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Community sales, new development,
communities are happening regularly.
wouldn’t be surprising to hear a story about a cluster of homes selling out in less than a week’s time with bidding
over asking price. In fact, that’s a story that practically feels overtold, like a popular song that you’ve heard on the radio way too many times.
VOLUME 5 • EDITION 5
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2022
MHInsider.com
Publisher
Patrick Revere patrick@mhvillage.com
Merit Kathan
merit@mhvillage.com
George Allen
gfa7156@aol.com
Editor
Sean Vichinsky sean@mhvillage.com
Contributors
Steven Blank Charles Castellano
Katryna Eastwood
Kevan Enger
Suzanne Felber
David Roden Bruce Thompson Don Westphal
(877) 406-0232 advertise@mhvillage.com
Patrick Revere
2600 Five Mile Road NE Grand Rapids, MI, 49525 (616) 888-6994 patrick@mhvillage.com
Although we make every effort to ensure that the information in this issue was correct before publication, MHVillage, Inc. and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Opinions expressed are those of the author or persons quoted and not necessarily those of MHInsider or the publisher MHVillage, Inc.
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OOwnership of small to midsize manufactured home communities is to affordable housing what small business is to the U.S. economy — the often unrecognized and under-appreciated engine that sustains the whole.
While many of the headlines and analyses go toward large operators, more than 85 percent of the land-lease homesites in the country are owned and operated by what often is referred to as “Ma and Pop” owners. In rural and metro areas throughout the country, shade and shelter communities with everything you need and nothing that you don’t is a modest business model that helps young people stay close to their parents, helps older people age in place, helps teachers reside close to their schools and students, helps medical providers be close to their offices and patients, and fire and safety personnel live near the station house.
The pages of this magazine often feature large communities — with anywhere from 250 to thousands of homesites — that boast large clubhouses, pools and gyms, golf courses, and RV
storage. While there is a good place in the market for large 55+ communities in resort locales, this edition of MHInsider provides a focus on the bread and butter of home sales and community living, where playground equipment and a dog park are the most needed amenities.
Affordable home ownership in the U.S. is difficult to find, and it’s something the manufactured housing industry is very good at providing.
The “SECO” edition of MHInsider pays high praise to community owners and managers who look after the well-being of one, two, or three properties — who know the names of all the residents — and provide their professional time and resources to ensure quality homes stay on site and remain a vital part of the wider community.
Thank you, manufactured housing profes sionals, for all that you do in helping to grow the industry that creates jobs and homes for mil lions of hard-working individuals and families from coast to coast.
Patrick Revere is associate vice president of MHVillage and publisher for the MHInsider magazine and blog for industry professionals. His background is in print news, language, and communication.
Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona has appointed to its board of directors Maria Horton, Marketing Director and Regional Manager for Newport Pacific, and Ron Bunce, Senior Vice President for Equity LifeStyle Properties. Additionally, the Mich igan Manufactured Housing, RV, and Campground Association has introduced four new officers to its ex ecutive board: Chairperson Steve Francis, of Rudgate Communities and Infinity Billing, Vice Chairperson Ryan Krenek, of Krenek RV Center, Treasurer Veronica D’Hondt, of YES Communities, and Secretary Chase Haylett, of Advantage 1 RV & Auto Brokers.
The National Center for Construction Education and Research’s General Carpentry curriculum, in response to customer usage and market demand, has been updated to a first-level program leading to a two-
pronged course path. The curriculum redesign creates career paths in carpentry for building construction and for form carpentry, as well as interim credentials for each. Together, the three guides may be used to build a four-year apprenticeship program.
The Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute has launched a new online marketplace for factory-built homes in the Bluegrass State. The comprehensive consumer platform allows Kentucky homebuyers to browse, select from options, and tour manufactured and modular homes for sale. The new site, www. KentuckyManufacturedHomes.com, will allow people shopping for a home to learn more about Kentucky’s manufactured and modular housing, view floorplans, take virtual tours, get price quotes, and find lenders and communities, KMHI Executive Director Logan Hanes said. “Today’s homebuyer wants to consider all their options before buying,” he said. “This new home
shopping site allows
UMH Properties has acquired a trio of manufac tured home communities, one in Dothan, Ala., for $3.9 million, another in Butler, Pa., for $7.4 million, and the third in Erie, Mich. The Dothan community has 139 developed homesites on about 36 acres, of which about 6 percent are occupied. The community in Butler, Pa., has 132 homesites on about 65 acres. In addition, there are 38 entitled sites for development and 18 sites owned by residents who pay a common area maintenance fee. “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Mandell Trails,” UMH President and CEO Sam Landy said. “This property is well-located near some of our best performing assets in west ern Pennsylvania. As we improve the community, we anticipate strong demand for profitable sales.” The third, Hidden Creek, in Michigan, has 351
developed homesites on 88 acres. The community is 63 percent occupied.
Cobblestone Properties purchased Las Quintas Oasis in Yuma, Ariz., for $25 million. The 460-homesite community is on Nort Frontage Road four miles from Arizona Western College and less than 10 miles from Yuma International Airport.
Manufactured Housing Properties Inc. has pur chased three communities in Brunswick, Ga., with a total of 72 lots and 30 homes. It also purchased 62 acres of undeveloped land zoned for approximately 200 homesites in Raeford, N.C., and acquired a community in Leesville, S.C., with 39 homesites, all occupied. MHPI owns and operates 48 manufactured housing communities with 2,299 homesites. »
Legacy Housing Corporation has appointed Duncan Bates as the company’s new president and chief execu tive officer. Bates has served the company on its board of directors. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in corporate finance and capital allocation that will assist us in operating as a public company and strategically growing our business,” Legacy Executive Chairman Curt Hodgson said. “Duncan has a proven track record of leadership and is an important step in Legacy’s succession plan.” Bates replaces co-founder Kenny Shipley, who has assumed the role of executive vice president.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has hired man ufactured industry and affordable housing advocate Paul Barretto to join their Division of Housing Goals and Mission. He leaves his industry roles as executive director at LearnMH and his Manufactured Housing Initiatives consulting practice. Previously, Barretto spent 20 years at Fannie Mae and was the author of Fannie Mae’s first Duty to Serve Manufactured Housing Underserved Market Plan.
Manufactured Housing Properties Hires New VP
Manufactured Housing Properties Inc., an owner and operator of manufactured home communities, has hired Bill Boscow as executive vice president of capital markets. “Bill is a great addition to our team and we think his expertise and track record of success will bring tremendous value to the company as we continue to grow,” President Jay Wardlaw said. Boscow is a 35-year veteran of the financial services industry, most recently serving as senior vice president at Wildermuth Wealth.
Rubin Chrisman has been hired by M. Shapiro Real Estate as its new director of operations and sales. Christian has more than 21 years of experience in real estate investment and property management. He will
manage day-to-day operations for a growing portfolio of more than 18,000 manufactured home sites, 5,000 apartments, and a total of nearly a million square feet of office/industrial space. ”We are fortunate to have Rubin join our organization. His in-depth team-building skill set and operational knowledge will not only grow our apartment management platform, it will continue to grow the manufactured housing platform which is the largest third-party management group in the United States,” M. Shap iro Real Estate Senior Vice President Mark Kassab said. “The entire team at M. Shapiro is excited for Rubin to join this growing team.”
YES Communities awarded 13 students in six states the 2022 Building Futures Scholarship recipients, totaling $32,500 in funding to improve the lives of residents and team members. Recipients are selected based on exceptional community service and com mitment to academic excellence. “We created the Building Futures Scholarship Program to help make a difference in the lives of our community residents and YES team members. To see this program continue to grow and improve lives is a testament to all the amazing communities we serve,” said Steven Schaub, CEO of YES Communities. “We are committed to ensuring Building Futures continues to unlock the incredible potential of these young students.”
Highly respected and admired economist and analyst Dr. Frank Nothaft has passed away. Mr. Nothaft was the chief economist for CoreLogic, and previously held the same position for Freddie Mac. He worked in housing for more than 25 years, and was a regular contributor to major news outlets. “Frank was a brilliant economist and eloquent spokesman on the housing economy,” National Housing Council President and CEO David Dworkin said.
