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Uniti Raises $12 Million to Build the Agentic AI Layer for Global Real Estate Operators

By
Patrick Revere
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Emre Altinok, left, and Francesco Decamilli, the founders of Uniti.

Pathlight-led round accelerates Uniti’s expansion across every operationally intensive real estate sector, bringing agentic AI to the operators running the industry’s most demanding portfolios.

Uniti, with an agentic AI layer for global real estate operators, has announced $12 million in Series A funding led by Pathlight, with participation from MetaProp and existing investors Prudence, Flex Capital, Alate, and RE VC. In addition, individual investors in this round include Romain Huet (OpenAI), Lenny Rachitsky, and Gokul Rajaram.

Headquartered in New York, Uniti deploys AI agents to run the playbook manufactured housing operators have already built. Series A funding is early-round capital for a proven small business to accelerate growth.

Uniti co-founder and CEO Francesco Decamilli said manufactured housing has quickly become one of the company’s fastest-growing markets.

“In just over a year, we’ve gone from no presence in the industry to supporting more than 230,000 home sites with AI agents that help operators automate everything from home sales and leasing to resident support, maintenance, and collections,” he said. “We’ve seen meaningful improvements in inquiry-to-tour conversion, move-in rates, and operating efficiency. We’re still in the early innings and have an ambitious roadmap to deepen our investment in the sector as AI becomes an increasingly core part of how manufactured housing communities operate.”

Real estate is one of the world’s largest and most operationally complex industries, the company stated in yet many operators still rely on fragmented software, manual workflows, and large operations teams to coordinate leasing, maintenance, resident communications, collections, payments, and support. While systems of record have digitized these processes, the work itself remains largely manual.

The round accelerates Uniti’s expansion across self-storage, senior living, multifamily, manufactured housing, and flexible workspace, bringing agentic AI to real estate’s most demanding portfolios. Uniti deploys AI agents that handle the full breadth of real estate workflows, from sales and leasing to support, maintenance, collections, payments, and reviews.

The agents run across voice, SMS, email, chat, and WhatsApp, integrated with 15-plus property management systems and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. Rather than replacing existing systems, Uniti sits above them as an AI orchestration layer — coordinating every AI agent, customer interaction, and operational workflow through a single control plane, regardless of the underlying software stack.

“Property managers are, at their core, operations people,” Decamilli said. “They live and die by process, consistency, and execution. What we’ve built is the infrastructure to codify that playbook and run it perfectly, every time, at any scale. No missed calls, no skipped workflows, no off-script responses. And once the playbook runs itself, operators can scale without limits.”

Uniti is live with customers including Regus, StorQuest, RHP Properties, Storage King USA, Fora, and others. Across its customer base, the company is delivering measurable operational and commercial results, including:

  • 214 percent ROI for one enterprise self-storage operator
  • 94 percent of pilots converting into long-term customer contracts
  • 306 percent net revenue retention as customers expand across additional properties and workflows

“We operate hundreds of locations, and the standard we hold ourselves to doesn’t change whether we’re at location one or location one hundred,” Storage King USA CEO Brian Cohen said. “Uniti’s AI agents now handle 100 percent of our inbound calls across all our locations. The team that used to manage that volume is now focused on the work that drives the business. The ROI has been undeniable.”

Mahdi Raza, a general partner at Pathlight, said that real estate is among the most operationally complex industries and has been in need of a solution.

“It has been waiting for infrastructure built around how operators actually work,” Raza said. “Uniti has built the agentic layer that runs the full operation, not just a single workflow, across every vertical that matters. Francesco and Emre move with unusual conviction, and the results their customers are seeing make that clear.”

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured housing.

MHVillage Launches Video Series MHInFocus

By
Sean Vichinsky
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manufactured housing video series mhinfocus cody pearce interview yes mhinsider
Cody Pearce discusses his leadership experience in the manufactured housing industry.

MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured housing, and MHInsider, the leader in manufactured housing news, are launching a new brand, MHInFocus, a short-form video series based on conversations with top performers in the industry who will provide leadership insight and inspiration for manufactured housing professionals nationwide.

“About eight years ago, MHVillage saw a gap in the marketplace and created MHInsider, a print magazine and blog for manufactured housing professionals. It provides industry insight through reporting the trends, statistics, and breaking news that impact professionals in all corners of the industry,” MHInsider Publisher Patrick Revere said. “In the interim, our team has taken steps to expand the effort, including initiating an awards program and creating the MHBuyer’s Guide, a resource directory of products and services. In 2026, we will take a big step forward with the new MHInFocus video series that launches July 14.”

