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

Blog Posting # 827; Copyright 17 January 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (i.e. a type of offsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH; and, along with various forms of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans & real estate-secured mortgages), characterize the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is the official MH historian, trade term & tend tracker, as well as perennial information source. Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (A copy should be in every land lease community office nationwide!) & SWAN SONG – 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 freelance consulting and authoring of 30 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (”MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, as well as Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for MHInsider magazine.

INDUSTRY ‘WATCHDOG’ BARKS AGAIN!

If you weren’t aware the manufactured housing industry has a regulatory ‘watchdog’ alive and well, working on its’ behalf in Washington, DC., you haven’t been paying attention! The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’), a 1985 spinoff from the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), routinely and faithfully represents the regulatory-related interests of regional, independent HUD-Code manufactured housing producers.

What follows here are excerpts from a recent communique by MHARR titled: ‘TRUMP 2.0 – THE INDUSTRY’S SECOND CHANCE’, January 2025, penned by association executive Mark Weiss.

Following a detailed review of what the writer called ‘Trump 1.0’; a recitation of failed attempts to revitalize manufactured housing, MHARR offers this summary: “…at the conclusion of Trump 1.0, the industry remained in the crosshairs of a still-dangerous DOE energy standards directive, nothing of substance regarding the HUD program, and its preemptive regulatory authority, had changed, (as) localities were still targeting manufactured homes and manufactured homeowners with discriminatory and exclusionary zoning, and DTS remained an unfulfilled promise with absolutely no support forthcoming for the vast bulk of the manufactured housing consumer financing market….”*1 (Lightly edited. GFA)

With that said, MHARR challenges the manufactured housing industry to encourage Trump 2.0, “as a second Trump presidential term (begins), with a renewed and even more vigorous emphasis on regulatory reform and  availability of affordable housing being two of the central features of that impending administration…” And how “…the entire industry should be focused on tackling, addressing and, most importantly, resolving and remedying, once and for all, the three principal bottlenecks (identified) by MHARR in a May 2, 2024 News Release…” Those three bottlenecks being:

• Destructive and discriminatory DOE energy regulation

• Discriminatory and exclusionary state and local zoning laws; and

• Non-implementation of the DTS mandate with respect to manufactured housing personal property consumer loans.

If you want to learn more about these three bottlenecks, and you really should, reach out to MHARR via (202) 783-4087

Here’s how this MH trade advocacy entity ends this multipage challenge to the manufactured housing industry:

“…a second Trump presidential term provides the industry with a remarkable second chance! A second chance to clear away unnecessary and debilitating regulation. A second chance to eliminate (or significantly reduce) the discriminatory and exclusionary zoning edicts that have wrongly restricted its’ availability , a second chance to demand – and push through to fruition – much needed federal secondary market and securitization support of the vast bulk of manufactured home consumer chattel loans in accordance with DTS.”

End Note.

• DTS = Duty to Serve. A congressional mandate for Government Sponsored Enterprises (‘GSE’) Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to better serve underserved housing initiatives

George Allen

Blog Posting # 826; Copyright 10 January 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable –attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. offsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (CRE’) component of MH; and, along with various forms of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans & real estate-secured mortgages), describe the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is the official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial information source. Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa71562@ao..com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (A copy should be in every land lease community office nationwide!), & SWAN SONG –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 freelance consulting and authoring of 30 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, as well as Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for MHInsider magazine.

‘TOTAL U.S. HOUSING STARTS’ IN NOVEMBER 2024

Yes, you read that correctly. I’ve thoughtfully changed the heretofore ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ to ‘Total U.S. Housing Starts’, per reporting month – this time November 2024. Why? Because, unlike the U.S. Census Bureau’s Monthly New Residential Construction report of only the volume of new single-family, site-built housing starts, this ‘Total U.S. Housing Starts’ also includes offsite construction housing types (Some say factory-built) that includes HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular & panelized (or ‘prefab’) housing, and Park Model RVs!*1

For example, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Monthly New Residential Construction reports 1,289,000 annualized new housing starts during November 2024, or approximately 107,416 for the month alone. But the  ‘Total U.S. Housing Starts’ report, building on this Census Bureau data, estimates a grand total of 116,329 new housing starts during November, an addition of 8,913 units! Now that’s the whole housing starts story! Report methodology described in paragraphs following.

Here’re detailed descriptions of the offsite construction housing types (a.k.a. factory-built housing) cited in this ‘Total U.S. Housing Starts’ report:

HUD-Code manufactured housing, when installed on permanent foundations on building sites conveyed fee simple, are also identified as ‘single-family, site-built housing’. Manufactured housing not permanently installed, is oft sited in land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) on rental homesites – though, in some instances said sites are conveyed fee simple (e.g. Stardust Hills in Cloverdale, IN.). All types are included in the ‘Total U.S. Housing Starts’ report. Where does HUD-Code housing production data originate? With the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’), on a subscription basis. IBTS reports monthly data, then the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) and Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’), after reporting monthly data, publish an annual total, e.g. 89,169 new HUD-Code homes during year 2023. The sole published compilation of annual MH production figures, going back to 1955, is featured in the SWAN SONG text, available for purchase via www.educatemhc.com

Then there’re modular & panelized (‘prefab’) housing, two more types of offsite construction (again, a.k.a. factory-built housing), neither tracked by anyone! Why? Offsite construction units are built to local building codes (e.g. International Code Council or ICC), so are nearly impossible to research accurately. However, some housing professionals suggest this formula: 2% of seasonally-adjusted annual housing starts, per U.S. Census Bureau reporting, then reduce to a monthly figure, e.g. 1,289,000 ‘starts’ X .02%, then divided by 12 months = 2149 estimated volume of modular and panelized units fabricated during November 2024.

Park Model RVs (‘recreational vehicle’) production is tracked and reported monthly by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (‘RVIA’) via their online publication RVIA News (e.g. 315 Park Model RVs produced during November 2024). Or, simply ‘google’ Park Model RV production. This category of offsite construction is included because an increasing number of Park Model RVs are being used as permanent housing, particularly in Sunbelt regions of the U.S. And reportedly, some HUD-Code housing manufacturers, while routinely producing Park Model RVs in the past, are now fabricating some in accords with the HUD-Code.