Michael K. Crocker, 76, of Ojai, Calif. and Monmouth, Maine, passed away July 26, 2022. Mr. Crocker served on the Maine Manufactured Housing Board where he owned several communities, taking pride in providing people with affordable, safe communities where they could own their homes. He won many awards for top sales and developments and had a prolific 40-plus year career doing what he loved. He is sur vived by his beloved wife, Bonnie Sessions; daughter, Bridget Crocker and son-in-law, John Regan, son, Jeffrey Crocker and daughter-in-law, Tierra Crocker; grandchildren Molly and Sadie Regan and Koen and Ellaurie Crocker; sister, Betsy Foote, brother, Phillip Crocker and sister-in-law, Carol Crocker; niece, Julie Crocker-Beaulieu; and large extended family.
Dennis K. Harney, 75, passed away at his home in Lynnwood, Wash., on July 30, 2022. Born in
Elwood, Ind., Mr. Harney served as executive director for the Indiana Manufactured Housing Association/Recreation Vehicle Indiana Council, and previously had been the planning director of the city of Elkhart. In 1994, he was the recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash award.
TThe Southeast United States continues to be one of the most active regions in the country for manufactured housing. Com munity sales, new development, and complete redevelopment of existing communities are happening regularly.
There are several reasons more and more people are moving south. Many are driven by financial and political factors, while others are motivated by the lifestyle that is available. The finan cial benefits to moving to a sunbelt state revolve around the cost of living and quality of life. The South provides friendly tax laws that allow retirees to keep more of their pensions, stock dividends, and any other income stream they might have than if they stayed in high tax states where they worked and lived for decades. In places like Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, residents pay an additional 8-10% in state income taxes. Instead, they can move south and pay less or even no state income taxes (Tennessee and Florida) while also reducing their cost of living and improving their quality of life. Lifestyle motivators such as warmer climates and beaches have attracted many to the region.
Population growth is one of the most common data points investors focus on when identifying new areas to deploy capital. Results from the most recent census show Southeastern states like Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Ten nessee all grew more than the US median of .55% since 2010. With so much growth concentrated in these states, the competition for investment opportunities has increased substantially, so investors can expect to pay a premium for almost any community that becomes available.
Several factors other than pop ulation growth and demand for housing have also contributed to this increase in competition, such as record low-interest rates. Over the past few years, we witnessed bidding wars as more capital chas es the limited number of existing communities. This has forced many groups to consider different opportunities like developing new communities. Throughout the Southeast, tens of thousands of sites are under construction to help alleviate the housing shortage despite the challenges of high-cost materials and labor shortage. Data provided by MHI in their most recent publication show manufacturers delivered more homes to states in the South east than any other region of the country, with 8 of the top 10 states leading delivery. In total, 20,486 homes were shipped to the region through May, which represents 41 percent of all manufactured home deliveries in the country.
In addition to the ground-up developers helping increase the availability of affordable housing, dozens of local and re gional operators are revitalizing communities. Unfortunately, many older communities fall into states of disarray after multiple generations of ownership and neglect. These small and midsize operators that don’t have the cheap cost of capital to compete with the larger REITS and national companies are finding value in the 20-75 site communities where the bigger players historically have not transacted. Not only are these
operators able to compete on these types of deals, they’re also able to save these communities from closing or being redeveloped.
This job is no easy task as many of the readers of this article know.
One of the first actions as new owners is hauling away countless dumpsters full of garbage and trash accumulated over decades of mismanagement and neglect. After the trash is clear, they often tear out abandoned homes and renovate the site’s infrastructure to make it ready for new homes. The shortage of housing, and especially affordable housing, benefits these owners because homes are leased immediately and sometimes even before the homes are finished. Often, these investors are targets of bad press
for raising rents, but this side of the story is rarely published. There are some bad actors out there who raise rents without improving the property, but there are plenty of good actors who provide a safe and well-maintained community at an affordable price. We should credit them for their efforts in providing an affordable housing option to many families in the region. MHV Charles Castellano is the regional director of the Southeast U.S., responsible for devel oping new business and monitoring community and RV activity in the Region. He spends much of his time on the road, attending national and regional conferences, visiting dozens of communities per month meeting with owners and operators.
Where we’re committed to:
Improving the lives of the people we serve.
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a complex process
TThe Alabama Manufactured Housing Association has arranged for fans to win the down payment for a house if the Alabama Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers “Take It To The House” with the second-half kickoff in Tuscaloosa and Auburn during the next two seasons.
“If either football team, Auburn or Alabama, re turns their first received kick in the second half for a touchdown at one of their home SEC games, one lucky fan from each school will have a chance to win a $75,000 down payment towards the purchase of a manufactured home from an AMHA dealer,” AMHA Executive Director Lance Latham said.
The contest will be promoted through university media outlets including on radio, digital, social media, and in print advertising. Fans can register to enter the contest at each school’s website, rolltide.com/takeit tothehouse and auburntigers.com/takeittothehouse.
“There’s no greater way to promote the man ufactured industry statewide than to tie in a promotion with the Alabama and Auburn football teams,” Latham said. “The ‘Take It To The House’ campaign is a fun way to create excitement and enthusiasm around manufactured homes as well as to provide fans a unique opportunity to purchase a beautiful new home.”
Auburn Sports Properties General Manager Ben
Harling said the university is enthusiastic about the approach to promoting manufactured homes, particularly at a time when high-quality, attainable homes are in short supply.
“The ‘Take It To The House’ promotion from AMHA is a creative play on the game and I know the Auburn Family will be tuning in to see if we can add another kick return to our fabulous history,” Harling said.
The SEC is based in Birmingham, Ala., and Alabama and Auburn are among the mostly highly-viewed college football games in the country each week, gaining nearly 190,000 in-stadium viewers for each of the approximately one dozen games per year that will carry the promotion. TV viewership of those games tops eight million each week, and one of the single biggest college football games each year is the matchup between the in-state rivals, which will take place this year in Tuscaloosa and next year in Auburn.
Alabama began the 2022 college football season ranked as the top team in the nation.
“The Alabama Crimson Tide has the most passion ate fans in college football, and we know that giving them the opportunity to win a new manufactured home will result in a highly successful campaign for AMHA and the manufactured housing industry in our state,” said Jim Carabin, the vice president and general manager for Crimson Tide Sports Marketing. MHV
Sunday, Oct. 2 — Tuesday, Oct. 4
Denver, Colo. — Grand Hyatt Denver
MHI’s largest membership meeting of the year provides an opportunity to exchange information with industry friends, stay current on housing marketplace trends, and attend the board, committee, and division meetings. Visit www.manufacturedhousing.org/ conference-meetings for more information.
SECO National Conference of Community Owners
Monday, Oct. 3 — Thursday, Oct. 6
Stone Mountain, Ga. — Evergreen Marriott Resort (Atlanta)
From industry panels, presentations, and round table discussions, to the networking mixers and professional exhibits, the SECO National Conference of Community Owners again seeks to improve on that fresh, compelling interaction and camaraderie. The event provides manufactured housing professionals with five days of high-level interaction, including education seminars, panels, roundtables, fireside chats, mini TED talks, and open time for networking and deal making.
MMHA Manufactured Home Showcase VIP Reception
Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, 5 – 7 p.m.
Novi, Michigan — Suburban Collection Showplace
The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association will hold a VIP Event Thursday, Oct. 6 from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan. This special event will be held before the Novi Home Show opens to the general public on Oct. 7. MMHA will feature six completely decorated and furnished manufactured homes on display from manufacturers Champion, Skyline, and Clayton. The Novi Home Show, Oct. 7-9, will enable more than 6,000 attendees to learn more about today’s manufactured
homes. For more information on this MMHA VIP Reception please contact Lauri Brantley (517) 999-6879 or lbrantley@mmhrvca.org.
Monday, Oct. 10 — Thursday, Oct. 13
Henderson, Nev. — The M Resort Spa Casino
Western Manufactured Housing Communities As sociation’s annual event blends educational programs with entertainment and networking forums. Contact WMA for registration details, as well as exhibitor, and sponsorship opportunities.
