Are they doing more moves from houses to rental units, or emptying out foreclosures on behalf of banks and credit unions? What are corporate clients asking for these days – lots of one-way moves away from your state, or a decent balance of influx and outflow? Are customers cheaping out on the pack-and-ship services, opting to fill their own boxes? What about problems on the other end, or payment woes, or other signs of trouble?

Moving companies – including U-Haul and similar DIY firms, along with related businesses like the self-storage trade – are sources well worth developing for the nitty-gritty insight they provide into the stories behind abstract economic releases.

Planning ahead: Here’s a look at economic and financial events expected next week. Some heavy-duty numbers are coming out in the jobs and housing sector, the nation’s two biggest economic bugaboos. Vehicle sales will be closely watched, too, as analysts are predicting strong growth in July.

Aug. 2: Construction spending

Aug. 3: Domestic car and truck sales. Remember this is a good peg for checking out the fate of shuttered auto dealers in your region, as I mentioned in this previous blog post.

National Association of Realtors pending home sales.Last month this index plummeted to a record low following the expiration of the home buyers’ tax credit; this release is a good peg for checking with real estate agents, title companies and mortgage lenders about the execution rate of contracts signed with the credit in mind. Buyers have until the extended deadline of Sept. 30 to close on properties they bid on before April 30.

Aug. 4: Challenger job cut report

Aug. 5 Monster employment index

Aug. 6: Employment situation – The Bureau of Labor Statistics release considered one of the most important economic indicators.

What does FOIA exemption for SEC in financial reform act mean?

Melissa Preddy — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:49 +0000

By Flickr user hughelectronic

We knew the 2,319-page “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” would contain some interesting surprises once all the legal lingo was parsed.

Well, the president’s signature was barely dry on the financial regulatory reform signed into law last week when a new stir erupted.

Fox Business pronounced yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is exempt under the Dodd-Frank act from responding to public requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The news outlet said the SEC cited the new rule Tuesday in response to a Fox FOIA request.

Sounds pretty draconian. And public records experts say they need time to review the law and its implications for reporters and our watchdog function.

For its part, the SEC said the rule doesn’t create a new exemption, it merely clarifies an existing one. Here’s the statement from spokesman John Nester:

“The new provision applies to information obtained through examinations or derived from that information. We are expanding our examination program’s surveillance and risk assessment efforts in order to provide more sophisticated and effective Wall Street oversight. The success of these efforts depends on our ability to obtain documents and other information from brokers, investment advisers and other registrants. The new legislation makes certain that we can obtain documents from registrants for risk assessment and surveillance under similar conditions that already exist by law for our examinations. Because registrants insist on confidential treatment of their documents, this new provision also removes an opportunity for brokers, investment advisers and other registrants to refuse to cooperate with our examination document requests.”

In other words, the SEC is promising confidentiality to brokerage firms and other third parties whose competitive information, such as client records, it wants to collect in the course of keeping an eye on securities transactions via its examination office. (Examination records have long been subject to FOIA exemption, the SEC said, unlike materials gathered by the SEC’s enforcement branch.)

Lawyers on both sides of the issue are busy deciphering the legislation – which you can read here on page 531. “Section 552 of title 5″ is the Freedom of Information Act. The amendment to the Securities Act of 1934 appears to expand the exemption to “registered persons” as described above, but it’s very broadly written and could be construed to hide who-knows-what down the road.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said it appears to “third-party companies the same protection the company under investigation gets.” But, Dalglish adds, “I’ve got 15 people on this – we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

The imprecise wording also is of concern to Chris Carey, the enterprising journalist who is head of ShareSleuth.com and Bailout.com. And he noted that FOIA requests to the SEC haven’t been all that successful to begin with.

The FOIA blog by Washington FOIA attorney Scott A. Hodes is regularly posting media reports on the controversy.

While we await the legal weigh-in on the new rule – which some say could thwart reporters on the trail of Bernie Madoff-scale fraud as well as local and regional watchdogging – you might want to take a look at the SEC’s annual reports regarding its FOIA responses.

This one from 2009 indicates that of 8,285 requests processed last year, only 1,278 were granted in full and 374 were partially denied. There were 544 full denials based on exemptions (where this matter would fall) and 6,089 denials in all. Of those, the bulk were due to “no information found,” as well as cancellations, fee issues, lost records and other administrative matters.

