The Masthead

We continue to track – and encourage! – a developing news story in the South. Two Manufactured Home Community (MHC) owners, David Roden and Spencer Roane are devoting considerable time and effort in reaching out to federal and state emergency management officials. Their basic message? FEMA, GEMA or others can use vacant MHC home sites and modern energy-efficient Community Series Homes (CSH) far more efficiently than rental housing, while avoiding the errors learned in Katrina’s aftermath.

Their efforts are attracting attention.

Sources suggest to MHMSM.com that MHI, MHARR and some state association leaders are in various stages of supporting this initiative.

With hundreds dead and thousands homeless, the tragedies caused by the recent tornadoes are a stark reminder that manufactured homes are not the problem. They are in fact a key part of the solution to natural disasters.

Videos and still photos of leveled neighborhoods in the South bear stark witness to the fact that tornadoes can devastate any structure. This is a message that the media, public officials and politicians need to accept and share.

Video of Tornado Hacks through Hackleburg at this link:

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/tornado-hacks-through-hackleburg/1206585/Apr-30-2011_8-14-pm/

These images linked above tell us that tornadoes show no partiality or mercy to any type of construction.

Leadership is important in every field of human endeavor. Leading by example is the ideal in action! We commend and support all those involved in leading the charge to make manufactured homes part of the solution for these storm victims.

The plan as outlined would cost government agencies less than rental housing, far less per person than Katrina, and create an immediate exit strategy for FEMA or others as land-lease community owners can buy the homes at a pre-agreed price once the crisis has passed.

Please check out these links to the latest news stories on this effort to use manufactured homes as the logical solution:

• Manufactured Homes Could Be Part of Post-Tornado Solution in Georgia,

• Industry Leaders Work on FEMA Plan Using MHCs in Tornado-ravaged States,

• and Sherry Norris (AMHA) Reports on Alabama’s Tornado Recovery Efforts.

While you are on The Daily Industry Business News Blog, make sure you sign up for our free podcasts of the news and feature articles. Listen to Factory Built Housing News at Noon on your smart phones, your iPod, iPad or tablet… or, yes, listen from your PC or laptop! Click on this link to sign up in just moments.

You can also learn leadership and professional strategies that work in our Feature Articles; don’t be the last to know in your market!

Bringing you all the news in our industry that’s fit to print in a balanced fashion, we thank you for stopping in. Thanks for passing our links and twice-weekly emailed MHNewsline updates on to a friend or to that person whom you want to become more professional and successful. ;-) We are growing because of readers like you. # #

Odds.

English is an incredibly versatile language!  We have so many ways of expressing ourselves, many of them quite polite.  A word like ‘Odds’ can jump to mind for many possible uses:

• fighting the odds,
• being at odds (with someone, some group, etc.)
• odds and evens (as in numbers 1, 3, 5 being ‘odds’)
• being odd (as in different, unique)
• odds and ends

The bank I was visiting yesterday had something that was odd, but a nice sort of odd (as in different, unique).  Portraits of various presidents or other American notables hung on the walls, with a quotation from them to the right.

This was one of the quotations:

“No country can long endure if its foundations are not laid deep in material prosperity, which comes from thrift, from business energy and enterprise, from unsparing efforts in the fields of industrial activity; but neither was any country ever truly great if it relied upon material prosperity alone.” 

- Theodore Roosevelt

Ends. 

We plan to come to the end of our current www.MHMSM.com format, as we announced in our last blog post!  We want to move towards a format that is

• more eye appealing,
• easier to navigate
• looks more like a news and views publication

We posted three formats we are considering, and YOUR feedback is appreciated.  Thank you to the many who have privately commented in calls and messages, and those who have posted a public comment.

Please go to Manufactured Housing Face Lift and the News to see the previous post, and kindly do share your feedback and thoughts with us.

Suggestion:

If you missed it, please take a look at Manufactured Homes Could Be Part of Post-Tornado Solution in Georgia in the Daily Business News item and the longer Manufactured Homes Could Be Part of Post-Tornado Solution in Georgia in the Industry Voices Guest Blog that dealt with the efforts of some GA MHC owners who are gaining some support in Industry circles for their project to learn the lessons of Katrina, and use manufactured homes as a part of the solution to disaster relief.

