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

August 28, 2018

George Allen’s 500th Blog Posting Since Year 2008!

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 12:34 pm

Blog # 500; Copyright @ 26 August 2018; 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 reporter & 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: One’s 500th blog posting deserves, if not requires, a purposeful STOP, & time of REFLECTION, upon

1) Where we’ve been together these past ten years;

2) Where we are today – or ‘think we are’; and,

3) Where we might be headed, individually & collectively, moving into the future.

So, are you ready to be caught up in this manifesto of reflective, timely, forward-looking musings relative to housing, affordability, manufactured housing, and land lease communities, suggesting lines of thought and probable action?

I.

Where We’ve Been…

The previous decade (1998 – 2008), before this one (2008 – 2018), is characterized by the 1994 REIT wavelet, eventually changing the label of manufactured home communities to land lease communities. Also remember acme year 1998, as the short-lived renascence, when 372,943+/- new HUD-Code homes were shipped throughout the U.S. That was then…

Next, the decade (2008 – 2018), marked at its beginning, by the demise of Manufactured Home Merchandiser magazine; followed a year later (2009) by the nadir year of new HUD-Code housing shipments, with only 49,789+/- homes shipped! And in 2010, a Manufactured Housing Finance Roundtable, attended by FHFA & both GSEs, convened in Elkhart, IN., making it clear to the manufactured housing industry, where personal property finance, or chattel capital, was concerned, the industry and realty asset class were on their own! The remainder of this decade has been marked by these ‘fits & starts’:

• 2014. Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance, or COBA7, was launched as a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing, to better serve the research, product, & service needs of land lease community owners/operators, large and small, nationwide.

• 2016. First ever ‘Two Days of Plant Tours & Home Sales Seminars’ was hosted at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN., to teach land lease community owners/operators how to buy new HUD-Code homes, then sell and seller-finance them on-site, to fill vacant rental homesites.

• 2018. Culmination of ‘where we’ve been’ and realization of ‘where we are now’.

Bottom line? Recognition of the decade, and longer, paradigm shift in the manner by which new HUD-Code homes are distributed to would be buyers. Heretofore, this occurred via independent (street) MHRetailers (a.k.a. ‘dealers’) shipping 75+/-% of new homes into land lease communities; today, roughly half the new home shipments are delivered directly into these properties, as they are purchased wholesale, for resale to homebuyer/site lessees.

II.

Where We Are Now…

During year 2018 we’ll likely eclipse 100,000 new HUD-Code homes shipped! That’s significant, considering where we were nine years ago; but still only 27% of the volume shipped 20 years ago! Which, in some minds, begs this question:

‘What is the Sweet Spot, new home shipment wise, where HUD-Code manufactured housing is concerned?’ 100,000; 200,000; or 300,000? Your opinion? Tell me!

The Good News? Federal Housing Finance Agency (‘FHFA’), Fannie Mae, & Freddie Mac, having distanced themselves from ‘us’ in 2010, are ‘back in the picture’ where manufactured housing finance is concerned! They are now reengaged, effecting Duty to Serve (‘DTS’) programs to facilitate new manufactured housing sales and lending.

For example, on 6 September, at the 27th annual Networking Roundtable, in Indianapolis, IN., FHFA and both GSEs will man a panel. moderated by Dr. David Funk, manufactured housing’s lead academic and statistician, to describe what’s happening to support HUD-Code manufactured housing finance, via emerging DTS programs. Be there! At The Alexander Hotel at 10:15-11:00AM. Seriously.

The Bad New? In my opinion, national advocacy in behalf of HUD-Code manufactured housing and land lease communities, via representation, lobbying, and product/service provision, remains relatively ineffective at best, disparate at worst. How so? As long as two HUD-Code manufacturer-dominated national entities compete for the attention and favor of federal legislators and regulators, relative to manufactured housing, we’ll be ‘played off one against the other’, seriously diluting our efficacy as a housing provider!

And there’s been no really effective national advocacy in behalf of land lease communities since early 1996. So, no surprise a stopgap entity was formed in 2014 (i.e. COBA7); and another is being organized this year, to address continuing and growing lobbying needs of property owners, large and small, coast to coast.

The Improving News? With the demise of Manufactured Home Merchandiser magazine and The Journal ((2016), manufactured housing endured a trade press wasteland for awhile, served in the interim by two print, subscriber-supported monthly business newsletters (the Allen Letter professional journal & the Allen CONFIDENTIAL!), two ezines (Manufactured Housing Review and MHPro), and 500 blog postings since early 2008.

Fortunately, that trade journalism landscape has changed markedly, and for the better, with the debut, earlier this year, of a robust MHInsider magazine, published by DATACOMP & MHVillage.

A 2018 Sidebar You Need to Read…

Hopeful News or not?

Early in 2018, a proposal was proffered (‘offered’) to one national MH advocacy organization, suggesting the launch of a National Manufactured Housing Resource Center (‘NMHRC’), using existing resources, and vacant office space, at the IMHA/RVIC headquarters in Indianapolis, IN. No response to date!

And a formal textbook proposal was submitted, again during 2018, to J. Wiley & Sons publishing company, to update their ‘manufactured housing community standards of development & operating performance’, first published in 1994 & 1996.*1 Likewise, no response to date.