Trade secrets, confidential intraagency communication and privacy issues accounted for most of those 544 full denials.

A recent audit by the agency’s inspector found that the SEC’s FOIA-response rate was significantly lower when compared to all other federal agencies, reports Zach Goldfarb of The Washington Post’s Market Cop blog. Goldfarb also says “it may not be time to take up arms over the latest charge by Fox.”

The SEC has promised stricter oversight in the wake of harsh criticism about its inefficacy in preventing schemes and scandals that bilked investors out of billions. Will this new tool to streamline its information gathering and “surveillance” of investment firms be worth the secrecy?

Stay tuned.

Finding fresh angles amid the business of death

Melissa Preddy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:38:54 +0000

One of my long-time sources, a respected financial adviser, likes to cackle at his own plan for being slid into a crematory oven to the carnivalesque notes of The Doors’ “Light My Fire.”

Maybe most people won’t opt for the same final musical tribute, but choosing cremation over burial is an increasing trend – especially after a couple of recessionary years — and one of the fascinating angles to the business of death.

From funeral parlors wired for WiFi – and, I kid you not, in-house cafes — to pet cemeteries to memorial parks, quite a few people make a living dealing with the dead. This company, Funeral Home Sites.com, has found a niche creating websites for mortuaries.

And as this exquisitely detailed Fast Company oldie-but-goodie about the casket industry demonstrates, there’s a lot of fodder in the funeral business for solid industry and financial stories.

Rolex watches, Tiffany bracelets and Coach bags aren’t the only high-end goods subject to imitation – as this story illustrates, knock-offs of name-brand caskets are a problem too. Note the proprietary technology like “MemorySafe Drawers” that casket makers are developing for people who believe you can take it with you.

Imports, as wells as higher cremation rates, are assailing domestic casket makers, too. (Do I see a “Die American” slogan coming along to complement the “Buy American” sentiment?)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are about 30,000 licensed funeral directors nationwide. Each in turn employs a variety of staffers. Meanwhile, suppliers of goods ranging from embalming materials to memorial cards to funeral-home financial software rely on the funeral industry. Its trade group, the National Funeral Directors Association, says death is an $11 billion a year business. This older but detailed report from the GAO may contain outdated statistics but fantastic background material to help you formulate questions and avenues of reporting.

Still, it’s not bulletproof. As this well-detailed San Francisco Examiner article outlines, consumers increasingly are looking for burial bargains and other costs savings. Societal trends and financial pinches are changing the way we say farewell, creating opportunities for some providers and pinching others. This USA Today story notes that cemeteries are suffering just like any other form of real estate, and that individuals are stuck with pre-need plots they purchased years ago and now wish to cash in. (Who knew there was such a thing as Plotbrokers.com and its catchy slogan: “Because you have a life.”)

Demand for crematory services is rising, leading to regulatory and “not in my backyard” concerns, as this Riverside, Calif. Press-Enterprise article points out.

And the above-ground mausoleum – where everyone gets his or her own little slot — seems to be gaining favor, and pretty much every cemetery I pass these days has one or two of the structures under construction. Is this a specialty job or one that builders seek and bid on just like a kitchen remodel or strip-mall addition?

Other ideas:

Personal finance. The Federal Trade Commission is a good source of consumer caveats about funeral expenses, pre-need contracts and other death-related money matters.

Discounters like ExpressCaskets.com and Costco are good fodder. Even more economical are extreme do-it-yourself movements as illustrated in the book “Caring for your Dead: The Final Act of Love.” The Funeral Consumers Alliance includes more information about what’s legal, what’s not in each state.

Pet death. If a tribute, product or service exists for human death, rest assured that Rex or Max or Nipper can enjoy the same final care.

Regulation. It’s not pleasant to think about but I was struck the other day by the proximity of a venerable funeral home to one of the best hamburger bars in town. It got me wondering about how waste products and biohazard material and other unpleasant unmentionables are handled in funeral homes, and who monitors that sort of thing. Your state regulators will have licensure, inspection and disciplinary records worth analyzing.

The ripple effect of a single funeral. It would be interesting to take a real life example and parse the economic impact of one traditional funeral. The value of the accouterments and supplies used, the various service providers, from cosmeticians and hair stylist to the officiant, the gravediggers and funeral-home ushers, and so on.