MHI’s NCC Fall Leadership Forum
Wednesday, Nov. 2 — Friday, Nov. 4 Chicago — Westin Michigan Ave. The NCC Fall Leadership Forum held each year draws more than 400 attendees and is the only stra tegic executive-level event of the year for national community owners. The meeting is geared toward professionals involved with manufactured home communities as an owner/manager, manufacturer, service provider, broker, lender, or consultant. Orga nizers and presenters explore new ideas, examine trends, and offer a unique industry perspective.
If you have an event or gathering — virtual or in person — you would like to have listed with MHInsider, please contact us at: www.mhvillage.com/pro/ manufactured-housingindustry-trade-shows/
by Patrick Revere
It’s extremely hard to show a retired United States veteran how much he or she is appreciated for their service. For those of us who were not there during their time serving our country, we have no idea what they endured.
That fact hit home with us at SECO a few years ago when a close friend and community resident was unable to breathe well in the summer and needed an extra air conditioner in his house to keep it cooler. This resident was a veteran of the Iraq War and is the recipient of the Purple Heart medal. Another resident in that same community was a Marine, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who had terrible flashbacks when 4th of July would arrive and the fireworks began going off in the neighborhood behind his home.
Both of these men paid a price that we who have not served in the Armed Forces will never know.
These issues led SECO to the idea of helping honor ably discharged veterans who live in manufactured home communities in this country.
The SECO Veteran’s Assistance program works because a group of park owners decided to apply for non-profit 501(c) (3) status to achieve the goal of taking net proceeds from their yearly national meeting and helping the veterans. The goal is to do what they can to help make a veteran’s home more comfortable if they lack the resources to make that change for themselves.
If you know of a resident who was an honorable discharge from the U.S. military who could use a wheelchair ramp, ADA toilet, handrails in the shower, A/C units, extra lighting, or anything needed to make their lives better, please contact the committee, and they will provide a loan application for the resident. With the help of the community owner or manager, a SECO committee — consisting of park owners and
industry participants who have served in the U.S. Navy, Marines, Army, and Air Force — will review the application. Prior to approval, the committee might ask for documentation and photographs of the project to be funded.
On Oct. 3, 2022, park owners and managers from all around the country are meeting outside Atlanta to discuss issues we all face each day and to view the new homes that local manufacturers will be installing for the event. Park Managers will meet on Monday, Oct. 3, while the first SECO Golf Tournament is happening at Stone Mountain Golf Course. On Wednesday, we will be addressed by our keynote speaker, Mark Yost, CEO of Skyline Champion Corporation.
For more information, please visit the SECO website at https://www.secoconference.comto learn more about the Veterans program and to register for updates and event information. Or make contact directly; email davidroden@yahoo.com or call (423) 760-4819. SECO is a 501(c)(3) and accepts year-round donations for this program to help U.S. Veterans. MHV
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Manufactured housing and RV pro fessionals met Aug. 15 in Elkhart, Ind., to honor the 10 new Hall of Fame members, as well as to cel ebrate the 50th anniversary of the hall, the opening of the new MH Museum, and to convene with colleagues in the birthplace of both industries.
From left, Shanda Franck Nice ly, Jim Scoular, Maria Horton, Jim Clayton, Jeff Scoular, and Kevin Clayton talk prior to the ribbon cutting for the new Scou lar Family Manufactured Hous ing Museum ribbon cutting and the induction dinner.
All of the hall’s men and wom en in a green coat were called to the stage by Barry Cole at the lectern during the onset of the evening’s induction ceremo nies to honor the 50th anniver sary of the organization.
Hall of Fame executive com mittee member Joe Stegmay er and board member Deb bie Brunoforte present UMH founder and chairman Eu gene Landy with his induction plaque.
“We do need more housing. It is critical, and our industry can deliver. We can’t solve the entire problem, but we can contribute,” Landy said. “It’s not the easiest task, but it’s what we want to do to build our little company.”
The manufactured housing professionals in attendance at the RV/MH Hall of Fame 2022 Induction Dinner applaud Ray Gritton of Homes Direct for his entry into the hall.
LLongtime manufactured housing industry vet erans Jeff Farren, Jack Frisby, and George Allen have combined efforts to provide insight on the different ways in which investors go about putting their efforts into communities.
The three have a deep background in community syndication, as well as independent ownership, in the recent white paper “How to Evaluate a Mobile Home Park Investment Opportunity” provide an overview of the business, as well as varying strategic options for investment.
“Investment in land lease communities is real ly a hybrid of a pure real estate investment and investment in an operating business,” the authors state. “ It is certainly not like investing in triple net leases (aka “mailbox money”), or even retail or industrial real estate where the primary variable is the ability to sell and lease sites. Mobile Home Park investment requires a unique skill set that is usually acquired through years of experience in the asset class. But every expert was once a novice.” So let’s begin the education!
In laying out the paths to manufactured housing community investment, Farren, Frisby, and Allen cover what they call The Five Ps: Preparation, Pros pecting, Pricing, Purchase, and Profit Maximization.
In the preparation part alone, the authors ask the reader no fewer than 40 questions to be considered when determining interest and intent for manufac tured home community investment.
“Do you have a desire to make an impact on people with your investments or are you purely focused on return?” the paper asks. “A land lease community provides pride of ownership to lower income Americans. Does that matter to you? Should the social impact of providing affordable housing to hard working Americans be a part of a sound investment evaluation?”
The section on Prospecting becomes a tactical checklist, if you will, that can guide a potential in vestor through the route of syndication, individual ownership, or small group ownership. The Pricing section provides a model for how would-be owners and investors can evaluate a piece of property and make a quality determination of value.
“Be patient. Negotiate. Be prepared to walk away,” the authors wrote in the illustrated 15-page paper that can be found at www.veroinvestments.com. “The act of making a purchase of this magnitude is an emotional experience. Recognize your emotions and examine them to be sure they are serving you and not sabotaging you.”
The paper finishes with a list of mechanisms that provide added revenue for manufactured home com munities, as well as a list of ways to responsibly reduce cost while maintaining high quality communities.
Jeff Farren and Jack Frisby are principals of Vero Investments, LLC. Vero Investments is a sponsor of group investments aka real estate syndications in the land lease community asset class. Farren has over 30 years of experience in ownership and management of land lease communities. He also is a successful business owner and adviser to other owners of small businesses. He is a Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor, and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. Frisby is a well-known business consultant,
educator, and mentor to Christian business leaders. He leads roundtable groups of business owners and executives, focused on merging their professional and spiritual lives. He earned a BA in Human Relations and a MA from Northern Seminary.
George Allen is a preeminent industry leader and the most well-known and prolific author on the topic of land lease communities. Now retired, Allen has been a successful community owner, manager, and consultant through several companies he founded, including GFA Management, Inc. and EducateMHC. He continues to serve the associate editor for MHInsider and contributes the Allen Legacy column to its readers. MHV
WWhen a potential customer called Mountain View Estates in Rossville, Ga., in search of a home for rent, it could have been a very short conversation. Rather, it spurred a conversation about what was possible, and represents the beginning of a formal relationship between small community owners and local retailers.
“When COVID hit, we wanted to look at alternatives to buying direct-from-the-factory due to pricing and delivery times. It just became what this small mom and pop had to do,” Mountain View Estates owners and SECO founder Dave Roden said.
As queries for homes for sale and homes for rent con tinued and even heightened through the pandemic, Roden and others turned to the local retail network for inroads on new homes. In Roden’s case, he called Morgan Robinson at a nearby Clayton Home Center.
“We want to open doors to affordable housing for more people, and this relationship has helped provide quality, affordable homes to more families in the local area,” said Robinson.
Roden said Mountain View now has taken sev en new homes to show, and five have been sold. The goal is to supply and fill a dozen new homes to Mountain View each year.
“When her sales staff finds someone who might want to live in a park, they send them our way,” Roden said. “When we get a lead that visits us looking for a home or rental, we send them to Morgan and her folks. It’s a very good business relationship.”
Roden said he has helped other community owners understand the value of maintaining a sales pipeline by building stronger relationships with dealers near a community. At Mountain View, Roden said it’s been refreshing working with a retailer again after many years of having a full home sales operation and buying direct.
