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

Blog Posting # 769, Copyright 1 December 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable & attainable factory-built housing! And, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two related business models! Reach EducateMHC by phoning (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com; and to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional property management text in print today! SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and, my autobiography, from SmittyAlpha6! to MHMaven – describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam, a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management, and as author/consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business management & prayer.

TROUBLING STATS!

According to HUD, and published in the September/October 2023 issue of ‘Affordable Housing Finance’ magazine, on page # 10:

“8.53 million renter households, during 2021 (last year data available) were identified as being ‘worst case needs’. These households have incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median income (‘AMI’), do not receive government housing assistance, and pay more than half their income for rent, or live in severely inadequate conditions, or both!”

&

According to the Federal Housing finance Agency (‘FHFA’), “U.S. house prices rose 5.5 percent between the third quarter of 2022 and third quarter of 2023.” & “U.S. house price growth continued to accelerate in the third quarter, appreciating more than in each of the previous four quarters” – according to Dr. Anju Vajja, FFHA’s associate director of research and statistics.

MANUFACTURER FOCUS ON LAND LEASE COMMUNITIES

The ‘CAVCO Launches a National Community Sales Team’ headline in the Louisville MHShow issue of MHInsider magazine is Old News & New News. Old News because ‘manufacturer emphasis on in-land lease community new home marketing and sales’ began way back around 2010 (the year after MH hit its’ nadir level of production @ only 48,789 units), when Steve Quick of (then) Fleetwood Enterprises – since acquired by CAVCO, created a CD directory of his firm’s plants and the lines of homes they produced. This so land lease community owners/operators could direct order new homes from plants that serviced their marketing area. Also, Skyline-Champion and Clayton Homes have focused on land lease community marketing now for more than a decade. New News, because this is indeed a novel focus for CAVCO Industries. According to the MHInsider magazine story, the land lease community focused team will be fully assembled during year 2024.

Anecdotally, there are at least two other historic developments related to this challenging time (i.e. years 2000 thru 2021 – when we once again surpassed the 100,000 unit mark) in manufactured housing. First, in large part due to HUD-Code manufacturers adjusting to loss of 10,000 independent (street) MHRetailers, and focusing on in-land lease community new home marketing and sales, the percentage of new homes going from factory to on-site, increased from 15 to 40+ percent. And in 2016 the first Two Days of Plant Tours & Home Sales Seminars debuted at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. This program has continued uninterrupted – but for one year during the pandemic – to this day. Surprising, however, this concept hasn’t been imitated elsewhere in the U.S.

SOMEONE HAS TO TELL YOU…

‘The Great Green Energy Transition That Wasn’t’ rolled across my PC screen a month ago. Here I’d like to share it with you…

“One of the textbook marketing flops of all time was the Ford Edsel sedan, which was heralded as the hot new car in the late 1950s. All the automotive experts and Ford executives said it was a can’t-miss. Henry Ford (the card was named after his son) guaranteed hundreds of thousands of sales.

But one big thing went wrong: Nobody ever bothered to ask car buyers what they thought of the new car. As it turned out, they hated it. So instead of sales of 400,000, Americans bought 10,000, and the model was embarrassingly discontinued.

The obvious lesson for the industry: You can’t bribe Americans to buy cars they don’t want. Given the all-in approach to electric vehicles at Ford and General Motors, it’s clear that Detroit never got the message.

Last week (i.e. early October), Honda and GM announced an end to their two year collaboration in building a platform for lower-cost EVs. Honda execs said it was too hard.

Amazingly, less than 10% of all new car sales over the last two years were EVs. This is despite the fact the U.S> government is writing a $7,500 check to people for buying an EV, and some states are kicking in $5,000 more. The Texas Policy Foundation calculates that all-in EV subsidies can reach $40,000 per vehicle. It would practically be cheaper for the government to purchase a new gas vehicle for every American car buyer.

Energy expert Robert Bryce estimate Ford has lost $62,000 for each EV it has rolled off the assembly line. That’s hardly a road to profitability.

Meanwhile, the news is even worse for wind and solar power. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that ‘clean energy’ investment funds are tanking, with some down as much as 70% in recent months. Solar has been one of the worst-performing industry stocks this year.”

George Allen, CPM, MHM

Blog Posting # 768, Copyright 24 November 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance based, affordable & attainable factory-built housing! And, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two related business models! Reach EduateMHC by phoning (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com; also to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the only professional property management text in print today! SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and, my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam, and 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management; also author and consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business management & prayer.

OK, I Took A Week Off…

Didn’t mean to do so; but as they say ‘S___ happened.’  And now I’m back in the saddle, so to speak, sharing information, opportunities, and challenges with readers of this weekly blog posting.

This past week I got to read up on some early (U.S.) history of the manufactured housing industry. Here’re a couple of many gems I gleaned from Dr. Carlton Edwards (1911-2010) 366 pages, ‘Homes for Travel & Living’ (1977):

“The earliest records available on trailers (homes) were in 1915 when a peddler in the vicinity of New York City devised a 5^th wheel hitch for attaching his wagon to his Model ‘T’ Ford Roadster.”  P.7

“As early as the 1930s, some people used trailers for living for various periods of time. While some were used strictly for vacation travel of relatively short duration, others were used for extended vacations including winter living in the warmer climates and summer living in the cooler. Their trailer functioned as a primary dwelling the year around (sic).” P.10.

(1950s). “Since the owners lived in them the year around (sic), it was natural to call them homes rather than trailers. Therefore, the term Mobile Home came into popular use by a large number of people closely associated with trailers.” P.17

(1970s). “In recent years sites have been provided where mobile home owners purchase land rather than leasing it on a monthly or periodic basis. Some parks are cooperatives where the home owner has a share of the total development. In other cases the owner may have an individual lot for his home. However, the most common sites for mobile homes are in parks owned by corporations where the home owner leases the site and service, usually by the month.” P.22

And there’s so much more I’d like to share with you. But, if you’re a subscriber to MHInsider magazine, you’ll start to see excerpts from Dr. Edwards’ tome in my Allen Legacy column.

As you may or may not know, I’m taking time to become familiar with the writings of Carl Edwards. Besides this book, he also penned a History of the RV/MH Heritage Foundation Hall of Fame, from its’ founding in 1972 through 1993. I hope and plan to research and pen Part II of this history, extending from 1993 through 2024. Taken together, Dr. Edwards work and mine (Parts I & II) will finally provide the RV/MH Heritage Foundation a comprehensive history of this valuable repository of our industry and realty asset class histories.