To borrow the phrase from ROC, USA, we are better together! # #

As our faithful readers know, we are all about improvement for the Manufactured Housing Industry. For about six months, we have been discussing internally at Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management (MHMSM.com) what would be a new and improved site for our readers. How can we improve navigation? What new look and feel would work best? What features, services and information would you like to see? What would support businesses, associations and professionals the most? Don’t get me wrong! We are thrilled that over 48,000 of you logged on in April! You voted with your browsers when you made 266,000 page views, thank you! Nearly a million ‘hits’ were logged for the month.

But we also know and hear from you and others that it is time for an update.

It is Face Lift time for Manufactured Housing news and views!

Your input on what the new site might look like is appreciated. You can email me at Tony@MHMSM.com or you can post a public comment.

Here are some examples of what the new site might look like and navigate like:

http://www.nlpress.ca/

http://1aggies.net/News/

http://www.joomlart.com/demo/#templates.joomlart.com/ja_teline_iv

There is always plenty of news to cover in the manufactured and modular home Daily Business News Blog. There are plenty of practical tips in our monthly feature articles or our blogs.

How would YOU like to see this site enhanced for your use?

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful comments. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and to all of your mothers, too. # #

May is traditionally thought the merriest of months when the promise of spring is kept and summer is just around the corner. May 1 is celebrated as International Workers’ Day in over 80 countries across the world. So let’s hear it for all workers, but especially – in our context – for the hands-on folks in the Manufactured Housing Industry: the manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, land lease community personnel; office personnel in finance, advertising, marketing and sales; the IT/Web tech folks who work those 0′s and 1′s to facilitate communication within the Industry and to the media and public about our unique-value, budget-friendly housing options. (I would have said affordable, but George Allen’s feature article made me aware of the many controversial nuances of this term, so I’ll use other adjectives for the moment.) Well, hats off to ALL OF YOU who serve the Industry in so many countless ways, public or behind-the-scenes.

An old nursery rhyme goes:

In the merry month of May
When green leaves begin to spring,
Little lambs do skip like fairies
Birds do couple, build and sing.

Even the birds get that May is home-building time, and the 2011 Show Season that has just concluded demonstrates the vitality and resilience of the Manufactured Housing Industry to “get it” as well. Louisville… Tunica… York… Vegas… Tulsa – five giant beacons lighting the way for Industry professionals, manufacturers, retailers and home buyers to get together to make 2011 the “Great Turn-around Year” – IF – or is it WHEN? – we implement the consistent message of “evolve or die,” “adapt, migrate or die,” “change and adapt or risk extinction.”

“Evolve or Die” is what Robin Crow (Dark Horse Recording), Featured Speaker at the MHI Congress and Expo in Las Vegas, Thursday, April 28, told the industry professionals. “We find ways to reinvent ourselves to serve our customers.” Read more Evolve or Die – Seven Steps to Rethink the Way You Do Business in our Inspirations Blog.

George Porter is in the midst of a Feature Article series entitled, “Adapt, Migrate or Die.” Read Adapt from April and Migrate .

And in The Masthead Blog, L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach wrote, “… what is certain is that WE MUST BE WILLING to adapt to the changing times…. Those who fail to change and adapt risk extinction, as IBISWorld reported.” Read more at Why Buffett Bets Against IBISWorld on Manufactured Homes.

The message doesn’t go away. Change is the essence of life. So whatever domain or niche you call your own in the Industry, what detail, what attitude, what procedure, what product, what anything can you change or adapt in order to better serve the needs of our customers… and exceed their expectations? Better-served customers = better business = better profits more housing and more jobs a better economy. That’s a win-win-win-win-win-win!

Here to help you are twenty-some pros who generously share their expertise with our readers each month. Joining them is new contributor Scott Stroud with a tribute to Industry icon Jerry Rouleau.

Featured Articles and Reports for Vol. 2, No. 8, 2011

Alphabetically by Category

BOOK REVIEW

Tracey C. Jones
• True Blue Leadership

COMMUNITIES

Edward ‘Eddie’ Hicks – Investing in Manufactured Home Communities
• A Primer on How to Make Nice Returns with Community Investments

Chrissy Jackson – Land Lease Community Management
• Standard Sections of Guidelines for Living

Joanne Stevens – Manufactured Home Community Value
• Working with Realtors to Sell Mobile and Manufactured Homes in Communities

Don Westphal – Manufactured Home Community Planning
• Extreme Makeover, Community Edition – aka Ryder Park, Milford, Connecticut – Part One

FINANCE

Chad Carr – Company Financial Evaluation
• By the Numbers – Part 3: Identifying Problems in your Business

Kenneth Rishel – Manufactured Housing Industry Finance Commentary
• Collateral Performance Can Make or Break You

Dave Shanklin Manufactured Housing Industry Financing
• Low Rates Extended and Popularity Cycles of MH Communities

GENERAL INDUSTRY/COMMENTARY

George F. Allen – Manufactured Housing Industry Commentary
• The Bugbear of Defining ‘Affordable Housing’

Michael Barnabas – Manufactured Housing Industry Solutions
• Manufactured Housing Businesses and Homeowners Working Together?