“If you’re a small mom and pop outfit like us or don’t have the sales staff, or have trouble finding financing, have a small advertising budget, or limited time to do social media and website development, I’d encourage you to reach out to your local retail er,” he said. “Maybe if you are set up to buy directly from the factory, have the trained staff in place, and have the advertising/media part covered, you should still continue … for us, COVID changed the way we had to do business.”
MHV
OOwnership and operation of manufactured home communities continues to grow in complexity over time. The effort it takes is not “paint by numbers” nor a walk in the park. Yet, if approached in the right way with the right management team, operating communities can be rewarding and profitable. It takes effective assessment, planning and execution and, perhaps most importantly of all, industry knowledge.
At Blank Family Communities, we refer to these as the ROCC of our business. If you master these four components of operating, chances are you will be successful.
The biggest shift in mentality that we have seen with the recent industry consolidation pertains to understanding what is truly important to the success of a community. So often we look at the bottom line and the bottom line only, forgetting about the customer that we actually serve — our residents. We know that a happy resident who finds value in their home and community will fight for that home when times are tough, and in affordable housing there are many tough times. The fundamental principles of resident relations are:
• Always provide clear channels of communication for your residents to speak with management
• Properly maintain community infrastructure
• Provide a safe and fair environment for your residents
• Ensure collections and curb appeal are handled efficiently.
This is the most complex part of our business. A common misconception with MHCs is that residents stay forever. Spoiler alert: they do not. Yes, it is true that a resident who owns their home has a longer resi dency than an apartment renter, but even in the most stable of communities, vacancies come up. Ensuring that every vacancy is handled correctly is imperative to the success of each community. When someone is leaving their home, your first question should be: Do I want this home to stay in my community? If the answer is yes, buy it. Once purchased, you want the home to present in a way that attracts your ideal resident. Often, we see operators try to save money
on renovation costs and in turn, they attract a less desirable resident. Do not rush to fill occupancy if it means getting an underqualified resident.
The cornerstone of any good operation is collecting the money that you bill out. One thing that is very important to us in the communities we manage is creating an online payment portal for residents to use. Currently, we have about 90 percent of our portfolio using a payment portal. Not only does it reduce the chances of theft, but it increases the availability of on-site staff. If community managers do not have to manually deposit rent, they can spend more time in the community or going after delinquencies. With collections, we always employ a fair yet firm hand. Our residents have a contractual obligation
Atlanta
GA
The conference that has promoted the idea for 12 years: There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t met yet.
By attending SECO22, you’ll get to experience a suite of new and most requested topics and speakers. Here’s just a sneak peek of what you’ll see and do at this year’s SECO:
Tour on-site manufactured homes to see the latest developments in industry manufacturing
Take part in SECO’s first-ever golf tournament and networking roundtables
Attend THREE receptions for entertainment and networking throughout SECO22
Experience SECO’s first-ever LIVE BAND at the event
Attend all-time favorite SECO educational sessions to further your industry knowledge
Over 500 attendees are expected to attend SECO live and in-person this year. You can’t miss your chance to be among this exclusive group and stay ahead of the curve.
To learn about sponsorship, exhibiting, and advertising opportunities, call (404) 777-SECO
to pay rent and although we take a compassionate approach in everything that we do, we expect residents to pay their rent.
This is the other side of the collections coin. We expect our residents to hold up to their contractual obligation to pay us rent and to keep their homes and sites in good order, but are we as operators holding up our end by maintaining the community properly? Ensuring that the utility infrastructure is in good shape and the grass is mowed in the summer and the roads are cleared in the winter is all imperative. We cannot go to our residents in good faith and ask them to pay their rent or clean up their yard if we are not leading by example. Curb appeal is the secret sauce. Even a 1950s community with high density can be beautiful, if maintained properly.
As, I noted in a previous contribution to MHInsider, the purchase of a manufactured home community
is just the beginning of an owner/operator’s jour ney. It is that operation of the community that will make or break an asset.
The first instinct of new companies/owners often is to operate the community themselves. After all, manufactured housing was known for being able to run efficiently with limited oversight. In reality, the days of profitably operating a community like my grandfather did in 1968 are over.
Manufactured home communities are not like apart ments, condominiums, or commercial properties. With MHC, the land is your asset. Operating a community is more like operating a small town and all the town’s utilities and infrastructure are your concern. MHV
Steven Blank is the president of Blank Family Communities, a third-party management group in the Midwest, with 10 years of MH owner/operator experience and membership in the MMHA.
Yale is proud to announce the appointment of Mr. Jake Levin as the Director of Equity Capital Markets. This completes Yale’s Capital Markets division, which provides advisory and structuring services for all facets of the capital stack and insures a vertically integrated national provider and ‘one-stop shop’ for any client’s needs.
Mr. Levin will be responsible for assisting operators in optimizing their capital stack through strategic and financial structuring via introductions to qualified common and preferred equity investors, mezzanine debt lenders, or strategic partners in the industry. His function will include equity capital introductions for programmatic relationships, one-off acquisitions, portfolio acquisitions, capital for development projects, and equity for existing portfolio recapitalization plus future growth capital.
Mr. Levin brings a vast network of relationships to the Yale Team with over 20 years and $2.5 billion of experience in real estate and leverage finance transactions. Prior to joining Yale, Mr. Levin worked for AFCGamma (a NASDAQ-listed mortgage REIT focused on lending to the cannabis industry), Stackhouse Capital, Inc. (a family officebacked boutique real estate investment and advisory firm focused on multifamily and self-storage), Cantor Commercial (a division of Cantor Fitzgerald), and Deutsche Bank, beginning his career in their famed Leverage Finance Group.
Mr. Levin graduated with a BA in History from Princeton University and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was on the Dean’s List.
HARRISON
EEfficiency in the design of communities is even more important today than ever. The cost of homes and development are escalating, and in many locations forcing families out of the affordable zone. There are many ways to design attractive communities efficiently. Let’s first consider the initial planning for a community. The most efficient site plan is driven by a thorough understanding of the site and the plan grows out of the site, is not forced into the site: understanding the topography natural features, such as woodlands, wetlands, and flood plains is essen tial. Unfortunately, many locations where zoning is possible are not the most desirable and easy to plan. Many designers have subdivision experience but don’t understand the techniques and unique considerations
that can reduce constructions costs and improve the community efficiency. If possible, have an experienced MH planner design the community.
Next, consider project marketing and community image as an integral part of the initial plan. This can be accomplished in several ways. How will the community appear from the street? Will it feature the back end of homes, sheds and related junk as in the past, or will it be landscaped and screened? Does the entrance create a “Wow” effect with attractive signage, fencing, and landscape beds? The main entrance can lead up to or past the club house or an amenity further enhancing the community image and marketability (illustration 3). Plant trees early in the development process. A small inexpensive tree
will soon create an image upgrade. The trees and landscape grow for you twenty-four/seven!
Consider the homes in the community. Are they located in such a way that they add to the community aesthetics? We all know that in most cases the hitch end and entry side of the home is the most attractive. Choose the home and its placement to take advantage of the most attractive placement in the community and on its home site. If the community will have a mix of single section and multi-section homes, locate the more attractive multi-section homes in prime locations: at the entrance, at intersections, and along the main roads. Place less attractive single section homes in less prominent visual locations.
Select the home floor plan to enhance the look from the street. A wall of siding on the street-fac ing end of the home is very unattractive. Moving the windows from the side to the end and adding overhangs and shutters there are small no-cost ways to improve community aesthetics.
Another free method to improve the look of the community is to orient intersection homesites so that the attractive sides of the home face the in tersection. This can be accomplished by rotating intersections lots 90 degrees.
We have suggested these and other “tricks of the trade” that our experienced manufactured home planners use to create a “plan”, not just a layout. Many layouts are prepared with little or no consideration for the final appearance and efficiency of the communities. But this experienced planner has taken advantage of in-depth knowledge of the industry and its products to create attractive communities that help upgrade the image of the industry. Manufactured homes and communities are the last, best solutions to dying affordability in housing. If not us, then who? MHV
Don Westphal retired after more than 50 years since the mid 1960s when he designed his first Manufactured Home community and RV resort as a Landscape Architect student. He is a consultant to the Nadi Group and still enjoys sharing his experiences and the association with long-time clients and industry friends.
by Kevan Enger
The times, they are a-changin’. The manufactured home community landscape is evolving with change coming at us from a variety of angles. Nationwide affordable housing challenges, new federal and agency initiatives, and investor activity are all coming together to create not a tidal wave of change to be sure, but a ripple effect of steady and contin uous tectonic shifts that will begin repositioning the asset class on multiple fronts.