***

III

Where We’re (Likely) Headed…

ON A VERY PERSONAL NOTE

Since 1980, when we founded GFA Management, Inc., as a fee management firm, professionally managing – as Carolyn was wont to say at the time – ‘Anything that didn’t move!’, we’ve learned, served, and promoted manufactured housing and (what was then) manufactured home communities nationwide and throughout Canada. We’re proud of what we accomplished relative to identifying 500+/- property portfolios in North America, engaging in valuable statistical research (Think 30 annual ALLEN REPORTs by year 2019), resource (‘SSRD’) sharing, print & online communication, national interpersonal networking, income-property deal-making, and professional property management training & certification, via Manufactured Housing Manager (‘MHM’) program. To date, more than 1,000 MHMs own and operate land lease communities throughout the U.S. & CN..

Next MHM class, is all day, 5 September in Indianapolis, IN. (Only $295.00/MHM candidate). And again, 8 October in Atlanta, GA. Phone (317) 346-7156 for information.

Now, however, time has come for us to move on into other foci, relative to our industry, its’ realty asset class, and broader perspectives of housing at large and affordable housing in particular. How to happen? Maybe…

1) Others step forward to shoulder some, if not most, of the seven activity areas covered by the Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance, or COBA7*2.

2) I continue to align myself with ‘housers’ of every stripe, defining the broader picture of affordable housing (i.e. Not just ‘low income housing’ as is so oft opined today), then identifying ways to address such needs on local housing market by local housing market basis. Time and effort will ‘tell’ if I’m going to be successful in this new and worthy endeavor.

Bottom line for me? As long as my health allows, I want to invest my 40 years of personal and corporate experience in the present and future of affordable housing, with a manufactured housing flavor and land lease community lifestyle emphasis. Will you continue to support me to this end? I’d sure like to now….

.
End Notes

1. Development, Marketing & Operations of Manufactured Home Communities, Allen, Alley & Hicks; & How to Find, Buy, Manage & Sell a Manufactured Home Community, Allen. Both published by J. Wiley & Sons in 1994 & 1996 respectively. New copies of the former available from COBA7 for $85.00; used copies of the latter, from AMAZON.com for $75.00+/-. However SWAN SONG, for $24.95 (postpaid), is the contemporary book of choice for most MH & LLCommunity businessmen & women. Order via Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764.

2. COBA7. Seven ‘parts’: ongoing statistical research, updating & distribution of 12+ Signature Series Resource Documents or SSRDs, weekly & monthly print & online communications (newsletters & blog postings), superb networking opportunities, deal-making opportunities, professional property management training & certification via MHM program, and national advocacy if and when need be, e.g. official ombudsman, and official historian, to the MHIndustry & LLCommunity asset class.

George Allen, CPM, MHM
COBA7, a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing
Box # 47024

August 27, 2018

George Allen’s 500th Blog Posting Since Year 2008!

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 11:04 am

Blog # 500; Copyright @ 26 August 2018; 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 reporter & 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: One’s 500th blog posting deserves, if not requires, a purposeful STOP, & time of REFLECTION, upon

1) Where we’ve been together these past ten years;

2) Where we are today – or ‘think we are’; and,

3) Where we might be headed, individually & collectively, moving into the future.

So, are you ready to be caught up in this manifesto of reflective, timely, forward-looking musings relative to housing, affordability, manufactured housing, and land lease communities, suggesting lines of thought and probable action?

I.

Where We’ve Been…

The previous decade (1998 – 2008), before this one (2008 – 2018), is characterized by the 1994 REIT wavelet, eventually changing the label of manufactured home communities to land lease communities. Also remember acme year 1998, as the short-lived renascence, when 372,943+/- new HUD-Code homes were shipped throughout the U.S. That was then…

Next, the decade (2008 – 2018), marked at its beginning, by the demise of Manufactured Home Merchandiser magazine; followed a year later (2009) by the nadir year of new HUD-Code housing shipments, with only 49,789+/- homes shipped! And in 2010, a Manufactured Housing Finance Roundtable, attended by FHFA & both GSEs, convened in Elkhart, IN., making it clear to the manufactured housing industry, where personal property finance, or chattel capital, was concerned, the industry and realty asset class were on their own! The remainder of this decade has been marked by these ‘fits & starts’:

• 2014. Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance, or COBA7, was launched as a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing, to better serve the research, product, & service needs of land lease community owners/operators, large and small, nationwide.

• 2016. First ever ‘Two Days of Plant Tours & Home Sales Seminars’ was hosted at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN., to teach land lease community owners/operators how to buy new HUD-Code homes, then sell and seller-finance them on-site, to fill vacant rental homesites.

• 2018. Culmination of ‘where we’ve been’ and realization of ‘where we are now’.

Bottom line? Recognition of the decade, and longer, paradigm shift in the manner by which new HUD-Code homes are distributed to would be buyers. Heretofore, this occurred via independent (street) MHRetailers (a.k.a. ‘dealers’) shipping 75+/-% of new homes into land lease communities; today, roughly half the new home shipments are delivered directly into these properties, as they are purchased wholesale, for resale to homebuyer/site lessees.

II.

Where We Are Now…

During year 2018 we’ll likely eclipse 100,000 new HUD-Code homes shipped! That’s significant, considering where we were nine years ago; but still only 27% of the volume shipped 20 years ago! Which, in some minds, begs this question:

‘What is the Sweet Spot, new home shipment wise, where HUD-Code manufactured housing is concerned?’ 100,000; 200,000; or 300,000? Your opinion? Tell me!

