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

Blog Posting # 710. Copyright 14 October 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, and textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit educatemhc.com

SECO Take-Aways, & Are You a Go-Giver?

Ever been to Stone Mountain, GA? Well, this is where the 11th annual SECO conference was held last week. Once again, Spencer Roane, MHM, and his team planned and hosted what has become the premier educational and networking opportunity for land lease community owners/operators and their supporting service and product vendors.

Due to scheduling issues I was only able to attend for 1 ½ days of the four day program; but in that short period of time I picked-up on a plethora of new and helpful information to share with you. Here goes:

No formal theme to the event that I saw, but it certainly could have been – given the ‘play’ it received from keynote presenters: Change from NIMBY to YIMBY! That is to say, work to mitigate ‘Not in my back yard!’ land use prejudices and encourage, at every level, ‘Yes in my back yard!’ zoning and rezoning for all forms of affordable housing! Once and for all, neutralize proponents of LULU (‘Locally Unwanted Land Use’) and BANANA (‘Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone!’). How to do this? Support initiatives by the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) and get personally involved in local politics! The latter is not an easy task; however, as land use is local housing market sensitive, local influence and pressure must be applied!

Manufactured housing design in 2023? One economist suggested, given pandemic-influence and emerging work trends, include a home office in every manufactured home and improve homeowner’s access to the internet.

‘Bring Capitalism back to the U.S.!’ was another underlying theme at this year’s SECO event.

‘No more trailer talk!’ Hard for me to believe we still have to repeatedly and publicly take stands against this regressive terminology bugaboo. No one who wants to see the manufactured housing industry and land lease communities improve market share, and embracing of the lifestyle, MUST take a stand against using ‘trailer terminology’ at all levels and at all times!

And there are some novel business economic resources available to manufactured housing entrepreneurs and performance analysts:

• ‘Flexible CPI, St. Louis Fed’. What you’ll find is an alternative means of tracking and evaluating the Consumer Price Index as a key economic indicator. Try it, you’ll like it.

• ‘ESG or Environmental Social & Governance’. In my opinion this concept is a ‘woke red herring’ where businesses are concerned. Nothing about profitability here, but still worth considering.

• www.stdb.com a commercial real estate tool that helps analysts to evaluate ‘sites to do business’. Might be just what you need before opening a new plant or developing raw land into a new land lease community.

Make plans now to attend the SECO conference during year 2023. More than likely it’ll be sometime during the fall, maybe October again. This was my first business trip out of retirement, since August 2021, and though the trip was difficult for me (long walks in airports); I hope to see you there next time around. GFA

Are You a Go-Giver?
Just finished reading THE GO—GIVER, ‘A little story about a powerful business idea’, authored by Bob Burg and John David Mann way back in 2007. And yes, it’s available, at a very low price, on Amazon.com

What started out here as a book review, broadens into a specific character study of a well-known manufactured housing businessman.

The book claims there’re five keys to personal success in business, keys often overlooked in business schools and sometimes by mentors. My intent is not to quote these keys word for word, but tell you enough for you to ‘get the idea’, and maybe read the book yourself.

Key # 1. Purports one’s true worth has to do with how much you give, rather than ‘take’ during the course of events. In other words, are you a routinely ‘giving’ person?

Key # 2. One’s income has a lot to do with how many, and how well, you serve business associates. You know, ‘what goes around comes around’.

Key # 3. Your influence has a lot to do with how much you look out for the other guy, a.k.a. ‘enlightened self-interest’. Easy to do once one makes this a habit.

Key # 4. Not meaning to repeat, but the most valuable gift you have to offer your colleagues is yourself. Bet this type person is your best friend in business circles. It certainly is for me.
Key # 5. And when previous keys are in place, be open to receiving what comes your way!

Now, here’s where I experienced an epiphany (‘insight’) reading this book. I, all of a sudden, realized the very person who gave me this ‘read’ epitomizes the key points put forth therein.

He’s forever, in my case, giving of himself, in terms of advice, camaraderie, even this book.

He’s reaped the financial rewards that arise by well-serving his business associates nationwide.

He’s famous for advancing the realty education interests of college and grad students.

He’s just about ‘everybody’s friend’ when it comes to networking and mentoring among peers.

He’s, while probably reticent to admit it, willing to receive from others as well.

So, who, in my opinion, embodies of the core message of THE GO-GIVER? Rick Roethke, founder and president of Barrington Investments (Indiana and southern California). I’ve known Rick most of my 40+ year business career. And as recently as early October (2022), we sat and lunched outdoors at Tom Todd’s General Supply ‘Open House’ in Indianapolis. Time and again, and again, individuals walked over to talk to us; more often than not, to ask Rick for his opinion or advice about one or another matter. And that’s how go-giver rolls: give of oneself, serve others, put them first, offer oneself, and be open to receiving!

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC

Know the two best-selling books at EducateMHC these days? First and foremost is COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY. This is the 8th edition of ‘Mobile Home Park Management’, penned way back in 1988. It’s chock full of everything one needs to know and do when professionally managing a land lease community.

And SWAN SONG. As the subtitles proclaim: ‘History of the land lease community from 1970 to present day’, and ‘Official list of new manufactured homes produced annually, from 1955 to present day’. No other text has this veritable one-two punch!