To be clear, it’s important to establish upfront that manufactured home community fundamentals remain strong. Occupancy remains high and rents continue to increase, albeit at a slower pace than what we were seeing six months to a year ago.
Seeking new opportunities for value-add and growth investor interest skyrocketed over the last few years
as opportunities for efficiencies became apparent and below-market rents signaled gains. This created a booming seller’s market that pushed cap rates to new lows and prices to new highs, moving rents up, much to the chagrin of residents.
The pandemic and ensuing astronomical sin gle-family price hikes and multifamily rent growth pushed many consumers to look for more affordable housing, driving former apartment dwellers, for in stance, to look to manufactured housing communities as an alternative solution.
Meanwhile, as inflation took off and fears of a reces sion on the horizon loomed larger, investor interest remained robust as they sought a recession refuge in the widely considered “recession-resistant” asset class, while others aimed for a bet against inflation with rent growth and efficiency gains built in.
These same forces that have strengthened the asset class are also the ones putting the manufactured housing industry on the national radar as a heretofore overlooked solution to the affordable housing crisis.
It’s no secret that affordable housing is a national crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse. In the U.S., there is a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes for the country’s over 10.8 million extremely low-income families. In fact, no state has an adequate supply of affordable rental housing for the lowest-income renters and there is no state or county where a renter working full-time at minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment.
From the get-go, the Biden Administration signaled that it would make affordable housing a priority. With inflation hitting 9.1 percent in June and many consumers seeing their rents hit new record highs, that objective has become more critical than ever.
In the last few months, the administration, Freddie Mac, and other stakeholders have turned their focus and action toward the affordable housing dilemma.
Not as sexy as retail, industrial, or tradition al multi-family, manufactured housing has remained the commercial real estate smart wall flower at the prom, and under the radar at the household level. However, a good portion of what the »
Community
manufactured housing industry produces falls under the affordable housing umbrella, and with more Class C complexes being acquired for redevelopment by investors seeking value-add opportunities, more eyes have trickled down to MHCs for a solve. Con sidering that manufactured homes cost 45 percent less per square foot than site-built homes on average, the solution makes sense.
To that end, the Biden Administration recently announced new and sweeping action to tackle the affordabil ity problem on multiple fronts including supply, financing, and industry liquidity with actions encompassing MH unit production and lowering of MHC development barriers.
In May, the White House an nounced the Housing Supply Action Plan with the goal of boosting the supply of rental housing for low- and moder ate-income families.
grant program to help states and communities get rid of unnecessary barriers to the production of affordable housing, including permitting for manufactured housing communities.
• Supporting production and availability of manufactured housing. Since the purchase of most new manufactured homes are executed through personal property (chattel) financing instead of conventional mortgages, loan terms are shorter and interest rates are higher. To tackle this issue, Freddie Mac has announced it will conduct a study to determine the feasibility of supporting purchases of per sonal property manufactured housing loans.
With more consumers looking for alternative and more affordable living and the federal government announcing sweeping objectives in the affordable housing category, we do expect the industry to be positively impacted by some of these changes in the next 12 months or so.
The supply-and-demandbased rationale is that new inventory will help reduce price pressures not only on housing but on inflation since housing costs make up about one-third of the contributors toward inflation as measured by the CPI.
Per the plan’s official announcement release, the White House will take the following actions, among others, directly impacting the manufactured housing sector.
• Deploy new financing mechanisms to build and preserve more housing where financing gaps cur rently exist: manufactured housing (including with chattel loans that the majority of manufactured housing purchasers rely on), accessory dwelling units (ADUs), 2-4 unit properties, and smaller multifamily buildings.
• The Unlocking Possibilities Program, proposed by President Biden and included in the reconciliation bill passed by the House last year, would establish a new, HUD-administered $1.75 billion competitive
If the Federal Housing Finance Agency approves, Freddie Mac will purchase these types of loans to assist with product development and support future loan purchase capabilities.
In addition, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced revised purchase goals for manufactured
housing loans. The objective, as relayed in their Duty to Serve plans, is to generate greater liquidity for manufactured housing and increase delivery of manufactured homes.
• With manufactured housing’s cost and time efficiencies in mind, HUD will make it easier to finance new units and assist manufacturers in updating their designs to meet the evolving needs of consumers. This is a critical component to attract a broader array of buyers. In addition to other initiatives, this includes updating the HUD Code to allow manufacturers to update and expand their production and supply chain capabilities.
• Provide Housing Supply Fund financing for afford able housing production to develop 500,000 units of housing for low- and moderate-income renters and homebuyers. The types of units will include modular, panelized, or manufactured housing.
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Louisville
most recent Louisville
In addition to the actions outlined in the Housing Supply Action Plan, Freddie Mac recently rolled out multiple initiatives in their Duty to Serve Underserved Markets Plan 2022–2024.
The programs include loan purchase, loan prod ucts, and outreach across four key activity initiatives specifically aimed at manufactured housing:
• Activity 1 | Support for Manufactured Housing
Titled as Real Property
• Activity 2 | Support for Manufactured Housing Titled as Personal Property
• Activity 3 | Support for MHCs Owned by a Govern mental Instrumentality, Non-Profit Organization, or Residents
• Activity 4 | Support for MHCs with Certain Tenant Pad Lease Protections
The activity will include increasing single-family loan purchases of manufactured housing titled as real property, designing new product flexibili ties to facilitate the origination of manufactured housing titled as real property in tribal areas, and supporting growth in the MH market through research and outreach.
In addition, the agency will conduct due diligence and gather data to support the devel opment of guidelines for personal property loans on manufactured homes.
With the goal of increasing liquidity, the agency also aims to purchase resident-owned, non-profit-owned, and government instrumentality-owned loans.
Moreover, the agency’s Freddie Mac HFA Advantage program recently added enhancements, including the addition of manufactured housing and 2- to 4-unit properties with attractive loan products that have maximum LTV and TLTV ratios up to 95 percent.
These changes are coming at an interesting time in our industry.
The attraction of manufactured homes and MHPs has been well-hidden from many investors for a long time. As noted, that’s changed over the last few years. What hadn’t changed until now, was the potential fu ture landscape of greater accessibility by consumers,
acceptance by mainstream America, greater supply prospects, and interest by the broader capital markets.
With more consumers looking for alternative and more affordable living options, and the federal government announcing sweeping objec tives in the affordable housing category, we do expect the industry to be positively impacted by some of these changes in the next 12 months or so. Some will see these as new opportunities for tremendous ground floor growth while others will feel the impact in other ways.
The market certainly is beginning to adjust to a post-pandemic environment. While primary markets remain strong, the MHC asset class is seeing some soft ening in secondary and tertiary markets. In particular, some new-to-MHC investors are already feeling a bit of a hay day hangover from hastily cobbled together portfolios hurriedly acquired in a rush to get in on the mobile home park action.
In addition, greater government support for af fordable housing will mean more developers turn to manufactured housing as a solution. In the medium term, easing permitting restrictions for MHCs also will lead to more supply, which could mean more competition. While permitting and zoning are local issues, the government’s newly announced Housing Supply Action Plan’s proposed Unlocking Possibilities
Program is putting $1.75 billion to help eliminate barriers to affordable housing production, including permitting for MHCs.
As the affordability conversation heats up, one thing is certain,MHCs are wallflowers no more. With so much change shape-shifting the mobile home park panorama, now is the time for owners to evaluate their portfolios, consider their positions, and develop a strategic plan to double down or potentially exit. MHV Kevan Enger is a partner and manufac tured housing director for Capstone MH. He specializes in helping mobile and manufac tured home park property owners across the country successfully position, market, and sell their properties to maximize their returns. Capstone has seven offices in five states throughout Florida, the Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic.
