The Masthead

All too often, politics in our country simply seems frustrating. I routinely meet people – in and out of our industry – who feel that what happens in DC, state or local politics is simply beyond their ability to influence. So they tune it all out. On the other end of the spectrum are those who are in the trenches of politics. In manufactured housing, souls like DJ Pendleton, Jen Hall or dozens of their association peers come to mind; plus business pros like Nathan Smith, who can cross the aisle to work with anyone.

I feel gratitude towards those who do it and empathy for those frustrated.

Let's take a short odyssey on this timely MH related topic, and see the amazing places it will lead us…

This quote I read weeks ago has been on my mind:

"For several days now, I have been captured by this sentence. "The forces that change history are the same as those that change man's heart."" – Geri Benoit, Haitian Ambassador to Italy.

There is a powerful truth here! Truth is indeed useful, but often it is the forces that change a person's heart that drive history, be it for good or ill.

The unspeakable horrors that occurred in:

• Nazi Germany,
• Lenin and Stalin's Russia,
• Pol Pott's Cambodia and
• the slaughter of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda

are a handful of numerous past or present examples where the evil that drove the hearts of a few narcissistic 'leaders' ended up taking root in many. In turn, that lead to genocides we find difficult to imagine.

Sometimes indifference or a lack of engagement has a frightfully high cost.

But those historic macro events take place on a micro level too. Ariel Castro's alleged decade of horrors against those kidnapped women in Ohio can be seen as a case in point.

Such deeds are too horrible for many to accept, so it may seem easier to tune it out. For many it comes down to the rhetorical canard, what can one person do?

Yet ironically each example above started with one person who – wrongly or rightly – inspired others. So it is precisely when the one won't act for the good, when too many tune out and ignore evil or wrongdoing, that we end up with more horrors!

I control me. You control yourself. Edmund Burke said it well:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is when good men do nothing."

In every one of the national horrors mentioned above, a tipping point was reached. That tipping point occurred when enough people allowed their minds and hearts to be changed for ill and so they facilitated or took part in the horrors that followed.

The reverse was also true; that not enough good people stood up and acted to stop it.

Madder then Hell

Anger is not always a negative emotion. There is such a thing as righteous anger! Just as one self-absorbed person's tainted heart can lead millions down a road to a living hell, so too one person's pure heart can lead others through the chaos of indifference or evil to do good.

Consider the following:

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts." – Arnold Bennett

Or:

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort. " – Theodore Roosevelt

Consider Moses, Jesus of Nazareth, Joan of Arc, George Washington, Ghandi, or Martin Luther King, Jr. as some of the many historic examples of how a single person could lead or inspire others to changes for the better. Many different people and styles, but their personal commitment and leadership made the difference.

Let's also cite innovators or entrepreneurs like Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Helen Blanchard, Henry Ford, Dr. Grace Hopper, Bill Gates, Dr. Patricia Bath or Steve Jobs who influenced the world! They do so even if their names remain unknown to millions whose lives their work touched.

We can be tempted – inspired! – to good, just as one can be tempted to do or ignore evil.

Part of what sets these various leaders apart is a quality we could sum up as "never, ever quit." None of those named, good or ill, were quitters!

So if the cause is just – and manufactured housing is a good cause – just don't give up!

Thomas Edison became famous for his 10,000 failed efforts to invent the light bulb, before his breakthrough success.

Think about the drama/comic classic movie, Network, where a fictional anchorman inspires millions to get madder than hell, and just not 'take it' any more!

Sometimes we need a righteous anger in order to effect positive change.

There are times we need to make an irrevocable decision to not quit – to not give in – until a just cause is accomplished.

Winston Churchill lead an England that seemed isolated and alone against a Nazi war machine that had swept the armies of Western Europe and Poland aside with relative ease. It must have seemed hopeless to the Brits. Yet, as the bombs dropped during the arial blitz of London – as thousands died when houses, buildings and churches collapsed – Churchill famously said:

"Never, never, never, never give up!"