The first season of MHInFocus is sponsored by Cavco Industries, one of the largest manufacturers in the factory-built home business, with supporting sponsorships from Gama Sonic, a solar lighting specialist, and Yardi property management software.

MHInFocus includes interviews with industry leaders: Yes Communities President Cody Pearce; Lesli Gooch, the CEO of the Manufactured Housing Institute; UMH President and CEO Sam Landy; Occupi co-founder and CEO Taylor Peake; and Cesar Mascorro, Jr., founder and president of Manufactured Home Sales Mastery.

Interviewees throughout the series will share with the MHInsider audience lessons learned during their time in the industry, stories about their formative years, inspiration that carries each through their daily efforts, and thoughts about where the industry is headed and why.

MHInsider has a national audience of more than 44,000 industry professionals who will receive the new MHInFocus video interviews with industry leaders. MHInFocus content will land in the inbox of the publication’s controlled circulation participants once per month, in a fashion that is similar to the current MHInsider email newsletter.

MHVillage.com is where industry professionals list their homes for sale or rent, promote communities, and advertise products and services that help maintain and grow a business. The site garners about 25 million annual unique visitors and generates about $3 billion in annual home sales.

“MHInFocus continues the tradition of creating meaningful formats for manufactured housing professionals to refine their businesses and better understand why we do what we do for the housing market and for the consumers who are looking to buy our homes,” MHVillage Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said.

Each season will consist of,,,

  • Five episodes
  • A series of easily consumable 3- to 4-minute videos
  • A landing spot to revisit the content outside of the email inbox
  • Information on sponsors and sponsorship opportunities

The next phase of MHInFocus will include a premium offering that will provide industry professionals with an opportunity to view expanded interview content from each of the sit-down conversations.

For more information on the MHInFocus video series, visit MHInFocus.com, or contact MHInsider Publisher Patrick Revere at patrick@mhvillage.com or (616) 888-6994. The MHInsider advertising and sponsorship sales team can be reached at (877) 406-0232.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured homes.

Housing Bill Becomes Law Without White House Approval

By
Patrick Revere
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affordable housing road to housing congress senate house senator tim scott comments to committee fair housing affordable housing
“Public service should not be about those of us in public service. It should be about the journey we took to get here. For me, that journey was as a kid born in poverty to a great mother who believed in faith, perseverance, and opportunity. If we do our part, more kids today being raised in situations and circumstances similar to mine might have hope in the American Dream.”

ROAD to Housing Speeds Through Congress, Sustained by Bi-Partisan Support

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is now law.

In late June, the Senate overwhelmingly — 85-5 — approved the biggest piece of housing legislation in decades, and the House of Representatives followed suit the next day, approving the bill 358-32.

“The House’s passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act marks a major milestone in the effort to address America’s housing challenges. With both the House and Senate now having approved the legislation,” National Housing Conference President and CEO David Dworkin said. ”This achievement reflects years of work by housing advocates, industry leaders, community organizations, and policymakers from both parties who recognized the urgent need for action.”

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, a Republican representing South Carolina, shed light on how the bipartisan and bicameral legislation addresses America’s housing affordability crisis.

“If you build more housing, you should get more incentives,” Scott said. “If you don’t build more housing, you should lose those incentives, and they should go to the places that are building more housing. Finally, I’ll say that the House of Representatives did a fine job embedding in this housing legislation important priorities that I believe will make housing more affordable and more accessible, and will help banks, especially community banks, which are the primary places people go for mortgages, become more engaged in this process.”

Some aspects of the bill, including new investor rules, permitting reforms, and disaster recovery allocations, are effective immediately. However, other aspects of the bill that involve more structural changes will be instituted 180 days from the bill becoming law.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, though quick through Congress in its current form, reflects years of work, Scott said, most notably with Senator Elizabeth Warren, a democrat from Massachusetts, Congressman French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California.

The act, which has been called the most significant bipartisan housing reform effort in decades, focuses on expanding housing supply, cutting red tape, and lowering housing costs for American families, is built around “four core pillars”:

  • Cutting red tape
  • Unlocking housing supply
  • Lowering costs for families
  • Including no new federal spending

“Public service should not be about those of us in public service. It should be about the journey we took to get here…For me, that journey was as a kid born in poverty to a great mother who believed in faith, perseverance, and opportunity.