BBeing a tiny fish in a vast pond can be daunting. You have to swim twice as fast as everyone else. The sharks are constantly circling, ready to absorb your smaller business into theirs at any moment. They have “people” and budgets for marketing that are larger than your profits for an entire year.
When I created and trademarked the term Lifestylist over 20 years ago, it was after a brainstorming session with one of the heads of marketing for The Home Depot. She said my services were unlike anyone else’s
and needed to be reflected in my “title.” I was more than a decorator or stylist; I understood that we were selling building products, not artwork and home decor. That was how Lifestylist® was born.
I had volunteered to design and LifeStyle a show home for a builder, and Home Depot came in as a partner, along with Crate and Barrel. They liked what I did and how I highlighted their products so much they hired me to do other projects with them. The relationship continued, and in the early 2000s, »
Home Depot listened to what I shared with them about how huge the manufactured housing market was. We designed products that resonated with retail and manufactured housing customers alike, and Home Depot opened a distribution center just for the RV and Manufactured Housing industries.
That was a great learning experience, and I have used what worked and what didn’t to design part nerships with other local and national companies. When the furniture to stage my model homes became almost extinct, I started reaching out to everyone I knew, including my furniture reps, to find a better way to buy, deliver, and install for my clients. One knew of a 18-store locally owned company that had just opened up a 200,000 sq ft warehouse stocked to the ceiling with everything I needed. They knew their market and buyer better than probably anyone else in the area, but they had grown so quickly that they were looking for new ways to sell and utilize their stock. My partnership with Canales Furniture has been an enormous success. I now can deliver and install a model home the next day if needed, with everything professionally put together and moved into the houses. Part of my partnership with them has included teaching Canales U classes to their customers and employees that consist of educating potential customers about factory-built homes. They also are like me and believe in a healthier planet, and take all packing materials back to their warehouse and recycle them. It’s a great story you will hear more about in the future.
Beko is another great success story. It is a company you have probably never heard of, but you will soon. They are one of the largest appliance companies in
Europe, and their entire focus is helping to create a healthier planet. Their innovations are practical and affordable. They also help to make the world a healthier place for all of us.
After knowing the new president of the U.S. division for years, he has heard numerous times about my love of factory-built housing. Beko offers appliances that are at the right price point for our industry, so he asked me to help him understand how Beko could be a good partner for MH and understand what the industry’s needs are. After letting them know about lower-level sponsorships at different industry events, I got a call asking, “How can we go in big and truly make a difference?” And that is what they are doing — get ready to see and learn about Beko at a trade show or conference near you!
All of this didn’t happen because I just won the lottery or I received a non-existent trust fund. I put myself out there and offered to work on projects I believed in. By doing that, I can meet the heads of international companies. I was asking how I could help them, not sell them. Social media is a great forum to share information about these partners, and they do the same for me. Only my followers are in the thousands, and theirs are in the millions. If I can do it, you can as well. The following are five key ways to build a partner ship marketing program.
1. Know your strengths and weaknesses — Under promise and overdeliver. Many times, I don’t have the knowledge or resources to accomplish what a potential partner needs. Instead of faking it, I always offer to see if I can help them find a suitable partner that is the best at that skill. When you
do that, trust me, you will be at the top of their list when the right project for you comes along. Major companies spend millions on advertising and photography each year.
2. It has to be a win for everyone… but the other side needs to think they are the biggest win ner — With social media becoming a must, and posting daily to stay relevant is even more crucial than before, companies have gone from needing 100 shots a year to needing 100,000. Offer your model homes as a place where they can shoot their editorial or ads. It will save them thousands of dollars to create a set, and you have multiple homes in one location, saving them travel ex penses and time. Make sure that all details are in writing - what they can and can’t change in the homes, who is responsible for any damage such as floors and walls, and who owns the right to photography. Typically, the photographer owns the rights to all photography and gives the client a limited use. It would help if you were sure that you also could use some of the photography in your marketing. The copyright laws favor the photog rapher, so you can get sued for using anyone else’s photography that you don’t have the aggress use in writing. Also, ask that you get a credit on any photo in which they use images of your homes, and say that you will do the same for them. These can be priceless for you and your brand. Something like this is a massive win for the other side but an even more significant success for you.
A kitchen I designed for LG/SKS appliances has been published in House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, and on their social media. Because I asked about credits, I have received a styling credit everywhere it was published.
3. Give back to the community — it should be about using the partnership to build awareness and relationships - the financial rewards will naturally follow. By knowing what causes are essential to the potential partner and how they fit in with your values, you can avoid being on the wrong side of an issue you care deeply about.
4. Act like an influencer — You never know who is going to be looking for a skill set or knowledge that you have. My iPhone takes better photos
many times than my expensive camera does. Stay consistent on social media, and share what you like about potential partners with your followers. Things have changed with Facebook and Instagram recently — companies are looking for people with more engagement on their posts than just random followers that never engage. I make a point of commenting on at least ten posts a day on people I know or people that do great work, and I respect them. It puts you on their radar and starts a conversation. If you don’t have a Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok account for your business, get one immediately!
5. Color outside the lines — just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it can’t happen. We smaller fish can swim upstream and maneu ver much faster than those more giant sharks, so don’t be afraid to try something that you believe in and see what happens. You may have come up with the next great idea! MHV
Lifestylist Suzanne Felber has been active in the housing industry for more than 30 years. Felber realized that factory-built housing was the housing of the future, and has been actively work ing to promote the lifestyle ever since. She started American Housing Advocates as a way to share the great news about manufactured housing. To learn more about her work, visit www.lifestylist.com and www.americanhousingadvocates.com, or read her @lifestylist social media posts .
IIt wouldn’t be surprising to hear a story about a cluster of homes selling out in less than a week’s time with bidding offers over asking price. In fact, that’s a story that practically feels overtold, like a popular song that you’ve heard on the radio way too many times. But what if these homes were within an average price range and most importantly, what if these were manufactured homes?
It’s no secret the housing market has become bor derline out of control. Bidding wars are the norm and paying over asking prices remains about the only way to give a buyer a chance amongst the sea of overnight offers. The American dream was built upon the white picket fence and the accomplishment of owning your own home, but this dream has turned into a fantasy for many. Homeownership has decreased drastically
due to the current market causing a rip-tide effect in the housing industry has a whole.
A manufactured home is still the most affordable housing option for homebuyers. Manufactured homes are about $150,000 - $200,000 cheaper than site-built homes, allowing a more affordable ticket price on a new home. Along with a more reasonable price range, the development of manufactured homes allows a pre-fab home to look and feel like a site-build. It seems to be the obvious solution to the housing market crisis, right?
Society has a developed, and apparently unbreak able, stigma against manufactured homes. For some buyers, even if the home is exactly what they are looking for and within their price range, will not have a manufactured home as a possibility when »
Homes at Meadow View are on one-acre lots.
purchasing. Buyers often have an image in their mind of a low qual ity home that can feel like a last resort option instead of a solution. With this stigma in mind, many homebuyers are uninterested in traditional manufactured home sales. The steps of securing a lot, buying a manufactured home, and then paying for installation is unattractive and time consum ing. Homebuyers don’t trust the process just as much as they don’t trust the home itself.
While the manufactured home industry can devote itself to craft ing and innovating new pre-fab homes for any customer to com fortably call home within their price range, there a brick wall of stigma that can feel impossible to break down. With two problems in
hand; an overly competitive hous ing market and a stigma against manufactured homes, Southwest Homes was able to find a singular solution… micro-communities.
A micro-community is a miniature subdivision with four to six manufactured homes. It is a large plot of land that is divided into individual lots to be sold as a land and home package, similar to purchasing a site-built home. These houses are pre-ordered and designed by the manufactured home dealer, rather than time being spent for every buyer to custom build each element of their home, which causes an even longer timeline for home completion.
Our first Southwest Homes micro-community, Meadow View, was released in February 2022 in Chino Valley, Ariz. Five homes were released with each home around 1,700 square feet, located on one-acre lots. These homes were listed for $335,000 - $375,000, based on individual home upgrades and square foot age, considering one home was smaller than the others.
All five homes sold in three days.
Along with this community selling out quickly, an extensive waiting list was created for the other micro-communities in development.