In my opinion, both these books belong in every land lease community office across the U.S. To purchase your copies, visit www.educatemhc.com

And while you’re there, consider ordering my autobiography: FROM SMITTYALPHA6 to MHMAVEN. The Smitty Alpha 6 reference is to my radio call sign when a USMC company commander in Vietnam, and MHMaven is an Allenism abbreviation for ‘manufactured housing maven’. Try it, you’ll like it! Lots of photographs, including two showing the ¼ mile diameters of atomic demolitions munitions blasts out in the desert. ADMs = our secret ace in the hole in Vietnam.

Blog Posting # 709. Copyright 7 October 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, and textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit educatemhc.com

GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS

First the Good News. Institute of Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’), a.k.a. HUD’s official scorekeeper of manufactured housing production performance, reports Shipment Volume for August 2022 was 10,722 new HUD-Code homes! That’s UP from 8,050 homes in July 2022, and up from 9,087 homes produced during August 2021. And in toto, 16,392 ‘floors’ were shipped.

How’s Year to Date shipments compare? Well, as of August 2022, we’re at 80,431 new units for the year, compared to August 2021 when we produced 70,410 new homes. Now that’s Progress!

Production value of these homes (based on an aging formula) pencils out to $462 million for the month of August, and $3.469 billion YTD. Why isn’t this sort of information ballyhooed more within and outside our industry? Perhaps if we had more up to date formulaic methodology to use. Anyone at MHI listening? You’ve promised time and again to update Dr. Stephen C. Cooke’s ‘per home $ factor’.

Now for the Bad News. There are ten public manufactured housing-related companies, five each from the manufacturing sector and five from the land lease community portfolio sector.

Here’s a list of said firms and their slip in stock prices (except for Skyline Champion and Legacy Housing) since last month (September 2022):

Berkshire-A Hathaway @ $412,000
Skyline Champion Corporation @ $55.80
Cavco Industries, Inc. @ $214.56
Legacy Housing Corporation @ $17.76
Nobility Homes @ $24.30

Equity Lifestyle, Inc. @ $63.85
Sun Communities, Inc. @ $137.81
UMH Properties, Inc. @ $16.20
Flagship Communities @ $14.77
Manufactured Housing Properties, Inc. @ $1.70

So, how does all this appear to be trending? Well, the Manufactured housing/land lease community Composite Stock Index or CSI (formulaic total of all stock prices except for Berkshire Hathaway, plus a base number) has been in decline since August 2022, e.g.

October = $636.74
September = $677.46
August = $713.06

And this CSI decline since a year high of $790 during January 2022.

What’s going on? Regularly increasing production of new HUD-Code homes, month by month, contradicts nearly month by month declines in corporate stock prices.


ON A PERSONAL NOTE…

As some/many of you know, I was hacked this past week while attending a ‘first & only’ reunion among USMC officers I served with in 1967 – before heading off to Vietnam.

I’m sincerely sorry about the nature of the false email message you received. All is well with the Allens. I am not in dire need of help of any kind – that I’m aware of at this time.

The reunion? Boy have we (about 50 male officers) changed much during the past 55 years! Many of our number were KIA (killed in action) in Vietnam, and now old age is taking its’ toll.

Now here’s a poignant happenstance from that occasion. At one point we, along with our wives, were transported to TBS (The Basic School) in Quantico, VA., where young 2d lieutenants (a.k.a. ‘butter bars’) are trained as platoon commanders. Well, while in a huge auditorium, with 200 young officers (i.e. 20 years or so of age) on one side, and 50+ grizzled old veterans on the other side. As I looked around, the thought occurred to me: ‘Hmm. How would I have felt if 50+ WWI vets had walked into our classroom in 1967 as we trained for Vietnam?’ The age gaps are identical. That really made me ‘feel my age’.

Later in the day we toured the helicopter hanger where the president’s very special chopper is stored and maintained when not transporting him. Got to climb around inside. Same with the Osprey parked nearby (flies either vertical or horizontal vectors).

Yes, it was ‘special’, returning to where Carolyn – along with daughter Susan, spent much of the second year of our life together. Some officers reminisced bouncing (then) baby Susan (one year old) on their knee at weekend parties off base. One of them is now an astronaut in the Astronaut Hall of Fame. And remember General Peter Pace, from President Bush days? He was the first USMC officer to serve as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he was a member of our TBS 2-68 class.

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC

Blog Posting # 708. Copyright 30 September 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, and textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit educatemhc.com

A Week of Nostalgia & Week of Land Lease Community Education & Networking

57 years ago I was a 22 year old second lieutenant of U.S. Marines. I’d just graduated from Eastern University, in St. Davids, PA., then relocated with Carolyn, and our 10 month old daughter Susan, to Woodbridge, VA., – near Quantico, VA., where I’d be attending The Basic School (‘TBS’) during the last half of year 1967. Next, following a month of combat engineer officer training at Camp Lejeune, NC, in early 1968, I settled Carolyn and Susan into an apartment in Drexel Hill, PA., and headed off to the Republic of South Vietnam for a 13 month tour.

A half century has passed, and except for very infrequent contact with Marine officers I trained with at TBS, I’m about to be reunited with 80 or so who’ll convene this week for our first and only reunion. Our TBS class numbered 200+; many were killed in action (‘KIA’) in Vietnam and many have died of natural causes since then. Carolyn will rekindle relations with a half dozen or so wives who were with us back in 1967 (married officers were the extreme exception at the time, children even fewer). Will likely be a happy, but also bittersweet, time together once again.

Of particular interest to me will be seeing John Dietz; he and I traveled to Junior Platoon Leaders Class (‘PLC’) together in 1964, and then TBS. John was an infantry platoon commander in Vietnam, and returned to the states to begin a career with the IRS, eventually forming his own private investigation firm in Texas.