One of the things I’m planning to include in the aforementioned ‘history’, are lists of every RV/MH Hall of Fame induction class, from 1972 right on through year 2024. As you can imagine, these lists of more than 400 individuals read like a veritable ‘Who’s Who of the Manufactured Housing & RV Industries’. What an adventure this promises to be….

If you have ideas or resources that play to either the overall history of the MH industry, or land lease communities in particular, please share them with me via gfa7156@aol.com

And, by the way, Carl Edwards book is part of the George Allen Collection (of land lease community-related books and other writings) housed in the RV/MH Heritage Foundation’s library at the Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. Carl Edwards is a member of the 1982 class of RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinees.

LOVE LOCKS

Ever heard of or seen ‘love locks’? Well frankly, I hadn’t until Carolyn and I recently spent a long weekend visiting my brother Mark and his wife Gretchen, at their home in Cape May, New Jersey. Right in front of our beachfront hotel there was a 15’ section of chain link fencing festooned with hundreds of small padlocks. Had no idea what was going on until we returned home, read a news story about ‘love locks’ and researched the subject online.

What are love locks? Well, they’re small engraved padlocks commemorating a couple’s love for one another, their upcoming marriage or anniversary. Once they obtain an engraved padlock (available online), with their preferred personal message on it, they affix it to a bridge, fence, or gate, then throw the key away – signifying the permanence of their relationship. Supposedly, the ‘love lock’ practice originated during WWI in Serbia.

Next exposure to ‘love locks’ occurred in a news story about how the Grand Canyon (AZ) park rangers recently outlawed ‘love locks’ at that location. Why? The sheer number of ‘love locks’ affixed to area fencing is daunting, even inconvenient. And worse yet, it seems condors are attracted to shiny metal objects – like ‘love lock’ keys, and these are dangerous to their health.

And just recently, while reading Ellery Adams’ mystery novel, The Secret, Book & Scone Society, I came across this paragraph describing a twist about placing ‘love locks’ in and around the fictional resort town of Miracle Springs: “…a long-standing tradition that encouraged lovers to hang a small padlock from the fence and toss its key onto the tracks. If the wheels of a passing train flattened the key, the person who hung the padlock would win the heart of the person they most desired, as long as they remembered to scratch his or her initials into the key.” P.19

Recently read how the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is considering outlawing the hanging of ‘love locks’ around that town. Seems they consider them to be more of a litter or vandalism problem than a tourist attraction – or even fundraising focus.

So now you know as much about ‘love locks’ as me. Have to admit; I’ve been giving some thought to having a ‘love lock’ engraved with our initials ‘GA & CA’, along with the notation: ‘Together for 60+ years & forever’!

George Allen

Blog Posting # 767, Copyright 10 November 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable & attainable factory-built housing! And, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two related business models! Reach EducateMHC by phoning (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com; also to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the only professional property management text in print today! SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and, my autobiography, From SmittyAlphaSix to MHMaven– describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam, and 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management; also author and consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is only Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S> Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business management & prayer.

MAYBE ONLY 82,000 NEW HUD-CODE HOMES SHIPPED IN 2023!

YES, you read that right! Producing 25 percent fewer new HUD-Code homes during year to date (‘YTD’), 2023, we’ll be ‘lucky’ to hit even the 82,000 mark! How so and why? Well first off; using official Institute of Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’) figures, through September 2023, our industry is 25.7 percent behind where we were a year ago at this time.*1 Taking the 112,886 homes produced during year 2022, and reducing that number by 72.5 percent, calculates an 81,842 estimate for all of year 2023.

Why the 25 percent reduction in production during year 2022? Well, there’s a variety of reasons (some say ‘excuses’), to wit: continued lack of personal property financing for manufactured housing (a.k.a. chattel capital and or ‘home only’ loans) sited in land lease communities and on scattered rental building sites; also high prices charged by manufacturers, allegedly due to inventory shortages during and after the pandemic. Also local regulatory barriers to affordable housing of all types. And the list goes on….

For a list of annual manufactured housing production totals from 1955 thru 2017, read SWAN SONG, available for purchase from www.educatemhc.com

Have you noticed that no one else has warned you of this severely ‘down’ year that we are in right now? I guess ‘sticking our head in the sand and ignoring what is going on around us’ is one way to face this dire situation. A better way? Demand our two national trade advocacy entities to ‘go public’ with open discussion among all industry parties, in search of possible solutions, during year 2024, to this return to 2016 performance when only 81,136 new HUD-Code homes were produced. Oh the national advocacy entities do indeed publish YTD stats, like just stated, but do not ‘sound any alarm’ as to what they mean relative to past years’ performance.

We can only take small comfort in the fact that site-built housing sales transactions in the U.S., at present, are at a 13 year low!

End Note.

1. Institute of Building Technology & Safety is the contractor HUD uses to ‘keep score’ of new HUD-Code manufactured homes produced in the U.S. Their monthly totals are reported in unadulterated fashion by HUD, MHARR, and EducateMHC.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO USMC!

It’s doubtful many blog floggers (i.e. readers of this weekly blog posting) are aware that 10 November commemorates the 248^th birthday of the United States Marine Corps (‘USMC’).*1 It’s a special day for those of us who served in the Corps; my combined reserve and active duty tour stretched from 1964 through 1992. How do I celebrate? When possible, I visit the USMC Museum in Quantico, VA., with friends or family. A special, albeit emotional, highlight for me is seeing the massive 122mm Russian field gun; one of two, that I rigged for retrograde out of the Ashau Valley (i.e. Ho Chi Minh Trail) during late February 1969. Just standing there looking at that artillery piece immediately ‘takes me back’ to the firefights, casualties, emotions of those few days. To read more about that experience, read the memoir ‘PUC Beer’ in my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven. Two other good ‘reads’ about that Dewey Canyon battle, are the late Don Myers’ Your War, My War; and Karl Marlantes’ Matterhorn.

And the very next day, 11 November is VETERANS DAY. How many of you will remember to honor and thank veterans in your business and social circles for their service to our country? For starters, I’ll be flying the U.S. & USMC flags in front of our home on Friday and Saturday. Plus, though it’s not MEMORIAL DAY, I’ll take a few minutes to quietly and reverently reflect on the young Marines who served with me in Vietnam, but did not make it home to live out their lives like me. 54 years later I can recall faces and the battles we shared during our 13 months in-country. To this day I wonder how the babies and small children of some of the lieutenants we knew – who died, turned out as adults – now in their 50s. My heart aches when I think on that.

End Note.

1. Plans are afoot for Homecoming 250, a joint US Navy & USMC commemoration of those services’ 250 birthday during year 2025. The gala event will be hosted by the city of Philadelphia, PA. Tens of thousands of veterans are expected to attend. No specific dates yet, but visit Homecoming250.org for updated information. I certainly plan to attend.