When facing a stigma that favors site-built homes, the strategy to combat it relies on making the MHbuying experience mimic the site-built process. To start, a mi cro-community is dependent on the creation of spec homes. These spec homes are ordered from the manufactured home dealer; colors, features, and upgrades are all chosen in-house with the ideal client in mind. While a man ufactured home cannot be built at the speed of previous years, still, when the house is released for sale it is already further in process, reducing the schedule from buyer exposure to the move-in date.
Nobody is looking to wait over a year for a new home anymore, so by shortening this schedule, the buyer is attracted by the home’s availability.
Along with timeline consider ations, the biggest appeal to a spec home is a buyer is able to actually see the innovation and features of a manufactured home. With a buyer market that does not want a manufactured home as an option, a spec house allows realtors and buyers to walk through the actual home prior to purchasing.
Exposing the buyers and their realtors to modern manufacturing allows them to picture themselves within the home, chipping away at the pre-established stigma.
Lastly, purchasing manu factured homes has felt like a complicated process. A spec home is simple because the house is already built, designed, and installed on a lot. All a buyer
has to do is write an offer and purchase the home. There are no extra steps or considerations. With a market causing people to become desperate for any type of housing opportunity, eliminating the extra grunt work brings more buyers to the door.
At Southwest Homes, we are projected to release a total of five micro-communities in 2022. Each micro-community has been designed and developed with a different customers in mind. For example, our Mitchell micro-community has lots on two acre parcels for those looking for space for livestock while our Ries ling micro-community has larger
homes located on a cul-de-sac which is perfect for families. We’re projected to sell these homes with in the first two weeks of release, if not sooner. While the success of selling homes may seem like the ultimate prize, we find that the real value of these micro-commu nities is offering a true affordable housing solution and working toward eliminating the stigma of manufactured homes.
MHV
Katryna Eastwood is founder and CEO of Lead Creative, and worked with Southwest Homes in communi cating the attributes factory built homes provide in the development of micro communities as an affordable housing solution.
KKevin Clayton, CEO of Clayton, invited guests to the new Hawthorne home design on display at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind., an example of the latest CrossMod™ product, and what the manu factured housing industry can do to provide more much-needed affordable homes.
Following the opening of the home and new Manufactured Housing Museum in mid-August , Clayton attended the 50th Anniversary celebration at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, during which 10 new inductees were honored and Kevin and Jim Clayton, his father and founder of the company, accepted the Darryl Searer Spirit Award.
While touring, mingling, and showing his ap preciation for the more than 500 manufactured housing professionals in attendance, Clayton took some time to chat with MHInsider on new develop ments with the CrossMod product, and thoughts on the direction of the industry.
A CrossMod home is a HUD Code manufactured home with attributes such as a permanent foundation, 5/12 roof pitch, dormers, a porch or garage, as well as interior features such as increased insulation, drywall, and hardwood cabinets. The home is designed to be permanently placed in nearly any residential neighborhood and can be financed with a conven
tional mortgage backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. The home is built in a factory, transported, and finished on-site.
MHInsider: What are the latest developments on the CrossMod front?
Kevin Clayton: CrossMod homes offer an affordable manufactured housing solution that can appraise to site-built comps and qualify for conventional financing and zoning. Currently, FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say CrossMod homes “may” be appraised against site-built but many have defaulted to other manufactured homes, which is not an accurate comparison.
With the simple change expected in a few months of it saying it “must” be compared to CrossMod or site-built, in five years you could double the supply of new homes below $300,000.
In that case, the lenders can be financing through FHA Title II. It will be right where we’ve wanted these homes to be considered all along.
We also recently highlighted two other CrossMod home innovations: the single section CrossMod and the net-zero energy home.
The unique layout of the single section CrossMod home makes it an ideal size and shape for many city
lots or established neighborhoods. We estimate the single section CrossMod would typically cost under $200,000 including land and set up of the home. This price point would help even more families and individuals achieve homeownership.
At the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting, we also unveiled our first net-zero CrossMod home. This home showcased energy-efficient features currently available, as well as new, future technologies Clayton is considering, such as solar.
The net-zero home demonstrates Clayton’s dedica tion to building homes that uphold our commitment to affordability, sustainability and design innovation.
What does bringing this product to market do for the industry?
It is a big boost in doubling our industry’s his torical 9-10 percent of home starts. I am extremely confident that within the next 10 years, if not the next five, we will be able to double the size and productivity of our industry.
Every area in the country is in absolute need of more affordable housing.
The average sale price of a home in the U.S. last year was nearing $500,000, whereas a CrossMod home on land, like the Hawthorne from Clayton, is below $300,000 in most markets, a price point more families can afford.
Beyond design and financing, what has Clayton been doing to prepare for a ramp up in CrossMod home sales?
Building relationships with site builders and devel opers. CrossMod allows us to help developers add a housing tool to their toolbelt. With a CrossMod home, we build the house, relieving some of a developer’s labor pressure. In addition, CrossMod homes are primarily sold by developers through realtors. Edu cating realtors about CrossMod homes and available financing options is important in increasing access.
Our industry is also working closely with munic ipalities across the country to educate community leaders and the public on CrossMod to ensure zoning accommodates CrossMod homes. MHV
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With the production of the car, people began taking all kinds of adventures, and subsequent industries were born to serve the needs of those travelers.
SSitting in the rear-facing, third row of our Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser growing up in the 70s as we traveled down the twolane backroads of Michigan on family vacations, I trained my eye to see segments of road that had been bypassed to straighten highways over the years. It was way before the classic Route 66 road trip became a thing, but, over the years, I found countless examples that offer a glimpse to the past.
Fast forward to 2020 during the pandemic, and given a lot of spare time, I again became aware of segments of Lake Shore Drive along the Lake Michigan shoreline. I noticed it appeared in various locations from New Buffalo to Mackinaw City. With a little re search, I discovered that it was not only the precursor to what we now know as state route 31, but it started as the West Michigan Pike.
The West Michigan Pike was established in 1915 to promote tourism along the Lake Michigan shoreline. As the road network developed, an eco-system of lodging was created including campgrounds and
cabins that eventually spawned motels. Road trips were a staple of American society in the 20th century. While they have waned in the last few decades, I believe they are being approached with a fresh perspective. Many things are coming full circle as we get further into the 2020s. What we want hasn’t changed, but how we go about acquiring it has undergone a facelift. Humans are obsessed with improvement, but this decade seems to also have a trend for revamping the past. In my mind, the idea of the Pike is more relevant than ever. These lifestyle experiences continue along the entire length of the Michigan coast, they just aren’t necessarily connected.
Road trips offer a close connection to the mode of transportation; they ground us. There is something about the act of taking a trip that puts us in a receptive mode. As the world gets more complicated, people seek simplicity and authenticity. One great way to » endeavor in this is to tap into the heritage of the West Michigan Pike.
The idea of “going up north” in Michigan evokes feelings of adventure and freedom. More than a road »
that spans a region, the route has the potential to create and connect communities. You can think of it as decentralized travel in a way, a path that can be made in the moment rather than a set plan that is dependent on airports, airlines, hotels, a set circuit of eateries, the defined package of tourism at large. Rather, the connected roadways allows us to take travel into our own hands, to find places we otherwise would miss, to take into account where we choose to be.
The thoughtful development of the West Michigan Pike struck me as particularly poignant because at Urbaneer, the company my wife Brenda and I started a few years ago, we often talk about experienc es that are lost to time. The Pike
saw the potential of a connected network that represents the spirit of the state, yet its sharp turns and subtle nuances have been smooth over.
Just as the 1920s was a window into the future, the 2020s is ush ering a similar era. The advent of hybrid work is one of the biggest changes of our era that will im pact the built environment. The flexibility that it brings to our society is a massive opportunity for rural areas to develop their economies again, to curate a more diverse population.
The challenge, of course, is housing. The shortage that existed pre-pandemic is now exacerbated by migration to resort and rural areas that already were under pressure. Compounding this issue
is a shortage of home builders who want to focus on attainable homes that is in short supply. Just as the small communities, the cabins, lodges, and campgrounds of the past supported travelers 100 years ago, the more “sticky” form of mi gration we see today calls for the right type of affordable housing in the right places.