We all know who prevailed. One person helped inspire a nation. The Bristish never quit and won.

Or ponder this gem:

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;

courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

- Winston Churchill

The Manufactured Housing Phenomenon

Ladies and gentlemen, MH pro Ron Thomas Sr. is correct in saying that the manufactured home industry is nothing short of a phenomenon!

Manufactured housing is misunderstood. It is dismissed and besmirched. But MH refuses to die because it is such an incredible value that even indifference, ignorance, sloth or just plain foolishness isn't enough to kill it!

For some, their work in this industry is just a job, or just another investment. I get that.

But some like Mike Evans, Randy Rowe, Sam Landy or other leaders we've interviewed correctly see our industry as nothing short of amazing!

I listened in Las Vegas last month to Stacey Epperson tell me and Howard Banker – Executive Director of the Fair Mortgage Collaborative – how she went from hating manufactured housing, because she was blind to its true worth, to becoming just as passionately for it.

Epperson was a stick builder! Now as the CEO of NextStep, Epperson sees and promotes the incredible value of manufactured housing! I've asked her to share her story, which I hope will happen in the days ahead.

For some, a manufactured home is just another roof over their heads.

But for others, a manufactured home is a dream come true! Starting back in 1981, I've met, worked with and sold thousands who loved their manufactured homes. I've managed land lease communities where many residents could not have been more pleased with their homes. We work routinely with pros who are clients in retail, communities, lending and other phases of manufactured housing. So I can tell you first hand…

Manufactured housing is indeed a phenomenon!

To be able to sell a durable, eco-friendly home for 25% less than conventional construction is simply amazing.

In the part of the upper Midwest where we live, a new residential style manufactured home with finished drywall may cost 40% +/- less than a similar sized new conventionally built house. An entry level home with VOG walls may cost 50% +/- or less than on site construction.

Manufactured housing is amazing. It is a phenomenon. We're part of a phenomenon.

We are the answer to America's looming affordable housing crisis. That means for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, that we have an incredible opportunity hidden in the affordable housing crisis.

To tap our potential, we should take two immediate steps.

1) We must rouse ourselves – and others – to get HR 1779 passed into law.

2) We must define ourselves and not let others falsely define us! So we must rouse ourselves to stand up to and call upon those ignorant (or whatever…) who de facto slur us. Let's begin with the Princeton WordNet project, calling upon them to change their insulting definition of our incredible homes. It harms their image and ours to have such an error filled 'definition' of our homes so prominently online. Please see the link above.

We must become manufactured housing evangelists!

The antidote to frustration is action. The antidote to indifference is passion!

There is a reward waiting for those who do so. In fact, millions will be benefited when we personally do what it takes and never, never, never, never give up!

Combine knowledge with passion. Because:

"The forces that change history are the same as those that change man's heart."

- Geri Benoit.

Together, we can do these two steps above and make a little history. Please follow those two links above. Just do it.

Then, ask your co-workers, family and friends to do the same. Don't give up. The antidote to frustration is positive action! Millions will benefit – and there will be gratitude! – towards those who do, thank you. ##

Photo credits:

Rwandan genocide skulls: WikiCommons
Edison's light bulb: WikiCommons
Winston Churchill: WikiCommons
Geri Benoit: AVSI.org

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for May and see the

other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach

MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle

MHProNews.com = MHMSM.com = Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use

Services:B2BandB2CAds, Proven MH Marketing & Sales Systems, Websites other Industry Solutions.

Office -815-270-0500

latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com

www.MHC-MD.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach= connect with me on Linkedin.

http://pinterest.com/latonyk/manufactured-home-lifestyle/

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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. – Henry Ford

A dear, wise soul told me years ago that 'news is gossip for intellectuals.' It was meant to be witty as well as often being a truism.  Some 'news' – entertainment news comes to mind – is indeed gossipy. But other news and commentary are more serious, notably when it impacts people's lives, including our own.

An association leader has told me repeatedly (probably so I'd "get it…") that if we simply narrowed our focus in Washington DC, we would be more successful with our industry agenda there.

