NEW ERA Launch of COBA7 Astounds!

Blog Column @ 281 Copyright 2014 26 January 2014

Perspective. ‘Land-lease-lifestyle communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities & earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, is the real estate component of manufactured housing.’

Purpose of this blog. ‘To be the national advocacy voice, statistical research reporter, & communication resource for LLLCommunities, of all sizes, throughout North America!’

Input this Blog, & Affiliate with Community Owners Business Alliance, or COBA7; via
Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764 and gfa7156@aol.com

I.

Another ‘Affluence Gerrymandering’ Casualty..

II,

NEW ERA Launch of ‘Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance’ has been Astounding!

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I.

Another ‘Affluence Gerrymandering’ Casualty…

Just returned home from the Luavul (Louisville) Manufactured Housing Show. A lot of newsy notes to share with you during the weeks ahead (e.g. ‘Guess how many Community Series Homes, or CSH Models, were on display this year?), but suffice it to say for now, this was one frigid – but worthwhile – regional meeting experience! And as a voting member of the Louisville Manufactured Housing Show Committee, I’ll share this with you: Show participation, in terms of display homes (48), exhibitors (80+), and registered guests (1500+) exceeded several previous years of ‘returning to normal’ growth.

If you missed Rishel Consulting’s day long (home finance compliance) seminar, for independent (street) MHRetailers & land-lease-lifestyle community on-site salespersons, just prior to the KY Show, you missed a timely and valuable educational opportunity! Phone (312) 878-2802 to ask Ken – the Manufactured Housing Industry’s Person of the Year!, or his wife Donna, when they’ll be facilitating their next similar opportunity, so YOU can be ‘brought up to speed’ as to what YOU Can & what YOU Can’t say to prospective homebuyers during the selling process. Very important to know!

Another ‘affluence gerrymandering’ casualty? Simply means I’m not the only entrepreneur businessman who’s decided NOT to travel to Washington, DC. next month for an industry legislative conference and meeting. The costly combination of travel expenses (flight into & from DC, plus hotel for a couple days in Arlington, VA, plus taxis, plus meals, plus parking) and a hefty event registration fee, make this trip prohibitively expensive! SO, sad to say, I’ll NOT have a ‘say’ (vote) in any of the proceedings at a national meeting hosted by an advocacy entity of which I’m a direct, dues-paying member; especially since it disallows absentee balloting and voting. Yep; another casualty of ‘affluence gerrymandering’, i.e. the artful limiting of meeting attendance by keeping the cost of participation higher than necessary.

II.

NEW ERA Launch, of ‘Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance’, has been Astounding!

Already, more land-lease-lifestyle community owners/operators, and their preferred product and service vendors – including several HUD-Code home manufacturers, have affiliated with COBA7, than the combined number of realty asset class’ members claimed by our unique, income-producing property type’s national advocacy and ‘think tank’ councils! And know what’s especially encouraging? Retired manufactured housing executives have been affiliating, wanting to ‘stay informed about what’s really going on – and not going on – throughout the industry today’. What an encouraging vote of confidence that is!

To date, dozens of copies of the ‘biggest & best’ 25th anniversary ALLEN REPORT (A.k.a. ‘Who’s Who Among Land-lease-lifestyle Community Portfolio Owners/operators Throughout North America!’) have been mailed to COBA7 affiliates throughout the U.S. and Canada.

While the Community Owners Business Alliance exists to serve seven function areas (*) important to land-lease-lifestyle community owners/operators throughout North America, the fact that product and service vendors (e.g. chattel & real estate – secured mortgage originators & lenders, insurance & realty brokerages, aftermarket parts suppliers), as well as HUD-Code home manufacturers (Who’re selling an increasing volume of new manufactured homes into LLLCommunities), are WELCOME to affiliate, has struck a very responsive chord among these segments of the manufactured housing industry. Reminder. COBA7 is NOT a new, national, not for profit trade group; simply a business alliance, serving seven function areas (*) important to LLLCommunities, large and small, throughout North America!

The seven function areas (*)? Ongoing statistical research (e.g. annual ALLEN REPORT), distribution of helpful resources (e.g. dozen Signature Series Resource Documents or SSRDs), online & print communication (e.g. this weekly blog posting & two subscriber-supported monthly newsletters), superb peer networking (e.g. upcoming FOCUS Group meeting & annual Networking Roundtable), deal – making opportunities, professional property management training & certification (e.g. Manufactured Housing Manager® or MHM® program via class sessions or correspondence), and when need be, national advocacy (e.g. COBA7 affiliates already being considered for several national appointments….)

How to affiliate? Simply phone the Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764 and decide which of three options best serves your business needs:

Option I = Allen Letter only, no ALLEN REPORT, none of the 12 SSRDs @ $134.95/yr.

Option II = Allen Letter, 25th ALLEN REPORT, 12 SSRDs (issued monthly) @ $544.95

Option III = Allen Letter, 25th ALLEN REPORT, 12 SSRDs, & the Allen CONFIDENTIAL! business newsletter for corporate CEOs & sole proprietors @ $944.95

And what’s in the near future for the Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance?

Some sort of MHInitiative® aimed at helping HUD-Code home manufacturers identify and effectively sell new Community Series Homes to the 42,000+/- smaller (100 & fewer rental homesites) LLLCommunities throughout the U.S. Most HUD-Code home manufacturers know they can easily access the 500+/- known portfolio owners/operators, via direct mail, using the exclusive, confidential data base available via COBA7. Had planned a mega-event at the RV/MH Heritage Federations’ Hall of Fame facility in Elkhart, IN., on 27 February 2014, but there’s not now really enough time to pull all those pieces together. Suggestions anyone – for accessing 42,000+/- LLLCommunities?

Presently soliciting topics and potential writers’ names to participate in a Lessons Learned from LLLCommunity Operations book, for distribution at the 23rd annual Networking Roundtable this coming Fall. Interested? Contact via Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764. Preference likely given to COBA7 affiliates.

First national FOCUS Group meeting tentatively scheduled for 2 & 3 April, at an as yet undisclosed location. Looking for a large LLLCommunity with a clubhouse capable of seating 100 men and women. If interested, reach GFA via (317) 346-7156. The Best FOCUS Groups take place on-site at a LLLCommunity!

23rd annual International Networking Roundtable. Details to follow, but likely @ 10 – 12 September, somewhere in the Midwest. If you’re reading this and would like to be considered as a presenter; let me know, also the nature of the topic you’d like to present. Past speakers know we publicize their participation, in the Roundtable, ahead of time, and also in a feature article, summarizing the event, afterwards – complete with contact information. Who else does that for YOU in this industry and realty asset class?

Hope you decide to affiliate with COBA7 during the days and week ahead! Once you’ve selected Option II or III, we get a copy of the 25th ALLEN REPORT, and a copy of January’s Allen Letter professional journal in the mail to you right away! And if you’re already a newsletter subscriber, we credit the unused portion of said subscription to your Option II or III choice. Remember; Option I is only a subscription to the Allen Letter professional journal.

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