Blog # 207 Copyright 2012 12 August 2012
Perspective. ‘Land lease lifestyle communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities, & earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, are the real estate component of manufactured housing.”
Trade Terms; They are a Changing! Have YOU Noticed?
What’s With This ‘Book of Numbers’ Debuting in San Diego?
New Twist @ Great Southwest MHShow in Oklahoma, Feb. 2013
Go to SECO on 8/29 in Atlanta! I’ll be there; how bout YOU?
Be Aware! Hotel Rooms Nearly Full & Many Registered for 21st Networking Roundtable @ 12 – 14 September in San Diego, CA.
Record Response to Blog Posting Last Week Leads to Exciting Feature Story in September’s Allen Letter Professional Journal….
I.
Trade Terms; They are a Changing! Have YOU Noticed?
If you’re a regular blog flogger (reader), following the weekly postings at this website, you got a hint of trade term changes last week, when it was pointed out Bruce Savage, interim head of MHI’s National Communities Council division, convinced this industry observer to start penning ‘HUD – Code’ with a hyphen, and to divide ‘land lease community’ into a three word property type description rather than the two words previously used.
Then it ‘hit me’ this past week; there’s a further refinement to this property type description, that plays well to perennial efforts at image improvement and favorable brand identity. And it doesn’t hurt, that the addition of another word, beginning with the same letter ‘L’, adds alliteration to the happy mix.*1 So, until someone convinces otherwise,
LAND LEASE LIFESTYLE COMMUNITY, or land lease lifestyle community, and its’ abbreviated moniker, ‘LLLCommunity’, works image, brand, and phonetic wonders for our oft beleaguered real estate asset class!
With that said though, I’ve decided NOT to incorporate this new alliterated trade term into the soon – to – be – introduced ‘book of numbers’, described in the next paragraph of this week’s blog posting. Why? As ‘good as it reads and sounds’, the new three letter ‘L’ term, ‘land lease lifestyle community’, needs to appear in trade literature for awhile, and become commonplace in routine correspondence, press releases, advertising, and other printed and online matter, before it becomes official industry and asset class terminology.
End Note.
1. alliteration: ‘repetition of the same initial letter or sound in two or more nearby words.’
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II.
What’s With This ‘Book of Numbers’ Debuting in San Diego?
The working, now actual title of said ‘book of numbers’ is the Book of Formulae, Rules of Thumb, & Helpful Measures, ‘mostly for land lease lifestyle communities & HUD – code manufactured housing….’
At this blog posting, there are six chapters and three appendices. Don’t know yet whether we’ll have time to add an index to the mix. The chapters titles?
• Land Lease Lifestyle Community Statistics. Property Valuation and Operations Management
• HUD – Code Manufactured Housing Statistics, & New/Resale Housing Price Point Calculation Methodology
• Commercial Real Estate Investment
• Realty Mortgage Origination
• Affordable Housing & Housing Affordability
• Bringing It All Together! (Actually, that was the original ‘working title’ for the chapter; since then, it’s been changed to ‘So, How Did We Get Here?’
The appendices? 23rd annual ALLEN REPORT©, the ABClassification System©, and Official MHIndustry & LLLCommunity Glossary©
Best Part of All? Presuming the perfect bound books are printed and ready to ship to the Hilton San Diego Resort Hotel, before 12 September, everyone registered for this year’s 21st annual International Networking Roundtable, will receive a FREE copy, as this year’s ‘special gift’. And know what? Word has it, there’s yet another ‘special gift’ being readied for distribution to this year’s 200+ land lease lifestyle community owners/operators and their preferred realty mortgage lenders. And hey, don’t delay! As one of today’s blog headlines says,
Be Aware! Hotel Room Block Nearly Full, as Many Register for Networking Roundtable @ 12 – 14 September in San Diego, CA.
To obtain an agenda and register, go to community-investor.com or phone the MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764.
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III.
New Twist @ Great Southwest MHShow in Oklahoma, Feb. 2013
Every state manufactured housing association executive, and governing board chairman, might want to pay attention to what follows here.
This year, on 27 February 2013, the MHA of Oklahoma is hosting the popular, day long Manufactured Housing Manager® professional property management training and certification program, for its’ members and MHShow participants! The MHM® class occurs the day before the Great Southwest Manufactured Housing Show actually begins. This way, land lease lifestyle community owners and operators can more than double the takeaway value for attending this newly expanded event!
Newly expanded event? That’s right. Not only will LLLCommunity owners/operators have the unique opportunity to become certified as professional PMs, but the next day, at the MHShow, there’ll be at least two presentations, maybe three, that have not been available in years past:
• Representatives from Rishel Consulting will be describing ‘How To Prepare to Deal with Regulators When They Come Knocking!’ So, if concerned – and you should be, regarding the S.A.F.E. Act, AML, CFPB, and more, be on hand on 28 February at the Great Southwest MHShow in Oklahoma.
• George Allen, CPM® & MHM® will present the most comprehensive ‘State of the Manufactured Housing Industry, & Land Lease Lifestyle Community Asset Class’, available anywhere, from anyone else! And if asked, will describe how to use the popular ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Worksheet’, using AGI (annual gross income) & or AMI (average median income) as starting points, how to calculated the ‘affordable’ & ‘risky’ Price Points for new and resale manufactured homes to be sited within land lease lifestyle communities, or outside on realty conveyed fee simple. Where else are you going to learn those key basics of our housing business?
How can you not plan to attend such a symposium of industry knowledge and asset class education? For further information, contact Deanna Fields, PHC® via (405) 634-5050
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT for State MHAssociation Executives & Governing Board Chairmen. Why should New York (Think Symposiums the past three years); Georgia (Think upcoming SECO); and now, the Great Southwest MHShow corral the Best manufactured housing and LLLCommunity programs? The programs described in the previous paragraphs, along with additional presenters covering ‘lease option’, and various property management topics (e.g. marketing, collections, resident relations, etc.) are available to Your Association! And the programs are cost effective. For information, phone the aforementioned MHIndustry HOTLINE!
Frankly, this unique seminar program belongs on the agenda of every regional MHShow, in Tunica, Louisville, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Why? Because it’ll bring land lease lifestyle community owners/operators out to learn together, and see new homes on display!
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IV.
Go to SECO on 8/29 in Atlanta! I’ll be there, how bout YOU?
Doncha love it? Land lease lifestyle community owners planning a day of education and discussion of industry issues for land lease lifestyle community owners and operators? Frankly, I can hardly wait to get to Atlanta, GA., and participate in a networking get together the evening of 28 August; and, day long program on 29 August, that includes:
• Marketing Audit Reports on four land lease lifestyle communities, complete with observations, recommendations, remedial actions taken, and end results!
• 21st Mortgage Corporation’s exciting and ground – breaking C.A.S.H. Program will experience its’ first regional presentation to land lease lifestyle owners!
• Roundtable Discussions led by Southeast land lease lifestyle community owners, will identify and parse the Biggest Issues facing the realty asset class today!
• Introductions of a new, broad – based media advertising program designed to drive qualified homebuyer prospects to communities selling new homes on – site!
Join US at the Hilton Doubletree Atlanta/Marietta Conference Center. Phone (770) 272-9441 for room reservations and visit www.seco12.org
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V.
Record Response to Last Week’s Blog Posting Leads to September feature in the Allen Letter professional journal: ‘How HUD – Code Manufacturers Can Markedly Increase Home Sales into Land Lease Communities Now!’
Hadn’t even turned off the PC last Sunday, when responses to last week’s blog posting at this website (community-investor.com) started pouring in – and every single message was positive and encouraging. As you’ll likely recall, the gist of the post identified ten measures HUD – Code home manufacturers can do NOW, to start selling more new homes into land lease lifestyle communities.
Well, during the past week no fewer than six HUD – Code home manufacturers have requested appointments to review the aforesaid ten points, and in several cases have already directed their Business Development Managers to interface more with land lease lifestyle community owners and operators. And firms which have not, to date, had Community Series Homes or CSH models, available to order, are now adding such community – friendly homes to their product availability mix.
So, if this topic interests you, either scroll back into the blog archives at the community-investor.com website, or be sure to receive the September issue of the Allen Letter professional journal. Not yet a subscriber? Phone the aforementioned MHIndustry HOTLINE. Only $134.95/year for 12 monthly issues of the business newsletter.
And Yes, there were additional responses to this How To blog posting, from state MHAssociation execs, sales consultant/trainers, and MHIndustry veterans. We’ll likely share some of those interesting and thought provoking messages in a future blog posting.
The only ‘downer’ occurred when a ‘reformatted – for – print publication version’ of the ‘ten measures’ was emailed to two national trade advocacy bodies serving the manufactured housing industry. It was suggested the ‘ten measures’ be forwarded on to their HUD – Code home manufacturer members. Did they do so? If you’re a home manufacturer reading this, you’ll have to tell me. In one instance, the request was turned down flat, with the excuse ‘they’ are a national advocacy body and unwilling to tell their members what to do or how to do it (i.e. Increase new home shipments into land lease lifestyle communities!). Go figure.
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George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master
Consultant to the Factory – built Housing Industry,
The Land Lease Lifestyle Community Asset Class &
Affordable Housing Purists & Enthusiasts Nationwide
Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247
(317) 346-7156