Find financial stories in the business of higher education

Melissa Preddy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:50 +0000

By Flickr user velkr0

With little more than a month to go before Labor Day, back-to-school business topics are hot.

For business writers, financial aid is a rich field to mine, from how-to personal finance articles (see FinAid.org for a wealth of resources) to scams. This Federal Trade Commission report released earlier this month says fraudulent “financial aid consulting services” are on the rise. As readers are about to start signing on dotted lines, a package of tips and consumer caveats could save your audience some headaches.

Check with local banks and credit unions about how they are making do without student loan business, as the switch to direct loans from the Department of Education becomes the norm.

In a related story, for-profit schools are making news again as the U.S. Department of Education proposes rules that would tie the availability of financial aid to how an institution’s graduates do at repaying their loans. Here’s the education department’s press release from last Friday outlining in the plan, which involves tracking graduates’ debt-to-income ratios as well as loan delinquencies.

Response to the rules has been mixed; some groups – like the National Black Chamber of Commerce in this press release - say that restricting financial aid will curb access for minority students. But this Inside Higher Ed article points out that as written, the rules would exclude only about 5 percent of existing institutions from offering financial aid.

The proposal wasn’t as tough as expected, however, sending shares of these private schools soaring Monday. Education stocks are another timely topic for personal finance writers to explore; this Forbes article will provide helpful background. Other trade-school topics are here in my previous blog post about vocational institutions.

Another education-related financial story: College and university marketing campaigns. Lots of tuition dollars go toward branding and marketing colleges. From anecdotal observation, some public schools seem to be positioning themselves since the recession as higher-education bargains. On TV ads, billboards and the like I’ve seen numerous taglines that stress the economy and value of tuition rates, distance learning programs and other pocketbook matters. Look in to advertising plans by public colleges in your area – are they stressing economy over academics these days?

Resources include the Washington Post’s College Inc. blog as well as University Business and this interesting blog on “enrollment marketing.” Here’s my previous blog post on back-to-school shopping and related story ideas. Be sure to check with Main Street merchants about how they plan to get their piece of the pie.

From pool construction to Mad Men: A summertime story-idea sampler

Melissa Preddy — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:09 +0000

By Flickr user Paul Sapiano

This is an idea blog, and as you know, story ideas range from full-bodied and meaty to fleeting and fluffy. We try to serve up mostly meat, but some of the other fare is just too tasty to be ignored.

So here’s a round-up of weighty and not-so-weighty summertime ideas, all worth a second look:

Auto dealerships: How galling to be a defunct dealer these days, especially after a federal watchdog concluded that the Treasury department acted in error by forcing manufacturers to yank hundreds of dealer franchises; see this Detroit News report for more background.

Story possibilities here are myriad: As this USA Today piece notes, final reinstatement decisions are due soon. And the Detroit Free Press offers some interesting numbers about auto dealership employment and how the recession may have hit harder than the industry bankruptcies. It might be interesting to track down numbers from current and defunct dealers and do a local analysis of auto dealer employment trends since the start of the recession. Keep in mind July sales figures are due out August 2, making a handy news peg.

The re-purposing of shuttered showrooms is fascinating; I was shocked the other night to see that a household-name dealer in Metro Detroit has stocked his facility with lawn furniture and is trying to make a go of that business in his otherwise useless retail space. I’m sure the profit margin on Adirondack chairs is quite a comedown from the markup on SUVs. What uses are dealerships being put to in your neck of the woods?

Vending machines. This just-out market report gives some interesting factoids, as does this fascinating Washington Post piece that notes we pump about $30 billion a year into junk food dispensers. That’s a lot of Fritos! Note the industry fragmentation – that’s good news for you because it means a substantial player likely is in your region and worthy of a business profile.

Aside from being a common experience for your audience, vending machine stories are fun because of the goofy technology and branding attempts the automated devices serve up.

The other angle: Machines that sell non-food products, from iPods to batteries to cell-phone chargers. This article suggests that cosmetics from a machine are on the way, and

I was thrilled when my nearest Coke machine started taking debit cards – no more scrounging for quarters or dollar bills. But that’s cave woman stuff compared to this Japanese model that vends Smart Cars for $20,000 in pocket change. OK, so that’s merely a concept – but it’s a cool way to dispense marketing literature and not that far off from some of the production machines in use today.

