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

Blog Posting # 790, Copyright 26 April 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing! (A.k.a. offsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH! EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trend tracker, and information resource for both business models. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, & visit www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as non-fiction author and freelance consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is the only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH hall of Fame enshrine, MHInsider magazine editor at large, & Allen Legacy columnist, Vietnam combat veteran & retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 30 books & chapbooks on MH, communities, business management & prayer.

Just How Bad Are Rental Housing Costs Today?

In the March/April 2024 edition of ‘Affordable Housing Finance’ there is this troubling collection of dismal housing statistics quoted from a national housing report by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (‘JCHS’). Here goes:

22.4 million renters are cost burdened. Consequences? Evictions & homelessness on the rise.

These 22.4 million renter households spend more than 30% of their income on rent & utilities.

12.1 million of these 22.4 million renter households are spending more than 50% on these costs

JCHS’ managing director Chris Herbert: “…issue of housing affordability is no longer a problem of just the poor.” P.8.

“Since 2001, median rents have risen nearly continuously in inflation-adjusted terms and are 21% higher as of 2022. Yet incomes have risen only 2% in the same period.” P.8.

FHFA’s Housing Mission Report for Year 2023

Released 4/17/2024, this report describes “…activities taken by Fannie Mae  & Freddie Mac (‘the Enterprises’), and Federal Home Loan Banks in 2023 to promote access to financing for affordable, sustainable, and equitable housing and targeted economic development.” OK, so

 what did they do during year 2023?

“…the Enterprises purchased over 136,000 single-family mortgages for low and moderate income borrowers….” How many of these were HUD-Code manufactured homes? None I saw.

“…Enterprises collectively purchased approximately 15,000 Special Purpose Credit Program loans through lender-sponsored initiatives and their proprietary SPCPs….” HUD-Code homes?

“…Enterprises partnered with vendors responsible for collecting rent payment data from participating multifamily housing property owners and formatting it for dissemination to credit bureaus.” And HUD-Code manufactured housing figures into this activity how?

“The Enterprises invested over $1.7 billion last year in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (‘LIHTC’) equity, including transactions that support housing in Duty to Serve designated rural areas…”

This followed by two activities pursued by FHL Banks. Unclear if MH was involved in any way.

But Wait! In a separate, subsequent (4/24/2024) Press Release from the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), readers are told how ‘HUD & FHFA Bring Manufactured Housing into Affordable Housing Conversation at Senate Hearing’. Read what follows here carefully, bearing in mind what you just learned from the FHFA Housing Mission Report for Year 2023.

“Manufactured housing also plays an important role in building the supply of single-family affordable housing – not only in rural areas on privately held land and in manufactured housing communities (‘MHCs’) but also in fee-simple subdivisions and infill housing in urban areas. (&) FHFA supports the responsible growth of the manufactured housing market, as this represents an opportunity to help address the nation’s affordable housing supply challenge.” Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (‘FHFA’) Sandra Thompson

So, where does reality (i.e. ‘the Mission Report’) end and 2024 ‘gas lighting’ begin? Just what does the FHFA and GSEs really do in behalf and support of the manufactured housing industry?

Communities: Ugly Stepchild of Manufactured Housing

Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (‘JCHS’) strikes again -but ‘strikes out!’

In a recent report dated 4/23/2024, titled ‘Harnessing the Potential of Manufactured Housing to Expand Entry-Level Homeownership’, writer Chadwick Reed redirects the focus of readers to yet another study: ‘Overcoming Barriers to manufactured Housing; Promising Approaches from Five Case Studies’. Here’s where it gets interesting. Read carefully.

“While all of the cases featured in the new report focus on applications of manufactured housing in fee-simple, real-property development – where a new manufactured home is permanently affixed to its foundation, titled as real estate, and sold to a homebuyer – they vary widely in most other respects.”

So, where’s the ‘ugly stepchild’ in any of these esoteric studies? The land lease community – into which 51 percent of new HUD-Code housing production is shipped and installed for on-site marketing, sale, and financing? Communities (i.e. those featuring rental homesites) are not even mentioned. So here, ‘half a loaf’ is ‘no loaf at all’ – or so it seems. Wakeup JCHS and be more inclusive in your coverage of HUD-Code manufactured housing and its’ sister component, land lease communities – or perhaps you’re still thinking in terms of ‘mobile home park’ lingo.

