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

September 16, 2022

A Letter & Death Announcements….

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 8:11 am

Blog Posting # 706. Copyright 16 September 2022. 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, realty asset class historian, trend spotter. Education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com

A Letter & Death Announcements….

“Thanks for the good blog, George! For the first time, I’m seeing overvaluing of land lease communities causing operational issues (e.g. not enough $ to cover debt & operational expenses). And those not able to operate profitable communities are marketing them in hopes of finding someone to pay their investment back and more. Surely one must be a savvy property manager these days to succeed in this generally overheated market! (Edited. GFA)
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The late Steve Waite of Fayetteville, TN., was better and more widely known than I realized when I first learned of his 26 August 2022 passing. Steve was 67 years of age at the time, and at this writing, no obituary has been published. But the memories and positive recollections have been arriving here almost daily.

Rick Rand, president of Great Value Homes in WI recalls: “I first met Steve sometime in the early 1990s. He was a loan officer with, I believe, Goldome Financial. We met again when Steve joined ROC/Chateau Communities, and operated a regional portfolio of land lease communities for them. Steve was a real gentleman and very nice guy. He was kind, soft spoken and always had a smile. We last talked at an MH Congress. Told me he was enjoying his family and life back home on his farm in TN.” (Lightly edited. GFA)

And this from Spencer Roane, MHM, of Pentagon Properties in GA. “Steve knew so much about the manufactured housing industry, particularly community development and management, from his days working with Jim Clayton. Yet he was so soft spoken, humble, and willing to help any other community owner.”

Lou Vela in FL. “Still remember when I gave him a $400,000 commission pursuant to the selling of Gary McDaniel’s land lease communities.” (Lightly edited. GFA)

And finally, Kurt D. Kelley of Mobile Insurance in TX. “Steve was a gentleman, trustworthy, hard-working and a good example for all those around him. Rest in Peace Steve Waite! The world was a better place because you were in it.”

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While I didn’t know John Boll or MI well, I was still surprised to learn of his 24 August passing. What follows here is quoted from a screen shot, penned by James R. Hagerty, and forwarded to me by Matt Follett in CA. “One of (John Boll’s) goals was to escape the ‘trailer trash’ stigma (with new) developments that were comfortable and stylish. The name he chose for his company: Chateau Estates. (These were) five star communities (where) residents weren’t allowed to let weeds grow or to perch old cars on cinder blocks. He provided clubhouses, swimming pools, and sometimes fitness centers. Through organic growth, acquisitions and mergers, the company, renamed Chateau Communities, Inc., (now a REIT) spread to more than 200 locations in 36 states in the early 2000s. In 2003 he sold Chateau to Hometown America, LLC…for about $1 billion, plus $1.2 billion in assumed debt and preferred stock.” And active philanthropist, he shuttled between homes in Key largo, FL; Grosse Pointe Shores, MI., and Beaver Creek, CO. He was 93 years of age when he died.

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Chalk this up to nostalgia if you must. But yesterday, 15 September 2022, I attended an OPEN HOUSE hosted by General Supply here in Indianapolis, IN. Tom Todd, owner and CEO was host. Besides really good food and drink, the fun and games throughout the early afternoon, was equaled only by opportunities to network and interact among manufactured housing businessmen and women past and present. In my case, I got to catch-up on land lease community news with Rick Roethke of Barrington Investments (in town for a couple days before returning home to southern California); Bill Young, Jr., independent (street) MHRetailer recently relocated to Greencastle, IN; Jimmy Laser and Brian Moench of Anchor Solutions (Helical Screw Pile Foundations); and Don Geddert, local manufactured housing icon. Oh, there were others, but no one you’d know. And a little surprising, but certainly welcome, was the fact that well more than 100 premium gifts were raffled off during the event.

Why tell you all this? Events such as this occur throughout the U.S. on a regular basis – we just don’t hear about them very often. Few states have meaningful newsletters anymore, and on the national scene, no monthly publications at all. So this weekly blog posting has been my way of encouraging you to attend the 11th annual SECO Conference at Stone Mountain, GA., @ 13-16 October 2022. For more information, just google SECO. I plan to be present for a couple days, and hope to see you poolside in person, at the Old Timers’ Panel, one afternoon. Are there any other industry events you should patronize during the month of October? Sure. But you’ll have to seek them out, as they express no interest in anything I do in your behalf.

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More details next week, maybe. But I may have lucked onto an engineering firm that routinely engineers new land lease communities nationwide, and is the duty expert, so to speak, in helical screw pile foundations.

George Allen, CPM, MHM Educatemhc.com

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