OK, I’ve Decided….

As much as I’d like to do so, I am NOT going to plan, promote, and host a Manufactured Housing Caucus during the Louisville MHShow on 18 January 2024. Yes, in my opinion, WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER SOON, to discuss and address the manufactured housing production shortfall described in the opening paragraph of this week’s blog posting. But, as I stated in last week’s blog, such convening is Best Presented when coming from one or both our industry’s national trade advocacy bodies. But will that happen? I seriously doubt it. Why? Because, IMHO, they only act when their primary $ members, HUD-Code national and regional manufacturers, tell them to do so! It’s not the ‘industry at large’ that matters here, just that sole segment. So, don’t look to me to carry this torch in behalf of manufactured housing and land lease communities. Did so, in my small ways, for 40 years.

Lest you think I exaggerate, consider this: Thanks to past national meetings, caucuses, and gatherings, we now see 40 percent of new HUD-Code homes going directly into land lease communities for marketing and sale (That’s up from 15 percent at the turn of the century); popularity of Community Series Homes (‘CSH’) now built by manufacturers and purchased by communities (i.e. featuring front load porches, durable features, and more); community owners/operators now adept at selling homes on-site (i.e. Recall the ‘Six Right Ps of Marketing’*1); and, 27 years ‘run’ of MHI’s National Communities Council division – there was no such national advocacy for communities before 1993-96. And frankly, the list could go on; we’ve come a long long way together; but again, IMHO, our whole industry and realty asset class has entered an era of malaise. The question has become: ‘Who will lead us out of it?’

End Note.

Blog Posting # 766, Copyright 3 November 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable & attainable factory-built housing! And, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two related business models! Reach EducateMHC by phoning (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.eduatemhc.com; also to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is only professional community management text in print today! SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam, and 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management, also author and consultant.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, in only Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business management & prayer.

A LITTLE TITILATION ANYONE?

You into RVs big time? Well, if you are, you might just want to read the feature article I researched since January, and submitted for publication on 1 October. It’s titled ‘RVs as Affordable Housing’. To the best of my knowledge, no one has delved into the use of recreational vehicles as permanent affordable housing! I was able to document several-to-many instances where this is already occurring throughout the U.S. Even though I granted the publication First North American Rights to the article, they’ve encouraged me to share it whenever and wherever possible – wanting to get the message out and conversations started. So, if seriously interested in this subject, simply request a copy via email: gfa7156@aol.com

And now as I finish this 2023 writing project, another appears to be landing on my doorstep. Just this past week, a housing consultancy contacted me, soliciting my assistance to explore ways in which HUD-Code manufactured housing and recreational vehicles might be melded, in terms of product proper and siting – both on building sites conveyed fee simple and in land lease communities where homeowners rent sites for their homes. The aforementioned soon-to-be-published article is a step in that direction, but the matter requires continued deep thinking on my part and of others. Do you have thoughts on this timely, even critical subject? Specifically, how to increase the supply of affordable housing in the U.S., via manufactured housing, recreational vehicles, various types of ADUs (accessory dwelling units), etc…

Yet another titillating phone conversation this past week involves a well-known insurance company who used to provide semi-annual studies relative to manufactured housing marketing. Turns out they might just be considering a return to our industry, maybe even our real estate asset class, during the year ahead. I hope to be contributing to this ‘return’.

Manufactured Housing Caucus

I know, I promised. Promised to soon make a firm decision about whether to plan and host a half day Manufactured Housing Caucus on 18 January 2024 at the Louisville MHShow. And so I intended – but have yet to settle the issue once and for all. Maybe with next week’s blog posting. You see, IMHO, given the paucity of national leadership relative to the gathering ‘storm clouds’ potentially affecting our industry and property type, I’m willing once again, to step forward and host such a meeting. On the other hand, if I continue doing so – hosting such key meetings, then our national advocacy entities will likely never step forward and do this – until too little and or too late. So, which path to take? I honestly feel I’ll be ‘damned if I do & damned if I don’t’! What do you think? Send your input to gfa7156@aol.com 

George Allen

Blog Posting # 765, Copyright 27 October 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EduateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.eduatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management & consulting.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, only Emeritus member of Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S> Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, & prayer.

‘Rental Trailer Trashed by Tenant’

Gathering ‘storm clouds’ potentially affect the manufactured housing industry and land lease communities nationwide! Lest you think I’ve been exaggerating during the past few weeks of weekly blog postings, here’s the latest example of how we’re collectively ‘shooting ourselves in the foot’, where treatment of homeowners/site lessees and renters of manufactured homes is concerned. Following is quoted from ‘The New York Times Magazine’ on 22 October, in an article titled Homespun, by Michael Friedrich:

“It’s no surprise that social media brims over with videos from real estate influencers. …some of the most broadly despised people in the country are logging on to boast about the most ruthless and loathsome things they do….a landlord exhibits the ‘nightmare’ of a rental trailer trashed by tenants, explaining that rents are so high ‘because of people like this.’ “ pp. 8&9.

So, is it any wonder our industry and realty asset class is beset by national groups of tenant activists, and (so far, one) a Class Action Complaint? I don’t think so – at all. I subscribe to every industry trade publication and receive a plethora of state MH association newsletters (i.e. mostly at the behest of their members). So far, not in one have I seen any mention of discussion and action, by national trade advocacy organizations, relative to aforementioned (and the other) gathering storm clouds.

This is why I’ve floated the idea, in two previous weekly blog postings, of planning and hosting a half day Manufactured Housing Caucus the morning of 18 January 2023 during the annual Louisville (‘KY’) MHShow – either at the venue proper or in a nearby hotel meeting room. So far, I’ve heard from more than a dozen (now approaching two dozen) businessmen and women in support of the idea and assuring me of their in person participation.

What are your feelings and opinions on this important and timely matter? Should be Caucus or not? Let me know ASAP via gfa7156@aolc.om  I’ve committed to ‘make up my mind’ to plan and host – or not, this MH Caucus, no later than 30 October 2023 – just days after we post this week’s blog.

FYI. Such a national meeting is not without precedent. Here’s a list of previous such gatherings:

31 August 1993. 19 land lease community owners/operators convened in Indianapolis, IN., to form an Industry Steering Committee (‘ISC’), precursor to MHI’s National Communities Council division (‘NCC’) which was launched on 1 January 1969, with Jim Ayotte at the helm. Why? Because community portfolios were preparing to ‘go public’ as REITs, and there was no national advocacy, to speak of, for the unique, income-producing property type. Challenge resolved!

27 February 2008. 100 land lease community owners/operators convened at Fountainview Community in Tampa FL., to address the precipitous decline in HUD-Code housing shipments (Hit bottom in 2009 with only 48,789+/- units produced!). Result? Five action areas.*1 This gathering served to ‘get the ball rolling’, so that a year later on…

27 February 2009. A year later, again, 100+/- land lease community owners/operators, plus HUD-Code housing manufacturers, convened at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN., to plan an industry turnaround! This date marked the debut of the Community Series Home (‘CSH’) and realization that communities would have to market, sell & finance their new homes.*2 Within five years, the percentage of new HUD-Code homes sold directly into communities jumped from around 15 percent to 40+/- percent. Again, challenge resolved!

2010 saw two significant happenings: Randy Rowe’s Think GreenCourte Partners founder) keynote address at the Networking Roundtable: Five Park Market Share Recovery Plan (also documented in SWAN SONG), and the birth of SECO (Originally, Southeast Community Owners summit), designed for small to mid-size community owners/operators nationwide. These were continuing efforts by land lease community owners/operators to seize control of their own destiny.

2014. This year, the Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance (‘COBA’) was launched informally at Saddlebrook Farms in Grayslake, IL Formed to ensure ongoing statistical research, communication among communities, networking opportunities, and professional property management training and certification. However, COBA did not continue beyond my retirement in 2021. Who knows? This ‘disconnect’ might be an agenda topic at the Caucus on 18 January.

So, once again, if you care about the future of manufactured housing and land lease communities, consider being present at a half day caucus on 18 January 2024 in Louisville, KY. – whether hosted by one or both national trade advocacy groups, or yours truly. Again, let me know what you think via gfa7156@aol.com

End Note.

1. For a detailed list of these five strategies & action areas, read  SWAN SONG; available for purchase via www.educatemhc.com

• The Community Series Home moniker did not materialize until more than six months later, at the annual Networking Roundtable, when consultant Don Westphal suggested the new trade term. And the rest is history!

The 1995 MH Terminology Pledge

28 years ago, when annual new HUD-Code housing production was at 339,601+/- units, the publication of the first manufactured home community land development tome (‘a large book’) in 20 years was effected by New York publisher J. Wiley & Sons. One of the unique features of the case bound book was the introduction of new and updated trade terms for the industry and realty asset class. As the ‘Decade (1995 – 2005) of the Manufactured Home Community’ kicked off that year, everyone was encouraged to ‘Take the Pledge to Use Correct Manufactured Housing Industry Terminology!’ going forward.

Here’s a list of those terms:

• Manufactured home community. (This term would be updated to land lease community round-about year 2011)

• Resident & resident relations (Supplanted talk of tenants & tenant relations; after all, these are ‘homeowners/site lessees’ on rental homesites in communities)

• Guidelines for Living was intended to replace ‘Rules & Regulations; and in many locales it did.

• Homesite or rental site was intended to replace stall, lot, pad, sites.

• Leasing or sales consultant was a new HR position on-site in many communities, and generally replaced ‘dealer’ as the default description of anyone selling homes.

• Information Center replaced loose use of office in trade vernacular

• Resident or community manager replaced caretaker and landlord

• Retailer & Retail or Resale Sales Center. Again, an effort to supplant ‘dealer’ lingo; and a few years later, consultant William Carr suggested ‘independent (street) MHRetailer’ as a better catchall term.

• Singlesection & multisection descriptions were intended to replace ‘singlewide’ & ‘doublewide’ terminology

• Transporter was the new term for ‘toter’.

So, how did all this work out? Actually, pretty well. Sure, even today we have individuals, both within and outside the industry who naively continues to use terms like ‘mobile home’, ‘mobile home Park’, lots & pads, ‘dealer’, and more….But for the most part, trade literature takes the higher road and uses the terms listed here.

George Allen

Blog Posting # 764, Copyright 20 October 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.comn, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management and consulting.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, only Emeritus member of Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, & prayer.

$1,729 National Average US Apartment Rent

&

$576 Average Land Lease Community Site Rent

National average U.S. apartment rent according to Yardi Matrix, quoted in September/October 2023 issue of multifamilyexecutive.com (p.14.)

$576 national average U.S. land lease community rental homesite rate calculated by applying the 50 years Rule of Thumb; dividing the apartment rent rate by ‘three’; hence $576 is one third of $1,729. This is simply an estimated land lease community rental homesite rate.

However, in local housing markets negatively impacted by contemporary investors buying institutional investment grade land lease communities – and shortly after acquisition, greatly increasing rental homesite rates paid by homeowners/site lessees and adding charges previously included in monthly site rents; well, in those markets, the divisor is ‘2’ and not ‘3’. This means monthly rental homsite rent rates in this example will hover around $865.

So, how’s your local housing market fare at this point in time? I’d like to know. Contact me via gfa7156@aol.com

‘ZOMBIE MOBILE HOMES’

Quoted from The Paletz Law Blog of 19 October 2023, in an article penned by Matthew I Paletz, Esq., titled ‘Just in Time for Halloween, Bad Michigan Housing Policies Are Contributing to ‘Ghost’ Apartments & ‘Zombie’ Mobile Homes.’:

“This scary ‘Ghost’ (i.e. apartment & land lease community vacancies) is hitting our state hard right now. Let’s start with the dearth of available mobile homes on lots across Michigan.*1 The owners of the manufactured housing communities cannot refurbish, re-rent, or sell many of these homes because the Michigan mobile home title process has been destroyed through changes made by the Secretary of State. What was once a streamlined title procedure has now been uprooted and replaced by a convoluted policy leading to hundreds of these now ‘zombie-like’ homes being unoccupied and unimproved, and in desperate need of these being brought back to life.”

Now you know what a ‘zombie mobile home’ is. Is this a problem in your local housing market? If so, let me know via gfa7156@aol.com  Frankly, I learned of this challenge, thanks to a blog reader who sent me this Paletz Law Blog.

End Note.

*1. Better stated: “Let’s start with the dearth of available manufactured homes on rental homesites in land lease communities across Michigan.”

When Was Last Time You Heard…

of a land lease community, just about any size (i.e. rental homesite count), changing hands in your local housing market? It’s probably been a while. With interest rates so high of late, about the only way to ‘make an acquisition deal’ is to find a seller willing to finance (i.e. ‘carry paper’) the transaction. This is about the sixth time I’ve seen our unique, income-producing property type go through this real estate cycle (e.g. 1970s = mobile home parks; 1990s = manufactured home communities; and now, midway into the 2020s = land lease communities).