The Good News? Federal Housing Finance Agency (‘FHFA’), Fannie Mae, & Freddie Mac, having distanced themselves from ‘us’ in 2010, are ‘back in the picture’ where manufactured housing finance is concerned! They are now reengaged, effecting Duty to Serve (‘DTS’) programs to facilitate new manufactured housing sales and lending.

For example, on 6 September, at the 27th annual Networking Roundtable, in Indianapolis, IN., FHFA and both GSEs will man a panel. moderated by Dr. David Funk, manufactured housing’s lead academic and statistician, to describe what’s happening to support HUD-Code manufactured housing finance, via emerging DTS programs. Be there! At The Alexander Hotel at 10:15-11:00AM. Seriously.

The Bad New? In my opinion, national advocacy in behalf of HUD-Code manufactured housing and land lease communities, via representation, lobbying, and product/service provision, remains relatively ineffective at best, disparate at worst. How so? As long as two HUD-Code manufacturer-dominated national entities compete for the attention and favor of federal legislators and regulators, relative to manufactured housing, we’ll be ‘played off one against the other’, seriously diluting our efficacy as a housing provider!

And there’s been no really effective national advocacy in behalf of land lease communities since early 1996. So, no surprise a stopgap entity was formed in 2014 (i.e. COBA7); and another is being organized this year, to address continuing and growing lobbying needs of property owners, large and small, coast to coast.

The Improving News? With the demise of Manufactured Home Merchandiser magazine and The Journal ((2016), manufactured housing endured a trade press wasteland for awhile, served in the interim by two print, subscriber-supported monthly business newsletters (the Allen Letter professional journal & the Allen CONFIDENTIAL!), two ezines (Manufactured Housing Review and MHPro), and 500 blog postings since early 2008.

Fortunately, that trade journalism landscape has changed markedly, and for the better, with the debut, earlier this year, of a robust MHInsider magazine, published by DATACOMP & MHVillage.

A 2018 Sidebar You Need to Read…

Hopeful News or not?

Early in 2018, a proposal was proffered (‘offered’) to one national MH advocacy organization, suggesting the launch of a National Manufactured Housing Resource Center (‘NMHRC’), using existing resources, and vacant office space, at the IMHA/RVIC headquarters in Indianapolis, IN. No response to date!

And a formal textbook proposal was submitted, again during 2018, to J. Wiley & Sons publishing company, to update their ‘manufactured housing community standards of development & operating performance’, first published in 1994 & 1996.*1 Likewise, no response to date.

***

III

Where We’re (Likely) Headed…

ON A VERY PERSONAL NOTE

Since 1980, when we founded GFA Management, Inc., as a fee management firm, professionally managing – as Carolyn was wont to say at the time – ‘Anything that didn’t move!’, we’ve learned, served, and promoted manufactured housing and (what was then) manufactured home communities nationwide and throughout Canada. We’re proud of what we accomplished relative to identifying 500+/- property portfolios in North America, engaging in valuable statistical research (Think 30 annual ALLEN REPORTs by year 2019), resource (‘SSRD’) sharing, print & online communication, national interpersonal networking, income-property deal-making, and professional property management training & certification, via Manufactured Housing Manager (‘MHM’) program. To date, more than 1,000 MHMs own and operate land lease communities throughout the U.S. & CN..

Next MHM class, is all day, 5 September in Indianapolis, IN. (Only $295.00/MHM candidate). And again, 8 October in Atlanta, GA. Phone (317) 346-7156 for information.

Now, however, time has come for us to move on into other foci, relative to our industry, its’ realty asset class, and broader perspectives of housing at large and affordable housing in particular. How to happen? Maybe…

1) Others step forward to shoulder some, if not most, of the seven activity areas covered by the Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance, or COBA7*2.

2) I continue to align myself with ‘housers’ of every stripe, defining the broader picture of affordable housing (i.e. Not just ‘low income housing’ as is so oft opined today), then identifying ways to address such needs on local housing market by local housing market basis. Time and effort will ‘tell’ if I’m going to be successful in this new and worthy endeavor.

Bottom line for me? As long as my health allows, I want to invest my 40 years of personal and corporate experience in the present and future of affordable housing, with a manufactured housing flavor and land lease community lifestyle emphasis. Will you continue to support me to this end? I’d sure like to now….

.
End Notes

1. Development, Marketing & Operations of Manufactured Home Communities, Allen, Alley & Hicks; & How to Find, Buy, Manage & Sell a Manufactured Home Community, Allen. Both published by J. Wiley & Sons in 1994 & 1996 respectively. New copies of the former available from COBA7 for $85.00; used copies of the latter, from AMAZON.com for $75.00+/-. However SWAN SONG, for $24.95 (postpaid), is the contemporary book of choice for most MH & LLCommunity businessmen & women. Order via Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764.

2. COBA7. Seven ‘parts’: ongoing statistical research, updating & distribution of 12+ Signature Series Resource Documents or SSRDs, weekly & monthly print & online communications (newsletters & blog postings), superb networking opportunities, deal-making opportunities, professional property management training & certification via MHM program, and national advocacy if and when need be, e.g. official ombudsman, and official historian, to the MHIndustry & LLCommunity asset class.

