Blog Posting # 803; Copyright 26 July 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, for the recreational vehicle (‘RV’) industry as well. Access EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815 email: gfa7156@aol.com, & 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 in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as prolific non-fiction author and popular 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.
Paradigm Retrospect: Years 1998 – 2024
Enough years have gone by now (i.e. 26 to be exact; 1998 – 2024), for some if not many, in the manufactured housing business and land lease community ownership, to Not Remember how our business models functioned during and after the mini-renascence of the late 1990s, when 1998 MH production was at 372,943+/- units, compared to the heyday of 1973 and its’ 579,940 units. ‘Back then’ – till year 2000, the majority of new HUD-Code manufactured homes were sold directly to tens of thousands of independent (street) MHRetailers (a.k.a. ‘dealers’) who then sold and placed them on privately-owned scattered building sites or in subdivisions, as well as into land lease communities for placement on vacant rental homesites.
At the turn of the century, manufactured housing lost its’ historic ‘easy access’ to chattel capital (a.k.a. personal property mortgages, home-only loans), forcing more than 10,000 independent (street) MHRetailers, according to MHI, out of business, gradually changing the way we distributed new HUD-Code manufactured homes! For the next two decades we (i.e. housing manufacturers & community owners/operators) struggled along, hitting an industry nadir low of only 48,789+/- new HUD-Code homes in 2009. That was until we realized there was no ‘outside $ help on the way’, so we’d have to formally change the business models – which we did! How?
A combination of things occurred. First, manufacturers and community folk agreed on the need for a specially-designed Community Series Home or CSH (i.e. Think porch-loaded front end of homes); then, manufacturers designated Business Development specialists (i.e. salesmen) to sell new homes directly into communities nationwide. Result? Between 2009 & 2018 we doubled the annual number of new HUD-Code homes produced, and increased the percentage going into communities, from 15 percent, up to more than 45 percent!
Along the way, at least two groups – community owners in Georgia, and a Midwest state MH association launched two and three day programs to train community owners/operators how to ‘spec’, buy, sell, and when need be, finance new and resale manufactured homes onsite. And those programs continue to this day.
On 20 & 21 August, the IMHA/RVIC (Indiana), whose program of sales seminars and plant tours commenced in 2016, will hold their annual program at the RV/MH Hall of Fame facility in Elkhart, IN. For information and to register, phone (317) 247-6258 or website.
On 16-19 September, in Atlanta, GA, SECO (originally ‘southeast community owners’) will host their highly popular program that debuted in 2012. Visit www.secoconference.com
I plan to attend both events. How ‘bout you?
What you just read was originally penned a month ago to announce the inaugural MH2X project workshop that was held in Atlanta earlier this week. It was sold out! But more sessions are on the horizon.
Frankly, today’s manufactured housing industry and land lease communities are different from what I experienced when embracing the business models in 1978. Back then we referred to ‘mobile homes’ and the commercial real estate component was popularly ‘mobile home parks’. As our housing product became ever more homelike, and the need for affordable housing grew from being a widely-desired shelter option to a contemporary shortage crisis, our annual production has nearly returned to the 100,000 unit threshold – but we still have a long way to go!
One of the measures that may – or may not, get us beyond the 100,000 unit threshold is the MHI-sponsored design CrossMod® home, single and multisection homes boasting conventional site-built housing features. To name just a few:
- 6 inch or greater eves
- Elevated roof pitch
- FHA-compliant permanent foundation (e.g. no vinyl skirting)
- Durable exterior siding
- Drywall throughout
- Genuine wood cabinets
- Minimum R33-11-22 insulation
- A programmable thermostat
- Paved driveway leading to the house
- Sidewalk connecting driveway or detached garage or carport to a door or attached porch of the home
And there’s more. For more information contact the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’)
George Allen