Four Hot Topics for MHIndustry Professionals
Blog # 236 Copyright 2013 10 March 2013
Perspective. ‘Land lease lifestyle communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities & earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, are the real estate component of manufactured housing.’
I.
22nd annual Networking Roundtable to Emphasize Close Cooperation Between Land Lease Lifestyle Community Owners/operators & HUD – Code Home Manufacturers!
II.
HUD Acknowledges Affordable Housing Shortage in the U.S., but Fails to ‘Look Within’ and See Manufactured Housing as Answer!
III.
Readying for Competition & Tweaking Revenue Sources
IV.
Planning for Disaster
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I.
22nd annual Networking Roundtable to Emphasize Close Cooperation Between Land Lease Lifestyle Community Owners/operators & HUD – Code Home Manufacturers!
(Originally scheduled to debut @ 7:30 – 8:45AM on 18 April, at MHI’s congress in Las Vegas, but now canceled, this much – needed, new home shipment catalyst, will now be center stage during the 22nd annual Networking Roundtable in September 2013!)
On 4 March 2013, a letter went out to all Business Development Managers, or BDMs, working for HUD – Code home manufacturers throughout the U.S. The correspondence described a new, three – pronged MHInitiative® designed to pick up where the last National State of the Asset Class (‘NSAC’) caucus, on 27 February 2009, left off. MHIndustry veterans will recall how the day long meeting at the RV/MH Heritage Foundation’s Hall of Fame, Museum & Library facility, spawned the popular Community Series Home, or CSH Model, now relatively commonplace among HUD – Code home manufacturers and land lease lifestyle communities.
Since then, the NSAC caucus movement has been relabeled as MHInitiative®; whereby many HUD – Code manufacturers now routinely design, build and ship CSH Model homes; and virtually all LLLCommunities, with more than 100 rental homesites, now sell, self – finance, and or lease homes on – site, to fill their share of an estimated 250,000 vacant sites located throughout the U.S. But there’s still room for improvement, in both the manufacturer/LLLCommunity relationship, and the methodology of marketing and selling new, even resale manufactured homes. Hence this expanded, three – pronged MHInitiative®, targeting:
• All HUD – Code home manufacturers desiring to sell more new homes into LLLCommunities!
• All land lease lifestyle community owners/operators buying/selling/renting, and oft times self – financing new homes on – site!
• All land lease lifestyle community owners/operators buying/selling/renting resale homes on – site, and or leasing rental homesites!
Not one of these three parts of the expanded MHInitiative® is self – exclusive! They interrelate to the extent that HUD – Code home manufacturers AND land lease lifestyle community owners/operators decide to overtly work together, cooperating to market, sell, lease, and when need be, self – finance new, even resale homes on – site, within these unique, income – producing properties! And in most cases, throughout the U.S., this novel Business Plan is effected, unfortunately, sans participation by independent ‘street’ MHRetailers, and with no secondary market for selling – off ‘used’ manufactured homes.
Achieving this ‘new level of intra – segment cooperation, or team building’, is what had been hoped for during the congress next month. But that opportunity has been ‘kicked down the road’ to September – and that’s probably a ‘good thing’ for these reasons: 1) There are still several training aids to prepare; and now with the added time, 2) recruit additional presenters to focus their expertise on the tripartite task at hand. The training aids? At least four exciting ones to date:
• Virtually everyone in the MHIndustry & LLLCommunity asset class is already aware of, if not routinely using, the strangely – named, but highly useful ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Worksheet’. *1 But what most folk don’t realize is this four perspective Housing Price Point Estimation Tool is functional as a Spread Sheet. And that application will be introduced and made accessible to all, at the 22nd annual Networking Roundtable this Fall.
• The first of two 3”X5” plastic cards, printed both sides, will feature using the ‘5 – RPs of Marketing’ to market and sell new, HUD – Code homes INTO land lease lifestyle communities. To the best of this writer’s knowledge, never before have HUD – Code home manufacturers cooperated, via their Business Development Managers, to produce a Training Aid of this nature, to this practical end! Once and for all, ‘Here’s How to do it!’ What could be more exciting than cooperating together on such a worthy, and certainly timely, project?!
• The second of two 3”X5” plastic cards, printed both sides, will feature two distinctly different, but related uses of the ‘5 – RPs of Marketing’: to 1) market and sell new homes WITHIN land lease lifestyle communities; and 2) market and sell resale, and or rental homes, WITHIN this property type, as well as lease vacant rental homesites! And like the ‘manufacturers’ card described in the previous paragraph, these two will contain the best thinking, based on successful on – site experience, of owners/operators already engaged in these procedures!
And capable, experienced, motivated presenters willing to focus and share their expertise in these three areas? Well, if you believe you’re One of Them, please get in touch with me via this website, mail: GFA c/o Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247. or otherwise.*1 For that matter, if you own/operate a LLLCommunity, and or supply products and services (e.g. mortgage origination) to this property type, and would like to be invited to this year’s ‘by invitation only’ 22nd annual Networking Roundtable, NOW is not too early to say so!
And know I’ll be present at the aforementioned congress, in April, if you’d like to discuss this new, enhanced shipment volume MHInitiative®, between HUD – Code home manufacturers AND land lease lifestyle community owners/operators! It’s likely most Networking Roundtable ‘presenter’ positions will be filled by then, but Your Ideas are indeed Welcome!
II.
HUD Acknowledges Affordable Housing Shortage in the U.S., but Fails to ‘Look Within’ & See Manufactured Housing as Answer!
Remember blog posting # 232, of a few weeks ago, featuring this ‘in your face challenge’: Hey HUD! Help Out! ? Well, according to a recently released document titled: ‘Worst Case Housing Needs 2011: A Summary Report to Congress’, HUD’s 2011 American Housing Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, between May & September 2011, “…the number of ‘Worst Case Housing Needs’ continued to grow from the previous record high, in 2009 (7.1 million households) by a striking 43.5 percent since 2007.” This means “8.5 million households paid more than half their income for rent or lived in substandard housing.”
What will it take to get HUD to realize and promote manufactured housing as the most reasonable answer to our nation’s affordable housing crisis – as just described in the previous paragraph? At least the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform, or MHARR, is trying to do so! The following is quoted from their Press Release dated 26 February 2013:
“…MHARR has pointed out, in congressional oversight hearing and other
interactions with government decision – makers, notwithstanding such growing
‘critical needs’ and mandate of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of
2000 (a.k.a. MHIA@2000), the HUD program (should) ‘facilitate the acceptance
of the quality, durability, safety and affordability of manufactured housing within
the Department’.”
If you’re not already on MHARR’s mailing list to receive strategic information such as this, phone (202) 783-4087.
III.
Readying for Competition & Tweaking Revenue Sources
Let’s leave it this way: If you’re a direct, dues – paying member of the Manufactured Housing Institute, and were not in attendance at the institute’s recent (February 25 & 26) annual Legislative Conference and Winter Meeting, it’s likely you haven’t seen and or read a copy of the proposed changes to MHI’s present bylaws. No commentary here, yet; just a friendly suggestion you phone Richard Jennison via (703) 558-0678, and, as a direct, dues – paying member of the institute, request a copy of the marked – up set of bylaws; to review, and about which, to form your own opinion(s) pro and con, before their annual meeting, October 2013.
IV.
Planning for Disaster!
In a recent blog posting, it was described how some land lease lifestyle community owners/operators are searching for guidelines and more, to help them better prepare, ahead of time, for disasters that might strike their properties! Besides the resources suggested in that blog posting, Jay Zandman of the Manning & Nozick Insurance Agency informed this web site his firm has such resources ‘available for the asking’. So, phone Jay via (770) 393-8311 X 117, and tell him ‘Hey Jay, George Sent me!’
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End Notes.
1. ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Worksheet’ available FREE by phoning the MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764.
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George Allen, CPM & MHM
Box # 47024, Indianapolis, IN. 46247
(317) 346-7156