“If we do our part, more kids today being raised in situations and circumstances similar to mine might have hope in the American Dream.”
— Senator Tim Scott

It streamlines environmental reviews, modernizes manufactured housing rules, unlocks private investment, updates multifamily financing tools, streamlines construction activities across programs, and limits certain large institutional investors from crowding out families in residential markets.

Senate approval marks the culmination of a volley of housing-related changes in multiple bills that rose from the committee level in multiple arenas and came together in a single package that now nears the finish line.

The bill includes U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Housing Supply and Affordability Act, which creates a HUD regional housing planning grant program to help states and localities modernize zoning and expand housing development.

“Democrats and Republicans came together to make it easier to afford a home. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will help build more homes, including in rural communities, and stop private companies from buying up homes and raising the price of housing. We need to drive down costs for renters and homeowners, and this legislation will do just that,” Klobuchar said. “This bipartisan legislation includes my bill to give state and local governments the tools and zoning flexibility they need to build more homes. By helping communities remove barriers to building, we can make it easier for Minnesotans to pay their rent and buy a home.”

Manufactured Housing Provisions in ROAD to Housing Bill

Manufactured Housing under new administration

On June 17, the Manufactured Housing Institute commended Congress for reaching an agreement on updated language in the bipartisan housing legislation that further addresses the nation’s housing supply challenges, and urged action to get the bill to the White House.

Part of the ROAD to Housing bill is a section that is entitled Manufactured Housing for America.

“[It] underscores the growing recognition of manufactured housing as an essential segment of the nation’s housing market and as a proven source of attainable, unsubsidized homeownership,” MHI stated in the news alert. “This legislation reflects meaningful progress in aligning federal policy with the realities of the housing market and the need to deliver high-quality, affordable homes at scale to help improve affordability nationally.”

top builders n.c.
A Cavco Industries home building facility. Photo courtesy of Cavco.

MHI, in the statement, also said it particularly appreciated the inclusion of the following measures in the landmark bill:

  • Removal of the requirement for all manufactured homes to be built on a permanent chassis
  • Clarification on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the primary and final regulator for the manufactured housing industry
  • Provisions on zoning for manufactured housing
  • Expansion of support for small-dollar loans
  • Efforts to preserve manufactured housing communities

As the legislation is implemented, it will be important that program rules are structured to ensure that funding is allocated in a manner that is neutral across community ownership models, tied to clear preservation outcomes, and focused on long-term community stability, MHI stated in its June 17 communication. Further, program rules should clarify that an ‘eligible manufactured housing community’ qualifying on the basis that it is resident-owned must provide residents with a direct and beneficial ownership interest in the land — not merely membership or occupancy rights.

“We appreciate the strong bipartisan and bicameral leadership behind this effort and are encouraged by the momentum as the bill moves to the House. We look forward to working with policymakers to see these final steps through to enactment,” MHI CEO Lesli Gooch said following the vote.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured housing.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency Asks for Input on Changes to Duty to Serve, Manufactured Housing

By
Patrick Revere
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manufactured housing finance fhfa building duty to serve fannie freddie

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has posted to the Federal Register a request for input on a programmatic change in regard to the Enterprises’ Duty to Serve plan as well as a potential reconsideration of the overall legal definition of what constitutes a manufactured home.

In summary, the agency wants input on its desire to grade Freddie and Fannie on its Duty to Serve performance by its results in the marketplace rather than by research, discovery, and planning, as it has been. It also wants to test the industry and the public on the merits of including other forms of factory-built housing within the definition of a manufactured home.

From the Federal Register, the considerations run 26 dense pages. Below are direct excerpts from the agency’s language…

Executive Order 14394 — Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction —  was issued by the White House in March and “directs FHFA to reform programs that constrain residential development and impede housing affordability, including specifically ‘FHFA’s guidelines and regulations regarding chattel lending for manufactured housing.’ The strategic shift reflected in the proposed rule, away from prescribed Regulatory Activities and toward innovative and market-driven ‘eligible actions,’ is responsive to that direction. It would remove any perceived barriers to chattel lending in the existing regulation and present a new opportunity for the Enterprises to direct their attention to establishing appropriate underwriting standards, risk management protocols, and the securitization infrastructure necessary to expand their impact in the chattel lending market.