Specifically, that leader suggested that we need HUD to appoint a non-career administrator, as called for by the industry's coveted Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA 2000), and to get the legislative fix passed for Dodd-Frank (DF).

That DF fix, which has been filed in the House as HR 1779 and will be filled soon in the Senate, both with bi-partisan support.  U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly looked us in the eye last February and said we will get this done.  Let's not think it will get done without our effort!

So the next Two Big Things, contact your Congressional Rep to support HR 1779 – details are found or linked above – and then get others who you know or who work with you to do the same. Don't delay on this one!

More Gossipy: "the Carrier"

Okay, those above are 'newsy issues' that we ought to act upon.

But let me tarry for a bit on less important – more gossipy but still interesting – thoughts that have been floated in industry circles for some weeks now about “the carrier.”

The removable chassis (or carrier, or frame) issue for HUD Code homes was floated by MHARR recently. That thread was picked up by at least three commentators, plus their followers.

I tend to side with MHARR's position on this issue.  HUD should not compel manufacturers, retailers and communities to forever keep the chassis (frame, carrier) under a HUD Code manufactured home.  

In an age of recycling, cost controls and 'it just looks better,' there are no practical reasons I can see why we should have to keep the frame.  Let it be used for transport, let it have the option to be removable (like hitches are) to effect a lower ground set, help end the tr- -ler stigma and make us a step closer to MODs and conventional housing.  Many reason could be shared as to why it is a good idea.

Among those commenting on this topic, all of those taking the contrarian position in their commentary to MHARR's thinking on the optional removable frame – as polite toward MHARR as it has been – seems odd.

The opposing thoughts I've seen on the removal of the chassis or frame falls into a bucket more like intellectual gossip rather than a serious rationale.  

MODs don't need a permanent carrier/frame, neither should we on HUDs.   The air around the ' reasons' – like losing the frame will turn MH into a commodity – upon careful examination is mostly just that, air. Are MODs a commodity? I don't think so. Neither would HUD Code manufactured homes become a commodity due solely to the removal of their carrier/frame.

Far more interesting in the frame/carrier topic is how the tax treatment of MH would be impacted if frames are removed.  That's another topic, for later on down the road.

But the wise association leader's point above –  that for now we should focus on two things in DC – also comes to mind on this issue.

If we had that non-career administrator (NCA) in place at HUD as the MHIA 2000 requires, and the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC)  was functioning like it should, this could be one of many no-brainers for our industry.  

Industry leaders could go in and make the case to the NCA at HUD. We'd be doing more than talking.  We'd have action!  The same might be said about AC Letters, which today are a pain for most manufacturers when the AC process ought to be stream lined and be a source for innovation for HUD Code homes. A non-career administrator could help the program – and our industry – in a variety of ways.

Part of the original genius of the HUD Code is that it should be a performance driven code!

Our's is not supposed to be a proscriptive code, as in the case of conventional building codes. Performance driven means that its the outcome – the performance or end result – that would matter. HUD may need to be reminded about that too, as it fits into the whole DC narrative of making America a more innovative place to be and do business.

Recap and a Shout Out

We need to focus on the House bill HR 1779, and the upcoming Senate companion bill, which could be introduced later this month!

But then, once that is done,  lets set our sites on a non-career administrator at HUD.  It will help us far beyond the interesting topic of a chassis, which is arguably no where near the top of what we must focus upon today.

On a personal note, a Happy Mother's Day shout out to all the mom's out there! We couldn't be doing what we are doing without you! ##

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for May and see the

other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach

MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle

MHProNews.com = MHMSM.com = Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use

Services:B2BandB2CAds, Proven MH Marketing & Sales Systems, Websites other Industry Solutions.

Office -815-270-0500

latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com

www.MHC-MD.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach= connect with me on Linkedin.

http://pinterest.com/latonyk/manufactured-home-lifestyle/

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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. – Henry Ford

Okay, not everyone will be as blown away by this report as our inner circle and close supporters are, but let me outline below why you and others in manufactured housing should be!