And behind the scenes, as this trade article points out, vending machines are becoming more efficient, Energy Star compliant and monitored remotely for problems. That’s a novel “green business” angle for you.

This sales site for vending machines screams that they are “absolute cash cows!” and features a good overview of what’s standard. As to finding local operators – just mosey over to a few machines and copy the contact info that’s usually on a sticker near the coin return.

Other interesting info available at from the trade group, the National Automated Merchandising Association.

Pools and spas. This Bloomberg article caught my eye a few weeks ago; apparently residential swimming pool construction has plunged since 2005 from around $7 billion to less than $2 billion. That’s an astounding drop, recession notwithstanding, and as the article points out many dealers are surviving on service and maintenance.

This small but visible sector might make for a good niche business-survival story in your region. What are the trends in sales: Are aging Americans opting for sit-in-place hot tubs instead of large play pools? Are greener chemical options selling well? What do these companies do in the off season? One near me transforms itself, oddly, into a holiday wonderland selling artificial Christmas trees, ornaments, lawn tableaus and ceramic Dickens-style villages.

This would make for good personal finance fodder, too. Seems like a buyer’s market for anyone who’s always dreamed of a backyard oasis. And look hard into warranty issues, too: My 90-year-old neighbor was dismayed last month to find that the much-touted 20-year warranty on her six-year-old pool was so convoluted that – despite a catastrophic failure of the steel frame – she’d get less than 20 percent of the full-retail replacement cost defrayed by filing a claim. In fact, since pools are selling at greater than 20 percent discounts around here, her warranty is pretty much worthless. I called around and some candid dealers told me that her plight was par for the course but something eager buyers often overlook.

Mad Men. The year is 1964, the martinis are cold and the Beatles are hot. I can’t resist noting that with the Season Four debut last night of the AMC “Mad Men” TV series, you’ve got a good peg for a variety of financial feature stories ranging from retro clothing & furniture shops to liquor sales trends and stats (your state’s alcohol control commission can tell you which ZIP codes favor gin over bourbon, for example), smoking stores, classic car restorers, collectibles and online sales, vintage music shops and, of course, the advertising business.

Mine contracting databases to find data on local firms

Melissa Preddy — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:00:30 +0000

Photo by Flickr user U.S. Army Environmental Command

Events that sometimes seem far removed – in geography or in time – may have more of a local economic impact than you realize.

So even if you’re nowhere near the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it may be worth checking around for area companies that have generated business from one facet or another of the disaster.

From protective clothing to water quality analysis to food and lodging, businesses from Oregon to Massachusetts have received government contracts for spill-related work.

As IRE training director Jaimi Dowdell points out in this blog post, you can use this Federal Procurement Data System database to find companies in your region – including women-owned and minority-owned firms – and the federal agencies employing them.

Here’s the link to the FPDS spreadsheet; as Dowdell notes, there may be a lag in updating the site so check back periodically. Meanwhile, start sorting by ZIP code, state or city to find contracts worth writing about. One big plus: Many of the companies listed here are small businesses that might not otherwise make it on to your radar screen, so it’s a worthwhile opportunity to boost your breadth of coverage and make new contacts.

The nitty-gritty of the goods and services is only hinted at in some of the capsule descriptions of work in the FPDS records: An outfit called Dor-Mor in Claremont, N.H., has a $90,000 contract for a “70 lbs anchor.” More than one, we hope, but certainly worth a call. Other line items are more specific: Marine Lifesaving & Diving Equipment in Apollo Beach, Fla., is selling l,600 mesh survival vests at $64.79 each, for a total contract of more than $103,000. Polar King International in Fort Wayne, Ind., is on there for walk-in coolers at $25,557 apiece, and the list goes on.

Coulter Jones, an IRE information specialist, also recommends this Center for Public Integrity article and the oil-spill FAQ at ProPublica.

Also mark your calendar now for free CAR training presented jointly by the IRE and the Reynolds Center this fall; Dowdell will be leading the sessions in Atlanta (October) and Milwaukee (November). Registration is free and all jouralists are invited to attend; see this Reynolds Center link for registration details and information about other upcoming seminars.

You can generate interesting profiles from contractor information, or technology stories. Find out if the spill resulted in any workforce expansion (or prevented layoffs) for to the companies in question, and what effect it had on their suppliers. Or, use the examples as a springboard to a story about the economic impact of government contracting in your market.

Check out other FPDS sites, as well as Recovery.gov and FedBizOpps.gov, another contract-tracking site.

Another rich source of government contracting stories has come to light thanks to the Washington Post’s Top Secret America project. The massive package of stories details the off-the-radar national intelligence industry that has burgeoned since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

It examines the role of private contractors and has published a database featuring info about nearly 2,000 companies that perform related work for various government agencies.

Click on this page to sort the companies by headquarters location; a drawback is that the sorting function goes by city name instead of state, so whether you choose that view or to skim the list by company name, you’ve got a lot of clicking to do. Even so, this list is a gold mine of leads and shortcuts for business reporters interested in pursuing government contracts.

Who’s profiting from medical marijuana in your market?

Melissa Preddy — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:00:40 +0000

By Flickr user Laurie Avocado

Drug enforcement choppers for Operation Hemp spotted 500 marijuana plants yesterday in a rural Michigan community right near me. Of course, that’s chump change compared to the 300,000 pot plants authorities have snuffed out this month in California’s Shasta County, where lawbreakers have been putting state park land to interesting agricultural uses.

Still, the notion of a major pot bust is starting to seem increasingly quaint, as legal medical marijuana catches on nationwide and most polls find more than half of voters favor decriminalizing the recreational use of the weed, as well. The Justice Department has thrown in the towel when it comes to applying federal sanctions to medical users. There even was a (failed) bill in Congress last year, amusingly titled the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults.

And this fall, California voters will decide whether to legalize pot smoking for all, with an eye on tax revenue that might help bail out the state’s dire fiscal situation.

Point being, the vibe seems right for a look at the financial ripple effects of the legal marijuana industry. Be forewarned, there are a lot of legal grey areas in regard to profits, taxation and who’s permitted to do what.

If you’re in one of the 14 states that allow medical marijuana, you’ve probably read or done some features on the growers. If not, here’s a great example from Bozeman, Montana.

But what about ancillary businesses, like the cottage industry of medical advisers that seems to have sprung up here in Michigan, offering speedy assistance to people trying to get a state application approved. Local ones include the Michigan Weed Clinic a.k.a Michigan Mobile Marihuana Certifications PPLC (“Get the certification you deserve without the hassle”) and the Ann Arbor Pot Clinic. They and their competitors tout quick doctor recommendations for pot use for a fees starting at $100. Looking into the number of docs who have jumped aboard the marijuana train would make for an interesting business feature or careers story, to say the least.

The legal version of the pot peddler is known as a caregiver. (In most states, since growing and selling marijuana really isn’t legal, but smoking it is for people with certain conditions, the patient and/or a ‘caregiver’ is allowed to cultivate and obtain small amounts.) That seems to have become another cottage industry and even boasts the National Association of Medical Marijuana Caregivers. Again, well worth a look at who’s in this line of business, how do they make money and what are the risks & benefits for entrepreneurs.

Here’s a handy chart from ProCon.org that lists the states, related fees, possession limits and other info. And here’s a list of states with similar pending ballot measures.

Talk to paraphernalia shop owners and online purveyors of marijuana smoking supplies about what they hear from medical users. And a personal finance piece on the ongoing cost of medical pot therapy – from application fees to the price of the product — would be of interest to quite a few readers, no doubt. There also are insurance issues and workplace issues — Wal-Mart is the subject of a boycott because it fired a medical marijuana user here in Michigan, even though the man was abiding by state law.

As to the future, this MSN Money article looks ahead to when weed farms might be publicly traded – and taxed – just like tobacco and booze are now.

Planning ahead: Here’s a look at upcoming economic releases and other story-generating events:

July 26: Census Bureau new home sales report. Here are some ideas for covering the new home market from a previous blog post about housing sales after the end of the tax credit.

July 27: Consumer confidence

July 28: Durable goods orders

July 29: Jobless claims

Find how the mortgage crunch is affecting your market

Melissa Preddy — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:00:58 +0000

By Flickr user Aaron Alexander

Not too many years ago, banks would just about write you a mortgage on the strength of your scratch-off lottery ticket winnings.

Not so much anymore.

Gone are the days when lenders would predicate decisions on volatile borrower income streams like overtime, child support and commissions. Nor will they toss in extra cash for remodeling and furnishing, a la the 125-percent deals of yore – a further blow to those industries.

Now, down payments are demanded and prudence is a virtue. And according to this astonishing NYT report, banks even are looking askance at expectant parents. Lenders are worried that repayment will suffer if one parent drops out of the workforce to care for a newborn. And as the article points out, new Fannie Mae laws just kicked in that require more up-to-date checks on prospective borrowers; banks want to make sure home buyers didn’t run out and pile on a lot of consumer debt between getting pre-approved and making an offer.

As the NYT piece shows, this sort of scrutiny is creating a lot of extra red tape even for well-salaried, creditworthy borrowers. A local story on the plight of people who are ready, willing and able to buy – but held up due to new credit crunch-inspired rules – would make an interesting counterpoint to the avalanche of hard-luck stories we’ve been reporting the past couple of years.

With the National Association of Realtors set to report June existing home sales Thursday and the summertime window pretty much closing for anxious sellers (because buyers generally want to settle in time for the new school year) you’re probably due for another take on your area’s residential sales situation. In addition to the nuggets above, consider a fresh look at these angles:

Foreclosures. Residential housing foreclosures in 2010 are on track to outpace even the nightmare levels of 2009, according to this ABC News report, with as many as 1 million homeowners losing their properties for lack fo payments. This article is worth a second read for some interesting points you can localize. For one thing, it details typical foreclosure timelines, from the first late payment onward, and notes that lenders –through tactics like letting delinquent borrowers continue living in their houses – are managing the flow of foreclosures into the already moribund real estate markets nationwide. Have a chat with regional mortgage lenders and credit unions about strategies they are using to

This article from Ilyce Glink points out that lots of easy-term and subprime loans will be resetting soon – including those that let borrowers make payments that didn’t even cover interest, resulting in negative amortization. When the intro (or non-existent) interest rates on these mortgages kick in, they may put payments out of reach of people barely scraping by, resulting in another wave of abandoned loans. Be sure to ask your local bankers about how these loans figure in their portfolios and about any programs they’re running to convert these borrowers into affordable instruments.

Sales tactics. In this previous blog post I wrote about the plight of desperate home sellers, and judging by recent activity things aren’t improving for them. Both existing homes and new homes are stagnant; the nation’s builders’ sentiment plunged in June according to the report issued earlier in the week.

This is all leading to some odd bedfellows in the sales arena. I’m stuck with a moribund inherited property myself, and efforts to unload it have drawn some interesting proposals out of the woodwork. Someone with a neighboring for-sale-by-owner condo wants us to partner together in marketing our respective dwellings, on the theory that we can cut our selling costs in half and that whomever we lure to a showing might want one or the other.

A number of hungry-sounding realtors have responded to my FSBO classified ad, with rather poignant offers to help bring buyers for a miniscule commission rate or flat fee that is cut to the bone. And most of the prospective buyers have admitted that they can’t get a loan and are wondering if I’d be willing to finance the sale for them, offer a land contract, lease-to-own deal or other terms. You can probably find similar tales in your neck of the woods.

It’s grim on the front lines of the residential housing market, and that’s a story your readers will never tire of.

Dig into midterm election platforms for business stories

Melissa Preddy — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:00:49 +0000

With fall’s midterm elections speeding toward us – and many states’ primaries yet to be held – you can find timely inspiration for business stories by checking out candidates’ platforms.

Your own news outlet is (hopefully) your best source for a rundown of pending elections in your state; for extra help check out the League of Women Voters chapters near you.

Obviously the main drumbeats this year will be jobs-jobs-jobs, economy, health care, business taxes and jobs-jobs-jobs. You and your political-writer colleagues will be covering those issues as a matter of course. But as you read position papers, keep an eye out for subtle clues to other financial and business angles.

Just the other day I was poking around amid Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates’ white papers and found several eyebrow-raising tidbits that seemed like great launching pads for fresh biz features.

One candidate proposes inviting hotel chains to build resorts in Michigan’s state parks. (What?!) That could lead to any number of lodging-related stories tied to the state’s tourism economy, as well as niche topics like green hotels, special requirements for construction companies bidding in wilderness areas, outsourced park concessions – the list goes on.

A cursory look at other gubernatorial candidate websites nationwide turned up notions ranging from the recycling of outdated consumer electronics (what happens to them and who’s figured out a way to make money at it?) to building more water desalinization plants in coastal regions. Either of these would make great technology stories and business profiles.