“Consistent with E.O. 14394, FHFA expects the Enterprises to develop and implement robust, responsible chattel financing initiatives and will assess them on their progress in expanding liquidity, supporting sustainable credit, and enhancing consumer choice in the manufactured housing market.”

The Federal Register’s language states that the proposed focus on ‘‘any eligible action’’ is intended both “to give the Enterprises greater flexibility to undertake actions that respond to market needs and to encourage innovation that supports meaningful outcomes. The transition to a more flexible approach does not signal a retreat from past, proven interventions that have stabilized or expanded liquidity in the underserved markets. Rather, the Agency anticipates that the Enterprises will leverage their accumulated institutional knowledge, proven strategies, and data-driven insights to iterate upon and scale high-impact activities from earlier Plan years.”

By grounding future innovation in the successes of the previous decade, FHFA stated, the Enterprises can ensure that novel strategies “are additive rather than duplicative.”

The language around a a potential revised definition a manufactured home is as follows:

“Under the existing regulation, the term manufactured home is defined to include only HUD Code homes. FHFA recognizes that other types of non-sitebuilt homes, including modular homes, serve as a source of new affordable supply and are often constructed in the same factories as traditional HUD manufactured homes. The Agency requests comment on whether the definition of manufactured home should be expanded to include a broader array of non-site-built homes such as modular homes, panelized homes, and other types of factory-built homes that are subject to state or local building codes. FHFA does not believe that appropriate methodologies exist for assuring the structural integrity of pre-HUD Code homes and is not reconsidering including those homes in the manufactured home definition at this time.”

The public and the industry have until July 24 to comment on any potential changes.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured housing.

2026 MH FacTOURy Summit Opens Registration

By
Sean Vichinsky
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manufactured housing industry events factory tours education rvmh hall of fame elkhart
Visit the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Eklhart, Indiana, to learn more about how off-site built homes are made and delivered.

Attendee registration is now open for this year’s MH FacTOURy Summit, the annual two-day event hosted at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, from Aug. 18-19, 2026.

The MH FacTOURy Summit brings two days of factory tours and educational seminars to Elkhart, Ind. Industry professionals from all over the country will have the chance to tour the region’s leading manufactured home building facilities, connect with factory representatives, and preview the latest innovations.

“This is the best opportunity for industry professionals to get a firsthand look at what our manufacturing partners are up to, and meet with factory representatives directly,” Indiana Manufactured Housing Association – Recreation Vehicle Indiana Council Executive Director Ron Breymier said. “Anyone in manufactured housing who’s looking to enhance their business should attend the MH FacTOURy Summit.”

Now in its fifth year at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, the MHFacTOURy Summit is geared towards manufactured housing professionals, particularly retailers and community owners, property managers, sales personnel, marketing team members, and new employees in the industry. Attendees will learn how to stay ahead of the competition, grow a high-performing sales team, and get a sneak peek at the newest industry trends.

The RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will precede the 2026 Summit, on the evening of Monday, Aug. 17. The ceremony will honor 10 manufactured housing and RV veterans for their industry service and enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Exhibit and Sponsorship Opportunities Available For the 2026 MH FacTOURy Summit

Exhibit and sponsorship opportunities have also opened for the 2026 MH FacTOURy Summit. These are ideal ways to increase company exposure and show everything it has to offer.

Sponsors can sign up for exclusive opportunities throughout the event to boost their brand visibility among manufactured housing professionals.

For more information regarding exhibit and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Teena Stephens at (317) 247-6258 ext. 106 or email info@imharvic.org.

Visit www.mhfactourysummit.com today to register for the MH FacTOURy Summit or to learn more about the event. The MH FacTOURy Summit is an industry conference for manufactured housing professionals and is not open to the general public.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured housing.

Clayton Debuts TRU Mini Home Collection

By
Patrick Revere
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manufactured mini home buttercup clayton homes mhinsider manufactured housing news
Clayton has unveiled a new line of mini homes under the TRU brand. Photo courtesy of Clayton.

Clayton Home Building Group has introduced the Buttercup, a 408-square-foot mini-dwelling under the TRU brand.

The Buttercup’s smaller footprint and price build on TRU’s nearly 15-year legacy of attainable housing with one of the lowest home prices on the market today.

“TRU revolutionized the housing industry in 2012 with attainable pricing that has helped more than 100,000 customers achieve homeownership,” Clayton Manufacturing Senior Vice President of Operations Mike Duncan said. “Today, the need for attainable housing is greater than ever, and the TRU Mini home collection, with its lower price, expands opportunities for customers who believe homeownership is financially out of reach.”