Now pull the four pieces together (i.e. ‘single-family, site-built housing’, and the three types of offsite construction or factory-built housing), beginning with the latter category:

• HUD-Code manufactured housing unit production during November 2024:  8,597
• Modular & panelized 9’prefab’) units estimated for November 2024:             2,148
• Park Model RVs produced during November 2024:                                           + 315
• Offsite construction subtotal for November 2024:                                        11,060

• U.S. Census Bureau site-built housing ‘starts’ during November 2024:        107,417
• (+) Offsite construction subtotal for November 2024:                                   + 11,060
• Grand total of all U.S. Housing Starts during November 2024:                      118,477
• (-) 2148 Modular & panelized units, to offset a double count of 2148          116,329

Bottom Line: True total U.S. Housing Starts during November 2024 is 116,329 new homes!

End Note.

1. Offsite construction. ‘Refers to the planning, design, manufacture, and assembly of building elements at a location different from their final location, to support the rapid spread of and efficient construction of a permanent structure.’ Wikipedia

Manufactured Housing Production @ November 2024

IBTS reports 8,597 new HUD-Code homes produced during November 2024, down from 10,283 produced the month before.

Year To Date (‘YTD’) production? As of November 2024, 96,236 new homes produced compared to 82,809 during November 2023. Well on the way to eclipsing 100,000 new homes by year end!

Production value? Again, based on the decades old ‘per unit’ value factor of $43,126/unit, November 2024 production is worth $370 million, and YTD $4.15 billion. Interestingly, if the MH industry does eclipse 100,000 units by year end, the production value alone will be $4.3+ billion. But there may be more to this story. Doesn’t anyone else find it curious that the originators of this value factor (i.e. $43,126/MH) eschew (‘shun’) updating it? For example, if the ‘per MH’ value today is closer to $70,000/unit, then this year’s production value would be $7 billion, a far sight higher than expected now! Methinks the ‘powers that be’ appear intent on understating our industry’s value to the national economy (Why?), rather than showing legislators and regulators how valuable we are. And don’t forget; this has only been about ‘production value’. What happens when we factor in retail value, rental homesite dollar volume, and more? Your input on this mysterious, self-demeaning matter? Gfa7156@aol.com

Stock Market Report for 6 January 2025

BRK-A                          Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (Clayton Homes)                           $681

SKY                              Skyline Champion Corporation                                              $89.60

CVCO                           Cavco Industries                                                                     $451.13

LEGH                           Legacy Housing Corporation                                                  $23.50

NOBH                          Nobility Homes                                                                       $33.00

ELS, Inc.                       Equity Lifestyle                                                                       $66.72

SUI, Inc.                       Sun Communities                                                                   $124.53

UMH, Inc.                    UMH Properties                                                                     $18.66

Flagship Communities                                                            $21.42

MHPC, Inc.                  Manufactured Housing Properties                                        $.62

Manufactured Housing/land lease community Composite Stock Index (‘CSI’) on January 2025 was $929. Down from $995 in December, but well above the base of $790 established in January 2022.

ONE FINAL REMINDER!

The RV/MH Hall of Fame requests all inductees/enshrinees wear their bright green blazers on 15 January 2025, to the Louisville MHShow in Louisville, KY. And continue to wear the blazers that evening at the gala social event. See you there!

George Allen                                                  

Blog Posting # 825; Copyright 3 January 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (i.e. a type of offsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH; and, along with various forms of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans & real estate-secured mortgages), characterize the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is the official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial information source. Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (A copy should be in every land lease community office nationwide!), & SWAN SONG – 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 freelance consulting and authoring of 30 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, as well as Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for MHInsider magazine.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!

“…the U.S. Census bureau today projected the U.S. population will reach 341,145,670 at midnight EST on 1 January 2025. This represents an increase of 2,640,171 (0.78%) from 1 January 2024, and up 9,696,329 (2.93%) since Census Day (April 1) 2020.” Now you know something few others do!

Will 2025 MH Production Surpass 2024?

It’s fairly certain 100,000+ new HUD-Code manufactured homes will be produced by year end 2024; the first time since years 2021 & 2022. Hopefully that momentum will carry us over into year 2025.  To that end MH aficionados should reread Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies report that debuted on 23 January 2024, titled: ‘Five Barriers to Greater Use of Manufactured Housing for Entry-Level Homeownership’, by Chris Herbert.

“The sharp rise in home prices and interest rates over the last few years has pushed homeownership out of reach for millions of renters. Under these conditions it is more important than ever that affordable homes are available for entry-level homeownership. Thanks to lower production costs; indeed, the construction cost of a basic single-section manufactured home is roughly 35 percent that of a comparable site-built home. While the savings for larger homes is smaller, it is till significant, with a double-section home costing 60 percent, and a CrossMod™ home (which most closely resembles site-built housing) costing 73 percent of comparable site-built homes.”

“Despite these savings, manufactured housing production remains depressed. During the 1980s and 1990s, more than 250,000 homes were produced on average each year, amounting to 25 percent of the volume of single-family construction. In recent years manufactured home production has just topped 100,000 units annually, about 10 percent of the volume of new single-family homes.”

“Given the cost advantages and unmet need for more entry-level housing, why has production of these homes remained so low?” – and what needs to be done to address said barriers?

Well, that’s what Harvard’s JCHS report purports to do; but first a couple comments on the quoted paragraphs above:

• Once again MHI’s CrossMods™ design is hinted to be an answer to HUD-Code housing’s production slump of the past 14 years (i.e. since industry’s nadir year 2009, of only 48,789 new homes produced). However, with CrossMod™ production totals being so difficult to ascertain, one wonders just how much of an ‘answer’ this new design is?

• When one pens a line referencing MH production between ‘1980s & 1990s’, insiders wonder: ‘Just how much does this writer know about ‘what really happened’ before and right after 1998, when sloppy MH sales and finance shenanigans were commonplace?’

Without further ado, here’re the five key barriers Harvard’s JCHS identifies for relative to MH production.

Negative Perceptions of Manufactured Home Quality. “Older manufactured homes (specifically pre-1974) were of poor quality and limited aesthetic appeal, and serve as basis of popular conception. However, newer homes are of much higher quality, with multi-section homes often indistinguishable from site-built housing.” I’d add here that the absence of a brick exterior veneer, as well as gutters and downspouts, add to this misconception. “Further, studies have found that when the home and land on which it is sited are jointly-owned, these homes appreciate (in value) at rates very close to site-built housing.” Again, all true enough, but it’s these price margins and degrees of ownership that contribute to the eminently affordable nature of HUD-Code manufactured homes ‘in & out of’ land lease communities. (Lightly edited. GFA) GFA) What would YOU do, if anything, to address this perception barrier?

Restrictive Zoning and Land Use Regulation. “Manufactured homes are often prohibited in zones set aside for single-family housing absent a special permit. State laws preventing the outfight exclusion of manufactured housing can help, but these laws typically do not address  design restrictions that are important barriers, including roof pitch, cladding, foundation heights, lot sizes, and setback requirements.*1 “…a statistically significant association with stricter regulation and a lower likelihood of any (manufactured) homes being sited in a community.” With that said, how to convince conventional homebuyers, paying mortgages on $500,000 houses, to welcome new manufactured homes valued around $200,000 into their neighborhoods – and not be concerned about reducing the value of their housing investment? What would YOU do, if anything, to address this land use barrier?

Market Conditions. While strict land regulation generally results in fewer manufactured homes, this barrier can be – and has been, offset by the trifecta of lower land costs, lower density development, and lower household incomes! So, favorable market conditions like these can encourage a shift from NIMBY to YIMBY attitudes.*2 What would YOU do, if anything, to ameliorate these market conditions?

A Unique and Limited Supply Chain. Manufactured homes are often purchased from independent (street) MHRetailers, before or after they’ve found land of their own – whether scattered building sites conveyed fee simple, or rental homesites within land lease communities.*3 In the former instance homebuyers obtain real estate-secured financing (i.e. conventional finance) or, in the latter instance, as homebuyers/site lessees, obtain chattel or personal property loans, a.k.a. ‘home only’ loans. Another limiting factor in the supply chain has been the location of factories. At the turn of the century there were more than 300 plants, today only 140 . “And factories need to be located within 500 miles of the home site to manage transportation costs.” To this end, the SECO team in Atlanta, GA., has created the ShowSearch telephone app, providing such key information to prospective MH homebuyers!*4 What would YOU do to address these unique and limited supply chain issues?

Access to Mortgage Financing. “A final constraint is the difficulty homebuyers face in accessing mortgage financing.” (This barrier was touched on in the previous paragraph). “Manufactured homes are generally considered personal property unless owners take steps to change the legal designation to real property, which is necessary in order to be eligible for mortgage financing.” Furthermore, “the titling process differs by state, and can be complex and time consuming, requiring the home be permanently affixed to a foundation.” However, “if the home is personal property it must use ‘chattel’ loans that bear higher interest rates and have shorter loan terms which can erode the home’s cost advantages.” And frankly, it’s more difficult to obtain chattel loans for manufactured homes. What would YOU do to address this uncertain access to mortgage financing?

One area that has been receiving increasing attention of late, relative to maximizing the “cost advantages and affordable homeownership opportunities offered by manufactured housing”, has been the role public and nonprofit sectors could play in overcoming some of the aforementioned barriers. What are your thoughts to this end?

I hope some or all this motivates you to consider existent and new ways to address five production barriers to selling and siting more HUD-Code manufactured homes nationwide. To this end, please communicate your ideas and suggestions to me via gfa7156@aol.com

End Notes.

1. Cladding = ‘metal bonded to an inner core of another metal.’ Maybe exterior veneer siding?

• NIMBY = Not in my back yard! & YIMBY = Yes, in my back yard!

• Independent (street) MHRetailer is a trade term coined by MH industry consultant William Carr of Iowa. And, since roughly 2009, land lease community owners/operators, recognizing the paucity of independent (street) MHRetailers, started aggressively marketing, selling, and oft financing new manufactured home transactions on-site within land lease communities.

• For more information, visit SECOconference.com  And know the SECO team also hosts periodic MH2X one day seminars that teach community owners/operators how to market and sell new manufactured homes onsite. The goal of MH2X is to help the HUD-Code manufactured housing industry to double annual production during year 2025!

Postscript. If you’ve read this blog carefully, you see that initiatives originating with the SECO team are 100% manufactured housing industry focused! The ShowSearch telephone application is nothing sort of revolutionary where sourcing new HUD-Code housing is concerned – specifically, a new digital means identifying factory sources of new HUD-Code homes nearby! And the MH2X program’s one day seminars exist nowhere else in the U.S. If you haven’t attended one to date, plan to do so during year 2025! Bottom line? As revolutionary as these two new tools are, you’re only hearing about them here. Why? Because, like other supposed advances in the MH industry (e.g. MHI’s CrossMod™ home design), if it does not originate in a certain manner, it receives scant attention from ‘powers that be’ in this industry.  So, reach out now via SECOconference.com and learn all you can about the ShowSearch phone app, the next MH2X program session, and date of the next national SECO Conference during fall 2025. Also know SECO principals will be present at the Louisville MHShow 15-17 January. If you don’t know them personally, look me up at the show and I’ll be pleased introduce you! GFA

George Allen

Blog Posting # 825; Copyright 27 December 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (i.e. a type of offsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH; and, along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans & real estate-secured mortgages), comprise the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is the official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as a perennial information source. Contact EducateMHC vis (317) 881-3815;  email: gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (A copy belongs in every land lease community office nationwide!) and SWAN SONG – ahistory 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 freelance consulting, and authoring of 30 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, as well as Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for MHInsider magazine.

Responses to the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’…

‘Who’d a thought’, that some HUD-Code housing manufacturers are building heretofore Park Model RVs in compliance with the HUD-Code! If indeed true, and I have it on good authority it is, then ‘Park Models’ are no longer just RVs – they’re bona fide housing units, just like single-family houses fabricated as ‘offsite construction’ – or factory-built, then sited on building sites conveyed fee simple, or within land lease communities on rental homesites. Now that’s a mouthful and brain-freeze when you stop and think about it! Hmm. I wonder if the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’) is aware of this, and knowingly or unknowingly including code-compliant Park Models in their monthly tallies of HUD-Code units? I’ll ask and let you know next time around.

The previous paragraph was drafted from just one of the several apt messages received in response to last week’s blog posting titled: ‘Is it affordable housing or offsite construction?’

And then there’s this: “In (our state) Park Model RVs are not considered housing and are treated as RVs. We know the Park Model RV numbers from Statistical Survey, but truly, almost all (such units) are for recreational purposes, in campgrounds, and can only be inhabited 180 days per year.” And frankly, that’s how the majority of folk in the HUD-Code housing business, it seems, view Park Model RVs. But what if there’s ‘more to this story’ than presently meets the eye? Again, I’ll give the matter some time and let you know what I learn, maybe.

On another matter put forth in last week’s blog posting. “I do agree (that) we should be comparing ourselves against other industrialized housing such as modular, panelized, and whatever next fad is in permanent housing. I have not observed a significant amount of container homes, 3D printed homes, and other marginal home building methods.” Agreed. I think what confuses this matter though, is differentiating between the single-family, site-built housing faithfully reported by the U.S. Census Bureau each month, and the whole milieu of what’s now being referred to as ‘offsite construction’, i.e. virtually every form of factory-built housing just named and more – except HUD-Code housing is not included in the official mix. The twain are simply not reported ‘together’ at this time, and the question – in my mind anyway, is should they be or not? And that’s the conundrum (‘hard question’) I’ve been and am dealing with these days. And your input to date has been helpful!

One more response from a blog flogger (‘reader’). “The line between factory-built and site-built housing seems to be graying.  I (often) see MHRetailers selling upscale multi-section HUD-Code and similar modular homes. It is not unusual for the wholesale cost of the home to be $300,000, plus the cost for preparation of the building site, improvements, and installation of the home at another $150,000.” And this, “In a resort are I patronize, new homes generally cost $2,000/sq.ft. to construct, usually at a minimum of 3,000 square feet. Now I’m seeing modular units becoming part of these homes – mostly pre-fabricated modules trucked to the building site.” (Lightly edited. GFA)

So, if the previous paragraphs touch a responsive chord(s) with you, please take time to write and let me know your thoughts on these and related subjects. And keep this in mind; it’s highly unlikely anyone else in the manufactured housing industry and/or among land lease community owners/operators, is going to take the time and make the effort to sort out what’s ‘going on’ in the overall housing segment, rather than broadening our tunnel vision focus on site-built, single-family monthly ‘starts’ reporting. Reach me via gfa7156@aol.com

Homeowners & Renters Between 2019 & 2023

Following information borrowed from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey, 5-Year Estimates.

“The number of owner-occupied housing units increased by 8.4%, from 76.4 million in 2014-2018, to 82.9 million in 2019-2023….” & “More people owned homes than rented in 3,070 of the nation’s 3,144 counties and county equivalents between 2019 and 2023.”

“Additionally, home values increased by 21.7% between 2014-2018…and 2019-2023 estimates going from a median of $249,400 to $303,400.”

Here’s something you’ve likely not seen before; a comparison of four housing types and who lives therein:

One-unit building detached from any other building: 83.7 owners & 27.1 renters

One-unit building attached to one or more buildings: 5.3 owners & 7.6 renters

Building with two or more apartments: 4.9 % owners & 61%  renters

Manufactured homes/mobile homes: 6.2% owners & 4.2% renters

Now a little from Harvard University’s ‘Joint Center for Housing Studies’ (‘JCHS’), titled ‘Renters’ Affordability Challenges Worsened Last Year’.

“In 2023, the number of renter households spending more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent and utilities hit an all-time high of 22.6 million. This included a record-high 12.1 million severely burdened household that spent more than half their incomes on housing costs.” Note. “Moderately (severely) cost-burdened households spend 30-50% more of income on rent and utilities.”

George Allen

Blog Posting # 824; Copyright 20 December 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (i.e. a type of offsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH; and, along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans & real estate-secured mortgages), characterize the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is the official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial information source. Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry and SWAN SONG – the latter, a history of land lese 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 freelance consulting, and authoring of 30 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, as well as Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for MHInsider magazine.

Is it affordable housing or offsite construction?

Regular readers of this weekly blog are aware of my ‘work in progress’, researching, tracking, and publishing the monthly ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’. During the past couple months I’ve settled on a workable format for this all-inclusive overview of housing ‘starts’ in the U.S… But a need for terminology clarification has arisen, and here I’m soliciting your input. First, however,  just what is the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ per se (‘by itself’)?

Quoting from a previous blog posting: “The Whole U.S. Housing Story is an ongoing monthly collection and summary of ALL types of ‘housing starts’ throughout the U.S. However, since most present-day reports of this nature, via U.S. Census Bureau, cover only ‘single-family site-built housing starts’, the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ offers a bigger picture, one that includes ‘offsite construction’ categories of housing such as HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular & panelized (or ‘prefab’) housing, and Park Model recreational vehicles (‘RVs’).” Blog # 823

Two clarifications: First, HUD-Code manufactured housing, when installed on permanent foundations on building sites conveyed fee simple, are oft identified as ‘single-family site-built housing’. And in time, ‘offsite construction’ might include various types of accessory dwelling units or ADUs, such as Tiny Houses, sophisticated ‘sheds’, customized steel storage containers, ‘capsule houses’, even 3-D printer-produced homes – but not yet.

So, what’s this need for terminology clarification? Some folk within the HUD-Code housing milieu (‘environment’), prefer the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ be reported in terms of 1) single-family site-built housing starts, plus 2) factory-built housing production (i.e. HUD-Code manufactured housing alone). Period. But know what? That’s pretty much the reporting status quo today: 1) single-family site-built housing starts reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, and 2) manufactured housing production reported to HUD by the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’); with the twain never covered in the same report (or story). However, there is a complication, as IBTS data includes new HUD-Code manufactured homes sited in the 500+/- land lease communities throughout the U.S., but not reported by the U.S. Census Bure! Also missing from U.S. Census Bureau data are outlier housing types (e.g. ADUs such as Tiny Houses, sheds, storage containers, capsule units, and 3-D printer-produced homes) – all of which, at one time or another, might well be sited on scattered building sites conveyed fee simple. No one, to date, seems to want to resolve these disparities. Read on…

Furthermore, MH purists, it seems, don’t want anything to do with ‘offsite construction’. Why? The argument goes, ‘Don’t taint MH by associating it with nebulous (‘indistinct’) forms of housing like modular and panelized, as well as various ADUs and Park Model RVs.’ Right or wrong thinking?

Yet another plot twist has to do with factory-built housing, inclusive or manufactured housing, modular and panelized units, ADUs, Park Model RVs. Specifically, would the offsite construction naysayers be satisfied if all homebuilding shifted from offsite construction to factory-built housing? I think not. For one thing, offsite construction has already staked out its’ territory via a website and a slick monthly trade magazine, both sans any mention of manufactured housing.

All this brings us back to ‘why’ I’ve proposed that the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ begin with data compiled and published online by the U.S. Census Bureau each month, then include other forms of housing where data is available from credible sources and by formula. The resulting ‘grand total’ of housing starts in the U.S., month by month, would be more accurate and useful than just publishing housing starts occurring during the onsite building process.

So, what’s your input relative to the aforementioned terminology clarification? Let me know via gfa7156@aol.com or mail your narrative to GFA c/o Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247

GREEN BLAZER REMINDER

Mentioned this to you a couple weeks ago, but it’s certainly worth a reminder here!

RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinees attending the 2025 Louisville MHShow next month, 15-17 January, know that the show organizers/hosts have requested that these folk wear their distinctive green blazer all day on the 15^th and during the evening festivities.

Being inducted into the prestigious RV/MH Hall of Fame is the acme (‘highest’) honor for pioneers and leaders within the recreational vehicle and manufactured housing industries!

To learn more about this honor and the institution preserving RV & MH legacies, visit the website RVMHHallof Fame.com And if you’d like to talk about the RV/MH Hall of Fame selection mechanics in more detail, let’s talk at the 2025 Louisville MHShow.

One More Reason to Leave California…

Quoted and edited, but unverified, from email correspondence from a veteran MH businessman in California to this industry observer:

“…the California courts just denied our (industry’s) request for injunctive relief on a bill”, if passed, will as of 1/1/2025, posit (‘put in place’) “that long term rental agreements are no longer exempt from rent control.”

Now that change would turn the land lease community business model upside down.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to You

Ah Ha! Another positive sign the recent presidential election is ‘Making America Great Again’! Everyone, it seems, is extending ‘Merry Christmas’ greetings this year instead of something less meaningful and merry.

George Allen

Blog Posting # 823; Copyright 13 December 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MJH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. another type of offsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’), comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH! EduateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as information resource. Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry and SWAN SONG – a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955. Also 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 freelance consulting, and authoring many nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (“MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, MHInsider magazine’s ‘Allen Legacy’ columnist and editor at large. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, author/editor of 30 books and chapbooks on MH, communities, business management, prayer, and figures of speech.

‘WHOLE U.S. HOUSING STORY’ FOR OCTOBER 2024

While the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ continues to be a work in progress, housing professionals have been expressing increased and continuing interest in its’ truly eclectic content, i.e. statistical data from various housing sources. So, just what is the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’?

The Whole U.S. Housing Story is an ongoing monthly collection and summary of ALL types of ‘housing starts’ throughout the U.S. However, since most present-day reports of this nature, via U.S. Census Bureau, only cover ‘single-family site-built housing starts’, the Whole U.S. Housing Story presents a bigger picture, including ‘offsite construction’ categories of housing such as HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular & panelized (or ‘prefab’) housing, and Park Model recreational vehicles (‘RVs’).

HUD-Code manufactured housing, when installed on a permanent foundations on building sites conveyed fee simple, are also oft identified as ‘single-family site-built housing’.

And in time, ‘offsite construction’ might include various types of ADUs (‘accessory dwelling units’), e.g. Tiny Houses, sophisticated ‘sheds’, customized steel storage containers, ‘capsule houses’, even 3-D printer-produced homes.

So, where does monthly housing ‘start’ data originate? The easiest to track is the number of single-family site-built housing starts researched, tallied and published monthly online by the U.S. Census Bureau. Visit census.gov/construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst/pdf. There, visit the Monthly New Residential Construction website, and you’ll see ‘seasonally adjusted annual’ totals. Divide the monthly ‘start’ total (actually, seasonally adjusted annual ‘start’ total) by 12 months to get a clean monthly average ‘start’ figure. Further details to follow.

Researching the offsite construction category of housing production.

The monthly production of HUD-Code manufactured housing is tracked and reported to subscribers by the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’). While monthly data is what we need for the Whole U.S. Housing Story (e.g. 10,263 MHs @ Oct. 24), annual MH production totals are compiled and reported by the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) and the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’). A published record of annual MH production totals, going back to 1955, is available in the SWAN SONG text, available from www.educatemhc.com

Modular & panelized (‘prefab’) housing monthly production is, at this time, tracked by no one! Why? These offsite construction units are built to local building codes and are next to impossible to research accurately. Some housing professionals suggest this formula: 2% of seasonally-adjusted annual housing starts, per U.S. Census Bureau, then reduced to a monthly average, e.g. 1,311,000 ‘starts’ X .02 & divided by 12 months = 2,185 modular & panelized units during October 2024.

Park Model RV production is tracked monthly and reported by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (‘RVIA’) via their online publication RVIA News (e.g. 346 RVs during October 2024). Or simply google Park Model RV production. This category of offsite construction is included because an increasing number of Park Model RVs are used as permanent housing, particularly in Sunbelt regions of the U.S.

Now for the Whole U.S. Housing Story proper.

Format. First, the three categories of offsite construction and a subtotal of same, followed by U.S. Census Bureau estimate of single-family, site-built housing starts during October 2024. Finally, a grand total of all categories, but with the estimated number of modular & panelized units adjusted out, so as not to be counted twice.*1

1. HUD-Code manufactured housing unit production during October 2024                10,263
2. Modular & panelized (‘prefab’) units estimated for October 2024   *2                       2,185
3. Park Model RVs produced during October 2024                                                             346
4. Offsite construction subtotal for October 2024                                                         12,794

• U.S, Census Bureau # of housing ‘starts’ during October 2024 *3                           109,250
• (+) Offsite construction subtotal for October 2024                                                     12,794
• Grand total of all U.S. Housing Starts during October 2024                                     122,044

• (-) 2185 Modular & panelized units in October 2024 =                                            119,659

Bottom Line: ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ for October 2024 is 119,859 new homes started. This compares favorably with the five year average of annual new housing starts in the U.S. at 1,448,620 units; which divided by 12 months = 120,718/month, just 1059 units more than the 119,659 houses started during October 2024.

End Notes.

1. Modular & panelized units, though offsite construction, are usually included in the U.S… Census Bureau ‘starts’ reporting.
2. 1,311,000 X .02 & divided by 12 months = 2185
3. 1,311,000 divided by 12 months = 109,250

Mfd. Housing Production Volume @ October 2024

IBTS reports 10,263 new HUD-Code homes produced during October 2024, up from 8814 produced during September 2024, and 8292 MHs produced during October 2023. 16,040 floors

Year to date (‘YTD’) production? As of October 2024, 86,639 new units produced compared to  75,040 units during October 2023.

Production value? Again, based on the decades old ‘per unit’ factor of $43,126/unit, October 2024 production is valued at 442 million; and, YTD at 3.77 billion.

Stock Market Report for 5 December 2024

BRK-A              Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (Clayton Homes)   $706    Up from November

SKY                  Skyline Champion Corporation                      $104.23Up from November

CVCO               Cavco Industries                                             $479.   Up from November

LEGH               Legacy Housing Corporation                          $25.41 Down from November

NOBH              Nobility Homes                                               $33.00 Up from November

ELS, Inc.           Equity Lifestyle                                               $70.50 Up from November

SUI, Inc.           Sun Communities                                           $126.16 Down from November

UMH, Inc.        UMH Properties                                             $19.87 Up from November

Flagship Communities                                                            $16.08  Down from November

MHPC, Inc.      Manufactured Housing Properties                $62      No change from November

Manufactured Housing/ land lease community Composite Stock Index (‘CSI’): 5 December 2024 = $995. Up from $839 in November, and well above the base $790 established in January 2022.

George Allen

 Blog Posting # 822; Copyright 6 December 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable –attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. another type of 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, trade term & trend tracker, as well as information resource for both EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, and via www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry and SWAN SONG – a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955. Also 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 freelance consulting, and authoring many nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, MHInsider magazine’s ‘Allen Legacy’ columnist and editor at large. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, author/editor of 30 books and chapbooks on MH, communities, business management, prayer, and figures of speech.

HOUSING COST BURDENS CLIMB, STEADY OR WHAT?

According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, on 3 December 2024, headlined: HOUSING COST BURDENS CLIMB TO RECORD LEVELS (AGAIN) IN 2023.  Now, that’s a full year ago, not today! The Press Release goes on to announce that: “Housing affordability worsened again last year, as a record number of US households were cost burdened. According to our tabulations of the newly released 2023 American Community Survey data, an all-time high 42.9 million households were cost burdened, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.”

“Additionally, 21.5 million households were severely cost burdened, devoting more than 50 percent of their income to housing, marking another all-time high.”

And this:  “Median monthly costs for homeowners increased 6 percent in 2023 to $1,327.00.”

Well, as disturbing as this information is, it does raise questions that go unanswered in the seven pages Press Release.

First off; what’s that ’30 percent’ all about? Well, it’s the commonly accepted and used Housing Expense Factor (‘HEF’) or standard. For more info see *1 below.

Second; just what are the ‘monthly costs of homeowners’? This report does not say! And looking online isn’t much help either. In 2008, when EducateMHC created the ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Worksheet’ for estimating homebuyer’s reasonable ability to purchase ‘affordable’ & ‘risky’ new & resale homes of any type on realty owned fee simple or leased, we offered this bifurcated description of what’s included in the 30% annual Household Expense Factor or HEF. See *1.

Now here’s just an example of how skewed such ‘official studies’ can be at times. A middle-aged homeowner in the upper Midwest has lived in his home for 50 years and paid off his mortgage long ago. Today his monthly household expenses total $892, fully $439 less than the $1,327 featured in this report.*2

Or, looking at these figures from the Press Release perspective, this homeowner could pay a mortgage (i.e. principal & interest) not exceeding $439/month to remain below the referenced 30% HEF. Any monthly mortgage payment above that amount would put this homeowner into the 42.9 percent of Americans who’re ‘cost burdened’.

If you’re interested in obtaining the above-reference ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Worksheet’ for your own purposes, purchase a copy of SWAN SONG from wwww.educatemhc.com  It’s located on pages 44 & 45, Appendix H. of the popular text.

End Notes.

1. 30% annual Household Expense Factor (‘HEF’) is either ‘loaded’ with loan principal, interest, taxes & insurance (i.e. PITI) and household utility expenses, not including telephone charges; or is ‘barebones’, allowing only for PI or PITI. The ‘loaded perspective ensures ‘affordability’, as household expenses are included in monthly payments, whereas ‘barebones’ perspective is ‘risky’, since household expenses still must be  paid, but now in addition to monthly amount set aside for PITI.

• What comprises this $892 figure? Monthly natural gas @ $118, electric @ $110, sewer @ $55, water @ $60, insurance @ $340 (household & vehicle), and property taxes @ $206.

‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ in next blog posting

That’s right, the ‘Whole U.S. Housing Story’ relative to HUD-Code housing production for October 2024, and Stock Market Report for December 2024, is being compiled at this time.

George Allen

Blog Posting # 821; Copyright 29 November 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. another type of 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, trade term & trend tracker, as well as information resource for both business models, and to a lesser extent, the recreational vehicle (‘RV’) industry. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and via www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry and SWAN SONG,- a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955. Also my autobiography, From SmityAlpha6 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 freelance consulting, and authoring many nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NN’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, MHInsider magazine’s ‘Allen Legacy’ columnist and editor at large. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, author/editor of 30 books and chapbooks on MH, communities, business management, prayer, and figures of speech.

Important Announcement for Green Blazer Wearers

Huh? Green blazer wearers? That’s right.  More than 600 RV/MH Hall of Fame members (a.k.a. enshrinees & inductees) characteristically wear a bright green awards blazer (sports jacket) featuring the distinctive gold thread embroidered RV/MH Hall of Fame crest on the left breast pocket. Until recently, these blazers were rarely seen other than at annual hall of fame induction banquets during early August, in Elkhart, IN.

However, this year (2025) starts off differently! A national call, beginning with this blog posting and announcements in other MH trade publications, is going out now, asking RV/MH Hall of Fame members, enshrinees and inductees to wear their coveted green blazer the first day of the Louisville MH Show, and during that evening’s festivities, on 15 January 2025.

This is not all that unusual a request. For the past couple years, some state associations have encouraged their members to wear the celebrated blazer at local formal MH business and social functions, as a way of promoting the RV/MH Hall of Fame as showcase and protector of manufactured housing and recreational vehicle history and legacies. To learn more about the RV/MH Hall of Fame, and how to qualify for induction into this prestigious body, visit their website at www.rvmhhalloffame.org

Looking for Presidential Elections Votes

It all started with this inquiring quote from the 11/24/24 issue (p.35) of The New York Times magazine: “Tell me how Joe Biden could get 81 million votes” (in the 2020 election). The 2024 presidential election had been over for two weeks, and this – to me anyway – came across as what one might call a ‘pregnant question’, one looking for maybe a clarifying answer. So I started looking….

First stop. Research the popular vote spreads of both (2020 & 2024) presidential elections. Well, here’s what I found:

In 2020, Biden won with 81,268,967 popular votes to Trump’s 74, 216,747 votes

In 2024, Trump won with 76,842,136 popular votes to Harris’s 74,341,051 votes

Since the losers in both elections are separated by only 124,304 votes, how does one explain the large 4,426,831 vote spread between the winners of those two elections, especially when the 2024 election is widely touted as being a landslide victory, with the victor’s party now in control of all three branches of the federal government.

It’s hard to believe 4,426,831 American voters who participated in the 2020 election did not also vote in the 2024 contest.

All of which takes us back to that pregnant question in The New York Times magazine: “Tell me how Joe Biden could get 81 million votes.” The answer to that question continues to linger.

Blog Posting # 820; Copyright 15 November 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. another type of offsite construction). And land lease communities 9a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’), comprise the commercial real estate (‘CREs’) component of MH! EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as information resource for both business models, and to a lesser extent, the recreational vehicle (‘RV’) industry. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and via www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry and  SWAN SONG – a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955. Also 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 freelance consulting, and authoring many nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fameenshrinee, MHInsider magazine’s ‘Allen Legacy’ columnist and editor at large. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S> Marines, author/editor of 30 books and chapbooks on MH, communities, business management, prayer, and figures of speech.

Two-Thirds of U.S. Households are Family Households

From the U.S. Census Bureau (11/12/2024): “Newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s historical America’s Families and Living Arrangements tables show that about 64% of households were classified as family households in 2024. This marks a significant change from 50 years ago, when 79% of households were family households. Family households are defined as those that include at least one person related to the householder by birth, marriage or adoption.”

Furthermore, “In 2024, almost three-quarters (74%) of family households were married-couple households. Family households that did not include a married couple were more likely to have a female householder (68%) than male householder (32%). Among nonfamily households, about 52% included a female householder, while 48% had a male householder. A substantial portion of nonfamily households were homes with someone living alone – 81% in 2024, compared with 89% 50 years ago.”

What’s Next for the Mainstream Media?

The 2024 Presidential Election is over and everyone knows the stunning result: a landslide reelection of Donald Trump to the office of 47^th president of the US of A, along with Republican majorities in the Senate and Congress; a.k.a. ‘A mandate to govern’ via much-needed changes to policies and personnel characteristic of the past four years. Making America Great Again has already begun!

But what does this mean to the so-called mainstream or legacy news media, now in many if not most circles, referred to as the biased and false news media. Will they continue their perennial assault against ‘all things Trump’, relative to fictional Russian collusion, inaccurate abortion legislation claims, and misleading reporting of upcoming policy improvements? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The Media Research Center reports that ‘trust in political and civic institutions is highest for local and state government, lowest for the media and Congress.’ If true, the national press corps has a very tall hill to climb, to shed itself of a pervasive fake news reputation and obvious political bias. Do they even want to return to the tenets of professional journalism?

And what is professional journalism? Best described in terms of three key characteristics:

• Reporting of the facts
• Checking of resources
• Be understood via a plain writing style

Yes, if today’s tarnished press would simply return to the basics just described, as a society, we’d be a long way towards resurrecting news media credibility, and in time, profitability. But will it happen? That’s anyone’s guess at this point in time.

A Sobering Word to My Middle-age Friends

If you are anywhere near 50 years of age, the following passage is for you! It’s quoted from Susan Orlean’s novel, ‘The Library Book’, published in 2018.

“The idea of being forgotten is terrifying. I fear not just that I, personally, will be forgotten, but that we are all doomed to being forgotten – that the sum of life is ultimately nothing; that we experience joy and disappointment and aches and delights and loss, make our little mark on the world, and then we vanish, and the mark is erased, and it is as if we never existed. If you gave into that bleakness even for a moment, the sum of life becomes null and void, because if nothing lasts, nothing matters. It means everything we experience unfolds without a pattern, and life is just a wild, random, baffling occurrence, a scattering of notes with no melody. But if something you learn or observe or imagine can be set down and saved, and you can see our life reflected in previous lives, and can imagine it reflected in subsequent ones, you can begin to discover order and harmony. You know you are a part of a larger story that has shape and purpose – a tangible, familiar past and a constantly refreshed future. We are all whispering in a tin can on a string, but we are heard, as we whisper the message into the next tin can and the next string. Writing a book, just like building a library, is an act of sheer defiance. It is a declaration you believe in the persistence of memory. P.93

I understood the truth of this paragraph when I realized on how very little I knew of past lives in my own family. I have a great grandfather who served in the Civil War, and is buried in Bridgeton, NJ. I’ve visited his grave, but I know nothing more about his life at that time. In turn I realized that if I didn’t write down my experiences during the Vietnam War, my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren would know no more about me than I do about Charles Allen. So, I authored  ‘From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven’, my autobiography, and now copies are in the hands of our adult children, six grandchildren, and three (soon to be four) great grandchildren. Now I know my story will live on.

I’ve also come to realize the truth of Orlean’s paragraph relative to deceased friends in the manufactured housing business, especially past owners/operators of land lease communities. Because I was a consultant to many of them, I know interesting things about their life stories; but because they did not document those adventures, I remain the only person who can tell their stories during casual times with their peers and families. And that does happen from time to time. Examples. Whose family real estate holdings extend all the way back to the Revolutionary War? Who raised ostriches on his farmland in Florida? Who was a bagman for the Chicago mob and was allegedly executed by them? Whose corporate goal was to make his portfolio of communities the Holiday Inn chain of manufactured housing? And the tales go on.

Need more encouragement to this end? Well, here’s yet another quote – this time from Joel Dicker’s mystery novel ‘The Enigma of Room 622. “Life is a novel whose conclusion we already know: in the end, the hero dies. The most important thing is not how our story ends, but how we fill the pages. For life, like a novel, must be an adventure. And adventures are life’s vocations.” So, when will you tell your life’s adventure?

For help to this end, I recommend you buy a copy of Dan Poynter’s ‘Self-Publishing Manual’, available via amazon.com  This handy HOW TO text of 450 pages has undergone at least “16 revised editions and 20 printings in 29 years.” It guided my efforts when penning my first book, ‘Mobile Home Park Management’ way back in 1988 (Yes, that’s 36 years ago). The beauty of this book? Poynter has the reader follow two timelines throughout his book: one ‘splaining’ how to write one’s life story via outline, etc.; the other, for getting front and back material ready in time to ‘go to press’ the same time as the manuscript. An important pairing. And I’ll kid you not, writing a readable book is no easy task, it’s a lot of hard work over an extended period of time, usually the minimum of a year. If you’re going to market your tome to friends, family, acquaintances and beyond, then also acquire a copy of John Kremer’s ‘1001 Ways to market Your Book’. It taught me many things, e.g. put a phone number or email address in one’s Preface so readers can comment on the book they just read, and put a customized post card into every book sold, offering other titles or your professional services to the reader, and more.

Hopefully you’re now motivated to at least explore the possibility of researching and recording your life’s story. A final thought. One well known country singer, in one of his songs, tells us, “Our legacy is those we leave behind” – our spouse, children, and following generations. Will you be satisfied with that legacy? Most folk are. However, if you have a unique, even adventuresome story to tell, then why not ‘live on for decades to come’ as your legacy story is passed down from generation to generation. Think about it!

If you want to talk further about this matter, reach me via gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 818; Copyright 8 November 2024. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. another type of offsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’), comprise the commercial real estate (‘CREs’) component of MH! EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as information resource for both business models, and to a lesser extent, the recreational vehicle (‘RV’) industry. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, and via www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry and SWAN SONG – a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955. Also 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 owner ship, as well as freelance consulting, and authoring many nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (“MHI’), a founding member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, MHInsider magazine’s ‘Allen Legacy’ columnist and editor at large. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, author/editor of 30 books and chapbooks on MH, communities, business management, prayer, and figures of speech.

VETERANS DAY, 11 November 2024

Three times annually, I purposely pause and reflect on the sober meanings of Vietnam Veterans Day, 28 March; Memorial Day in late May; and Veterans Day on 11 November this year. I pause and reflect, remembering those who’ve made ‘the ultimate sacrifice’ in behalf of you, me, and our nation! I also think upon the many military servicemen and women I’ve known since my enlistment in March 1964, often reaching out to some of them to say ‘Thank You’. Do you?

Here I’d like to share with you, the true but little known history of Samuel Whittemore, Jr. of Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was born in 1696 and died in 1793. As a young man he was involved in the capture of the French Fortress of Louisbourg. Some sources claim he also fought in the French and Indian War of 1754-63.

Subsequently, during April 1775, as British forces returned to Boston from Battles of Lexington and Concord, they were continually fired upon by American militiamen. At this time Whittemore, who was 79 years of age, was working in his fields, when he observed a British relief brigade coming to assist in the retreat. Whittemore, with his one shot musket, and from behind a stone wall, ambushed the British grenadiers, killing one. Then drawing his dueling pistols, killed a second grenadier and mortally wounded a third. By then the British detachment reached his position, where Whittemore drew his sword and attacked. He was subsequently shot in the face, bayoneted many times, and left for dead. Soon thereafter he was found by colonial forces, attempting to reload his musket. Whittemore was taken to a local doctor who held no hope for his survival. However, Whittemore revived and lived another 18 years, finally dying of natural causes at the age of 96 years.

Now there’s someone who gave more than his fair share of time, health and life to being an American patriot, and yes, veteran.

Rest of the story? “In 2005, Massachusetts Senator Robert Havern III proposed Whittemore be proclaimed the official state hero of Massachusetts, and his memory be commemorated on 3 February each year.” Wikipedia

STEALING HOME

Here’s something for you to read and ponder. During September 2024 MHAction (a.k.a. Manufactured Housing Action) prepared ‘Stealing Home’, subtitled (How) ‘Out-of-state Private Equity Executives Spend Lavishly to Thwart Reforms and Make It Easier to Take (a specific state) Mobile Homes’.

The next paragraph is a paraphrase of the Executive Summary introducing this STEALING HOME report. The specific state has been omitted, as this  alleged landlord-tenant offenses appear to be occurring in several regions of the U.S. today. And contemporary manufactured housing trade terminology replaces inaccurate extinct renderings. Here’s where to read and ponder!

‘The state has a clear choice – to support hundreds of thousands of homeowners/site lessees live in land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities) OR the private equity firms, hedge funds, and corporations harming them and their communities. In land lease communities, residents often own their homes and rent the property on which they are installed. Most of these homes cannot be moved (i.e. lack of wheels & axles, no similar properties nearby, and high cost of moving to include tear-down and set-up), making residents vulnerable to the practices of corporate owners who often raise rents and add on fees while disinvesting in the property, leading to water quality problems, sewer issues, dangerous roads, residents losing their homes, and more.’

Elsewhere in this STEALING HOME report, mention is made of landlords sending “…seniors’ modest Social Security income to out-of-state and overseas investors.” This being in reference to rental homesite fees, and likely, overseas investors like China – where at least one large property portfolio owner/operator is concerned. Mention is also made of how this state of affairs only increases “an acute housing shortage’ in the state” and “undermines the state’’ push to create more affordable housing.”

So, how are matters like this in your state – if even a challenge, to begin with? My fear is that if our elected and salaried national manufactured housing trade advocacy leaders don’t get busy researching and addressing this sort of (now public) issue, we’ll soon see onerous, business-restricting landlord-tenant legislation like never seen before!

Now you cannot say I didn’t warn you!  GFA

SECO’s MH2X Community Infill & Upgrade Workshop

November 20 & 21, 2024, at the Country Inn & Suites in Atlanta, GA. For more information and to register, visit secoconference.com

This workshop is the product of land lease community owners/operators whose goal is to see the production of new manufactured homes double during year 2025. How? Land lease community ‘players’ to buy and sell many more new homes to fill vacant rental homesites and upgrade their properties. YOU interested in doing this? Then send key on-site property personnel to this workshop, even attend yourself, and get motivated to be a key manufactured housing ‘difference maker’ in 2025!

George Allen