No Child Left Behind seems to be in the cross-hairs of a number of candidates. Maybe that’s a timely peg for a look at educational testing services and the thousands of supplemental educational service providers that make money as contractors to the public schools sytems nationwide.

You might not find anything startlingly new in the plans offered by the myriad candidates for governor and for congressional and legislative seats – it’s no secret that the wind energy business is brisk these days in Iowa, for example – but reviewing the hot topics will jog your memory.

Tackling some of these issues now is an excellent opportunity to boost your own visibility by adding a substantive business dimension to your news organization’s elections coverage.

Also, please check out my previous blog post on a related topic: Finding financial angles in the business of elections , from companies that print campaign materials to events planners and voting-machine makers.

Jobless pay at center stage this week

Melissa Preddy — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:45:57 +0000

There probably are few events that will interest your readers more this week than the Senate votes on extending unemployment benefits.

Employed or jobless, everyone has a stake in the federally funded extension, especially the 2-million-plus people whose benefits have expired since spring. Even the employed have a stake in the extensions, from landlords and merchants and lenders who hope their unemployed patrons can keep on paying to the taxpayers who will foot the $35 billion bill for another extension.

If you’re confused about how it all works, here’s a good and recent primer on unemployment insurance from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; well worth printing out and keeping at your desk.

Here’s one general take on how unemployment pay ripples out into the community.

And here’s a look at how the Iowa Independent localized the notion, using a variety of statistical sources.

Photo by Flickr user mjcrodez

Whether or not extended benefits keep workers from taking available yet undesirable jobs is becoming a major point of contention among economists, politicians and pundits, and one you’ll probably want to explore locally sooner or later by speaking to workers, employers and regional economists. Here’s the broader pro-extension take from Lawrence Sumners; here’s the opposing view from The Heritage Foundation.

My caveat here: Don’t let people run away with this hot-button issue and make their case to you using purely anecdotes. If employers say they can’t fill jobs because people would rather collect unemployment pay, ask for the names of those they’ve made offers to and double-check them.

Ask your state’s workforce commission, unions and other sources to verify that the employer in question is seeking employees through all standard means for that industry. If would-be workers say they’ve pounded the pavement to no avail, ask where they’ve submitted applications and resumes, and try to verify. (HR policies and the proliferation of online-only application channels may thwart you, but it’s important to try.)

Ask for copies of cover letters they have saved on their hard drives, and proof of how their unemployment income compares to former pay and/or expenses.

There’s nothing insulting in asking people to back up what they claim and you’ll stand less chance of being taken advantage of by people with one or the other political agendas.

Here’s an example from the N.Y. Times of how to weave the overarching picture together with a richly detailed personal portrait of an individual spiraling downward. Note the minute detail about the contents of the subject’s purse, the list of bills on her refrigerator.

Other important angles to the extension story:

Retroactive pay: If the bill passes next week, some people will be eligible for retroactive benefits. Eligibility and procedures vary by state, but a large fact-box with how-to information, links, phone numbers and other resources is a must to accompany your story. Be sure to include another box, to, reminding people that unemployment benefits are taxable. People living on nothing but jobless pay for six months or more may have very little federal income tax liability but if they file jointly with someone earning a higher wage, they could find themselves owing come next spring. Get a local CPA or enrolled agent tax professional to outline some possible scenarios readers may wish to prepare for.

Note this story from South Carolina about the state prepping unemployment insurance payments just in case; this is one you can turn around quickly today for your own news organization’s website.

Who’s left out: The 99-ers, as they call themselves, are those who have exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment insurance. Here’s a piece from the Columbia Journalism Review noting the dearth of coverage of these maxxed-out individuals; it’s an important story to tell in your market. How are they surviving now and what are their tactics doing to your local economy? If they’re not shopping, merchants suffer. If they’re reverting to multi-generational households, does that mean apartment complexes and other rental units are going begging for tenants, or that more single-family dwellings are being abandoned? Is there more off-the-books work taking place in your area’s underground economy?

A rising drumbeat of activists and distressed unemployed persons is calling for a “Tier 5″ (aka Tier Five and Tier V) addition to unemployment benefits — one that would extend benefits beyond 99 weeks in some cases. You can use this as a search term to find concerned parties in your area via their own sites as well as Facebook and Twitter.