The top two articles so far in May on MHProNews are as follows:

MHProNews.com/home/featured-articles/may-2013/138-general-manufactured-housing-industry-topics/5417-a-cup-of-coffee-with-michael-evans

MHProNews.com/home/featured-articles/may-2013/137-financing/5418-manufactured-home-mortgages-perform-as-well-as-other-mortgages

Through the first part of May 7, 2013 here are our summary site stats:

Let me put this into English.

If the current trends holds for the month, we would have 1,415,770 page views in the month of May! For some context, that would be roughly 6 times the traffic that MHI – the largest national manufactured housing industry association – self-reports as their monthly page views. You can see our last 12 months of trends on this page linked here.

By way of analysis, as the top two articles suggest:

• Among all levels of industry owners, pros, investors and associations leaders tracking the news in manufactured housing are keenly following our periodic series of interviews with C-Suite Industry leaders. A Cup of Coffee with… interviews are all archived here.
• The facts here are important because it reflects a renewed enthusiasm about manufactured housing, and it is evident in:
• high readership of the exclusive interviews we've published,
• in positive reports that have hit the mainstream media or realty blogs recently,
• from the robust turn outs and positive buzz by the 2000+ pros who attended the 2013 Louisville Show and similar numbers at this year's Tunica Show, or the some 830 pros who attended the MHI/NCC Congress and Expo.
• Have you noticed that even Marty Lavin, who sometimes is seen as a curmudgeonly personna in the manufactured housing circles, has shed significant positive light in his latest column, linked above? No one accuses Marty of being a cheer leader, and while the cautionary notes are still there, this is as cheerful a read from him as I've seen in many years!
• Many of our Featured Articles, blogs and reports – such as the fine column by CFED's CEO, Andrea Levere, referenced above and linked here – showcase in their own way opportunities or potentially positive steps on the road ahead.
• All of these events and energy contribute to and perhaps echo the 2 years of steady new home shipment growth manufactured housing has experienced since we bottomed out in 2011.

Scientia potentia est!

Knowledge is potential power is a possible translation of the Latin phrase “Scientia potentia est.” More knowledge found here in the Industry News Tips and Views Pros Can Use is enhanced potential power for our readers.

Reports like the one referenced above, that Andrea Levere and her colleagues have made possible, can further fuel renewed interest and enthusiasm for our Industry on Wall Street and beyond. That report on manufactured home mortgage performance may be seen all the more important to our industry because it was not commissioned by 'us,' but rather by impartial non-profits that are widely respected.

Pogo?

Having shared the 'good news,' let's toss out a solid dose of reality checks.

My fellow industry professionals, we must take the lesson found decades ago in a famous panel from Walt Kelly's comic series, Pogo. It is as follows:

I've had occasion to reference this memorable cartoon before. I'm often disappointed by the fact that so many in our ranks don't realize how important 'best practices' ought to be. While many already do, more must put consumers interests into our mix, as was discussed by that panel of industry leaders in the NCC forum at Vegas, that was referenced in the column linked below.

http://MHProNews.com/blogs/tonykovach/enlightened-self-interest/

Indeed a number of owners/executives and professionals in our ranks are striving daily to deliver 'Wow!' service.

Another example of pro-consumer efforts that are being advanced must include HR 1779. Associations – national, state and communities – are calling upon their members to contact their Congressional representative in support of a common sense reform that will protect manufactured home owners' values, while also protecting jobs in our industry and thousands of businesses too. Let me join our voice with those in the association world to ask you to contact your U.S. House member, a link to contact them yours is found in our article linked above.

But we must do far more to fully realize our potential.

Another common sense effort that would catapult our sales to the proverbial next level would be to protect both home owners and lenders through a more professional remarketing of manufactured homes. When personal property lenders and consumers alike can routinely count on the type of remarketing found in conventional housing by real estate brokers, we will see new and pre-owned home sales rise, home resale values will be enhanced, chattel interest rates will fall and respect for our industry would grow.