L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach – Manufactured Housing Industry Perspective
• Invite Involve Include – A Light Mantra for Manufactured Housing Progress

George Porter – Manufactured Housing Retail and Media Education
• Adapt, Migrate or Die – Part II, Migrate

INSPIRATION/PEOPLE SKILLS

Tracey C. Jones – Manufactured Housing Leadership
• The Judas Principle

Greg McClanahan – Soft Skills and Personal Development
• Just Stay…

Zig Ziglar – Motivation & Inspiration
• ZigOn… Personal Discipline

LEGAL

Nadeen Green – Legal, Fair Housing
• Logging Can Preclude Flogging

MANAGEMENT

Tim Connor
• Are you hiring the right people?

MARKETING

Bob Stovall
• Learning Never Ends

SALES

Tim Connor
• Maintain Control of the Buying Process

Mark Hunter
• Are You Giving Away Your Profit?

Mike Moore
• Salespeople Infected with ‘Sales Repellent Virus’

TRANSITIONS

Scott Stroud
• The Housing Industry Loses an Icon

LAS VEGAS, NV – Wednesday, April 27, 2011.  Members of the MHMSM.com team continue to share news and videos from MHI’s 2011 National Congress & Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing.

Joe Stegmayer (Chairman & CEO, Cavco Industries and present Chairman, MHI) heard that Land Lease Communities (LLCs) have done better than most sectors of the housing industry, which has been confirmed by the optimism expressed at MHI’s National Communities Council (NCC) forum.  The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) is a leading advocate for the industry, working cooperatively with law makers in Washington to improve access to affordable housing and improve financing options to create a bright future.

Ron Thomas Sr., Chuck Fanaro and Mr. and Mrs. Don Westphal are among the strong turnout.

Dr. Mark Dotzour (Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University) was the Keynote Speaker this morning.  Dr. Dotzour is currently conducting market research to monitor how global and national trends are likely to impact residential and commercial real estate markets.  Noting that this is a time to “take back the country,” to protect and improve the business climate, he sees room for optimism.  We need a president and a congress that says, what do you businesses need?  “The business of America is business,” as Calvin Coolidge said.  And “Being a politician is not a worthy profession, but being a public servant is a noble one,” per Woodrow Wilson.  Housing and construction leads economic recovery.

Among the things Dr. Dotzour sees as solutions:  People will start to buy again. The natural demand is there for housing; people are just postponing decisions for a later date.  News on the housing market will turn better in August with exiting new or manufactured homes.  April, May and June will leave us with bad headlines compared to last year.  But come August or September, home sales will look better vs. last year.

We need to shine a light on shadow inventory. Stop mortgage modifications. Pass legislation to balance the budget. Protect and improve the business climate, which is what groups like MHI do.

Steven Lefler is about to receive the National Manufactured Housing Design Award.  Industry in Focus Reporter Matthew Silver is to his left.

Stay tuned for more MHMSM.com reports coming from this enriching event! # #

LAS VEGAS, NV – Tuesday, April 26, 2011.  Members of the MHMSM.com team are present and share news of the morning sessions.

Over 700 have Pre-registered for MHI’s 2011 National Congress & Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing, and the word is that many more have signed in at the registration desk who were not pre-registered. Hundreds of Industry professionals have gathered here in Las Vegas to get the latest and greatest ideas.

Here’s a quick look at some of the highlights of this morning’s sessions.

 

 

1. In the Opening Session, Dr. Henry Fishkind, PhD. (Fishkind and Associates) spoke on the recent economic data and events to evaluate their impact on housing markets. Taxation is not the answer; we must control spending, lest we end up like Portugal, Greece, etc. With the rise in interest rates and population (population over 65 will double by 2030), there is a tremendous opportunity to serve the 65+ market. With the excess supply of existing homes, depression in sales, slow processing of judicial foreclosures and the efforts to shrink the deficit, markets are likely to be down until 2014.

2. Rental and Lease-Purchase Option Programs for Homes in Communities was moderated by Richard Winkelman (Brookside Communities), with speaker Chris Parrish (Parrish Manor). A panel of experienced owners and managers discussed two community options: pure rental (RTO) and lease-purchase programs.

 

 

• Jim Anderson (Hometown America) noted over half the attendees are renting and more plan to do so. Michigan (MI) has been hardest hit. Getting a security deposit and a home in better condition from a renter is much better than home sales. He has been in the business for 19 years, but Hometown sales kept going down. Today Hometown is seeing stabilizing and increasing occupancy; 541 rentals in MI alone is leading to expansion, and they are rolling rentals out to other states. While he foresees being in the lease business in the next five years, they do have a 12-month exit strategy.

• Chris Parrish (Parrish Manor) commented that one family-owned community in Raleigh NC opened in 1998 and tried unsuccessfully to get a Freddie Mac long term lease, so they have done rentals and leases since 2003-2004. They purchased ten used homes a year to fill up the community. Their turnover was destroyed on foreclosures, but they’ve had no problems with rentals. In fact, there are fewer turnovers than apartments, apartments being their competition. MH 3BR homes are cheaper and bigger than an apartment; more square footage at a better price. Maintenance is the biggest expense with 8-9 calls a day for maintenance. It amounts to about $20,000 a month, which is a scary number, but better than empty homes and vacant lots.

• Richard Winkleman (Brookside Communities) got into sales in 2003, and shortly thereafter into finance. 2008 was a good year in sales and financing, and then 2009 dropped off. Though Brookside could offer financing, many prospects were not willing to commit to a long term decision (i.e., purchase). Brookside feared renters would not keep up the homes, and managers feared a heavier work load with too busy a schedule. But by end of 2009, there were 40 rentals on the books. Their rentals continue to evolve and become an ever larger part or their portfolio. It is not a short term fix; it is a long term strategy.

3. Operating In-house Finance Programs in Communities – Which Is Best for You? George Allen (GFA Management, Inc.), moderator, with Speakers Greg Brooks (Triad Financial Services), Andy Blank (Franklin Companies), Dick Ernst (Financial Marketing Associates), Kenny Lipschutz (HomeFirst Certified Communities) and Ken Rishel (Precision Capital Funding). These pros discussed two successful models of in-house financing programs, each of which has legal and compliance issues that must be understood.

• Dick Ernst (Financial Marketing Associates) proposed creating a direct lending platform, where the customer applies directly with SACU. This is targeted for MHCs large and small who do not want to deal with financing or licensing. Since MHC not lending, MHC invests in paper, CUFBL does license compliance.

• Kenny Lipschutz (HomeFirst Certified Communities) pulled out loans from 2004, 45 loans approved; 18 lenders on first page. Today eight MHCs have 539 loans in house with $16 million in loan balances. He works with in-house sales and finance team and uses an outside firm to make sure everything is legal. Month to month delinquency is 2.5 to 6 percent; last year under 4 percent delinquency. Properly managed, it works.

• Greg Brooks (Triad Financial Services) deals with 95 percent chattel lending. Being in lending is expensive, time consuming and distracts you from your core business. Triad dealt with 250 banks in its 50 year history. So they know how to do the required reporting. They have systems, capabilities and can do a variation of anything, but offer full service to community owners.

• Andy Blank (Franklin Companies) is an MHC operator. They can’t afford to do all the financing for themselves, so need a program similar to what Kenny Lipschutz described.

• Ken Rishel (Precision Capital and Rishel Consulting) spoke of the need to set up a separate business – not retailing, not MHC operations. Borrow at 5 percent; put it out at 12.5 percent. Precision Capital takes care of the legal and compliance issues, state and federal licensing. Their approach is: Buy here, pay here.

The panel also addressed two related questions:  Who has the end game on 2-5 million portfolios? And how much cost is there in servicing these programs?

 

 

Lunch/Roundtable Discussions offered a welcome opportunity to interact with other attendees between morning and afternoon presentations.

# #

Members of our MHMSM.com team are here in Las Vegas, NV for the MHI’s 2011 National Congress & Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing. Enjoy a look around before the Congress gets underway Tuesday.

Be sure to stop by Booth 610 to say hello and tell us what we need to do to earn your business. See you soon!