And Chris Ray. He and his wife Jeanie were with us in Quantico. Chris and I spent the first half our combat tours, as combat engineer officers with the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd MARDIV. He’s a New Englander, and we’re looking forward to catching up the half century since we were last together.

Then there’re the Marine officers who won’t be present at this reunion. One in particular, Marcus Fiebelkorn. He and his wife and infant were with us in Quantico too. Marcus was KIA a month after he arrived in-country. To this day I wonder what happened to his family….

And our class has its’ noteworthy alums: General Pete Pace, the 16th, but first USMC Chairman, of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George Bush (2005-2007); and Colonel James Buchli, astronaut (1979), and now member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Some of you reading this will recall my tale of Jim’s three ‘life objectives’ shared at TBS: Go to Vietnam & come back a hero – which he did; become an astronaut and fly to the moon – which he came close to doing with several shuttle flights into space; and become Commandant of the USMC. Hey, two out of three is a worthy performance!

***

Onto the SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA!

Other than the annual RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet in Elkhart, IN., last month, this trip to SECO 2022 will be my first participation in a manufactured housing-related event since the Final Networking Roundtable during mid-August 2021. Why? Because when you’re retired, and no longer have a business enterprise ‘paying your way’, one becomes very selective as to where one invests his/her retirement income. So, SECO ‘Here I come!’

Hope to see many blog floggers (readers) at this seminal event. This is the 11th year it’s been hosted in Atlanta. If you attend, look me up poolside on 5 October. I’ll be there with Lou Vela and other ‘old timers’, sharing tales (all true) from years and decades past in the ‘mobile home’ world. EXAMPLES: How many of you know of the Chicago mob’s past involvement (& why) in mobile home parks back in the late 1970s. Or the convicted murderer of single women (for their money), who did his nefarious work while his wife managed manufactured home communities in the Midwest. And the one time multi-community owner, circa late 1970s, who became a mass murderer before committing suicide over a business deal gone bad. And there’s more….

For more information about the SECO Conference program, google it – and then register.

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One More Reason You Should Be Reading MHInsider Magazine

As I was penning the previous paragraph, the thought occurred to me: I wonder how many blog floggers (readers) also read MHInsider magazine. Hopefully, many of you. But here’s the additional reason why you should. My ‘marching orders’, so to speak, as Allen Legacy columnist, is to share a wide variety of true stories, from both manufactured housing and land lease community camps, that have historic and contemporary importance and application. In essence, I’m relating personal and corporate adventures and experiences that have occurred since the late 1970s. Nowhere else will you ever find this sort of interesting information. EXAMPLES: In single section ‘mobile homes’ why were entry doors always on the curb side of the home (there’s a hint within that question). Today we think of ROC USA, but there was a pre-REIT firm by the name of ROC Properties. Know the firm that ROC abbreviation represented? Who coined the much-used term ‘community owner/operator’? No, it wasn’t me. And finally, for now, what Florida-based, now retired, fee manager of land lease communities introduced the concept of ‘good resident relations’ to manufactured housing during the early 1980s? See what I mean? All this comes out in MHInisder magazine!

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC

Blog Posting # 707. Copyright 23 September 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing!
EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, & textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America!
To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit educatemhc.com

What You Need to Know for This Week

From a faithful blog reader: “So sad to hear about John Boll and Steve Waite. I knew Steve and learned early on about John’s legacy. And your first paragraph about overvalued land lease communities is simply ‘the same story, new decade’! Wall Street guys throw their money into the manufactured housing industry and get burned – every time! I well remember how many independent (street) MHRetailers sold their businesses, circa 2007. The ones who took stock got suckered and lost big time! Those who took cash won big time! And some were able to buy back their former business at a steep discount!” The MH industry simply ‘spins’ the wheel’ every 25+/- years! “(Edited. GFA)

Clear proof of these sorry phenomena? Year 2022 – 1998 (our last ‘big year’ for new MH shipments) = 24 years; and, 1998 – 25 years = 1973 (When 579,940 new ‘mobile homes’ were shipped nationwide!). These production statistics quoted from SWAN SONG, ‘History of land Lease Community Real Estate Asset Class (1970 to present day) & Official Record of Manufactured Housing Shipments (1955 to present day)’, George Allen. Book available for purchase via www.educatemhc.com

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According to MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE magazine for September 2022, “The average U.S. asking (conventional apartment unit) rent in July is $1,717.00, up $10.00 from the previous month.” So, what does that mean for rental homesites in land lease communities on average across the U.S.? Simply divide the $1,717 figure by ‘3’ to calculate $572. Estimated rental homesite rate. But remember, rental housing market rates are all local; ranging from below $200/month in rural south locations and up to $1,500/month is select high rent areas, e.g. Newport Beach, California and Lewes, Delaware, for starters – where land lease communities are concerned.

***

I’m oft asked about heretofore (‘before this time’) standout personalities in the manufactured housing business, among land lease community owners/operators, and related fields of endeavor. Have two for you this week.

Remember Chrissy Jackson, ACM? Well, according to my research, she is happily retired in St. Petersburg, FL., and part of the time enjoys being a ‘discussion colleague’ for the Academy of Senior Professionals at private Eckerd College in that city.

Many of us knew and enjoyed being with Mary Frances de la Pava, founder and owner of the Jefferson Group in Arlington, VA. She marketed land lease communities throughout the east. Now retired, she spends her time with her daughter Carla’s family.

