Subprime mess beyond the borrowers

The impact of the meltdown in the subprime mortgage industry continues to spiral out into various aspects of the housing industry and industries that count on it for some bread and butter earnings, such as remodeling and advertising.

A piece in the NY Times over the weekend put a spotlight on a Cleveland, Ohio, suburb that is starting to feel the impact of foreclosed homes and fleeing residents and having to cut various services as a result. (See, "Can the Mortgage Crisis Swallow a Town?")

And the LA Times today considers the future of home improvement and property flipping television shows that grew out of the boom years. (See, "Home Shows See Need to Retool.")

It's no surprise then that more than a few observers have started wondering about the future of Web services that have come to rely on advertising dollars from mortgage and real estate companies. A lot of new companies have sprung up in recent years with advertising revenue as a major part of their business models.

There are two schools of thought here: 1) Some believe that now is a great time for those offering online ads to industry professionals as they need to market and advertise now more than ever; and 2) Others say it doesn't matter that now is the time for real estate companies to make a push for advertising -- the sad truth is that many simply don't have the budget for it or are cutting back in a major way.

What do you think? Will you be cutting back or revving up?

More from the Web:

--Gauging The Hype on Mortgage Meltdown's Online Ad Impact (MediaPost)
--What the Subprime Mess Means for Real Estate 2.0 (Future of Real Estate Marketing)
--LowerMyBills Lowers Its Ad Bill (NY Times)
--First American Corp. laying off 1,900 (Inman News)

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