Since I no longer research and publish the annual Lenders Report (i.e. identification of real estate mortgage & personal property or ‘home only’ lenders) it’s impossible for me to give you the inside story, usually shared by loan originators at the major manufactured housing and land lease community-focused firms. But I do remember a few Rules of Thumb, from times past, related to seller-financed community transactions.

Want more money for your property? Be willing to extend the term out over a longer period of time. However, just as important, be sure to carefully research the buyer’s past business performance and reputation. You’re going to be ‘in bed’ (figuratively speaking) with this party for as many years as it takes to pay off the mortgage. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a buyer (investor) come into town, dazzle the seller, buy the property, ‘milk it’ for all it was worth, and then skip town when seller realized what was happening. Few things worse than ‘retiring’ after selling, but having to get back into the saddle when the deal sours.

The alternative? Decide on a cash sale transaction. The upfront money might be less than ideally desired, but when you walk away from the property, you walk away sans any future burdens – other than the huge tax bills you’ll likely face.

And the beat goes on. Just during the past decade I’ve watched friend after friend in the business, sell out wisely – as well as not so much so. The saddest transactions, in my opinion, have been those where community developers/owners have died and their progeny soon sold off the family holdings – even when they’ve worked there most of their adult lives. Almost always hard feelings among the principals.

Know who, in my opinion, has suffered most among the thousands of land lease community acquisitions-cum-portfolios? The state MH trade associations. Few write about it, but the consequences have been nothing short of devastating. How so? On the local level, on-site community managers are no longer encouraged, for the most part, to attend chapter meetings, let alone state conferences. And some, but not all, portfolio owners/operators become direct dues-paying members of these state associations. And this usually occurs only after there’s some sort of landlord-tenant legislation ‘in the works’ in that state. Something I’ve only come to notice of late is that some, but not all boards are comprised of salaried portfolio employees rather than the Mom & Pop entrepreneur owners/operators of years past.

To Caucus or Not to Caucus on 1/18/24?

I’m conflicted. The dilemma? Whether to plan and host a half day Manufactured Housing Caucus, or not to Caucus, the morning of 18 January 2023?

Reasons for and encouragement to Caucus? “Three impending storm clouds potentially affecting the health of the manufactured housing industry.” (Following semi-quoted from blog # 761 on 29 September 2023). The storm clouds?

• Regional and national meetings of land lease community tenants and activists, wherein alleged predatory actions by new owners of recently acquired land lease communities are accused of setting rents so high, and adding new ancillary charges, few homeowners/site lessees can afford them. Possible consequence? Landlord-tenant legislation.
• A recent Class Action Complaint; specifically, a Jury Trial Demanded by homeowner/site lessee plaintiffs, against ten defendants – well known firms in MH and real estate asset class. Alleged actions? “…fix, raise, maintain, and/or stabilize manufactured home lot rental prices.” So much more to be learned about this class action complaint.

• Pending manufactured housing chassis removal legislation, re HUD-Code, with unknown effects on our industry. The issue? How can we experience positive effects (of chassis removal) without incurring negative consequences (e.g. incursion of other forms of housing, such as ADUs, in traditional manufactured housing markets).

Reasons against hosting a regional, informal Caucus? Given the nature of the aforementioned impending storm clouds – and more, these are easily national issues maybe best parsed and resolved at the highest level by one or more manufactured housing advocacy trade organizations. And there’s the local (i.e. Midwest) protocol, at the Louisville MHShow, where HUD-Code manufacturers look with disdain at any organized event (e.g. subject Caucus) that draws attendees away from the show floor and ordering new homes for their sales centers.

All this ‘begs the question(s)’, does the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), its’ National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, or the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (“MHARR’) have interest in planning and hosting such a Caucus at the 2024 Louisville MHShow on 18 January 2024? If so, let me know ASAP.

And, if not, does the Midwest Housing Federation (i.e. Louisville MHShow owners/organizers) have interest in planning and hosting such a Caucus during the 2024 Louisville MHShow? Or, should such an event (i.e. Caucus) simply be planned and hosted off-site at a nearby hotel? Same here; if so, let me know ASAP.

These are the reasons I’m conflicted. I’m certainly ready to move forward with planning such a Caucus. After all, I already have a dozen individuals who’ve contacted me, encouraging me to this end. And I’m confident such a Caucus would attract 100+/- registrants, if/when held the morning of 18 January 2024. I’m giving myself until 30 October to decide what course of action to take – if any. Appreciate your input, whether it is individually, or in behalf of one or another national MH trade advocacy organization: gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 763, Copyright 13 October 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EduateMHC, telephone 9317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management and consulting.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrine, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, and prayer.

IMN’s MH FORUM REVISITED…

Patrick Revere (Think ‘MHInsider magazine) and Sam Landy (Think UMN Properties), since last week’s blog posting, have opined they felt the Manufactured Housing Forum in Nashville was a top notch affair. Sam was especially impressed with what he learned about modern trends in water and sewer metering, as well as how to connect with low cost cable and electric services for his land lease communities. Patrick was impressed with the quality of the overall program and how well it was hosted by the Information Management Network (‘IMN’) team of planners. 

Next IMN Manufactured Housing Forum is reportedly planned for 7-8 May in Scottsdale, AZ.

As I looked through the agenda of the subject event, I had these particular observations:

• Continued misuse of vestigial trade terms ‘mobile home’ and ‘mobile home park’. As an industry, HUD officially switched us over to ‘manufactured housing’ in 1976. In 1994 we started talking ‘manufactured home communities’ ,then ‘land lease communities’ round about year 2011. Point? As long as individuals claiming to be manufactured housing aficionados, continue to talk ‘mobile home’ lingo, we’ll suffer the pervasive negative image problem that’s plagued us for decades! Be committed to use right terminology!

• Featuring ‘women’s inclusive leadership’ in manufactured housing, as an agenda topic, is/was a good move at this IMN event. However, there’d have been more impact to the session if members of the Women Advancing Manufactured Housing (‘WAMH’) had been involved as presenters. Visit WAMH.com

• A topic I’d have liked to have heard had to do with ESG – that’s short for Environmental, Social, & Governance investing. Why? Because a recent issue of AMAC (‘Association of Mature American Citizens’) magazine had this to say about ESG investing, “instead of making investment decisions according to what will maximize shareholder profits, ESG investors choose what companies to put money in based on how committed they are to advancing an invariably left-wing political agenda.” An example of this is how major investment banks, like Vanguard and Blackrock, have divested from (profitable) oil and gas companies…and (are now) “pouring money into ‘renewable’ energy companies that either routinely lose money or turn a far smaller profit.” P.20. Another ‘woke’ pitfall!

GAO Recommendations to FHA & Ginnie Mae

Yet another agenda topic at the aforementioned IMN Manufactured Housing Forum had to do with “GAO (Government Accounting Office) making two recommendations – one each to the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae (both entities in HUD) – to implement planned changes to increase financing options for manufactured homes, including identifying options for greater securitization of mortgage and personal property loans, and establish time frames and milestones for actions.” FHA & Ginnie Mae have agreed with these recommendations!

1.  The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should ensure the Commissioner of FHA implement planned changes to provide additional financing options for manufacture homes, including identifying options for greater securitization of manufactured home mortgages and personal property loans and establishing time frames and milestones for the action.

• The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should ensure the President of Ginnie Mae implements planned changes to provide additional financing options for manufactured homes, including identifying options for greater securitization of manufactured home mortgages and personal property loans and establishing time frames and milestones for the actions.

A UNION of & for LAND LEASE COMMUNITY OWNERS/OPERATORS?

This conversation began with a recent exchange of email messages on the subject: ‘Why is there no mobile home park operators union?’ Now, I’ve gotta admit, this is the first time in my 45 years in manufactured housing where and when this subject has emerged! But you know, given the increasingly prevailing political and regulatory climate nationwide, involving land lease communities, perhaps now is the time to think on, and maybe act on, this subject. What do you think? As always, reach me via gfa7156@aol.com

Here’re some apropos random thoughts picked from the exchange of email messages this fall:

• A community operators union would be expected to ‘stand against local planning and zoning committees that have been squeezing operators with changing ordinances.’

• There are already some, just not enough, ‘boots on the ground lobbyists’ in the Midwest, who’re fighting for more affordable housing in seveeral local markets.

• There may or may not have been past efforts to this end, on the part of one or more national trade advocates, but said efforts have veered off into social events.

• This is not a crazy idea, but has more difficult and moving parts to consider in the process, e.g. These would need to be local initiatives, as well as ‘no one size fits all’.

• Also expensive (i.e. attorney fees), and local victories are oft overturned at state level.

• 85% of U.S. land lease communities number fewer than 100 rental homesites apiece, hence they lack economic efficiency and surplus cash, making union funding difficult.

• A helpful truism. Counties face severe negative publicity and public reaction if/when they force communities to close. Where will homeowners/site lessees go to live?

• Recent trend by portfolio ‘players’, upon acquisition of new communities, to jack site rent rates and add new fees, has spread a pall (‘a gloomy, blanketing effect’) over the realty asset class nationwide. Would a union protect these predatory interests as well?

Sure, there’s much more to be said on this fledgling subject. But the above eight points demonstrate the uphill climb ahead if this idea, of a community operator’s union, moves forward from here. Again, let me know your thoughts on this matter: gfa7156@aol.com

Blog Posting # 762, Copyright 6 October 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management, and consulting.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, and prayer.

IMN in TN a BOOM or BUST?

OK, right up front I’ll tell you I did not attend the Information Management Networks’ (‘IMN’) inaugural Manufactured Housing Forum, an interpersonal networking conference supplemented with ‘educational content & industry insights’, in Nashville, TN., on 28 & 29 September. From what I hear and read, this ‘global organizer of institutional, finance, investment, and real estate conferences’ maybe did not deliver what was expected by manufactured housing and land lease community aficionados who attended. IMN claims 370+ attendees on-site. A sampling of responses received here to date:

“Some interesting take-aways. Almost every speaker, in recent years, bought a (land lease) community with cash or used seller-financing. Where they used debt, the GSEs were the preferred (originator/guarantor).”

“The most fascinating speaker was a 29 year old woman who somehow escaped China. She was fascinated with the concept of owning property since you can’t do that in China. When she graduated from Georgia Tech, she started buying (land lease) communities, and she and her partners now own 28….”

‘While I was there, the Government Accountability Office issued a report on government support for manufactured housing:www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105615 It provides details of all programs, including those of the GSEs. A great resource. GAO wants Title I to step up.”

Attendance? “Maybe 100 or so on day 1. Day 2 seemed more oriented to (community) operators, many fewer (attendees) on Day 2.”

In a recent IMN communique, they announced the 2024 edition of The Manufactured Housing Forum would occur in Scottsdale (AZ?) on 7-8 May 2024.

MHStats & 18 January 2024 in Louisville, KY

In the widely read and referenced ‘MHShipment Volume @ August 2023 & Stock Market Report @ 5 October 2023’ – two economic statistical indicator reports combined into one, were these key observations:

• While production of 8,670 new HUD-Code homes in August was up from the previous month (July) by 41 percent, that total was 19 percent less than a year ago (August).

• Year to date HUD-Code homes production continues to be 27 percent less than a year ago – for the fifth straight month.

• Of the five publicly-traded HUD-Code housing manufacturers, stock prices of four were down from the previous month

• Of the five publicly-traded land lease community property portfolios (including REITs),  stock prices of four were down from the previous month

• The Composite Stock Index (‘CSI’) – for manufacturers and community owners/operators together, was $673 on 5 October; down from the $790.07 base CSI during January 2022.

And then there was this announcement at the end of said combined MH statistics report:

“Land lease community real estate asset class entered an uncertain era during year 2022. For the first time since 1989 this unique, income-producing property type is without the annual ALLEN REPROT, & Allen Letter. Many owners/operators believe national leadership is faltering as political and regulatory ‘storm clouds’ gather. If willing to meet for a half day National Community Caucus on 18 January 2023 at the Louisville MHShow, let me know NOW via gfa7156@aol.com or (317) 881-3815. Fee? Only enough to cover meeting expenses.” GFA

Referral Fees & On-site Home Sales

Do you sell new HUD-Code manufactured homes on-site in your land lease community(ies)? As an incentive for homebuyers/site lessees (a.k.a. new community residents) to buy said homes do you market and sell them at or near cost? If so, you might want to emulate what this community portfolio owner/operator is doing:

‘Since there’s no profit to us in the sale of a home (only in site rent and long-term financing), we pay a $1,000.00 referral fee to licensed real estate agents, through to the end of 2023, for buyers referred to us who are approved and consummate a home sale with us.”

Will that sort of arrangement work for you? Run the numbers and decide if this is a good and timely idea for your community(ies)’ infill effort!

George Allen, CPM, MHM

Blog Posting # 761, Copyright 29 September 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrine, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, and prayer.

YET ANOTHER STORM CLOUD – IN CA!

During the past two weeks I described three impending storm clouds potentially affecting the health of the manufactured housing industry:

• A national gathering of land lease community tenants and activists in Washington, DC. on 5-8 November 2023. We can thank predatory community operators for this. Here’s an extreme example of the offending business model: ‘…run (site) rents so high no one can afford them and have to leave. Management buys the home at a distressed price, but no one moves-in, oft due to the condition and negative reputation of the property.’ Source? Attendee at recent SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA.