***

Last chance to register and participate! As many of you know, Carolyn and I will be attending ‘the first and only reunion’ of USMC officers I trained with during late 1967 and early 1968. We’re convening in Quantico, VA., next week for 3 ½ days. Expecting to renew friendships with 50 fellow officers from nearly 60 years ago.

And then I’ll be flying down to Atlanta to participate in the 11th annual SECO Conference for land lease community owners/operators from throughout the U.S.. This is the largest annual gathering of land lease community owners/operators – for property management education, viewing new HUD-Code manufactured homes, and best interpersonal networking available anywhere in our industry and realty asset class! Hope to see you there!

***

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC

Blog Posting # 706. Copyright 16 September 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter. Education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com

A Letter & Death Announcements….

“Thanks for the good blog, George! For the first time, I’m seeing overvaluing of land lease communities causing operational issues (e.g. not enough $ to cover debt & operational expenses). And those not able to operate profitable communities are marketing them in hopes of finding someone to pay their investment back and more. Surely one must be a savvy property manager these days to succeed in this generally overheated market! (Edited. GFA)
***

The late Steve Waite of Fayetteville, TN., was better and more widely known than I realized when I first learned of his 26 August 2022 passing. Steve was 67 years of age at the time, and at this writing, no obituary has been published. But the memories and positive recollections have been arriving here almost daily.

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

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

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

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

***

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

***

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

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

***

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

George Allen, CPM, MHM Educatemhc.com

Blog Posting # 705. Copyright 9 September 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com
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We get letters! Nary a week goes by that we don’t receive one or more reactions to blog content, along with ideas on how to solve various manufactured housing industry challenges.
Well, this past week, after we talked – once again – about the extravagant sales prices of land lease communities, along with consequential exorbitant rental homesite rate increases, we received the following heart-tugging letter from a conscientious fee management firm exec.

“I managed a 75 rental homesite community in Indiana for 14 years, taking it from rundown chaos to beautiful, well-managed property. We had people banging on our door wanting to move-in. And we couldn’t rehab manufactured homes fast enough to meet the need.

Well, it sold three months ago for an astronomical price. The new owner claimed to be unable to afford professional property management – so our services were terminated. Now I receive text messages from residents desperate for help – reporting their leases not being honored, drastic rent increases, yards overgrown with weeds, little on-site management; and what there is, having a nasty attitude.

It grieves my heart, but there’s nothing I can do legally, to help these people. They were cared about and nurtured under our management, but now they are being ‘raped & pillaged’, as you described in your blog last week. You and I have been around the manufactured housing industry for several decades. I now see the value of these communities about to plummet, as some folk who can afford to do so, move their homes elsewhere; others will abandon their homes; and those leasing or renting will walk away when their leases expire. Word gets around when a community becomes an undesirable place to live!

It grieves people like me, who have lived and breathed manufactured housing, and have it ‘in our blood’, to see short-lived, opportunistic (new) owners raping our resident base and giving our industry a ‘trashy’, ‘shyster’ type reputation. Many of us have worked hard to change the negative perspective of our industry, only to have our reputation shoved back several notches by those who give little attention to the operation of these properties, and only care about the bottom line.” (Lightly edited.)

And yet another epistle chastises me for “…bringing up the fact buyers are overpaying for our asset class – which in turn, drives up rental rates….” But the writer goes on to say, “I like the idea of pegging site rent to the cost of a three bedroom apartment” in the same local housing market as a land lease community.

And this writer ends his commentary with this salient observation: “I can’t tell you how many times I hear municipalities begging for someone to build affordable housing. Just do not mention manufactured housing or you will lose their attention quickly.” (Also lightly edited. GFA)

Well, some of us – hopefully many of us, will soon be packing our bags and making the trek to Stone Mountain, GA., for the 11th annual SECO Conference. For more information, google SECO. I make few manufactured housing-related business trips anymore, since retiring during August 2021. For me to spend personal funds (I’ve liquidated all our business entities) for travel and lodging, an event had better be pretty good and worthwhile. I feel SECO meets this requirement. Hope to see you there too.

The week before SECO will find Carolyn and I in Woodbridge, VA., attending the first reunion of USMC officers I trained with during late 1967 & early 1968. It will be a bittersweet experience. Many of the young lieutenants I trained with that year wound up being Killed in Action in Vietnam. While I’ll be happy to renew old friendships, after 55 years, we’re already reminiscing about friends we lost back then but, to date, have not had an opportunity to honor. Sure, their names are engraved on The Wall in Washington, DC., and many of us have made ‘rubbings’ thereof, but not said a proper ‘Good-bye’ to them or the few spouses and children they left behind, e.g. Marcus Fiebelkorn and his wife and now grown child. In my case I’ll see John Dietz, who I entered the USMC officer program with in 1964; Chris Ray who was a fellow platoon commander – but not Dick Brooks, a USNA grad, who was a platoon commander in the same company, but has since died. One of our group is an astronaut who’s been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Yes, I’m looking forward to the event, but wary of emotional consequences.

If you’re going to be in Indianapolis on the 15th of September, plan to swing by Capitol Supply between 11Am & 3PM to participate in their Open House. Anyone ask you why you’re there, tell them ‘George sent me!’ I will be there too. GFA

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC

Blog Posting # 704. Copyright 2 September 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing!
EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America!
To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com
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As often happens here at EducateMHC, we received a pithy and thought-provoking paragraph penned by a veteran multi-land lease community owner who’s as frustrated with the predatory purchasing and operation of this unique income-producing property type as we are. This time around however, his/her (You ‘woke’ folk out there like that? I don’t) comments stimulated some deep thinking on property prosperity-to-failure cycles that have occurred since the mid-1970s when I got into this business. First comes the pithy paragraph, then an historic timeline that should interest every one of you.

