George Allen / EducateMHC Blog Mobile Home & Land Lease Community Advocate & Expert

November 9, 2017

Positive Results; SINGLEWIDE; & Key MH Issues!

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 1:19 pm

Blog # 470; Copyright, 12 November 2017; at community-investor.com

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, & ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing.’

This blog posting is the sole national advocate, voice, official ombudsman, historian, research report, & online communication media for all North American LLCommunities.

To input this blog &/or affiliate with Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance, a.k.a. COBA7, use Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764.

COBA7 Motto: ‘U Support US & WE Serve U!’ Goal of its’ print & online media =
to not only inform & opine, but to transform & improve MHBusiness performance!

INTRODUCTION:

You’re about to read the most exciting array of MHIndustry & LLCommunity news published so far this year! And this is simply the tip of the iceberg. So, after reading Parts I, II, & III, ask yourself:

‘Who else in the MHIndustry & LLCommunity realty asset class, is informing me of this timely and strategic business news? Answer? No one!

With that thought in mind, and if not already an affiliate of COBA7, purpose to do so at the end of this week’s blog posting.

I.

OMG – Positive Results Already!

Did You Read ‘Solving Our Nation’s (Lack of) Affordable Housing Crisis, with Factory-built Housing & Land Lease Communities!’?

Published as a lengthy blog posting (#468), it’ll appear soon, as a stand alone feature in every manufactured housing print, and hopefully online, trade publication!

Here’s one early response, quoted (& edited) in part: “Our local (land lease) communities are gradually losing tenants, and (property) owners are selling the properties. Lack of
(reasonable) access to (chattel) financing, and Dodd/Frank (regulations) have really made business difficult.’ Agreed. But it’s not that dismal everywhere, nor among most of the 500+/- land lease community portfolio owners/operators in the U.S. & Canada. How to reverse ‘that dire situation’ was a goal of the above-referenced White Paper. Another goal? Attract attention of ‘affordable housing’ practitioners! And that’s happening NOW!

Some Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance (‘COBA7’) affiliates will soon travel to Washington, DC., to participate in a high level NGO (non-government organization) forum, where factory-built housing in general, manufactured housing in particular, along with land lease communities, will be introduced and postured as 1) practical, affordable solutions to ‘minority homeownership’, 2) meeting the ‘housing needs of older adults’, and more! That’s all we can tell you at this time. So, watch COBA7 weekly blog postings for more information, and eventually results, of this unexpected but timely and welcome opportunity.

In the meantime, know a reprint of the aforementioned blog posting (#468), will be enclosed as a lagniappe, in the November issues of the Allen Letter professional journal, and the Allen CONFIDENTIAL! business newsletter.

II.

SINGLEWIDE

‘Chasing the American Dream in a Rural Trailer Park’
by
Sonya Salamon & Katherine MacTavish

This is, in my opinion, a ‘NEW 272 pages book using OLD data & terminology. I is published by Cornell University Press. How new/old? According to the back cover description of this NEW’ book: “In Singlewide, (the authors) explore the role of the trailer park as a source of affordable housing. America’s trailer parks, most in rural places, shelter an estimated 12,000,000 people, and the authors show how these parks serve as a private solution to a pressing public need.” – for affordable housing. ‘OLD’? 1) Among manufactured housing and land lease community practitioners, when was the last time to this unique type of income-producing property was referred to as being a ‘trailer park’? 2) And apparently, at least one of three ‘field studies’ cited, occurred in Illinois as far back as 1998 – 2001. 3) When was the last time it was required that manufactured homes in land lease communities have license plates affixed to one end? Hmm. Maybe the 1950s?

This pre-review of SINGLEWIDE is based on material in the Introduction to this text, and Chapter # 1. A comprehensive ‘review’ will likely appear in a future issue of the Allen Letter professional journal. Until then know, the ethnographer co-authors, within the first three pages of their work together, seem unable to either differentiate among, or chose which, descriptive term to use in their book; alternatives being:

• trailer-park & trailer park
• mobile home park
• land-lease park
• manufactured home community
• ‘galvanized ghettos’

In my opinion, once again, someone outside the manufactured housing industry and land lease community business models, finds the housing alternative and property type to be convenient whipping boys for preconceived notions of product quality and lifestyle. Sad.

III.

KEY MH ISSUES

Results of Four Input Sessions to Soon be Presented…

Surely you participated in one or more of the four ‘manufactured housing input sessions’ occurring since the first of this (2017) year. When and where did they occur?

• In Chicago, IL. during the Illinois Manufactured Housing annual meeting
• In Elkhart, IN., during an MHAlive! ‘think tank’ session at the RV/MH Hall of Fame
• In Indianapolis, IN., during the 29th annual International Networking Roundtable
• In Marietta, GA., during the 6th annual SECO Conference

Plus, several other venues (e.g. Fannie Mae’s recent Future of Manufactured Housing forum, in Washington, DC.) provided direct input, relative to manufactured housing industry issues, all which will be published soon, as a feature in – likely – the November issue of the Allen Letter professional journal.

So, don’t miss the upcoming features and lagniappes, in the Allen Letter professional journal, relative to ‘Solving Our Nation’s Affordable Housing Crisis’, a review of SINGLEWIDE, and comprehensive listing of key manufactured housing industry-related issues. To affiliate with the Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance (‘COBA7’) and receive this valuable trade print publication, phone the Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764,

***

George Allen, CPM & MHM
Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247
(317) 346-7156

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