George Allen, CPM, MHM
COBA7, a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing
Box # 47024
Indianapolis, IN. 46247
(317) 346-7156

August 21, 2018

Why Affordable Housing Crisis Remains a Crisis

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 12:12 pm

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 LLCommuniities.

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!
_____________________________________________________________________

Why Affordable Housing Crisis Remains A Crisis

National Association of Home Builders (‘NAHB’) says builders will begin 900,000 new homes during 2018; that’s 400,000 short of what’s needed to keep up with U.S. population growth. And it’s estimated 100,000 of those 900,000 new homes will be of the HUD-Code manufactured housing variety. So, what might it take, over time, to address this 400,000 new housing shortfall in 2019 and beyond?

Leadership & United Perspectives

National Association of Realtors (‘NAR’) University, in Washington, DC., last week hosted a luncheon and lecture featuring Dr. Katrin Anacker, of George Mason University. Dr. Anacker held forth on the ‘Regulation of Accessory Dwelling Units (‘ADUs’).’ And my host, Scholastica (Gay) D. Cororaton, CBE, of the NAR staff, had recently prepared a research study titled, the Market for Manufactured Housing. Well, this two hour session, along with conversations before and after the luncheon, reaffirmed observations first realized at, and articulated following, the National Housing conference, also in DC, last Fall. Specifically,

First

As long as government agencies, regulators, and research organizations meet like this – for good reason, but without the balanced presence of, and input from, businessmen and women, and other pertinent (e.g. housing-related) NGOs (non governmental organizations), even national advocates for various types of housing, little to no progress will be made solving this nation’s perennial affordable housing crisis! The ‘problem’ (challenge)? It’s one thing to have knowledge of ‘public policy & funding’ where certain types of (low income) housing are concerned; it can be – and oft is, an altogether different perspective where ‘private sector business model & funding’ is concerned. And never the twain shall meet, unless a purposeful effort is made to address and bring disparate perspectives together in search of practical, workable solutions to the affordable housing crisis! So, in the future, ‘let’s get together to work together’!

Second

Then there’s the question of leadership. I’ve been fussing around this business of affordable housing for more than a decade, penning HOUSING AFFORDOGRAPHY back in 2008 (now out of print). To this day, if my life depended on it, I could not identify any one or two individuals who truly stand out as leaders of the supposed Solve Affordable Housing Crisis Movement. Oh sure, there’re ‘names’ out there, associated with one or another aspect of affordable housing, even ‘think tanks’ they’ve bankrolled. But nary a leader who inspires, and aspires to bring ‘housers’ together to address this challenge! And until THAT happens, U.S. housing, in my opinion, is ‘dead in the water’!

Third

One thing we did accomplish, kinda, at this NAR University luncheon, was to identify some of the affordable housing variants by type, and not necessarily public funding. I’ve expanded said list since the luncheon, to include:

• Storage buildings or sheds. Think ice fishing villages in northern climes.
• Tiny Houses, the shelter fad of the early 21st Century & ‘bait’ to sell larger homes
• Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, a.k.a cottages, Granny Flats, and more
• Container Homes. Large steel shipping container houses & or duplex apartments
• Park Model RVs less than 400 sq. ft. in size; common in Sunbelt regions
• Recreational Vehicles. Though not intended as housing, certainly used as such
• Modular Homes per local building codes with utility core; simple & sophisticated.
• Manufactured Housing. Singlesection & multisection; Community Series Homes.
• 3D Houses. 409 sq. ft; 24 hour fabrication via software-driven liquid concrete

The point in sharing this ‘Third’ point with you? To demonstrate how little the ‘left hand’ of affordable housing knows about the ‘right hand’. And until we start having public and private sectors of housing supply and finance meet together in search of common ground, goals, and means to achieve same, we will continue to be one big fragmented, inefficient housing supply industry. Expanded list of nine housing types available upon request via gfa7156@aol.com

***
George Allen, CPM, MHM
COBA7, a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing
Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247

August 13, 2018

WHAT YOU MISSED!

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 12:12 pm

Blog # 498; Copyright @ 17 August; 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 it’s’ print & online media =
to not only inform & opine, but to transform & improve MHBusiness performance!
______________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION: As best I could tell, there were 500 place settings for this year’s RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet. And what a gala affair it was! But much of the ‘real action’ occurred earlier in the day when small groups of businessmen and women met in the RV/MH Heritage Foundation’s board room for an MHAlive! ‘think tank’ session, and later, a writers’ workshop. Here following are some of those proceedings. However, to make this ‘word picture’ (Part III) complete, you’ll need to read the September issue of the Allen Letter professional journal. Why? Read on…

And Part IV. The 27th Networking Roundtable is only three weeks away. Are YOU registered yet? Sure hope so, as we’re nearing our max registration limit. However, if you read the exciting event plan here, know you can register this week, and maybe even next week, and still be able to attend. See YOU there!

I.

WHAT YOU MISSED, Part I

MHAlive! ‘think tank’ proceedings….

Everyone present received a copy of the recently updated mini-White Paper titled: ‘Solving Our Nation’s (Lack of) Affordable Housing Crisis, with Factory-built Housing & Land Lease Communities!’. Want a FREE copy? Just request it via email: gfa7156@aol.com. Be sure to provide your postal mailing address when you do.

And the new edition of the very popular Community Series Homes information summary. This includes the features of CSH model homes, along with HUD-Code housing manufacturers’ representatives specializing in this specially-designed home, helping to resurrect the manufactured housing industry since year 2009. Also FREE for the asking.