“Who me?”, “Screw you!”, and “A wing and a prayer!” are colliding throughout the land lease community asset class these days! One can argue, ‘sellers’ shouldn’t be criticized for selling their land lease community at dumb-high prices, e.g. ‘If someone wants to buy your 10 year old Timex for $1,000, sell it with ‘buyer-beware’ innocence.’ The fallacy here, within our property type, means having to justify ultra-high prices by firing existing employees (Who made the property what it is) and raise rents 50-100 percent. On the other side of the equation are investors who think homeowners/lessees have no choice but to pay higher rents. Wrong. They move out, leaving community owners with abandoned homes, vacant rental homesites, increased ‘common area maintenance’ costs, density that prohibits move-in of new homes, and frankly, prospective homebuyers/site lessees reluctant to move into the community because of the ‘rape & pillage’ attitude of the property owner. Meanwhile, state regulators, legislators, and lenders are now questioning the efficacy of ‘affordable housing’ in land lease communities! (lightly edited. GFA)

Please reread that paragraph before proceeding. Why? You’re about to learn how history repeats itself in the manufactured housing industry and among land lease communities.

My history in this ‘double dual industry’*1 goes back to 1978, two years after the infamous HUD-Code was implemented, in effect, driving annual new ‘mobile home’ production from a record high of 579,940 units down to 274,901+/-*2 in 1978! The fallout? Thousands of newly developed ‘mobile home parks’, nationwide, built to handle the 500,000 new homes per year volume – went begging, for move-ins that never materialized.

Well, during the late 1970s, investment real estate syndicators arrived on the (then) mobile home community scene. Syndicators oft sold ‘tax loss’ positions to wealthy investors who’d use them to offset high incomes from professions, etc., (e.g. doctors, lawyers, etc.). All this came to an end in 1985-6 when the federal income tax laws changed, pretty much outlawing use of tax losses in underperforming properties. Many syndicators stopped their deal-making at that point, and some early portfolio owners/operators went out of business, e.g. Ellenburg Capital.

Another casualty of this tax law change was the widespread failure of S&Ls (savings & loan associations) across the U.S. In 1989 the RTC (Resolution Trust Corporation), a federal agency, launched – to sell off bad loans and investment realty accumulated by the S&Ls. For a while there were many low-priced acquisition opportunities for interested investors. And, for a while, the (now) manufactured home community property type rebounded as an opportunistic investment.

Then, in 1994-5, four portfolio owners/operators, of this property type, went public as real estate investment trusts (‘REITs’); those being ELS, Inc., (formerly MHC, Inc.), Chateau Communities (merged with ROC in 1997, acquired CWS in 2001 & Hometown America in 2003), Sun Communities, and UMH Properties. There have been two other REITs: the original ARC in 2004 & 2005; followed, from 1998 thru 2008, by American Land Lease, until it was acquired by Green Courte Partners. And today, there’re two additional REITs: Flagship Communities (Formerly SSK Communities, and traded on the Canadian stock exchange) and MHPC, Inc. (Manufactured Housing Properties, Inc.)

Now, since the turn of the century, we’ve seen continued consolidation of the realty asset class (a.k.a. land lease community portfolio count now at 500 sole proprietors, corporations, REITs, ROCs, and more), via equity deals (Think Green Courte Partners), hedge funds (from outside the manufactured housing industry) – too numerous to name here. But therein lies the perennial question: ‘When, and among whom, will the next great shakeout occur?’ Why is a ‘shakeout’ almost inevitable?

During the past decade, first among larger institutional investment grade land lease communities, but now – it seems – among all-sized such properties, traditional valuation of investment real estate has been ‘thrown out the window’ and exorbitant prices are being paid, i.e. 10% ‘average’ cap rate deals now sell for 7 & 8%; and top grade properties, previously sold at 7 or 8% now go for 5% or less income capitalization rates. But that’s only half the story.

Once the transaction deal has been consummated or ‘closed’; in order to cover very high mortgage payments on the newly acquired land lease community, operating expenses are trimmed, and rental homesite rates are increased far greater than CPI (Consumer Price Index), and new fees introduced (e.g. water and sewer fees, etc.). Decades ago, discouraged homeowners/site lessees could relocate their manufactured homes across town at reasonable moving fees. Not today. Homes, especially multisection homes, are far too large to move, and given generally high occupancy elsewhere, there’s nowhere to go. So, discontent and frustration reign. That’s why we see efforts ‘everywhere’ it seems, to introduce and pass various forms of landlord-tenant legislation.

So, what’s next? Time will tell. But we’ve kinda been here before. On one hand manufactured housing is ballyhooed as being our nation’s answer to ‘affordable housing’; but at the same time, a relatively few predatory income-producing property owners sour the barrel for everyone.

What do I see? Perhaps state and national advocates for manufactured housing will implement some of my past advice in this arena, i.e.

• Voluntarily peg rental homesite rates in sync with other forms of multifamily rentals in the same local housing market. How’s that done? Simple. Via market survey, ascertain the average 3BR2B rent rate among conventional apartment communities (not subsidized); then divide by ‘3’ for a suggested base rental homesite rate rate among land lease communities, e.g. $1,200/month for apartment rent, then $400/month for rental homesites.

• Voluntarily implement long term rental homesite leases that extend beyond the mortgage term of a homeowner/site lessee’s residence.