One of several smaller home models in the TRU Mini™ collection, the Buttercup is a modern manufactured home measuring 12 feet by 36 feet with 408 square feet of efficiently designed space, including a bedroom and bathroom.

TRU Mini series homes feature many of the same finishes homeowners expect with a TRU standard-sized home: Frigidaire® appliances, DuraCraft® cabinets, 8-foot flat ceilings, modern rolled-edge countertops, and upgraded window casings.

The debut follows the fall 2025 introduction of the TRU Origin collection, a new home series featuring uniform construction specifications and consistent features across all TRU home-building facilities. Like TRU Origin, TRU Mini series homes will also feature consistent construction through all homebuilding facilities, which allows for quicker construction to meet the urgent demand for attainable housing.

The TRU Mini collection is being made available at retail partner home centers throughout the nation.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured homes.

HUD Proposes Change in Use of Chassis on Upper Floors of Manufactured Homes

By
Patrick Revere
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hud headquarters building shot washington dc streetscape blue skies trees
The headquarters for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C.

Proposal Intends to Spark Manufactured Home Innovation, Increase Supply

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that intends to update the definition of a manufactured home and support innovative opportunities for multi-story manufactured housing.

Under the proposed rule, the new definition of a manufactured home, as noted in the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, commonly known as the HUD Code, would allow upper floor sections to be transported and constructed without a permanent chassis.

“America needs more housing, and manufactured housing is part of the solution,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said. “We are removing unnecessary barriers, encouraging innovation, and helping American manufacturers deliver more affordable housing options for American families.”

The proposed expanded definition would support multi-story construction of manufactured homes and empower manufacturers with greater flexibility to design and construct homes to meet growing consumer demand while lowering production costs. The proposed rule would also make corresponding updates to the definition in the Model Manufactured Home Installation Standards and the Manufactured Home Installation Program regulations.

HUD Code homes provide safe and affordable housing for American families and support pathways to stability and wealth building. HUD is working with state and local governments, housing finance agencies, and community developers to advance the programs, infrastructure, and land-use policies needed to support manufactured housing nationwide, the department stated in a June 12, 2026, press release.

More than 20 million Americans across the country reside in manufactured homes, and the manufactured home industry employs tens of thousands of Americans nationwide.

Once a government body posts a document to the Federal Register, it officially enters the public domain, triggering legal notice, public comment periods, or active enforcement.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured homes.

Clayton Opens First New Factory in 10 Years

By
Sean Vichinsky
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ribbon cutting new clayton factory arkansas governor sarah huckabee sanders

On March 5, Clayton Homes introduced the industry and the state of Arkansas to its first new facility in a decade, and one that takes a leap forward in technology and efficiency to help build more than 3,000 new homes each year.

Tennessee-based Clayton is a leader in building attainable single-family homes.

“The Conway home building facility represents our vision to develop housing innovations that improve lives and build a better tomorrow,” Clayton’s President of Manufacturing Colt Davis said. “The thousands of homes built here each year will help bring attainable homeownership within reach for families across the region. We are incredibly grateful for the people of Conway welcoming us and for local and state leaders supporting the development of our newest home building facility.”

Clayton was founded in 1956 and is the largest manufacturer in the industry. Its nationwide capabilities include the production of site-built homes, manufactured homes, tiny homes/RV code product, CrossMod®, and modular housing.

New Employment in Arkansas

The new factory, a 220,000-square-foot facility that was purchased and modernized into a homebuilding factory by Clayton during the last two years, will employ about 250 people. Many positions have been filled, with plenty of hiring to do through the spring and into the summer when production will begin.

clayton homes new factory arkansas governor sarah huckabee sanders ribbon cutting
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders addresses Clayton team members and guests during a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new factory. Photos courtesy of Clayton.

Clayton had a ribbon-cutting for the new factory, and many state and local representatives attended.

“Arkansas was recently ranked the number one state for inbound movers for the second year in a row, and companies like Clayton are ensuring that some of these new Arkansas residents not only have an affordable place to live but also a great place to work,” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “We are incredibly grateful that they chose Conway for their new manufacturing facility, and we are looking forward to the jobs and opportunity this will bring to Central Arkansas and beyond in the years ahead.”

Clayton invested $42 million in modernizing the facility.

Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said the factory is a welcome addition to the community.

