Karl Radde of Southern Comfort Homes
MHInsider Advocacy Award Winner
Karl Radde, the winner of the MHInsider Advocacy Award, is a 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University where he started working part-time for Yellow Rose Mobile Homes as a sales associate. After graduation, Radde became the full-time finance manager working with national lenders in the manufactured housing industry. In 1999, the dealership became Southern Comfort Homes and evolved into one of the top five independent retailers in Texas. Radde devotes significant time to the Texas Manufactured Housing Association and the Manufactured Housing Institute to stay aware of trends and activities that affect a consumer’s abilities to purchase and finance manufactured housing, lending his knowledge and experience into the conversation in an effort to create a more meaningful and beneficial transaction for everyone.
What do you view as the biggest achievement in your career?
While a bit unusual in our industry, other than a short stint as quality control manager at Schult, I have been with Southern Comfort Homes since 1999. This has allowed me to participate at a higher level in our industry associations and to help present the industry in a positive light to elected officials and while we may not always get the outcome we would like, we are at least in the discussions. As far as success, I have always had good people with me and around me that allowed us all to be successful and achieve our goals whether that was in business or in professional organizations.
What work or life skill do you give the most credit for your achievements?
Growing up, I was active in 4-H and FFA, which taught me communication skills. I was raised in a good Christian home on a ranch where we took care of sheep and cattle. That helped develop my work ethic and every year I would show that livestock in the county and state fairs, which taught me responsibility. While I was attending Texas A&M University, I went to work in sales at a local manufactured home retailer and I wasn’t as successful in sales as I would have liked, but, thankfully, they saw potential in me for working with lenders and insurance and put me in charge of finance and insurance. We eventually bought the company and it became Southern Comfort Homes where I am today.
MHInsider is a publication of MHVillage and is the premier source of manufactured housing news with a national audience of manufactured housing professionals dedicated to producing and delivering high quality, affordable, off-site built housing.