Offsite construction can play a huge role in improving the supply of housing for all variety of buyers. Traveling the West Michigan Pike today serves as a time capsule for what we can do, and how much already has been accomplished. From mobile and manufactured to modular housing dating back to the 1960s, resort-based models for dwellings and communities along the old West Michigan Pike are giving way to more recent developments, including park model, container, ADU, and CrossMod neighborhoods.
That road we travel along Lake Michigan — and on many other rural lanes throughout the nation — may have adapted and moved along with us, and now it seems in many way we may be returning to it, looking for answers that can ground us in a new place and time. MHV
Bruce and Brenda Thompson founded
URBANEER to put their respective back grounds in technology and design to help relieve the crisis in affordable housing.
GGeorge Gradow is a very private land developer, and longtime land lease community portfolio owner/oper ator. One of his touchstone life events? He’s married to Barbi Benton, established American model, actress and singer, as well as former Playboy bunny.
Then there’s the late Maurice Wilder, the biggest real estate mogul you’ve never heard of. Maurice began his lengthy career selling mobile homes. In the 1970s he began acquiring (then) mobile home parks; also buying up farms, cattle ranches, and RV resorts, and later, office buildings. His business acumen? Bought the Westin Harbour Island Hotel, in Tampa, in 2005, for $32.8 million and sold it a decade later for $46.5 million. His eclectic interests? Buffalo herds in the Dakotas, Ostrich farm in Florida, and a classic car auto museum in Branson, Mo.
There are many additional tales of community own ers who’ve been topics of conversation, and unique events that have shaped manufactured housing history over the decades:
Jim Clayton. If you haven’t read his “First A Dream,” especially the second edition, then you know little of Jim’s history as an entertainer (Ever been to one of his
impromptu guitar/vocal concerts at a MH trade show?
Really impressive!) Founder of Clayton Homes, and past owner of land lease communities. Get his auto biography from the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart.
Charles “Chuck” Fanaro, in my opinion, is the most visionary individual to impact the combined 1) HUDCode manufactured housing design/production, and 2) land lease community development/operations business model! How so? His Saddlebrook Farms (now under new ownership) in Grayslake, Ill., continues to be the nation’s premier multifamily rental property, featuring upscale but affordable manufactured homes of Chuck’s unique design and manufacture. Read the complete Saddlebrook story in “SWAN SONG”, available via educatemhc.com Perhaps someday the industry will memorialize Chuck’s significant housing and community accomplishments with induction into the prestigious RV/MH Hall of Fame.
Speaking of the”SWAN SONG”, a history of land lease communities and record of HUD Code housing shipments from 1955, don’t miss reading the true short story titled “An Error to Die For”. It describes the only known instance in manufactured housing history, where a mass murderer sought revenge for a failed multi-community acquisition deal gone bad, by mur dering his attorneys and their clients in a downtown San Francisco high rise office building on July 1, 2003.
Part of the tale (little to nothing is mentioned about the properties involved) is told online under the search heading: ‘101 California Street Shooting’. And we’ve had other ‘bad boys’ during the history of our industry. A Chicago mob bagman – and community owner, during the 1970s. And a murderer of single women for their money, whose wife was a community manager at the time, is still serving his life sentence in prison. Early one, we talked about his interest in partnering to publish an industry newsletter.
I think it important to remember and list names of American military veterans I’ve known during my career in manufactured housing and land lease community ownership:
• Dick Ernst, USA, home-only loan finance consul tant, RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Lou Vela, USA, real estate mortgage loan originator.
• George Porter, installation consultant, USA & Vietnam helo pilot, retired & RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Spencer Roane, MHM, portfolio community owner, USN, & RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Andy Reisinger, portfolio community owner, USMC
• Jack Holefelder, community owner, USAF,
• Gary McDaniel, REIT pioneer, USAF & Vietnam veteran, now retired & RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Myles Sampson, portfolio community developer and owner, USA, now deceased
• Curt Hames, MHRetailer, community developer/ owner, USA, deceased, RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Ron Dunlap, state association exec, USA, now retired, RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Burt Dickman, MHRetailer, community developer/ owner, USA, deceased, RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Joe Kelly, state association exec, USA, now retired, RV/MH Hall of Fame
• Darrell & Harrell Cohron, MHRetailer & commu nity owner, USA, both deceased, RV/MH Hoff
• George Allen, CPM, MHM, community owner/ author, USMC, Vietnam Vet, RV/MH Hall of Fame
And I’m sure there are many more I’ve missed; and to those I apologize for the oversight. »
Years ago, I penned a feature article for Manufac tured Home Merchandiser magazine that identified multi-generation owners/operators of land lease com munities. Some continue to be in business, e.g. five generation Holefelder family in southeast Pennsylva nia; the Tunnell family in Delaware. (Think Baywood and Pot Nets) is well into its third generation; and the Cohron family has entered its third generation. Harrell and Darrell’s autobiography,”The Trailer Twins”, is available via the RV/MH Hall of Fame. Additional second to third generation family firms include the Hames family (i.e. Hames Homes) in Iowa, Landy family (think REIT, UMH Properties, Inc.) in N.J., and the Scoular family in South Dakota. Sadly, one three generation family recently left the business, upon their selling of the Jensen Communities portfolio. Read their founder’s Horatio Alger-like story in Kris Jensen Sr’s autobiography, “A Danish American”. It’s available only within the book stacks at the RV/ MH Hall of Fame library in Elkhart, Ind.. And there are also two multi-generational fee- management firms: Bessire & Casenhiser in California, and Newby Management in Florida.
Have we had some unique personalities in the manufactured housing industry? For sure. A personal favorite, one I’ve written about before, is Bob Broph (‘Bross’), now retired, living seasonally in Missouri & Florida. Still have a Christmas card he sent me decades ago, where the person’s name – who originally sent it to Bob, is crossed out, and replaced with Bob’s signature, along with the quip:”It’s been a rough year!” Oh, and he was known to attend state association banquets wearing a T-shirt with tuxedo screen print emblazoned on the front. At one time he operated the largest MH retail sales center, and owned more (then) mobile home parks, than any other player in the Mid west. And I must include the late Ron Richardson on this list. Early on in his multi- community ownership career he married Las Vegas model and personality Joanie; then later, his princess Sinni Singh from India. During Ron’s long career he founded, and was past commodore of the Lake Sahara Yacht, and Lake Mead Yacht Clubs. Ron was also one of 19 community owners present at the 8/31/1993 meeting when steps were taken to eventually birth, in early 1996, the National Communities Council division of MHI.
I’ll end this walk through manufactured housing and land lease community history by listing addition al autobiographies authored by pioneers and notable ‘players’ over the decades:
• John Crean, founder of Fleetwood Enterprises –today a CAVCO Industries firm, wrote “The Wheel & I”. Case bound copies with gilt-edged pages and boxed in heavy cardboard cartons are available for purchase via the RV/MH Hall of Fame.
• George Goldman’s “The Road Less Traveled”, provides interesting insights into not only his community investments, but also the Woodall Publishing Co. that popularized the STAR sys tem of mobile home park quality measurement. Available via Amazon.com
• Alvan L. Schrader penned his”No Respect at All…A PATH TO MILLION$” as a very personal record of his life and work, but wound up making very timely and insightful remarks about the industry and realty asset class. Get your copy via the RV/MH Hall of Fame.
• Most recent addition to this unique reading ma terial is the Scoular family’s “Leap of Faith”. Jim, Ralph and Jeff write of the manufactured housing industry and their family of “unmovable values”. Order your copy from the RV/MH Hall of Fame.
• George Allen’s recently published “From SmittyAl pha6 to MHMaven” describes his adventure of a lifetime from childhood through a combat tour in Vietnam, and the 40-plus year business career that followed. Visit educatemhc.com MHV George Allen has owned and fee-managed land-lease communities since 1978. He’s a former MHI Industry Person of the Year and a member of the RV/MH Hall of Fame. He has been designated a Certified Property Manager-Emeritus and a Manufactured Housing Manag er-Master. He’s also a senior consultant and staff writer with EducateMHC. Allen can be reached at (317) 346-7156 and gfa7156@aol.com.
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