Back to the ‘Overcoming Barriers…’ report. Here’re the key insights and strategic approaches the authors cite:

Education and advocacy are critical. Education of local officials and communities; advocacy by the industry itself.

Zoning restrictions require flexibility. And I would add ‘endurance’. Changing zoning codes is not a one shot affair – ever.

CrossMod homes have particular appeal.  Unlike “traditional manufactured homes often built for niche applications like manufactured home parks or farm housing.” – CrossMod homes “…designed to provide an alternative to conventional site-built single-family housing.” IMHO, it appears the writers here have sipped the Kool Aid. I’m still waiting for trade publications to honestly and accurately ballyhoo the annual unit sales gains of CrossMod homes.

Development processes are unique. While the CrossMod design accomplishes what was intended, developing said homes into a typical single-family neighborhood will be new to most manufactured housing developers – who’re neither licensed contractors or savvy with the manufactured housing product. (Remember the ‘land-home’ debacle at the turn of the century?)There are far fewer independent (street) MHRetailers today than 20 years ago. But, putting this type factory-built housing (a.k.a. offsite construction) onto rental homesites within land lease communities is a simple matter.

Time savings may come in time. This is the learning curve usually characteristic of HUD-Code manufactured homes.

So there you have it, matters to consider if putting manufactured homes into subdivisions and on scattered sites conveyed fee simple; just doesn’t do much for infill where land lease communities are concerned.

OK, Here’s Saving the Very Best for Last!

Given the volume of emails and phone calls I’ve been receiving from MH and land lease community associates across the U.S., an increasing number of you are well aware a movement is a-brewing. A grassroots movement to double the annual production of HUD-Code manufactured homes by filling vacant rental homesites and upgrading land lease communities with new homes.

In the words of RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee Dan Rolfes, of Ohio, I’ve been encouraged to ‘keep my powder dry’ for another week or two, until key details can be ironed-out in the planning/working document. So, keep your eyes peeled here for another week or so…if you’re interested in seeing our industry double new home production this year and next.

To the best of my recollection, this is the first time since mid-year 1963, that a significant number of entrepreneur businessmen and women from the industry at large, plan to come together for a worthy business model purpose. If you’re already ‘on board’, you know it; if not, then watch here for more information and how to become involved!  GFA

George Allen

Blog Posting # 789, Copyright 19 April 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH”) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing! (A.k.a. offsite construction_. And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH! EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trend tracker, and information resource for both business models. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, & visit www.educatmhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as non-fiction author and freelance management consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is the only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (“MI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fam enshrinee, MHInsider magazine editor at large, & Allen Legacy columnist, Vietnam combat veteran & retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books & chapbooks on MH, communities, business management & prayer.

What follows here is the never-before-published narrative of my farewell presentation at the Final Networking Roundtable, in Nashville, TN., during August 2021. When I came across it recently, it occurred to me no one is compiling and sharing, in print and otherwise, this type State of the Industry information. And since some of the cited statistics have changed during the past 2 ½ years, I decided to edit and incorporate the narrative into this week’s blog posting for your reference and retention. I hope you print off this 789^th blog posting and use it during the weeks, months, even years ahead. George Allen

Past, Present & Future Statistics & Trends

Among Land Lease Communities in the U.S.

Consolidation within manufactured housing & among land lease communities. This is the biggest perennial phenomenon to occur in these two segments during the past 50 years – ‘the large absorbing the small’! For example, there were 26 factory-built housing firms in 1977; today, mainly the Big Three C firms: Clayton Homes, Inc., Skyline Champion Corporation, & Cavco Industries, Inc. control 80+/- percent national market share of HUD-Code homes production.*1 And, in 1987 there were 25 (then) manufactured home community portfolios; and the 500+/- today have acquired 95+ percent of all institutional, investment grade land lease communities in the U.S. And, there’s also been ‘consolidation by attrition’, among independent (street) MHRetailers, since year 2000.