• Voluntarily promote professional property management training and certification among on-site personnel, along with implementation of positive resident relations measures.

And Yes, there’s even more that can be, should be done, to improve today’s questionable, sometimes discouraging environments among land lease communities nationwide. What ideas and suggestions do you have? Please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

Don’t you find it strange that no one else, anywhere, in the manufactured housing industry seeks your input on such critical matters as this? Well, here’re two suggestions to make that happen.

First off. If you haven’t already registered to do so, plan now to be present at the 11th annual SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA., on 3-5 October 2020. I’ll be there; and I believe, timely matters such as what’s covered in this blog posting, will be addressed in panel discussions. Google SECO for more information.

And those of you who’re MHI/NCC devotees, particularly the latter, do you find it strange that my services have never been retained, as an industry/asset class resource, to lead a discussion of this matter at any of their meetings? What is everyone afraid of?

End Notes:




1. ‘double dual industry’. A term I coined decades ago to describe how our overall ‘industry’ is comprised of four parts: housing manufacturers and independent (street) MHRetailers; and, land lease community owners/operators and property management operations (to now include on-site home sales and seller-financing)

2. These MH production statistics are quoted from the only deeply-resourced and published history of said information (from 1955 to present day): SWAN SONG, George Allen, PMN Publishing, 2017, updated 2018. The (+/-) designation cautions readers that there are parallel presentations of this key data; that provided by IBTS, HUD, MHARR, & EducateMHC, and that adjusted by MHI.

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC

Blog Posting # 703. Copyright 26 August 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com
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SECO 2022. Have you registered to participate this year? The dates are 3-5 October 2022, in Atlanta, GA. Google SECO for more information. When you see me there, ask for a FREE 3”X5” plastic wallet card containing ‘Four Steps to Selling & Financing New Homes Within Land Lease Communities’, & the ‘Six Right Ps for Marketing New Homes Within LLCommunities’.


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MH FACTOURY Summit 2022. Too late, you missed it! This was the annual two day program of ‘New home sales within land lease communities’ seminars and guided tours of five manufactured home plants in northern Indiana. Debuting in 2016, the IMHA/RVIC of Indiana hosts this annual event at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. It’s the only such program in the U.S. today, mating the HOW TOs of knowing what homes to buy, how to buy and finance them, and how to market and sell them to prospective homebuyers/site lessees. For more information, phone (317) 247-6258. Frankly, every state should host a program like this!

***
Raw land for development ‘for sale’. While at the Hall of Fame induction banquet on 15th of August, I renewed my acquaintance with Don Gedert, long time (since 1967) land lease community developer, owner, and independent (street) MHRetailer in western Indiana. He shared the following ditty on the verso side of his business card:
• “I am fully aware my youth has been spent, my ‘get up & go’ has ‘got up & went’.
• But I really don’t mind when I think, with a grin, of all the places my ‘get up’ has been.
• When I was young, it was wine, women & song; now it’s beer, Medicare & ‘what else can go wrong’?”
Don owns five parcels of raw land ready for development, near Cloverdale, IN., he wants to sell. For more information contact Sam Karozos via (317) 371-0128.

***
‘GIVE & GET’. Ever heard of it? Well, if ever tapped to be a board member of a charitable organization you will. It’s a policy most boards consider and oft make part of their bylaws. Goes like this: ‘…Give & Get refers to how much $ board members are expected to ‘give’ as a part of their service on the board; the ‘get’ part refers to how much $ they’re expected to help raise!’ Now you know.

***
Regular readers of this weekly blog posting know I’m spending most of 2022, and first half of 2023, transcribing more than 400 letters I sent home to Carolyn from Vietnam, back in 1968 & 69. I recently shared a paragraph describing little known but critical actions Marines take at night, when manning defensive positions around their base camp, out in enemy territory. Well, here’s a similar paragraph, this time describing how Marines ‘gear up’ when moving from secure environs into unknown territory.

“Ever wonder what I carry when I gear-up for possible combat? I’ll give you a quick rundown. My helmet, liner and camouflage cover together, have a bottle of insect repellant, an ammo charging guide, and Chap stick attached to it with a rubber strap. My flak jacket has a K-Bar (12” fighting knife), three full ammo mags (magazines), with gas mask and case attached to it. Then my web belt has six full ammo mags, a first aid pack, lensatic compass, two full canteens, rifle cleaning gear, bayonet, 25 cal. automatic backup pistol, along with three fragmentation hand grenades, a tear gas grenade, an area map, platoon commander’s notebook, two more full ammo mags, personal ID, a photo of you and Susie, two small tins of peanut butter (for quick energy), and two full bandoleers of ammunition ( 280 rounds), and my rifle with one magazine in the well. Ammunition wise, all this comes to at least 496 rounds of M-16 ammo and 100 rounds of pistol ammo. Would you believe, I have a reputation for traveling ‘light’? I do, as I carry fewer frag grenades than anyone else, and a little less ammo. All told, I figure I weigh about 210 pounds when I go out ‘loaded for bear’. And then there’s my large field pack….”

Of course I have one dog tag laced onto one boot, and a second tag around my neck on a chain. Also on that chain is a P38 (a.k.a. John Wayne can opener), the small gold signet ring you gave me shortly after we met, and a steel-jacketed 7.6mm rifle round salvaged after a firefight.

***

Looking for a new book to read, by someone in the manufactured housing industry? Well, that might well be Rick Jebb’s Mexican Sunset memoir. Here goes….

Anyone who’s lived a life of adventures, successes or historical note should pen their memoirs (‘short stories’); better yet, their autobiography (i.e. collection of memoirs) for posterity, family, friends, and interested parties.

As the late writer William Zinsser reminds us, “one…of the deepest impulses is to leave a record of what we did and what we thought and felt on our journey.” (P. 74 in the Writer Who Stayed)
Well, up to a point, that’s what commercial real estate broker Rick Jebb does in his collection of memoirs, subtitled, ‘The Vision Quest of a Modern Day Explorer’. Therein, Rick describes his early life in Florida and then Illinois, onto his adventures as a teenage canoeist and student at colleges in Mexico, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois.

“In the wilderness, my life was more than just childhood bliss. It had been the place where trial and challenge required me to make sacrifices and face my pain.” P.9 (&) “I recalled so many splendid nights I had slept beneath the stars, two hundred campfires I had known in the last eight years.” P. 217. Rick’s personal and home life was far from being settled; he faced father abandonment at an early age, relocation from FL to IL, untimely death of his stepfather, and dealt with a learning disability only by incentivizing himself to focus on mattes at hand.

During his first 20 or so years, author Jebb struggled with”…the fear of not living up to the standards of my family and my community….” (&) “…picking a path in life. That was the real challenge. There were so many options, and the more I saw, the more I learned, the range of possibilities kept expanding.” P.157. Fortunately, Rick had friends along the way, access to money, and a spirit of adventure.

Describing life experiences in terms of education, family, drugs, girls, booze, and travel, consumes the bulk of this narrative. In latter pages however, Rick focuses on his inner journey, subconscious, periods of euphoria, and indecision. “…my innocence had been lost beyond my understanding of any prior experience. Now, an awareness resided within me of some deeper truth that tainted every geography, each time and place where I had experienced aspects of the world for the first time, revealing a collision of dimishment’s (sic) when the remaining sweetness of my childhood seemed to have been scrubbed off me, along with my skin. This feeling only added to my exaggerated discomfort.” P.269.

The good news, in this reviewer’s opinion, is how Rick concludes this collection of teenage and young adult memoirs, believing his variegated life experiences were finally “…leading me towards God’s will and away from mine….” P.277.

On a personal note, I disagree with Rick Jebb’s characterization of the Viet Nam war as one “…we had never won.” P.244. As a combat veteran of that conflict, I agree with the prevailing view of peers who served there and then, that ‘We were winning when I/we left!’ It was only the politicians in Washington, D.C. who lost this war.

Mexican Sunset is available from Amazon.com

George Allen
EducateMHC

Blog Posting # 702. Copyright 19 August 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com

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SHUT UP! Yep; that’s the sad conclusion to the past six months or so of squabbling about, whether or not, to launch a new national advocacy entity focused on all post-production sectors of the HUD-Code manufactured housing industry! We’ve certainly ‘heard enough’ about this need (some real, others less so) for improved representation and advocacy before legislators and regulators in Washington, DC.  Said proposal emanating from an online MH newsletter, MHARR, and other interested parties. Well, since NO ONE was willing to step forward to press this issue, I publicly set a deadline of 15 August 2022 (Date of this year’s RV/MH Hall of Fame induction banquet in Elkhart, IN.) for these parties to PUT UP! or SHUT UP! After all, what better time and place to come together, in behalf of the entire MH industry, than when 500 businessmen and women (mostly corporate leaders) are gathered in the sole legacy location in the U.S. with room to handle several large meeting events simultaneously? But ‘it’ didn’t happen, not even a whisper of an attempt to do so. Hence, to those parties: ‘SHUT UP!’ Shut up, once & for all, til ready to bring organizing structure and effort to this perennial need!

***

Speaking of this year’s RV/MH Hall of Fame ‘Class of 2022’, one member in particular, Eugene Landy, founder (1968) and chairman of the board at UMH Properties, delivered the following heartfelt message and challenge to the manufactured housing industry.  

“How should I respond to this distinguished honor in such an important industry? I think the appropriate way to respond, is to say ‘I could do more!’ Now, to my wonderful team of people who actually do all the work today, they’re hearing they too have to do more – as we need more housing, and it is a critical matter.”

“The affordable housing crisis is real. The shortage of workforce housing is interfering with our national economy. The size of it is overwhelming, and our industry cannot solve it alone, but we can certainly participate! And the goal we should set, as an industry, is to build 500 new land lease communities a year with 200 homes apiece, or 100,000 additional homes in all! That means, as an industry, we must produce 200,000 homes a year and I think it can be done. It’s not going to be easy, but I believe manufacturers can get the material and manpower, and the demand is certainly there.”

“At UMH Properties, we have waiting lists everywhere, and we want to build more housing! That’s our ambition, that’s our goal, but it’s not the easiest task to accomplish. It’d be easy now, with waiting lists and good financial performance, to rest on our laurels, but we want to build our little company (Well, it’s not so little anymore, with 500 employees and 25,000 rental homesites nationwide), but we do want to build two or three thousand new sites per year. Today, that’s $100,000 to build a rental homesite, and $100,000 to put a new manufactured home on it. That’s millions of dollars per year we have to raise, but it’s something that has to be done!”

“You can’t have a society with no housing. You can’t have a society where employers can’t hire people. So this is something we all must work hard to do, and we’re doing it!”

“What a wonderful team we have at UMH Properties. Just today we toured local land lease communities we acquired five, ten, 20 years ago. When we buy a community, we make it a better community! And we try to be fair with everyone. ‘Good faith and fair dealing’ is our corporate motto; and we practice this with our customers, suppliers, and residents.”

