Blog Posting # 804; Copyright 2 August 2024. EducateMHC
Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable factory-built housing (a.k.a. offsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH! EducateMHC is the online advocate, official historian, trade term and trend tracker, as well as information resource for both business models, and to a lesser extent, the recreational vehicle (‘RV’) industry. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, and via www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry, and SWAN SONG – a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955. And my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures inVietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as prolific nonfiction author and freelance consultant.
George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, and MHInsider magazine ‘Allen Legacy’ columnist and editor at large. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran and retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 30 books & chapbooks on MH, communities, business management, prayer & figures of speech.
MH2X Workshop a Success; Onto Next One!
The inaugural MH2X ‘Infill & Upgrade Workshop’ for land lease community owners/operators was an unqualified success! So much so, the hosts have already scheduled a second workshop to occur on Wednesday, 21 August 2024, with a community tour the following day. Both will, again, be in the Atlanta, GA. area. Maximum attendance has been upped to 50, and there’ll be added time during which HUD-Code housing manufacturers present will address attendees. How can you not want to attend this $175.00 event? For more information and to register, visit Alexandra@secoconference.com or phone (706)252-5745.
As you already know, earlier that same week, on 20 & 21 August, but at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN., the IMHA/RVIC (Indiana association) will host its’ seventh annual ‘two days of plant tours and sales seminars’ to pretty much the same ends as MH2X: ‘To double new manufactured housing production nationally, during years 2024 & 2025!’
Do you see what’s happening here? We’ve known, as an industry and realty asset class, since the turn of the century – when we lost easy access to chattel capital (a.k.a. personal property and home-only loans) and 10,000 independent (street) MHRetailers exited the business, that community owners/operators would have to fill their own vacant rental homesites and rental homes going forward! And they have been! First there were Community Series Homes, then manufacturers relying on Business Development specialists (i.e. salesmen), and most recently, specialized education teaching community owners/operators HOW TO ‘spec’ new homes, buy them direct from factories, install, market and sell them onsite to prospective homebuyers/site lessees! And that’s where we are today! Now need to have the MH2X concept gain traction in other regions of the U.S. If you’re in one of those regions sans training, and want to know how to go about doing so, contact me directly via gfa7156@aol.com
So, what are the Steps to Selling & Financing New Homes Onsite within Land Lease Communities? Here they are:
- Getting Ready! Effect max curb appeal, fresh on & offsite signage, appropriate advertising, ensure capable staffing, policies & procedures in place, and have a good handle on one’s homebuyer/site lessee profile, and be sure needed licenses are in place.
- Buying Homes! What size & quality homes needed & wanted in the local housing market? Community Series Homes available? What support is available from nearby factories? Is Frost Free Foundation allowable in one’s local area?
- Selling Homes! (&) Lifestyle! Just selling or is leasing a desirable option? Property & product USP (i.e. Unique Selling Proposition)? Apply the Six Right Ps of Marketing! Go with traditional and or online ads? Ensure community is where folk really want to live!
- Financing Homes! What $ resources in and near the local housing market? – including cash, lease-option & contract sales. Redouble the importance of pre-qualification of would be homebuyers/site lessees, and ensure compliance all along the way!
But all that’s not the whole story! Next, get a good personal and corporate handle on the aforementioned Six Right Ps of Marketing’ New Homes Within Land Lease Communities! Here they are:
Right Product = model, home size & configuration, appearance, floor plan, features & amenities e.g. Community Series Home with durability enhancing features & a WOW factor!
Right Place = or location within the community, and how oriented to the sun & wind, and ensure good drainage, among other factors.
Right Price = per type deal (Is site & housing rent in sync with other forms of affordable housing in the same local housing market?), Use Customer’s Annual Gross Income or AGI; local housing
market’s Annual Median Income or AMI; and, keep in mind the 30% Housing Expense Factor!
Right Promotion = per USPs (i.e. Unique Selling Propositions – of house & property), e g. Energy Star & front porch loaded; using print & online advertising; new signage on and offsite; resident referrals.
Right People = based on anticipated sales volume & # of vacant homes & rental homesites to fill; then capable, experienced, motivated, as well as trained & supervised sales professionals.
Right Process = includes corporate planning & procedures to ID & meet shelter needs/wants of target audience & mix in specific local housing market.
Yes, these are the basic formulae needed to fill vacant rental homsites in land lease communities, as well as rental units (i.e. homes owned by the property per se) therein. If you’d like a FREE plastic 3”X5” wallet card containing the two lists shown above, simply request it via gfa7156@aol.com And if professional property management of your land lease community (ies) is important to you, be sure to visit www.educatemhc.com and purchase a copy of Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the 8th edition of the classic HOW TO community management text first published in 1988 and updated every few years since then. The text is 8X11 page size and spiral bound, enabling easy copying of dozens of community-tailored property management forms. Best such text available anywhere!
Know what? Here’s a thought for you. Wouldn’t it signal to the rental housing industry, that ‘manufactured housing has truly arrived’, IF the MH2X Workshop was the training centerpiece at the next Manufactured Housing Congress in Las Vegas? And that the ‘four steps’ and ‘Six Right Ps’ cited above, were taught to land lease community owners/operators from throughout the entire US of A? Think about it, get on board, and suggest this to the salaried leaders of our industry and realty asset class!
George Allen