20 Year paradigm shift during years 2000 – 2020 continues. When the manufactured housing industry lost ‘easy access to chattel capital’ or ‘home-only loans’, at the turn of the century, manufactured housing sales moved from independent (street) MHRetailers to on-site, in-community home sales and financing.*2 Today? Between 2008 and 2023, in-community new home deliveries increased from 15 to 51 percent of annual production during those 15 years. Frustrations? Increasing frustration among community owners over radically increasing product pricing, lengthy waits for deliveries of homes (Due in large part to the pandemic), and slow warranty work. Future? Continued in-community marketing and sale of new homes or resurgence of ‘company stores’, etc.?

Evolving trade terminology. We’ve progressed from ‘mobile homes’ of the 1970s, to manufactured housing and communities of the 1980s & 90s, to land lease communities. Why? Seven types of shelter are now commonplace on rental homesites within many communities, e.g. ‘mobile homes’ (pre-1976), manufactured homes (post-1976), modular homes, park model RVs, RVs for a season, stick-built homes fabricated on site (only in Florida after hurricanes), and now ADUs or ‘accessory dwelling units’ such as Tiny Houses. Future terminology? Anyone’s guess, but maybe simply housing and housing communities, perhaps with signs out front announcing: ‘A wonderful housing discovery!’ Oh, and be alert to increasing presence of ‘offsite housing’ (a.k.a. all forms of factory-built housing) lingo.

National advocacy. Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) has represented all segments of the manufactured housing industry for decades; and, land lease communities, via its’ National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division since 1996.*3 Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’) has been doing similarly for independent, regional HUD-Code housing manufacturers since 1985. And the National Association of Manufactured Housing Community Owners (‘NAMHCO’) arrived on the scene in 2018-19, and Women Advancing Manufactured Housing (‘WAMH’) shortly thereafter. Going forward. Consolidation means fewer independent HUD-Code housing manufacturers and fewer sole proprietor owners of communities supporting state and national trade associations – though all firms  continue to need representation and lobbying expertise as regulatory concerns persist, even increase in some instances. The associations that deal best with these challenges will prevail and grow in size and influence.

Operating performance standards. Circa 1990 there were no published  performance standards describing (then) manufactured home community operations – only Income/Expense Analysis Reports data for conventional, garden style apartment communities, published by the Institute of Real Estate Management’s (‘IREM’) annual Income/Expense Analysis reports. The first Industry Standard Chart of Operating Accounts (‘ISCOA’), and characteristic Operating Expense Ratios (‘OERs’) were published in 1992, and have been updated annually since then, via the ALLEN REPORT.*4 In 1994, these OERs, along with occupancy and turnover percentages, and ‘two faces of ROI (‘return on & of investment) were used by would be community REITs (‘real estate investment trusts’) to entice Wall Street analysts to recommend buying stock in the real estate asset class.*5 Future standards? For starters, the increasingly popular practice of citing combined monthly site rent & PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) payments when comparing to conventional home loan mortgage payments. Over time, expect to see most land lease community statistics, and trend identification, come from DATACOMP.

Improved & improving site rent collection. In 1970s, monthly site rent due date was the anniversary of one’s move into the ‘mobile home’ or manufactured home community, and rent was often collected in cash! No more. Today, every homeowner/site lessee (a.k.a. tenant, resident) has the same anniversary date and rent is paid via check, credit card, debit card, or other electronic transfer means. No more money laundering as in the day of Chicago mobsters, or with gun in hand as one of my maintenance men did until I caught him doing so.*6

Resident-owned communities or ROCs. Today, number more than 275 in 18 states in the ROC USA Network. And of course there are a large number of non-network affiliated ROCs in Florida and California. This is essentially a realty  ownership transfer from for-profit to non-profit status, when homeowners/site lessees organize a homeowners association (‘HOA’) and, when their community is offered ‘for sale’, use the expertise and experience of a third party (e.g. ROC USA) to form a cooperative and secure real estate-secured financing to acquire the land lease community. The future? Bright for ROC USA, as the firm has raised capital to finance transactions, now providing their services in all states. Overall success of the ROC concept depends on continued, increased acceptance by sole proprietor property owners and homeowners/site lessees.