I don't tire of reminding readers that we need 20 million new housing units in America by the year 2030! In an upcoming exclusive interview with Cavco's Chairman, Joe Stegmayer, you will see his candid take on UMH's Sam Landy's projection that manufactured housing could hit 300,000+ annual new home shipments again. You will also see Mr. Stegmayer in that interview:

• blast a U.S. Senator,
• comment on national trends,
• get his keen perspective on Randy Rowe's Five Point Plan for Industry recovery
• and much more.

Professionalism Pays

The more professional your team members and peers become, the more profitable our businesses will be because more consumers will turn to us instead of to other housing options. What goes around will come around. Plant good seeds and we will harvest an abundant crop.

So please encourage your associates, colleagues, team members and peers to do what you are doing right now. Leaders are readers! Invest time and resources into learning more to earn more.

You and your team should
read here 15 minutes a day.

The surest way to industry growth is making those in our ranks better at their respective roles. Inspiration can be supplied from interviews like the one with Mike Evans, or others in our A Cup of Coffee with interviews.

Facts like those found in the report linked in the article by Andrea Levere can support or encourage investors and bankers to take another look at Manufactured Housing. The Featured Articles by experts found here every month are just one of the many free resources we make available – thanks to our sponsors – that can help fuel the Industry's continued rebirth.

So if one “enemy” is us, then so to is the solution! Knowledge, like love, is one of those rare things that when given away, grows.

Encourage your associates to read and grow daily. At the end of a year, the positive impact you will see ought to be nothing short of impressive.

We each become better when improving together. ##

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for May and see the

other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach

MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle

MHProNews.com = MHMSM.com = Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use

Services:B2BandB2CAds, Proven MH Marketing & Sales Systems, Websites other Industry Solutions.

Office -815-270-0500

latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com

www.MHC-MD.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach= connect with me on Linkedin.

http://pinterest.com/latonyk/manufactured-home-lifestyle/

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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. – Henry Ford

We have some 7 months before onerous regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) kick in January 2014 that would cut access to an important segment of manufactured housing financing. That means we have less than 7 months to get HR 1779, and a pending companion bill in the U.S. Senate done.

So we have 7 months to protect and accelerate our industry’s recovery.

You can click here to identify your U.S. Congressman by zip code , or use the link below.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

I’ve done what I’m asking you to do. So I can look you in the proverbial eye and say, please protect your own future and that of millions of manufactured home owners. Call and/or write your Congressman to ask them to cosponsor the bi-partisan HR 1779.

The link to all you need to know about HR 1779 is right here. A very fine statement by Congressman Stephen Fincher, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, is linked here.

Each on reach one

Once you reached out to your U.S. House of Representatives member, then take one more step. Ask an industry colleague (and your team members) to do the same. Each one, reach one. Sending more messages is fine! But don’t fail to send less than 1 message to someone you know requesting the ask their Congressman to support HR 1779.

Student loans got their legislative fix last year, during the highly political election cycle. Organization and follow through made it happen! Others have, so we can get this done too! The Realtor’s are a highly active body, when an issue comes up, agents write or call Congress by the droves. We must discipline ourselves to do the same.

So take 10, right now if you can, and just do it. Then, ask your industry peers to do the same.

A Nice By Product

The likely bi-product of getting this bill passed will be more positive publicity. Note the Wall Street Journal article linked here. Note the pro-MH Industry video plug on a real estate website linked here. The more engaged WE are, the more good publicity we can get!

Doing this will protect and promote our industry, save and grow jobs, while supporting the value manufactured home owners and that of manufactured housing industry businesses too.

Plenty of good reasons, so please, just do it. Thank you! ##

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for May and see the

other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.

L. A. “Tony” Kovach

MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle

MHProNews.com = MHMSM.com = Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use

Services:B2BandB2CAds, Proven MH Marketing & Sales Systems, Websites other Industry Solutions.

Office -815-270-0500

latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com

www.MHC-MD.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach= connect with me on Linkedin.

http://pinterest.com/latonyk/manufactured-home-lifestyle/

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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford