Blog Posting # 747, Copyright 23 June 2023. EducateMHC
Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC alone is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land 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 40+ years business career in MH and communities.
George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrine, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books about MH, communities, business & management wisdom & prayer.
Highlights from ‘State of the Nation’s Housing’ 2023
Following information and statistics are quoted from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (‘HJCHS’) report titled ‘The State of the Nation’s Housing’, aired on 21 June 2023.
“The sharp interest rate hikes over the past year continue to impact housing markets and affordability for both homeowners and renters across the U.S., according to our new (report) released today.”
“Since the beginning of 2020, asking rents in the professionally managed sector are up by 24 percent, while home prices are up 37.5 percent.” Here, ponder the rental homesite rates we’ve seen skyrocketing in recently-purchased portfolio-sized land lease communities, as well as increases in wholesale and retail sale prices of new HUD-Code manufactured homes. Consequently, where the latter stat is concerned – per EducateMHC’s blog posting # 746 last week, new HUD-Code home production is down a whopping 30 percent from 2022 YTD!
“(Mortgage) Payments on median-priced homes shot up from $2,500 to $3,000 as annual interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages jumped from 4.2 to 6.5 percent. Result was a 22 percent annual decline in number of mortgages originated to first-time homebuyers in 2022, including a year-over-year drop in the fourth quarter of nearly 40 percent, as over 2.4 million potential homebuyers were priced out of homeownership.” How many blog readers out there remember the early 1980s, when 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were in the neighborhood of 10 percent and higher? So, this could get worse before getting better. But let’s hope not!
“Between 2019 & 2021, the U.S. saw the most significant drop in housing affordability in years. The number of cost-burdened homeowners – defined as those spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing – increased more than any time since the housing boom of 2005-2007.” Also remember; it was at the turn of the century, 1998, that our acme level of production (i.e. 372,943+/- new HUD-Code homes) plummeted as well, by year 2009 when only 48,789+/- new HUD-Code homes were produced.
In conclusion, “As pandemic-era assistance programs wind down, housing remains prohibitively costly for millions of households. More lower-cost housing is clearly needed but expanding development will require zoning reforms to support a broader range of housing types and investments in off-site construction methods that could reduce costs.” Did you catch that? The writers, here, are clearly referring to HUD-Code manufactured housing, maybe even ADUs*1 like ‘tiny houses’*2, recreational vehicles like ‘park models’*3, and more*4. This is also a nod to the need for zoning reforms nationwide.
End Note.
- ADU = Accessory Dwelling Units, a.k.a. ‘granny flats’. Approved in CA. as secondary dwelling on residential building site.
- Tiny Houses now available for purchase as kits from Home Depot; 21 models ranging in price from $4,000 – $40,000. Also marketed by Lowe’s and on Amazon.com
- Park models; less than 400 sq. ft. In size. And other RV configurations.
- Watch for ‘sheds’ & portable cabins to appear on the affordable housing scene. For more information, read ‘Shed Builder’ magazine, where the Shed Price Index pegs $4,887 as the nationwide average price for a 12 X 16 shed (200+/- sq. ft.).
Learn from Apartment Owners/Operators!
Most land lease community homeowners/site lessees (i.e. ‘your residents’) are already online. But are you actively converting positive resident experiences into online reviews? I doubt it.
Here’s guidance for multifamily rental property owners cited in the May/June 2023 issue of ‘Multifamily Executive’ magazine, pp. 16-18
Respond to all Reviews. How? ‘Respond with gratitude and care’. Why? “…this requires constant monitoring, (as) it is key to not only improving and increasing future review (by residents), but also de-escalating negative sentiments.
Boost More Optimistic Reviews. “A healthy online reputation is further supported by the volume of positive reviews.” Don’t be shy about asking residents to post positive reviews!
Hearing the Negative Feedback. “Unsavory events are heightened when low-star reviews are left for anyone to read.” Validate, resolve and communicate are key actions when handling negative reviews.
View Low-Star Reviews as Opportunity. These are often valuable points and a time for growth and improvement.
Bottom line? “As prospective residents begin their search, it is evident online (positive & negative) reviews can set a property apart.” So, make special effort to keep your property’s online reviews as positive as possible!
Business Card Truism
I have collected many business cards during my career. Especially looked for unique messages on the reverse or verso side of said cards – to the point I identified 50 different type messages (e.g. humor, guarantees, mini calendars, appointment templates, mission statements, quotations, HOW TO instructions, photographs, bilingual, mini maps), and 40 more topics. If you have a copy of my ‘Chapbook of Business & Management Wisdom’, there’s an entire section therein titled: ‘Is Your Business Card a ‘Keeper’?’
Anyway, a land lease community owner and veteran independent (street) MHRetailer friend of mine, close to retirement, gave me his newly minted card recently. On the verso side he states:
“I am fully aware my youth has been spent, my ‘get up and go’ has ‘got up and 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 & sing along with Welk.”
If you have a unique or creative message on the verso side of your business card, please send me a sample copy via GFA c/o Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247.
Did You Know?
The abbreviation, or name STAN, is an emergency plea for assistance! The letters stand for:
SEND THE AUTHORITIES NOW!