Raw land development into land lease (& RV) communities. In my opinion, this is a reemerging trend characteristic of land lease communities during decades past. For example; in early 1970s, when 575,940 new ‘mobile homes’ were built and shipped annually, thousands of new ‘mobile home parks’ were developed nationwide – but were stifled by legislation and implementation of the HUD-Code, and other negative influences shortly thereafter. During the 1990s, the industry and asset class experienced a renascence of sorts when housing production surged to 372,943+/- new HUD-Code homes in 1998.*7 Shortly thereafter, thanks to predatory lending practices and other missteps, the industry lost its’ theretofore ‘easy access to chattel capital’, bringing that short period of prosperity to an end.*8 And now, another 20 years later, we see the ‘land development trend’ reemerging in parts of the U.S., beginning with Sunbelt regions. The usual partnership in the past, between developers and housing manufacturers might be different this time. How so? Well, this time around, owners/operators of land lease communities have learned to buy new homes directly from factories, then market, sell, and often seller-finance them on-site. So, it will be interesting to see how this trend takes shape during months to come.

What hasn’t been accomplished to date? Without going into detail, these industry and realty asset class’ shortcomings are well known, and sad to say, not really ‘going anywhere’ these days.

• Responsibility for proper, safe & secure installation of HUD-Code homes

• ‘Affordable housing’; ill-defined & ballyhooed, but MH is ignored by HUD

• Little to no effort at MH image improvement & public acceptance

• Lack of even reasonable access to chattel capital home-only loans

• Valuation of manufactured homes is neither an art or a science

• Lack of two secondary markets re home sales & selling seasoned loans

• Continuation of NIMBY barriers in local housing markets re zoning, etc.

• Unknown national Economic Impact & Analysis (‘’EIA’) of MHIndustry!

Summary. There is much more that could – should be said, about past, present and future statistics and trends among land lease communities.*9 Suffice it to say however, ‘these are the stepping stones that bought us to where we are today’- and what still needs to be done! Now we have to decide who will lead and inform us going into the future.

End Notes.

1. Likely to increase with Cavco’s acquisition of Commodore Industries, the ‘largest independent producer of manufactured homes’ in the U.S.

• According to MHI, 10,000+/- independent (street) MHRetailers went out of business at that time. By 2009, community owners realized they had to be masters of their own destiny relative to new home sales. That year they requested the Community Series Home design (WOW factors and enhance durability features). In 2016, the IMHA/RVIC (in IN) started the Two Days of Plant Tours & Home Sales Seminars, teaching community owners how to effectively sell new homes on-site; continues to this day.

• Of the 19 land lease community owners who met on 31 August 1993 to form the Industry Steering Committee predecessor to the NCC, only five remain active in the realty asset class today: Randy Rowe, Eugene Landy, Brian Fannon, CPM, Kamal Shouhayib and Ed Zeman; plus two – Eugene Landy & Brian Fannon, CPM, are RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinees. For full story, read late Bruce Savage’s The First 20 Years, available for purchase via www.educatemhc.com

• Read Development, Marketing & Operation of Manufactured Home Communities, published by J. Wiley & Sons, New York, 1992. ISCOA & OERs were formulated while the author was on USMC active duty in Honduras during Desert Storm.  Land lease community operating expense OER is 40 percent. And annual ALLEN REPORT is no longer available.

• This is important, because as long as ‘apartment operating performance data’ was used to value manufactured home communities, their higher OERs  (55% due to high turnover, more ‘make ready’ expenses, & 24/7 marketing vs. 40% turnover among MHCommunities!) undervalued the latter property type.

• Read Double Deal, ‘The Inside Story of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, and the cop who was a mobster’, by Michael Corbitt with Sam Giancana.,Harper Collins, 2003. This book is in the stacks of the RV/MH Hall of Fame library in Elkhart, IN., as part of the George Allen Community Collection.

• This was also the brief time of land & home package popularity, a.k.a. ‘Big Box = Big Bucks’ era, when manufactured housing industry attempted to compete head to head with builders of traditional site-built homes. This didn’t work for several reasons, but mainly because independent (street) MHRetailers, while competent selling new manufactured homes, were not the contractors they needed to be to prepare homesites conveyed fee simple – in subdivisions and on scattered building sites.

• Read the short story, ‘Upside Down in a Mobile Home Park’, in SWAN SONG, PMN Publishing, 2017, page # 30, Figure G.

• Some of the old and new rules of thumb, formulae, and forms created and used along the way:

• 3:1 Rule for setting site rent; apartment rent is 3X that of site rent in the same local housing market. Today however, large portfolio rent increases are easing this rule to being 2:1

• New Rule of 72 for calculating capitalized income value of an average community; e.g. 200 sites X $200/month rent X 72 = $2,880,000. Key here is to calculate twice: once @ 100% occupancy, & once @ present occupancy.

• ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh!’ Worksheet for ‘estimating maximum recommended ‘affordable’ & ‘risky’ purchase prices for new & resale, privately-owned homes of any type, sited on realty owned fee simple with home, or on leased land’. Available only from www.educatemhc.com

• Professional property management via Certified Property Manager (‘CPM’) program at IREM; MHM via EducateMHC, & ACM via MHEI.

• Four Steps to selling/Financing New Homes On-site: Getting Ready, Buying Homes, Selling Homes, Financing Homes. Wallet card @ EducateMHC

• 6 Right Ps of Marketing (homes): Right Product, Right Place, Right Price, Right Promotion, Right People, Right Process. Wallet Card @ EducateMHC

• ABClassification Quality Grading System for land lease communities. Available only from EducateMHC (Replaces defunct Woodall System)

Only one textbook covers all the preceding material – and more. It’s Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry, described in the opening paragraph of this blog. GFA

George Allen, CPM, MHM

Blog Posting # 788, Copyright 12 April 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing!  (A.k.a. offsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH! EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trend tracker, and information resource for both business models. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, & visit www.educatemhc.com to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as non-fiction author & freelance consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is the only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, MHInsider magazine editor at large & Allen Legacy columnist, Vietnam combat veteran & retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books & chapbooks on MH, communities, business management & prayer.

SLOW PROGRESS

Regular readers of this weekly blog posting know my primary writing project for year 2024 is to research and pen the second half of the history of the RV/MH Hall of Fame. The late Dr. Carlton Edwards, and fellow RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, authored the first half this history (i.e. from 1972 thru 1993) or Part I. Part II, my project, will describe the years and historical landmarks from 1993 to present day. Know what? While I’m enjoying the challenge, ‘progress’ has been very slow for a couple reasons. There appears to be no accessible historical records relative to the recreational vehicle industry; seriously. And my repeated email requests to MHI for information, to date, have gone unanswered; e.g. ‘Who were the salaried senior leaders of the institute’ from Jerry Connors till now? And, is there a written history of MHI? Once I obtain this information and add it to the 30 years’ time line I’ve crafted, I can make real writing progress – but not until then.

Another recent major writing project that has slowed of late is my plan to, once and for all, prepare and distribute a monthly statistical report summarizing the ‘whole new housing scene’ in the U.S.! As you likely know, I’ve been producing and distributing EducateMHC’s monthly ‘MHShipment volume & Stock market Report’ for years. What I want to do now, beyond just 1) HUD-Code manufactured housing production and stock market reporting (i.e. ten public MH-related companies), is additionally include the number of 2) modular, 3) panelized, 4) Park Model RVs, and 5) site-built housing starts together, as One Grand Total of New Housing Starts each month! The ‘good news’ is that I now have a handle on the number of HUD-Code MHs, number of Park Model RVs (i.e. small housing units, like Tiny Homes), and site-built housing starts. What has been difficult to research to date, or the ‘bad news’, has been the numbers of modular and panelized units! Why? Because these, for the most part, are built in accords with local building ordinances – and as far as I can tell to date, their monthly volumes have never really been measured or reported, except on a quarterly basis. Suggestions anyone? If so, via gfa7156@aol.com I’d like to have this latter matter resolved during the next month or so.

RV Marketing, a Harbinger for MH Sales?