“With the grand opening, Clayton takes an important step in addressing the nationwide housing shortage as well as creating new economic opportunities in Arkansas,” O’Neal said. “Congratulations to Clayton and the community of Conway on this milestone that will bring success for many years to come.”

Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson said the entire region will benefit from the entry of the new employer.

clayton homes new factory arkansas governor sarah huckabee sanders ribbon cutting
The Arkansas governor, left, talks to homebuilders in the new Clayton factory.

“Clayton is making a significant investment in Faulkner County, and we are excited to celebrate the grand opening of the company’s new home building facility,” Dodson said. “This facility will have a major impact, creating many new jobs in our county and helping drive new growth in the region.”

Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway Development Corporation President and CEO Brad Lacy said.

Clayton had been a great partner in the community since its earliest introduction and that he has a great amount of optimism about the company’s presence in Conway.

“We believed that Clayton would be a good corporate citizen,” Lacy said. “That has proven to be true, and we look forward to growing with them in Conway as a trusted community partner.”

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured homes.

How to Scale Manufactured Home Communities Without Scaling Overhead

By
Contributed Content
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buildcore mhinsider magazine manufactured housing community operations

By Wes Cannon

manufactured housing communities scale operations budget labor mhinsider

Manufactured housing community owners and operators are in a unique moment. Demand for affordable housing remains strong. Occupancy is steady. Well-run communities continue to produce durable, reliable cash flow.

But today, long-term success is determined by what happens after the deal closes.

Manufactured housing is operationally different from other real estate asset classes. You’re managing homes across multiple vintages. Infill timelines directly impact NOI. Contractor markets are fragmented. Capital decisions often require balancing short-term returns with long-term community health. Small execution gaps, such as deferred maintenance, inconsistent rehab quality, and delayed infill, can rather quietly compound into meaningful financial drag. Most operators don’t struggle because they lack effort.  They struggle because execution disciplines don’t scale as fast as acquisitions.

Large institutional owners solve these challenges with layered staffing models, proprietary systems, and formal process controls. Those systems work at massive scale. However, these same systems can be expensive, slow, and unrealistic for independent and mid-sized operators.

Is there any good news? Yes. You don’t need institutional solutions to achieve institutional-level results.

What follows is a practical, right-sized execution framework designed specifically for manufactured housing portfolios. It applies the most valuable lessons from institutional platforms — without importing the overhead or rigidity often associated with larger organizations.

The goal is to create clarity, control, and predictability across CapEx, rehabs, and infill — so operators can scale confidently and protect NOI.

The Six Disciplines That Matter Most in Manufactured Housing Operations

Execution-Ready Scoping Anchored in Home Vintage and Community Reality

In manufactured housing, scoping isn’t just paperwork — it’s capital allocation.

A 1978 home behaves differently than a 1998 home. Neither performs like a new infill unit. When operators apply blanket rehab assumptions across all vintages, they risk overspending in some cases and under-investing in others.

Execution-ready scoping starts with asking the right questions:

  • How old is the home?
  • What condition is the infrastructure in?
  • What rent strategy are we pursuing?
  • What makes this specific community unique?

When scopes are grounded in real-world conditions instead of assumptions, budgets become tighter, timelines shrink, and change orders decrease. Precision at the front end protects NOI on the back end.

Standardized Scopes and Pricing with Built-In Flexibility

Standardization creates consistency. Defined scopes and clear unit pricing reduce ambiguity, make bids comparable, and allow a contractor’s performance to be measured objectively.

But standardization shouldn’t become rigidity.

Every home and community has nuances. Smart operators create consistent frameworks — but allow room to adjust based on asset condition, rent comps, and long-term hold strategy.

Standardization provides control. Flexibility protects profitability. The operators who balance both are the ones who scale without friction.

Documentation-Driven Accountability

In fragmented contractor markets, documentation is leverage.

Clear photo evidence. Defined milestones. Structured reporting. These are simple practices — they dramatically reduce disputes and accelerate decision-making. They also tie payments directly to verified progress.

In manufactured housing, where projects span multiple communities and secondary markets, visibility matters. But visibility alone isn’t enough. Accountability must be objective and repeatable.

When documentation becomes a habit, rather than an afterthought, it protects capital, improves vendor accountability, and reduces risk across the portfolio. 

Scalable Field Oversight Without Operational Bloat

Many manufactured housing portfolios stall — not because acquisitions slow down, but because oversight fails to scale.

Owners either spend too much time traveling between communities or add internal layers that increase overhead without meaningfully improving outcomes. Neither approach is sustainable.

Scalable oversight means defining clear supervision standards, consistent quality controls, and straightforward accountability without building unnecessary bureaucracy.

The goal isn’t complexity. It’s disciplined execution that scales.

Asset-Level KPIs That Protect and Grow NOI

Portfolio-level metrics are important, but they often hide inefficiencies at the community level.

Infill cycle time. Cost per rehab. Scope variance. Rework frequency. These asset-level metrics provide clearer insight into what’s really happening operationally.

In manufactured housing, every pad matters. Every home vintage impacts NOI differently. Operators who measure performance at the asset level improve forecasting, tighten capital deployment, and identify leakage before it compounds.

Measurement isn’t about reporting for reporting’s sake. It’s about protecting yield.

Systems That Preserve Institutional Memory

Manufactured housing portfolios are long-term assets. Yet renovation history often lives in email threads, text messages, or someone’s memory.

That’s a risk.

When scope history, photos, costs, and service records are captured at the home level, knowledge compounds over time. Turnover becomes easier. Underwriting improves. Capital planning gets smarter.

Institutional memory isn’t overhead, it’s an asset. And in long-duration portfolios, that asset grows more valuable every year.

Discipline Without Drag

Manufactured housing doesn’t need institutional complexity to perform at an institutional level.

It needs disciplined execution — applied consistently and scaled intelligently.

Operators who right-size their systems can grow predictably without sacrificing agility. The most successful portfolios aren’t always the largest — they’re the most disciplined.

Acquisition creates opportunity. Execution determines outcome.

At BuildCore, we’ve built our platform around these principles: execution-ready scoping, standardized pricing frameworks, scalable field oversight, and purpose-built systems designed specifically for residential portfolios.

Our goal isn’t to replace operator expertise. It’s to strengthen it by providing structure, visibility, and disciplined execution that allow owners to scale confidently without importing unnecessary overhead.

In a sector where small operational gaps compound quickly, disciplined execution isn’t optional. It’s the differentiator.

Wes Cannon is co-founder and COO of BuildCore, a national construction platform supporting single-family, multifamily, and manufactured housing operators. With more than 20 years of experience in residential development and community-level execution, he brings practical, field-tested leadership to renovation, infill, and CapEx strategy. Cannon is passionate about helping operators scale responsibly through disciplined systems, accountability, and execution frameworks tailored to the realities of manufactured housing portfolios. He can be reached at wes@mybuildcore.com.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured housing.

Champion to Acquire Homes Direct

By
Patrick Revere
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manufactured home manufactured housing energy efficiency mhi affordable housing
A new Champion home on the National Mall in 2022.

Deal Expands Champion Retail Presence in the West

Champion Homes has entered a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Homes Direct, representing 11 retail locations across the Western U. S. markets.

Founded by Ray Gritton, the retail locations are in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon. The locations represent the majority of Homes Direct’s operating footprint. Champion said the locations align well geographically with its existing manufacturing and distribution presence in the region.

Homes Direct is the largest independent manufactured and modular home dealer in the western region of the United States, with a differentiated business model that engages a broad set of customers, the company stated in a release. It offers a range of options, an elevated purchasing experience, and supports customers through permitting, financing, home selection, and site preparation.

“Through its innovative retail platform and additional go‑to‑market channels, Homes Direct expands Champion’s ability to drive retail growth and sales across key Western markets,” the company stated in a release.

“Homes Direct, led by pioneering industry leader and CEO Ray Gritton, is an outstanding retailer that we’ve admired and worked with for many years,” said Tim Larson, president and CEO of Champion Homes. “Our businesses complement each other well, and Homes Direct’s differentiated retail experience and significant western U.S. presence make this a natural fit.

“We are confident this acquisition strengthens our retail platform and will further our ability to win as a customer-centric, high-performance agile team,” he said.

Gritton said Champion is an ideal long-term partner for Homes Direct, and that he has “significant trust” in its team to take the Homes Direct assets forward.

“We share a strong focus on the customer, delivering a seamless transition for our employees and allowing us to continue delivering a differentiated retail experience while creating a great environment for future growth by expanding our reach across the United States,” Gritton said.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Champion’s second quarter of fiscal year 2027. Champion said in an effort to ensure a seamless integration process, all Homes Direct employees at impacted locations will be offered employment by Champion following the completion of the transaction.

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