• A recent Class Action Complaint – Jury Trial Demanded by homeowner/site lessee plaintiffs, against ten defendants – well known firms in MH and real estate asset class. Alleged actions? “…fix, raise, maintain, and/or stabilize manufactured home lot rental prices.” IMHO, there’s much to be read and learned ‘between the lines’ of this suit.

• Once again, pending manufactured housing chassis removal legislation, re HUD-Code, with unknown effects on our industry. The issue? How can we experience positive effects without incurring negative consequences? Read MHARR’s WHITE PAPER for details.

Well, we can add another storm cloud to this growing mix. Here I’ll quote, in part, a recent communique from a 45 year veteran of land lease community operations in California: “Another law suit to watch is our case against the governor and attorney general here in California. This is a law that goes into effect January 1, 2025 (that would mandate) all rent control provisions in the state override any and all terms of existing leases.” This law was passed because there’s a housing state of emergency in California.

OK folk, we appear to be on a less-than-desirable roll here, but at least we’re not hiding our head in the sand, ostrich-like. If you know of other such ‘clouds’, and or have insights relative to the four just described, please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

Furthermore, I’ve been encouraged of late, to plan and host a Land Lease Community Caucus on 19 January 2024 during the Louisville MHShow at the state fairgrounds. Focus? The aforementioned ‘storm clouds’. Seems folk want to gather to learn more about these matters, brainstorm possible solutions, to encourage state and national leaders and industry advocates to not these issues in a vacuum. Are you interested in participating? If so, let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

READ ‘ECHO IN RAMADI’ YET?

Last week I introduced you to Major Scott A. Huesing’s firsthand story of U.S. Marines in Iraq’s deadliest city, i.e. ‘Echo in Ramadi’. Well, I’ve since finished that ‘read’, and here’re gems that resonated with me as a retired lieutenant colonel of Marines – of the Vietnam era.

“As the firefight wound down in the early morning hours, every Marine in 4^th Platoon found out about the loss of Libby and began to feel it. The next day I carried their pain and mine, and I moved about numb and willing myself to not break down. I couldn’t because my Marines were looking to me for strength.” P.3

“Only select few make it into Infantry Officers Class, and not everyone makes it out. That is by design. The Marine Corps entrusts only the very best to command our nation’s finest.” P.12

“In fact, the experience of Ramadi could be best described as periods of extreme boredom punctuated by episodes of inexplicable chaos.” P.18

“It is not easy to kill another human being. Not for anyone – no matter how it is portrayed in fiction, on television, or in movies. There is nothing romantic or cavalier about it. It is horrific. Life-changing. Killing is what happens, and Marines are trained to kill. But in war, destruction is everywhere. It eats everything around you. Sometimes it eats you.” P.21

“What makes us good, what makes us great, is the brotherhood.” P.101

“Marines die in combat. It is inevitable. But the inevitability of death does not make it any less painful, any easier to accept. Every day, I remember that men I knew are now gone. Gone forever – and there is nothing that anyone can do to change that.” P.281

“Sadly, the dark echoes of our time in Iraq still resonate with many of Echo Company, who battle with the effects of post-traumatic stress (‘PTS’). Including me. I never refer to it as a disorder.” P.288

Finally, “Marines will always have a calling. They’ll always have a sense of duty and courage to run toward danger when others run from it. It’s cliché’, but true.” P.296

I have two dozen books in my library describing the fighting we did in the Republic of Vietnam more than a half century ago. I’ve added Scott’s book to this collection. And as many of you know, I shared my PTSD misadventures (‘mishaps’) – being unable to cry for ten years and being mirthful at funerals even longer – in my 2021 autobiography, ‘From Smitty Alpha 6 to MHMaven’. Scott’s book is available via amazon.com, mine from educatemhc.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CHICAGO & CHINA

Victor Davis Hanson is one of my favorite commentators relative to contemporary national and international matters of import (‘consequence’). Following direct quotations are gleaned from a recent talk titled: ‘Imperialism: Lessons From History’ – as published in the Hillsdale College communique ‘Imprimis’ for July/August 2023, p.5.

“…think of present day San Francisco, where people are injecting themselves with drugs, fornicating, urinating, and defecating on the streets, and downtown businesses are closing in large numbers, or Chicago, where the murder and crime rates are making life there unbearable for so many. Our major cities are going to rot at the same time we are pledged to giving $120 billion to Ukraine, already making its military budget the third largest in the world.”

“…these (Chinese owned) ports are not just random acquisitions. They control the Panama Canal. They monitor the entry into the Mediterranean at Tangiers and the exit at Port Said. The two largest ports in Europe, Antwerp and Rotterdam, are in the hands of the Chinese, as are the artificial islands in the South China Sea, a gateway for 50 percent of global oceanic traffic.”

And, “If the Chinese have an imperial enclave in Africa, they rope it off and don’t allow Africans nearby. Nor do they allow colonial peoples, for the most part, to go to Beijing and be educated or integrated. Like the Ottomans who conquered Constantinople in 1453, China has a monolithic culture and makes no apologies for its ambition to be a global imperial power.”

Those three paragraphs say a lot about our world today. Are you paying attention? I long ago stopped reading most of the secular press – mainly because of what they do not report. My sole exception is the ‘New York Times’ on Sunday only. Otherwise, most of the news I read and believe comes from the weekly newspaper, ‘The EPOCH TIMES’. Try it; you likely appreciate it as I do.

Blog Posting # 760, Copyright 22 September 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlph6 to MHMaven  – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, and prayer.

STORM CLOUDS ARE GATHERING

MHAction’s National Gathering (of land lease community tenants & activists) in Washington, DC., on 5-8 November; PLUS, recent Class Action Complaint – Jury Trial Demanded by homeowners/site lessees as plaintiff, against ten defendants – all well-known firms in the MH industry and real estate asset class; PLUS pending chassis removal legislation that might well change the nature – good and bad, of HUD-Code manufactured housing going forward. Are you paying attention? If not, benchmark this blog posting as your motivation to get involved!

Frankly, I wonder if anyone is paying attention. I’ve heard and read nary a thing about these three gathering storm clouds – beyond an invitation to attend said MHAction event, a copy of the aforementioned lawsuit, and WHITE PAPER on chassis removal published and distributed by the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’). How ‘bout you?

At the recent SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA. (10-12 September), all these issues – and more, were parsed during private and small group discussions. Read our previous blog posting for details.

Next event? First ever Manufactured Housing Forum, hosted by Information Management Network (‘IMN’), to occur in Nashville, TN., on 28 & 29 September. This appears to be an interpersonal networking conference supplemented with ‘educational content & industry insights’. IMN appears to be a ‘global organizer of institutional, finance, investment, and real estate conferences.’ But what do they know about the dynamics of our industry and realty asset class? I’d say, from the list of presenters and misuse of trade terminology, very little.

Know what? IMN’s forum is NOT really the next meeting of interest – to some, if not many, of us. That would be the annual SHED SHOW in Knoxville, TN., 27 & 28 September. Shed Show? Yep; shed builders from across the U.S. gather annually to learn more about their fabricated product and where their market might be going. I, for one, see sophisticated ‘sheds’ as the next Tiny House, along with ‘capsulehouses’- I haven’t even told you about yet.*1

Next event? Manufactured Housing Institute’s (‘MHI’) annual meeting on 2-4 October in Palm Springs, CA. MHI says this will be ‘an opportunity to exchange information with industry friends, stay current on housing marketplace trends, and attend …meetings.’ Hmm. One can only guess whether one or more of the three aforementioned ‘storm clouds’ will be on any fixed or informal agenda at this meeting of our industry’s primary national advocacy organization. I have been told the pending chassis removal legislation will be openly discussed. Good!

Next event? MHI’s NCC Fall Leadership Forum on 1-3 November (Just two days before MHAction’s national gathering in Washington, DC.), in downtown Chicago, IL. In this case, NCC claims its’ forum is the sole strategic executive level event of the year for national community owners. Great! Just the place to discuss the ‘storm clouds’ gathering against the industry and real estate asset class’! But will that happen? My guess is, ‘No’.

Next event? There is none – until January of 2024, when ‘everyone who’s anyone’ in MH and communities travels to the Louisville MHShow on 17-19 January. At this point we can only hope the ‘powers that be’ will exert authority and plan opportunities for businessmen and women to learn more about what they should be hearing from national advocacy bodies, about the gathering ‘storm clouds’ – but aren’t.

End Note.

1. Accessory Dwelling Units (‘ADU’) now include park model RVs, Tiny Houses, sheds equipped as houses, and capsulehouses. For more on this subject read my upcoming article, ‘RVs as Affordable Housing’.

‘WASHINGTON WATCHDOG’ BARKS

The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’) has long been acknowledged and appreciated as our industry’s ‘Washington (DC) Watchdog’. Since 1985 it has closely followed, and often combated, attempts by regulators to amend and complicate the HUD-Code that’s been in place since 1974/76. Today it appears we have a new regulatory challenge facing us in manufactured housing circles, in the form of two house bills.

To that end, MHARR recently (September 2023) published and distributed a “Position Paper & Plan of Action on Two Pending Legislative Proposals Regarding Deletion of the PERMANENT CHASSIS Requirement, and Other Matters’.

Relative to what MHARR refers to as the ‘surgical removal’ of ‘the five-word clause “built on a permanent chassis” from the 1974 Act, here’re observations gleaned from this WHITE PAPER:

First off; ‘surgical removal’, as stated, refers simply to the five-word clause (‘built on a permanent chassis’); meaning, it is important, even vital, said removal does not negatively affect the remainder of the statute.

So, what is ‘the worry’? Perhaps, types of housing without a metal/steel chassis might now be classified as manufactured homes! This could include a variety of Accessory Dwelling Units (‘ADUs’) – or, using a new housing term: ‘off-site construction’, e.g., “panelized systems, manufactured homes, tiny houses, recreational vehicles, modular/pods, and shipping containers.”*1 This being the case – presumably, anywhere a HUD-Code manufactured home is welcome now, would necessarily include these, and other, examples of ‘off-site construction’. Dual consequences: Increased competition for traditional manufactured housing fabricators, but also new forms of affordable housing available to the American home-buying public.

And there’s yet another perspective. A HUD-Code manufactured home sans permanent chassis would likely be welcome in subdivisions and on scattered building sites conveyed fee simple. So, more business for our traditional manufactured housing fabricators! However, new HUD-Code homes sans permanent chassis would not likely change land lease community operations all that much – except for being able to install them closer to the ground.

A final observation, for now, on this subject of chassis removal. How might all this shake-out, given the present month-by-month (-28%) slide in new HUD-Code housing production? Yes, it’d be nice to be able to site more manufactured homes in subdivisions and on scattered building sites conveyed fee simple; but what might be the harm, if less expensive types of ‘off-site construction’ began showing up on rental homesites in land lease communities? Think about it.

The Other Matter. The WHITE PAPER also delves into two consumer finance-related issues. MHARR opines repeatedly that these concerns are foci of two major MH industry lenders, via MHI lobbying. Frankly, I have difficulty following the reasoning here, but was hooked by the phrase: “MHI has provided Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac with a ready excuse and rationalization for their failure to include chattel manufactured housing loans within their DTS implementation programs.” *2 This matter bears more study.

If you have personal and corporate observations relative to these two issues, please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

End Note.

1. As first posited at the June 2023 ‘Off-Site Construction Summit’ in Washington, DC.

• DTS = Duty to Serve

DID YOU KNOW?

A Press Release from CIS Home Loans, via Darrell Boyd, VP of business development.

“We are excited to present our exclusive finance program at CIS Financial Services, specifically designed for the resident in your land lease community. Whether you aim to assist them in purchasing a new home, refinancing their existing property, or guiding them through the transition from renting to becoming homeowners, CIS is committed to offering the ideal financial solution.” CIS program welcomes ITIN borrowers, credit scores below 600, covers new and resale homes, single and multisection homes, and much more.” Loan terms were not included in this Press Release, so…

For more information, reach Darrell Boyd via dboyd@cishomeloans.com or (270) 748-7702

A SECO CONFERENCE BONUS

Were you at the SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA., last week? If so, you likely participated in the patriotic and emotion-stirring commemoration of ‘9/11’ – that historic and tragic terrorist attack on U.S. soil back in 2001. Everyone in the audience stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag, then listened to retired USMC major, Scott A. Huesing, relate his harrowing experiences as an infantry company commander in Iraq.

In addition to suggesting every manufactured housing gathering begin in like fashion, most everyone should obtain a copy of Scott’s book, ‘Echo in Ramadi’ – the firsthand story of U.S. Marines in Iraq’s deadliest city. It’s available for purchase at amazon.com  I found it to be an engaging ‘read’. For me, the richness was found in comparing his combat experiences (relative to equipment, strategy, technology, & more) with what I experienced as a USMC company commander in Vietnam 54 years ago. For you, the ‘takeaways’ will likely be encouraged at the quality of young men and women in our military today, and gratefulness that we’re finally out of that conflict!

George Allen, CPM, MHM