As a 45 years manufactured housing (‘MH’) aficionado, I’ve come to believe, we in the retail marketing and sales of new HUD-Code homes, as well as land lease community owners/operators, can learn valuable lessons from our sister business model, the recreational vehicle (‘RV’) industry. We’ve already talked (in earlier blog postings) of ‘Go RVing’, and before we’re done here, I’ll share key information from InteractRV’s ‘The RV Dealer’s Guide to Choosing the Right Marketing Partner’. There certainly are basics and insights you’ll want to read and ponder.

 “Go RVing’s mission is to inspire potential RVers, spark curiosity, and raise awareness about the benefits and accessibility of RVing through rich, authentic and diverse storytelling.” Hmm. Doesn’t take much creative thought to ‘content transfer’ this mission over to manufactured housing, to wit: “Buy MH’s mission is to inspire would be homeowners/site lessees, spark curiosity, and raise awareness about the benefits of manufactured housing & communities through rich, authentic and diverse messaging!” Now there’s a ‘start’ for a national MH marketing and promotional program! Is anyone out there paying attention? If so, let our national MH trade advocates know your thoughts on the timely matter.

Now for some interesting statistics. ‘Go RVing’ debuted in 1994 when annual RV production was at 260,000 units. Four years later, this figure jumped to 290,000 units. At the same time, over in manufactured housing, in 1994, annual MH production was at 303,932 units; four years later that improved to 372,943. What’s interesting about this, from an historical perspective, is that earlier in 1980, when manufactured housing annual production was at 226,092 new homes, RVs languished at 101,000 units. And as a somewhat related sidebar, the RV/MH Hall of Fame was founded in 1972 when MH production was in the neighborhood of 575,000 new homes – but RVs had yet to eclipse the 100,000 mark. This is one reason ‘urban legend’ has it,  ‘back in the (1972) day’, ‘MH’ ruled and ‘RV’ was along for the ride; some even talked ‘MH/RV!. Today the production rolls are reversed…almost. Here’re more historic production comparisons. In year 2009, MHs hit their nadir (‘record’) low of only 49,789 new homes, while RVs came in at 160,000 units (down from their late 1990s acme (‘high’) performance). And today, in 2021, when MH struggled to get to 105,772 units, RV cruised to an acme year of 600,000 (Thanks, in large part to ‘Go RVing’) units. In year 2022, when MH moved up to 112,886 new MHs, RVs slumped badly to only 200,100 units – still twice the total of MHs.  

Now for the gist you’ve been awaiting. ‘The RV Dealer’s Guide to Choosing the Right Marketing Partner’ was produced by InteractRV, an RV industry marketing consultancy. Here are key observations from my read-thru:

“Choosing the right marketing partner is crucial for RV dealers to effectively promote their business and attract customers.” Frankly, I don’t know of many (if any) independent third party ‘marketing partners’ specializing in manufactured housing today. Not talking about sales training consultants here; rather ‘big picture’ marketing professionals who understand housing.

Before starting one’s search for a marketing partner, this guide emphasizes the importance of defining Marketing Goals in terms of desired results; whether that’s increasing sales, promoting brand awareness, generating leads, or simply improving customer retention. And budget. Ensure a reasonable budget that includes the cost of compensating the right marketing partner.

What to look for in the right marketing partner. This guide lists Industry Experience (relative to understanding seasonality, presence at RV trade shows, using correct trade language). Also important to research and confirm reputations and references, know partner can strategize, understands one’s specific business and targeted audience, and more.

How ‘bout an integrated website and related marketing services? This can become complicated quickly, so search for a marketing partner who offers a comprehensive range of services and does not rely on the sales center to ‘train them’. And the beat goes on. Yes, there’s more to consider, but this at least scratches the surface for you when in search of a good marketing partner.

There have been consultancy partners in years past, both where independent (street) MHRetailers are concerned (‘company stores’ relied on manufacturer guidance – when available) and land lease communities. In the first instance, a few firms offered operating performance focus groups who met regularly, kept proceedings confidential, and frankly, compared and cross-critiqued their corporate operating statements. There was a similar scenario and methodology, for a decade or so, when portfolio owners/operators of communities convened, usually on-site, for an evening of interpersonal networking followed by a day of pre-agreed topics for discussion, usually on marketing, operations, resident relations, and more.

