Blog Posting # 746, Copyright 16 June 2023. EducateMHC
Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing1 EducateMHC alone is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And, SWAN SONG is a history of land lese communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven! – describes combat adventures in Vietnam and 40+ years business career in MH and communities.
George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S> marines, and author/editor of 20 books about MH, communities, business & management wisdom & prayer.
‘Oh No, Here We Go (Down) Again!’
Quoting from the Manufactured Housing Institute’s (‘MHI’) Monthly Economic Report for April 2023: “…the 6,676 new HUD-Code manufactured homes produced during that month is a 13 percent drop from the previous month, and 34 percent drop from April of 2022. And, per year to date (‘YTD’), we’re at 27,850 units, down a whopping 30 percent from 2022 YTD #.
Now here’s what’s really scary about this sinking performance: Multiply the 2022 annual MH shipment total of 112,886 units by .70 (70%) – the reciprocal of the 30 percent just cited, and one calculates a possible 2023 year end production performance of only 79,020 new HUD-Code homes! Know what? If that turns out to be the case, one has to look all the way back to year 2016 to find a greater annual production total, i.e. 81,136. Bottom line, if this happens? As an industry, we’ll have regressed seven years!
As I remarked to a fellow manufactured housing aficionado recently; the sad thing in all this talk about falling MH sales and production, is that there is NO national forum where this sort of challenge is presented, discussed, and resolved among major industry ‘players’ – manufacturers, independent (street) MHRetailers, and community owners/operators alike! To my knowledge this sort of strategic planning does not occur at any of our national trade advocacy bodies, maybe only at the annual SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA. @ (10 & 11 September 2023. If you know or believe differently, please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com
‘Who Will Preserve Your Legacy? Answer: You!’
Five years ago I penned and self-published the booklet titled ‘Who Will Preserve Your Legacy? Answer: You!’ Back then we knew of ten published autobiographies of pioneers and leaders from the manufactured housing industry and land lease community ownership. Well, over the years, the booklet went through several printings, and now four additional autobiographies have appeared on the scene. So, it became time to update and expand the coverage of the original booklet.
How is this second edition different from the first? It contains these four new autobiographies; here’re review summaries from the booklet:
Matthew Jenkins, DVM. During his lifetime, Dr. Jenkins was a U.S. Air Force officer, successful veterinarian, portfolio owner/operator of land lease communities, interim president of Tuskegee University, and generous philanthropist. His autobiography, ‘Positive Possibilities, My Game Plan for Success’ was published shortly before his death in 2017. It’s available for purchase via amazon.com (As an aside, I sold Matthew a community back in the early 1980s)
Jim, Ralph & Jeff Scoular of South Dakota, co-authored ‘Leap of Faith’, the ‘Story of an Industry, a Family & Unmovable Values.’ This three generations of Scoular family history in MH and land lease communities is hallmarked by (late) Ralph’s induction into the RV/MH Hall of Fame in 1998, followed by his son Jim in 2005. The book is available directly from the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. (Another aside: Scoular family financed much of the new MH exhibit at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN.)
George O’Leary’s ‘The O’Learys of Beechwood’, traces O’Leary family history ‘From the Penal Times to the War of Independence and beyond, with memories of my life and career from County Tipperary (Ireland) to Tucson, AZ. This 225 pages family narrative is accompanied by colorful photographs. Available only via George@rinconcountry.com (The aside here? I only recently met George. He’s in his nineties and has ‘seen it all’ in RV & MH environments)
George Allen’s ‘From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven’ describes the author’s life from childhood, through college and marriage, to a combat tour in the Republic of Vietnam, then a 40+ year career in MH and land lease communities. Available via www.educatemhc.com (My aside? Sincerely hope this autobiography inspires my peers to begin penning their own stories)
In addition to these review summaries, there are lengthy quotes from each autobiography, making this a comprehensive collection of Lessons Learned by no fewer than 14 industry and realty asset class businessmen (nine of whom are RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinees).
FYI. I know a couple women entrepreneurs active in MH and communities who’ve started recording their memoirs (i.e. ‘short stories’) and possibly, in time, their autobiographies.
My goal is to put a copy of this HOW TO booklet in the hands of older MH and community practitioners who have a ‘story to tell’, whether it be personal/career oriented, or the story of the business enterprise they founded and nurtured over the years. Cost is $20.00 per booklet (postpaid). Interested? Email me via gfa7156@aol.com – be sure to include your preferred USPS (postal) address. Or mail your check and postal address to GFA c/o Box # 47024, Indpls, IN. 46247.
‘Go Woke, Go Broke’
The phrase ‘go woke, go broke’ has been used a lot of late, to describe effects on an increasing number of firms who’ve decided to prioritize a woke agenda over the sensibilities of their customers. In many cases, this has resulted in significant financial loss.
When queried as to why large firms have been forced to act in what appears to be a self-destructive manner, the answer is oft ‘follow the money’. This, in turn, refers to several dominant investment firms who’ve been leaning on targeted companies to promote progressive values; in particular the ESG agenda (i.e. environmental, social, and corporate governance – or just plain governance). The ESG agenda is intended to be part of a business organization’s strategy to consider needs and ways by which to generate value for all stakeholders – employees and customers alike. Corporate choice? Give in to such demands or suffer severe long-term consequences via their pension funds, directors’ bonuses, and other avenues. To date there are at least 60 large firms who’ve succumbed to this outside pressure.
Watching History Pass…
This time of year (Spring) 30 years ago I was planning the hosting of an historic national gathering of (then) manufactured home community owners/operators. Unbeknownst to the realty asset class in general, several large portfolio firms were quietly preparing to ‘go public’ as real estate investment trusts (‘REITs’) in the near future. But there were two challenges: First; Wall Street analysts were unfamiliar with the workings and profit potential of this unique income-property type; i.e. leasing of rental homesites to manufactured housing homeowners. Second; there was no effective national advocacy for this type commercial real estate investment. The only quasi representation occurred periodically during meetings of a volunteer committee under the auspices of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’). That was it!
As it turned out, the historic national gathering of community owners/operators occurred on 31 August 1993. At that time 19 executives met for a daylong strategic planning meeting in Indianapolis, IN. The long-ranging results of that meeting are documented in a book titled: ‘The first 20 Years!’, authored by the late Bruce Savage.*1
As it turns out, the 30th anniversary of that historic meeting will be celebrated during August of 2023. So, watch for a blog posting, in that timeframe, that will identify who those community pioneers were – and what they’re doing today. For now, however, suffice it to say, this meeting was the precursor to the launching of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division on 1 January 1996 under the leadership of Jim Ayotte, CAE. So, more later….
End Note.
- This book still available for purchase via www. Educatemhc.com It is also archived in the George Allen Corporate Library Collection as part of the RV/MH Hall of Fame library in Elkhart, IN.
Average National Apartment & Community Rent Rates
According to ‘Multifamily Executive’ magazine, for May/June 2023, $1,706 is the average U.S. apartment asking rent in April; this us $3.00 from March 2023 – per Yardi Matrix. Know what this means? Applying the widely known and used Traditional 3:1 Formula for calculating rental homesite rates in any local housing market; the average national land lease community rental homesite rate during April 2023, was $569.00/month. Specifically: $1,706 divided by ‘3’ = $569.
INFAMOUS QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“What difference does it make?” (re: Benghazi). Hilary Clinton
George Allen