MHAlive! participants identified factors that might be slowing 2018 shipment volume. At end of June 2018 YTD we were 4,295 new HUD-Code homes ahead of where we were during the same period 2017. That’s Great! However, for the month of June 2018 alone, we were only 106 homes ahead of the number shipped during June 2017 . That’s not so great! We might be starting to lag….

The factors? Maybe…

• Unsettled nature and enforcement of new HUD-Code housing installations in land lease communities. Some owners are refusing to buy new homes and having to spend upwards of $5,000/rental homesite in retrofit costs; others are (allegedly) buying and siting homes, ignoring potentially costly consequences

• Reported ‘return to prosperity’ for independent (street) MHRetailers in some local housing markets – mainly in Southern locales, but continued dearth of such sales centers in other regions, e.g. Indianapolis enjoyed 18 in 1998; now the market barely supports two.

• Very few new land lease communities being developed, just about anywhere in the U.S. The two in MI, Oaks at Rockford & Bluffs on Manistee Lake, are doing fine, but both are picking up where past developers failed. And yes, there’re others, but more ‘expansions’ than raw land development, certainly from scratch.

• While many property portfolio owners/operators are routinely engaged in buying, selling, & seller-financing new HUD-Code homes on-site; the vast majority of single property owners continue to struggle to ‘learn that drill’. There’s help on the horizon though, as Four Leaf Properties now teaches their business model.

• With employment rates, throughout the U.S., at near record lows, it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep HUD-Code housing factory production lines up and going. While probably a good challenge to resolve, it is – and will continue to affect new home production and shipments, just as we’re recovering our mojo.

• Continued lack of effective national brand advertising by HUD-Code housing manufacturers still afraid their advertising financial largesse will, in some way, benefit their smaller, regional housing manufacturer competitors. That, unfortunately, has been a perennial ‘non starter’ problem for the past two decades.

Now is as good a time as any to introduce a new and appropriate business term to the manufactured housing industry & land lease community real estate asset class.

EVERGREEN matters, issues, topics themes & factors….

Casual definition? Anything that remains perennially fresh, interesting, enduring.

So there you have it. Six of the evergreen factors holding back the recovery of our industry, in terms of new home shipments, and filing of vacant rental homesites!

II.

WHAT YOU MISSED, Part II

Will Your Personal & Corporate Legacies Continue Beyond Your Demise, or Be Lost Forever?

As I pen in, the beginning of the ‘Who Will Preserve Your Legacy?’ booklet, “Stories will live forever only if you write them.” So, why not make a personal commitment NOW, to begin recollecting and writing one memoir (‘short story’) per month for the next 12 months? Then decide if it’s worth it to you to, in the words of author William Zinsser, “…to leave a record of what we (you!) did & thought & felt (during) your journey.”

This kinda happened during the writers’ workshop at the RV/MH Hall of Fame on 6 August, in Elkhart, IN. There, two individuals met for the first time, one a writer, and one the son of our industry’s last remaining pioneer community developers of the early 1960s. Watch for a ‘story or two, for the ages’ to materialize from this chance encounter.

Know what’s sad though? During 40 years in this business, I’ve met many an individual with worthwhile if not exciting personal and corporate tales to tell and preserve. But very few of them did so! Look at the In Memoriam list featured in every issue of the Allen Letter. Who wouldn’t have wanted to read more about the business adventures of Ron Richardson (e.g. Origin of ‘ballerina’ names for his properties?), Myles Sampson (a family ‘in the RE business since the Revolutionary War), Bud Zeman, Grayson Schwepfinger, Craig Fulmer (The former banker who ‘wrote the book’ re contract sale financing of MHs), Judy Carr, Maurice Wilder, Tom Horner, Jr.(Former pro football player turned land lease community developer/owner), and most recently, Howard Walker – cited in Sam Zell’s autobiography, Am I Being Too Subtle? See what I mean? Those stories are likely lost to posterity. And I sure don’t have the time to research and pull all that material together.

So, where does this leave us? In a recent blog posting I mentioned my interest in planning and hosting a day long writers’ workshop, again, on this very subject: ‘Preserving Your Personal & or Corporate Legacy via Memoirs & Autobiography.’ Invited response, and so far have received several encouragements to do so. How ’bout you? Is this a project that interests you – as the story teller, maybe even a family member or employee with an interest in preserving someone’s personal or corporate legacy? If so, please let me know. Not asking you to commit at this point; just express a desire to learn more, and possibly attend a one day writers’ workshop, possibly just before or during the Louisville MHShow later this year and early into 2019.

Phone the Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764; or simply email: gfa7156@aol.com

Something you may not realize, I’ve been down this ‘book writing path’ more than a dozen times now since 1988 – one of those times authoring a semi-autobiographical text.. And have assisted in the editing and pre-press preparation of another’s autobiography. So, what are you waiting for?

Finally. If you’d like a copy of the aforementioned booklet, it’s now FREE. Someone has stepped forward and covered our printing and binding expenses. All we ask of you, is to pay ‘shipping & handling’ for $5.00 when you request it. Just send a personal note & check to GFA c/o Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247. Make sure you include your postal mailing address as well.

III.

WHAT YOU MISSED, Part III

One of Best Tributes Ever & ‘MH Trumps RV’

There’re two parts to this Part III of blog posting # 498. First; the RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet acceptance address, shared in the delivery by two grandsons of Darrel Cohron, and his identical twin, the late Harrel Cohron, were downright justifiably poignant (‘painfully acute & affecting’) for everyone there who knew – and didn’t know ‘the brothers’. The full text of this fitting tribute will be featured in the September issue of the Allen Letter professional journal.

Now this part takes many of us back two decades, to when the manufactured housing industry fabricated and shipped 372,943 new HUD-Code homes nationwide!

At that time, and as I recall; when in or around the original site of the (now) RV/MH Hall of Fame, in downtown Elkhart, the foundation’s moniker was oft cited as being the MH/RV Hall of Fame. Some would halfway jokingly tell MH neophytes (‘novices’), the letters MH precede RV because manufactured housing is ‘today’ more prosperous than RVs. Well, today, the RV industry is more prosperous than MH; so, RV/MH Hall of Fame!

So, what happened during this year’s (2018) RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet reminiscent of this informal innocuous (‘harmless’) competition for top billing between RV & MH? Well, for the first time in years, the huge projection screen hanging in back of the evening speakers and Hall of Fame inductees featured, at the very top and in large letters: COHRON’S MANUFACTURED HOMES. This accompanied by the firm’s iconic white & black cow logo! Then, below that Diamond sponsorship headline, were several RV firms, always faithful in their ongoing financial support of the RV/MH Heritage Foundation. But for some, if not many of us MH folk, this was the first time in a long time, MH ‘trumped’ RV at the Hall of Fame!

Now, do you suppose this tale is patently (‘obviously’) true, or simply an urban legend?

What You Don’t Want to Miss, Part IV.

27th Networking Roundtable Set to Rock!

If you’re a faithful reader of this ‘almost always’ weekly blog, you read the detailed schedule of events – and who the presenters are this year, in last week’s posting. If you missed it, just scroll back into your PC’s archived messages (blog postings) to pull it up. Then register by visiting www.GetMeRegistered.com/COBA7NRT2018

For some reason, this year’s Networking Roundtable is garnering more national interest than usual! Best I can tell, the curiosity and inquiries are coming from ‘housers’ engaged in solving our nation’s affordable housing crisis. If so, that’s GREAT. Why? Because manufactured housing & land lease communities have long been, and now seem to have been recently discovered as being, if not The Answer, certainly an important and ongoing major part of the needed Solution! So, wouldn’t you want to be present to maybe make manufactured housing industry history?

The FHFA, both GSEs, most HUD-Code manufacturers, MHI, NAMHCO, COBA7, representatives from academia, major lenders, trade publications, and nearly three dozen presenters will be on hand to educate, network, even engage in deal-making as need be.

How can you not want to be present for this superb start to the Fall meeting season?

***

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

August 9, 2018

Don’t Miss This! It will never be repeated….

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 12:06 pm

Blog # 497; Copyright @ 10 August 2018; 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:

27 years ago, Carolyn & I planned & hosted the 1st International Networking Roundtable – in Clearwater, Florida. 75 of our (then) mobile home park owner friends joined us for the Thursday, Friday, Saturday venue. And the annual event grew in size from there.

A decade later we convened in Colorado Springs, CO. There we were stranded in a the host hotel thru Sunday, until we dug out of that city’s heaviest pre-season snowfall on record! Lou Vela phoned the hotel’s owner & persuaded him to keep the beer flowing as we watched the baseball world series on TV in the hotel lounge. A legend was born…

The following year everyone opted for a warm Florida locale. As Carolyn & I arrived at East coast Delray Beach, Hurricane Georges slammed the host beachfront hotel. Sure, it cut back on attendance, but not much. Even had stragglers arrive after storm passed.

And the following year, as Carolyn & I prepared to drive from Indianapolis to the Chicago venue, two planes slammed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City! As you’ll recall, ALL transportation came to a halt. We postponed the event until November – and had a larger audience. That’s when the Thursday morning Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, & Friday morning informal Prayer Meeting began.

Yes, it’s been an exciting run these past 26 years. Every year we wonder if we can ‘top’ the year before? Well we’ve done it this year in spades (‘to the utmost’)! I can’t recall any other national MHIndustry & or LLCommunity venue, during my 40 years in this business, offering more education (30 presenters & panelists!), better interpersonal networking, and deal-making opportunities, than this year’s Networking Roundtable!

Read through this schedule. Then go to GetMeRegistered.com/COBA7NRT2018 to register. We’re almost at our max limit of 200 registrants, so don’t delay doing so!

27th annual International Networking Roundtable

Schedule of Events

Wednesday, September 5

9AM-4PM Manufactured Housing Manager (‘MHM’) class
Taught by Katie Hauck, MHM, & Kathy Taylor, MHM
This session requires a separate registration & fee….

4-6PM ‘Art of the Deal’; Marketing Land Lease Communities
Led by Joanne Stevens, CCIM, & Tammy Fonk, CAIC

6-8PM Welcoming Reception for All! Bring business cards.
‘Celebrating National Land Lease Community Week!’

Thursday, September 6

7:30-8:30AM Networking Breakfast for All!
Get name tags & info from Carolyn Allen, PMN Publ.

8:30-9:15AM Welcome & Introduction of Everyone Present!
George Allen, CPM, MHM. Roundtable host.

9:15-10AM Keynote I. Overview of MHIndustry & Hall of Fame
Joe Stegmayer, CAVCO Industries, MHI, RV/MH HOF

10-10:15AM Morning Break at Nourishment Bar in Open Area

10:15-11AM Keynote II. FHFA, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Panel
Mike Price from FHFA
Griffin Cotter & Michael Harn from Freddie Mac
Jose Villarreal & Ben Navarro from Fannie Mae

11-11:45AM Keynote III. A Business Model that Works Well!
‘How to Buy, Sell & Seller-finance New Homes’ on-site
Michael Callaghan & Lisa Lane, Four Leaf Properties

11:45-1PM Networking Luncheon for All!

1-1:45PM Attend Either of Two Educational Sessions This Hour:

* How to Develop a New Land Lease Community!
Jamie Dougherty, Community Management Group

* Acquisition $ & Refinancing of LLCommunities
Tony Petosa, Wells Fargo Multifamily Lending

2-2:45PM Attend Either of Two Educational Sessions This Hour:

* Types of MH Today: CSH, ‘new type, RVs, & more
Mark Bowersox, Manufactured Housing Institute

* Using Print, Signage & Gifts to Promote Your Firm
Erin Smith, Spotlight-Strategies

3-3:45Pm Attend Either of Two Educational Sessions This Hour:

* Creating Compliant, Stress Free Environments
Doug Ottersberg

* Building America’s Homes Together!
Mark Yost & Phil Copeland, Skyline Champion

4-4:45PM Attend Either of Two Educational Sessions This Hour:

* Compensation Guidelines for Property Managers
Frank Bowman, MHM, Illinois Mfd. Hsg. Association

* ‘Preserving One’s Personal & Corporate Legacy via
Memoirs & Autobiography’ George Allen, CPM, MHM

4:45-6PM Attend One of Two Meetings, or Relax Until 6PM

* IMHA/RVIC (Indiana) Informal Members Meeting
Ron Breymier & Glen James hosting & leading

* National Association of Manufactured Housing
Communities ‘open meeting’ led by Susan Brenton
* Relax & Enjoy The Alexander Hotel or slip on down
to the nearby Slippery Noodle Inn – oldest bar in IN.

6-8PM RV/MH Hall of Fame Celebration Reception for All
RV/MH Hall of Fame Members encouraged to wear their
distinctive green blazers to this social networking event.

Friday, September 7

7-8AM Informal Prayer Meeting for U.S. & Leaders since 9/11
George & Carolyn Allen, hosts

7:30-8:45AM Networking Breakfast for All!

9-10AM Real Estate Lenders’ Panel/Open Discussion of $ Issues
Panel comprised of Networking Roundtable $$ Sponsors

10-11AM Chattel Capital Lenders Panel/Discussion of $$ Issues
Mix of independent lenders, hybrid & ‘captive finance’

11-12Noon Attend One of Two Educational Sessions This Hour

* How to Find, Value, Buy a Land Lease Community
Michael Power, MHCInvestor

* Writing Basics for Publication. Be a trade writer!
Patrick Revere, MHInsider magazine

12-1Pm Networking Luncheon for All!

1-2PM Attend One of Two Educational Sessions This Hour

* New Technology=Tracking Underground Systems
Brian King, Underground Infrastructure

* Third Party Fee (Property) Management Basics
Maria Horton, MHM, Newport Pacific Family of Co.

2-3PM Open Forum Discussion of MHIndustry Issues
Moderated by George Allen, CPM, MHM

3-4PM 27th Networking Roundtable Wrap-up Session

***

August 3, 2018

MANUFACTURED HOUSING, a Book Proposal

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 9:17 am

Blog # 496; Copyright @ 5 August 2018; 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:

26 years ago, in 1992, engineer David Alley, consultant Edward Hicks and I, along with our wives, met in a downtown Philadelphia, PA., hotel to plan the book proposal we’d submit to J. Wiley & Sons (New York publisher). I’d been encouraged by the brisk sale of self-published Mobile Home Park Management following its’ release in 1988; and now, the three of us believed there was a ‘window of opportunity’ for new community development, as HUD-Code home shipments numbered 210,787 units that year. Turns out we were right! Shipment volume continued to rise, year by year thru 1998. So, Development, Marketing & Operation of Manufactured Home Communities debuted in 1994. It was followed, in 1996, by How to Find, Buy, Manage & Sell a Manufactured Home Community. It too proved highly popular and sold well.

A quarter century has passed, and the manufactured housing industry, along with its’ land lease community segment, is – in my opinion – poised to effectively address our nation’s affordable housing supply crisis! We must educate legislators, regulators, bureaucrats, investors, homebuilders, and prospective homebuyers/site lessees as to the aesthetics, quality, economy, energy efficiency and durability of our type factory-built housing product. That’s where this formal book proposal comes into play.

This formal book proposal has already been submitted to J. Wiley & Sons, in the hope they too will once again ‘catch this vision’, and revisit their ‘setting of the manufactured housing business standards’ effected back in 1994 & 1996. Will they? Too soon to tell, but the offer has been made to, once again, serve our industry and realty asset class by researching and authoring a seminal text needed for these promising times.

And you should hope, for several reasons, this project gets the green light. Not only do we need the text, as a reference and HOW TO guide, but we’ll need at least a dozen ‘duty expert’ writers to pen various parts of the text. Are you qualified, experienced, motivated, and interested? If so, let me know via gfa7156@aol.com.

I.

TO: J. Wiley & Sons Publishers

FROM: George Allen, CPM Emeritus, MHM Master
40 Year Consultant to the Factory-built Housing Industry,

SUBJ: Book Proposal Opportunity for J. Wiley & Sons, to once again,
Publish the ‘Business Standard for all Manufactured Housing’!

In 1994, J. Wiley & Sons published a text ‘setting the business standard’ for raw land development of (then) manufactured home communities throughout North America!*1 Two years later, another J. Wiley & Sons-published text was quickly acclaimed to be
‘the bible’ for acquisition, property management, & disposition of manufactured home communities throughout North America!*2 Two decades have passed. Though long out of print, both case bound books continue to be sell online at $ amounts only slightly less than their respective retail prices in 1994 & 1996. Talk about retaining value!

I co-authored the first text, and was lead author and editor of the second one. See personal vitae enclosed with this book proposal.

Well, it’s high time for a new tome, covering similar subject matter, but in an expanded fashion, featuring today’s trade terminology, appropriate statistics, and business trends.

Not only is historicity and usefulness in play and demand here; know there’s a widely recognized affordable housing supply crisis afoot in our nation today. Only during the past several years have ‘housers’, across housing-type lines, begun to seriously consider the nature, availability, energy efficiency, and pricing viability of HUD-Code manufactured housing, and its’ related land lease community lifestyle, as being – if not ‘the answer’, certainly a significant part of the solution to this worsening national crisis. What the national housing supply audience needs now, is a contemporary text with which to educate themselves and others! And J. Wiley & Sons, by dint of the firm’s 1994 & 1996 enduring textual contributions, is well-positioned to address today’s housing education need.

Since the mid 1990s, I’ve authored a dozen books, mostly having to do with manufactured housing and (now) land lease communities.*3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Additional titles have to do with figurative language & figures of speech, a Chapbook of Business & Management, HOUSING AFFORDOGRAPHY, a Chapbook of Prayer, and more.

The proposed J. Wiley & Sons book will pick up and update from where the first two ended. The manufactured housing industry and land lease community real estate asset class have changed significantly, especially since the turn of this century – when the unique factory-built housing type, thru its’ own missteps, lost easy access to chattel capital needed for home mortgages on new homes sited on leased realty.*10. Today, the industry is on its’ way to recovery. * 11,12

Just what might the Table of Contents, of a new J. Wiley & Sons-published book, on affordable housing, manufactured housing & land lease communities, contain?

• An Introduction to Affordable Housing & overview of this nation’s affordable housing supply crisis….

• Manufactured Housing; one of four types of factory-built housing

• Land Lease Communities; development & operations, including property valuation, acquisition & disposition

• Making the Case for Manufactured Housing & Land Lease Communities as this Nation’s Most Practical Solution to its’ Affordable Housing Crisis!

Well, there you have it; the makings of a dynamic, hands-on, HOW TO text, relative to ins & outs of factory-built housing in general, manufactured housing in particular; raw land development into land lease communities – or, acquisition, management & sale thereof. And most important of all, how this type housing – costing 50% per square foot less than traditional stick-built housing – and its’ related community lifestyle, are indeed, ‘the answer’ to the affordable housing supply crisis in the U.S. today!

Who will author this text? My plan is to follow the successful pattern used in the J. Wiley & Sons-published text, How to Find, Buy, Manage & Sell a Manufactured Home Community, 1996. Then I identified and recruited 16 contributors to pen various parts of the 508 page text. While few of those individuals remain active in business circles today, I well know more than a dozen other businessmen and women who’ve become ‘duty experts’ in their own right, relative to affordable housing, manufactured housing, and land lease communities. I see my role being as a contributor to, and editor of, the new text.

Possible titles for the new text?

• Manufactured Housing = Affordable Housing

• Manufactured Housing & Land Lease Communities Today!

• Affordable Housing Supply Crisis Solution? Manufactured Housing!

Is J. Wiley & Sons interested in exploring this book proposal further?

For book marketing purposes, know I pen, publish, and distribute the only two print manufactured housing-related, subscriber-supported, monthly business newsletters: the Allen Letter professional journal ($134.95/year) & the Allen CONFIDENTIAL! ($944.95/year). In addition I write for the MHInsider trade (advertising-supported) magazine, and post a weekly blog read by many. Newsletter samples available on request.

Furthermore, since 1989, our firm has grown and maintained an exclusive, confidential data base containing names and contact information of 500+/- known portfolio owners/operators of land lease communities throughout North America! According to the 29th annual ALLEN REPORT (a.k.a. ‘Who’s Who Among Land Lease Community Portfolio Owners/operators in North America!’), the average property portfolio today, contains 39 land lease communities, and each property contained therein averages more than 200 rental homesites. We exercise this unique, one of a kind, data base almost monthly, for a $1,000.00 fee, in behalf of lenders, would be investors, product/service suppliers, and portfolios in disposition. This data base is their sole access to all these major players! And it’d certainly be a major marketing avenue for this new J. Wiley & Sons text as well. Sample ALLEN REPORT also available on request.

Looking forward, maybe, to working with J. Wiley & Sons once again.

End Notes to book proposal not included as part of this blog posting..

***

George Allen, CPM, MHM
COBA7, a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing
Box # 47024
Indianapolis, IN. 46247
(317) 346-7156

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