If you’d like to talk more about this concept of marketing partners and focus groups, let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen, CPM, MHM

Blog Posting # 787, Copyright 5 April 2024; EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing! (A.k.a. offsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH! And EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trend tracker, and information resource for both business models. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, & visit www.educatemhc.com to              order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole MH-focused professional property management text in print today! And WAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and my autobiography From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as author & freelance consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is the only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, MHInsider magazine editor at large & Allen Legacy columnist, Vietnam combat veteran & retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, as well as author/editor of 20 nonfiction books & chapbooks re MH, communities, business management & prayer.

Value of RV & MH Industries Today!

According to national trade advocates for the recreational vehicle manufacturers, that industry’s production and wholesale value of new RVs during year 2023 was $140 billion.

According to MHI’s ‘more than decade old formula for computing the production value of new HUD-Code manufactured homes’ during 2023 was a scant $38 1/2 billion. (That’s 89,169 new MHs X $43,126 estimated production value of a new MHs. So, ‘what’s the total MH value?’

A 70+ year old industry like HUD-Code manufactured housing should have a far better handle on what it is worth today to the national economy of our nation. And relying on a decade old formula for estimating only the production value of our housing product is simply wrong!

How wrong? 27 years ago, in 1997, the IMHA/RVIC (Indiana’s dual trade association representing MH & RV industries), using a grant from the Indiana Department of Commerce, commissioned an Indiana consultancy to research and prepare an Economic Impact Study. Result? The two industries (RV & MH), at the time (i.e. nearly three decades ago) were documented as contributing $8 billion/year to the state’s economic success. Yes, it ‘begs the question’: HOW MUCH DOES HUD-CODE MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONTRIBUTE ANNUALLY TO THE ECONOMIC SUCCESS OF THE U.S. OF A? Methinks it’s high time for MHARR & MHI together – or separately, to determine that significant $ figure to better influence federal legislators understandably ignorant of our industry and its’ intrinsic value!

 ‘GO RVing’ To Inspire ‘MHMarketing’? Answer: YES!

‘GO RVing’ was launched in 1994 as ‘the national marketing program’ for recreational vehicles of all sizes and types. Has it been successful? Completely so! So much so that a ‘GO RVing’ Marketing Minute online newsletter is published frequently to update partners (i.e. RV retail sales outlets & more) on what’s going on in several paid marketing campaigns, media and creative collaborations, as well as experiential events.

In the most recent ‘GO RVing’ Marketing Minute partners were told of the marketing potential among such multicultural markets as Black & Hispanic buyers, as well as LGBTQ+ audiences. Then a schedule was published describing no fewer than 12 events nationwide, ranging from festivals to state fairs and more, where ‘GO RVing’ will be present. Also emphasis on celebrating Valentine’s Day in February, Easter in late March, and the Eclipse on 5 April 2024.

Point? If RV manufacturers and retailers routinely ‘come together’ to fund paid marketing campaigns, as well as media and creative collaborations, why doesn’t the manufactured housing industry do the same? We’ve been talking about this for decades now, but with no success to date. IMHO it’s High Time for our industry leaders, appointed and salaried, to plan and pattern a similar program to ‘GO RVing’. Any ideas for a catchy name for such a MH-focused program? Let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet

Time to start thinking about attending this year’s RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet on Monday, 19 August. This is always a Gala Affair, attracting top RV & MH leaders and business persons from throughout the U.S. To order tickets, phone (574) 293-2344. I certainly plan to be present – to see you, and to fete the ten enshrinees from the sister industries. An increasing number of folk have begun arriving Sunday afternoon, to enjoy informal networking that evening, and then spending time at the museum, library, and store the next day.

As  I’ve told you before, if you’d like to meet privately, or in a small group, to 1) discuss MH industry issues, 2) learn how to pen one’s memoirs (i.e. short stories) and or autobiography, I’ll be pleased to assist. Just let me know of our interest; again, via gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen