FIVE EXCITING NEWS BITES for YOU!

Blog # 512; Copyright @ 9 December 2018; community-investor.com
Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and
‘mobile home parks’ comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing.’

This blog posting is the sole national advocate, voice, official ombudsman, historian, research
reporter and online communication media for all North American land lease communities.

To input this blog &/or affiliate with Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance, a.k.a.
COBA7, use Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764; or gfa7156@aol.com

COBA7 Motto: ‘U Support US & WE serve U! Goal of its’ print & online media? To inform, to opine,
& to help transform & improve manufactured housing & land lease community performance!

INTRODUCTION. Exciting news from COBA7; a new national AMI $ to use for housing price point calculations; one truly unique opportunity for YOU on 29 January in ‘Luavul’, KY; some sound advice for real estate brokers marketing land lease communities; and, don’t forget to ensure YOU receive a copy of 30th annual ALLEN REPORT when it debuts during January 2019!

I.

A Major Change in Trade Media Reporting is Afoot…

Come January 2019, COBA7, a division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing, transitions to a 100 percent digital media platform, away from the firm’s 30 year presence as mostly print media. And while this semi-weekly blog posting has been electronic since its’ debut a decade ago, future issues of the Allen Letter and the Allen CONFIDENTIAL! (‘TAC!’) will follow suit. This also means future books (e.g. a second edition of HOUSING AFFORDOGRAPHY), along with some existing titles, will soon be available as e-books.

So, read the next blog posting or two, for more information – including the new name of this exciting online digital platform! All this is being done to better, and more broadly serve YOU, the manufactured housing industry, and land lease community real estate asset class. GFA

II.

You Earning $57,652 per year?

American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2013-2017) of U.S. economic growth tell

• “Nationally, median household income (a.k.a. Annual Median Income or AMI) increased 1.9 percent, from $56,587 to $57,652 in inflation-adjusted dollars between the two five-year periods, i.e. 2008-2012 & 2013-2017)” And “The percentage of people in poverty decreased from 14.9 percent to 14.6 percent.”

Interestingly, these positive national economic trends were mirrored in all three geographic county groups; specifically,

• “In mostly urban counties, AMI increased 2.3 percent while poverty declined from 14.6 percent to 14.3 percent.”

• “In mostly rural counties, AMI increased 1.4 percent while the poverty rate declined from 16.6 percent to 16.3 percent.”

• ‘For completely rural counties, AMI rose 2.4 percent while the poverty rates declined from 17.7 percent to 17.2 percent.”

Two things. While national AMI hovers around $57,652 know that many, if not most homeowner/site lessees living in land lease communities nationwide, appear to have AGIs (i.e. Annual Gross Incomes) around $36,000. That’s why the oft-used, two-sided ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Formula’ worksheet ‘crunches the numbers’ in two siting scenarios (scattered building sites conveyed fee simple & in-community on rental homesites), four ways: two @ ‘affordable’ perspective, and two @ ‘risky’ perspectives; the difference being whether household utility expenses are included (in ‘affordable’ instances) in said calculations, OR NOT, as in ‘risky’ instances scenarios. Accordingly, $36,000 AMI/AGI is featured on one side of the form, and the recent past $51,229 AMI/AGI on the verso side. For a FREE copy of said worksheet, simply phone the Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764, and request it.

The other thing. Say what you will about President Trump, but the AMI increase, and declining poverty rates, are certainly indicators of his actions to Make America Great Again!

And there’s more from the American Community Survey. “Almost 87 percent of the total U.S. population lived in 1,253 mostly urban counties….Median income in those counties was $59,970 for the most recent five-year period. The poverty rate was 14.3 percent. For individual counties, median income ranged from $20,795 to $129,588 and poverty rates ranged from 2.9 percent to 48.2 percent.”

III.

What Will YOU be Doing 29 January 2019?

29th is a Tuesday, the day before the Louisville MHShow begins at KY State Fairgrounds.

It’s also the day on which a Manufactured Housing Manager professional property management training & certification class is planned. If interested in attending the MHM program, from 9AM till 4PM, phone (317) 346-7156 to register. Costs only $295.00 per MHM candidate. No testing. MHMs receive a copy of Landlease Community Management and other training materials, plus their gold MHM lapel pin & official certification document!

There’s also something exciting being planned for the afternoon of 29 January 2019. And frankly, if interested, YOU can have a ‘say’ in what takes place between 1 & 5PM.

During past decades, manufactured housing executives and land lease community owners have oft asked me to plan and host informal but structured gatherings of like-minded businessmen and women. And we’ve done so. These have been private group meetings during MHCongresses in Las Vegas; at Saddlebrook Farms in Grayslake, IL.; during SECO conferences in Atlanta, GA.; on-site in land lease communities in FL, PA, and elsewhere; and most recently, annual MHALive! ‘open discussion’ think tank-like sessions at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. So there’s plenty of precedent for what I’m suggesting here….

We’ve reserved a board room at a popular name brand hotel near the Louisville MHShow venue. What I need NOW is input from YOU, as to what topics you’d like to cover during four 50 minute sessions between 1 & 5PM on 29th of January. We need four stimulating and thought provoking topics. Here’re several possibilities to get YOU thinking and responding:

• Evergreen Manufactured Housing Issues. Re-read blog posting # 512

• Have the 30th anniversary ALLEN REPORT? Let’s discuss content & trends

• Land lease community lobbying efficacy via MHI’s/NCC div., COBA7, & NAMHCO

• MH trade media reporting: MHInsider, Allen Letter, Mfd. Hsng. Review. etc..

• All you ever wanted to know about lease-option, but didn’t know who to ask!

• MH & LLCommunities. Key parts to solving U.S. affordable housing crisis?

And if YOU have suggestions for additional topics, please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

Watch here for more details as they become available.
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IV.

Solicited Advice for Real Estate Brokers Selling Land Lease Communities

When a veteran owner/operator of land lease communities was recently asked if he had advice for real estate brokers specializing in the marketing of this income-producing property type. This is what he penned:

“…tell brokers to stop encouraging sellers to sell for ridiculous prices (Which will eventually hurt the industry anyway); stop telling communities with no ‘sales price tag’ (i.e. ‘Call in with $ offers!’); stop encouraging sellers to accept offers from buyers who haven’t seen or visited the property (Assuming they’ll negotiate during the due diligence period); quit telling buyers, “ALL you have to do to increase cash flow and increase property value is buy new manufactured homes (Takes far more than that!); and, bring back actual 10-12 income capitalization rates.”

Pretty much says it all doesn’t it?

V.

30th anniversary (2019 ALLEN REPORT,
a.k.a.
‘Who’s Who Among Land Lease Community Portfolio Owners/Operators Throughout North America!’

COBA7 affiliates at the Options II & III levels, as well as land lease community owners/operators who took time to completely fill-in the ALLEN REPORTquestionnaire this past Fall, will receive copies of this seminal document – the longest running statistical compendium published in the manufactured housing industry today!

Don’t wait until January 2019 to order your copy! Phone (317) 346-7156 to affiliate with COBA7 today. You’ll be glad you did. This edition is chock full of timely and interesting information about the realty asset class. For example, 25 portfolio firms have been dropped from this year’s report, for all the usual reasons. And we’ve added more than a dozen ‘new names’ to the 500 list of owners/operators.

***

George Allen, CPM, MHM
COBA7, division of GFA Management, Inc., dba PMN Publishing
Box # 47024
Indianapolis, IN. 46247
(317) 346-7156