“What a strange company we are, as we don’t try to charge the highest rent possible. Rather, we try to charge rent that’s lower than everybody else, and at the same time, produce a better product (home and community). And you want to know something? If you do that, you are going to be a tremendous business success! So, we’re working very hard now to build new communities, and at my age, it’s not easy – but it’s something we really have to do! So, the proper response to being honored, as an RV/MH Hall of Fame inductee, is to do more! Thank You for this honor!” (Lightly edited. GFA)

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  Have you heard? Candace Holcomb, formerly with Newport Pacific Capital (35 Years) is now the VP of Operations, in the MH division, or the Watt Company in southern California.

***

Speaking of southern California, I recently received an email message from a longtime friend in our business, informing me that, at the Lido Peninsula land lease community (26 homes/acre) in Newport Beach, CA., a new 1400 sq. ft. HUD-Code home (small footprint) sold for $1,275,000, with monthly rent at $5,747 on a CPI lease that ends in 2026.

***

By now you’ve heard of the impending changes to DOE (Department of Energy) regs. But have you heard how, if and when implemented on 18 May 2023, they’ll likely add $7,000 to the price of every new HUD-Code manufactured home? We all have a ‘dog in this fight’, so contact the two national advocacy organizations, MHI & MHARR, for more information.

Blog Posting # 701. Copyright 12 August 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815 and or visit www.educatemhc.com

Remember Troy & Cheryl Brost, developers and past owners of Songbrook land lease community in Eugene, OR? Well, they sold that property several years ago and ‘retired’ to Cheryl’s native Hawaii. Their two children are in college now, and Cheryl – for a few years, has been competing in the Cross Fit World Games. Well, just recently she finished high enough in the standings to be rated the 4th fittest 50-54 year old female in the entire world! (You’ve likely seen her on the televised games but had no idea she was ‘one of our own’.) Now for some backstory. A decade ago, the Brosts hosted a one day Manufactured Housing Manager class on-site at Songbrook; hence they’re MHMs. And their popular business cards featured, on the verso side, a photograph of the landscape between parallel back rows of HUD-Code manufactured homes, featuring walking paths with water features and park benches for use by community residents. Congratulations on your outstanding achievement Cheryl! GFA

And another manufactured housing pro has a new book available for purchase from Amazon.com Rick Jebb, perennial marketer of land lease communities in Bloomington, IL., has authored Mexican Sunset, subtitled: ‘The Vision Quest of a Modern Day Explorer’. Haven’t read it yet – though I have it in my possession – but will publish a ‘review’ here during weeks to come. This from the book’s back cover: “Seriously writing since 2011, Rick has sought a voice to speak hopefulness and adaptation into the midst of uncertain times. His writing includes poetry, essay and existential spiritual memoir focused on facing the challenges of life’s transitions and adaptations.” Rick joins Ted Boers (Think DATACOMP & MHVillage), Rick Robinson (Think manufacturedhomes.com), and Charles Irion (male adventure & mystery writer), among others from the manufactured housing industry, who’ve authored non-fiction and fiction books in various sub-genres. Know of other such books? Let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

Do you know the new home office address for Newport Pacific Capital Company? It’s 1201 Dove St., Ste. # 300, Newport Beach, CA. 92660. That’s where you’ll find Mike Sullivan, CPM, and Maria Horton, MHM.

Now, call this a ‘flashback’ if you will. But since April, I’ve been transcribing (from handwritten to typed) the first fifty of more than 400 letters I mailed home to Carolyn, in 1968 & 69, from the Republic of Vietnam. It’s been quite an experience (again), like it was then – refreshing old memories long suppressed (Haven’t been in combat yet, so they’re manageable recollections), and experiencing new emotions – mostly in tears, as I read how much of our daughter Susan’s early years (She was 16 months old when I left) I missed, but am now experiencing them in person via our youngest great granddaughter Emerson, who’s 14 months old, and with us two days each week. Emerson is Susan’s youngest grandchild. I penned the preceding to introduce one of the more interesting paragraphs I’ve transcribed to date; penned during early June 1968:

“When we bed down for the night up here, we take individual precautions, like placing our flak jacket and helmet between ourselves and the barbed wire to our front – to stop rifle rounds when they come. And we keep our K-Bar (12” jungle knife) very close at hand (i.e. stuck in the ground next to where our hand normally lies as we sleep), and we have our rifles ‘locked and loaded’ by our side, in such a position that, as we roll onto to our stomach, the weapon falls naturally to our grip. All this is sound preparation, because on occasion we have intrusions along our defensive lines; and, as the ‘watch’ Marine, awake and on guard at the time, fires his two rapid signal shots, and pops a parachute flare, every one at that post, rolls to their stomach, digs our feet in, grabs rifles and K-Bars; and by the time (two seconds) the flare has popped, we’re ‘on line’ and ready to repel a possible assault. All this is very serious business these days, as we know for certain there are several hundred NVA enemy troops surrounding our base here at Landing Zone Stud, just east of Khe Sanh combat base.” (Lightly edited. GFA)

Unlike my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, and our co-authored George & Carolyn collection of memoirs, it’s unlikely these 400+ letters will be published in bound book form. Already, four months of typing (three months of RVN letters) have filled 150 pages of typing paper; so 13 months will likely total more than 600 such pages. No, I’ll be satisfied leaving copies of these letters with our adult children, Susan and Adam, to share with future generations of the Allen and McCarty families. However, if you’d like to purchase a copy of SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, simply visit educatemhc.com

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC