Blog Posting # 637 @ 7 May 2021: EducateMHC
Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing!’
EducateMHC is the online national advocate, asset class historian, data researcher, education resource & communication media for all land lease communities throughout North America!
To input this blog and/or affiliate with EducateMHC, telephone Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764. Also email gfa7156@aol.com & visit www.educatemhc.com
Motto: ‘U Support US & WE Serve U!’ Goal: to promote HUD-Code manufactured housing & land lease communities as U.S. # 1 source of affordable attainable housing! Attend MHM class!
INTRODUCTION: Are you as tuned-in as you think you are, or need to be? Reading Parts I & II here following, will help you answer that curious question. Hints. For the first time in more than three decades, there are major changes ahead for the annual ALLEN REPORT, the longest running statistical compendium in the manufactured housing industry! AND, if you’re not using IBTS’ HUD-Code shipment numbers data, consider improving your accuracy and credibility by doing so. AND, where else can you ‘single source’ the stock prices of all nine public MH & LLCommunity public companies’ stock prices?
I.
Changing Face of the ALLEN REPORT
Land Lease Community Consolidation, a Portfolio to Portfolio Phenomenon
Now, that subtitle about consolidation is not ‘new news’ by any measure. Portfolios have been exchanging land lease communities (and RV parks) for as long as acquisition front men – and women, have been accessing the exclusive ALLEN REPORT contact data base, to effect direct mail solicitation campaigns. Surely by now, you know how that drill works.*1 If not, and seriously interested, email me via gfa7156@aol.com
What is ‘new news’ is the wholesale manner in which the largest property portfolio firms, public and privately-owned, have been acquiring land lease communities, dozens at a time, i.e. 12 – 36 property portfolios. The latest example is RHP Properties acquisition of Elkhart, IN., headquartered Heritage Financial and all 29 land lease communities containing 4,200 rental homesites! This acquisition boots RHPs holdings to 297 such properties nationwide…that property total is up from the 237 cited in the 32nd annual ALLEN REPORT this past January. And know what? There are even bigger portfolio transactions ‘in the making’ at present. That’s why you need to read this blog posting every week.
So, how does this wholesale acquisition of dozens of land lease communities, at a time, affecting the ALLEN REPORT as you’ve known it these past 32 years? For instance, at the very top: Just among the four largest portfolio ‘players’ listed in said report, their total community count, taken together, has jumped from 1,122 land lease communities owned/operated to more than 1,350 or an overall increase of 230+/- properties…which if a portfolio in its’ own right, would likely be ranked as #5, right behind ELS, Inc., Sun, Inc., RHP Properties, and YES! Communities.
So there you have the ‘changing face’ of the ALLEN REPORT – at the top end, among the four largest owners/operators of land lease communities in North America!
Are there other changes afoot? Probably. While I’m not prepared to share specifics, know this much: The annual ALLEN REPORT is exceedingly difficult to prepare and publish each year. How so? We poll all 500+/- portfolio owners/operators in August and September. Know how many usable responses (completed questionnaires) I get by the submission deadline? Usually 50. I get data from the remaining 50 (as listed in the 32nd ALLEN REPORT) by making telephone calls to owners – who admit they don’t send in completed questionnaires because they know I’ll eventually call and we’ll enjoy our annual ‘talk shop’ conversation. Which I do enjoy, by the way. But it sure slows down the research portion of this annual project. And then, ‘writing the report’. While I have past years reports as templates, so much information changes, it takes me every bit of 40 hours to pen what you want to know.
So, where is all this going? Don’t know for sure yet, but am leaning towards discontinuing the annual ALLEN REPORT, due to lack of succession interest on the part of any national real estate investment-related advocacy trade group! It had been my hope, way back in 1993 & 1996, when ‘we’ started the Industry Steering Committee, and then the National Communities Council (now division) of MHI, that they’d ‘step up to the plate’ and continue the products and services Carolyn and I created and nurtured, in the behalf of community owners/operators, for the past 40 years.*2 That simply has not happened, nor do I see it happening. So….
In conclusion, ‘smart money’ will see you visiting www.educatemhc.com to purchase the 32nd annual ALLEN REPORT for present use and future reference. Now you can’t say I didn’t warn you. GFA
End Notes.
1. ALLEN REPORT contact data base contains names and addresses of 500+/- land lease community portfolio owners/operators in North America. Addresses are 99% accurate and almost every direct mail piece goes to the major decision-maker in the subject firm. Cost to access? $1,000.00
2. Just what are those products and services? Easy answer is, go to www.educatemhc.com and see. Otherwise, we’re talking about monthly newsletters, books, Resource Documents (at least a dozen, e.g. ‘Annual Registry of ALL Lenders…), networking roundtable, management focus groups, the Manufactured Housing Manager (‘MHM’) professional property management training and certification program, and much more.
II.
Never Before in the History of MH…
Have We Read MH Shipment Stats & Stock Market Prices in a Monthly Report!
Did you know? Shipment volume of HUD-Code housing units jumped from 7,995 in February 2021 to 10,008 during March 2021? That’s an increase of more than 2,000 homes in one month! That is very good news for the MHIndustry!*1
Do you know the ‘production value’ of those 10,008 new homes? Based on research funded by MHI more than a decade ago, the per home value is $43,126; so, that makes the value of March’s 10,008 units $432 million & $1.42 billion YTD
Now turn to stock prices among the nine manufactured housing and land lease community public firms.
Did you know? Stock prices, on 3 May 2021, were DOWN for all HUD-Code housing manufacturers except for Berkshire-Hathaway – whose price was UP. Skyline-Champion, Cavco, and Legacy stock prices were DOWN from April.
Did you know? Stock prices, on 3 May 2021, were UP for all five land lease community portfolio firms, i.e. ELS, Inc., Sun Communities, Inc., UMH Properties, Flagship Communities (rebranded SSK Communities) and Manufactured Housing Properties.
The manufactured housing/land lease community composite stock index, on 3 May 2021, was $648.32, down from $652.72 in early April – primarily because of the slippage among HUD-Code housing manufacturers.
This report recently started publicizing FHFA’s housing price index. It was up 0.9 percent in February; up 12.2 percent from last year.
Won’t promise you’ll always read these unique and hard-to-find stats in this blog. But you can be privy to such helpful data by subscribing to The Allen Confidential newsletter via www.educatemhc.com
End Note.
1. All MH shipment totals cited in EducateMHC’s monthly ‘MHShipment Volume & Stock Market Report’ are as reported by HUD’s contractor, the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’) reports them to MHARR, HUD & EducateMHC.
George Allen, CPM, MHM