Datacomp has made available its August 2021 JLT Reports for mobile home rent comps, occupancy, and other vital data from manufactured home communities in Southern California.
JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on communities in 186 housing markets throughout the United States. These include the latest rent trends and statistics, marketing programs, and a variety of other useful management insights.
The August 2021 release of JLT Reports in Southern California includes information on Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties.
Datacomp maintains and provides the JLT Market Reports and is the nation’s #1 provider of market data for the manufactured housing industry. JLT Market Reports are recognized as the industry standard for manufactured home community market analysis.
August 2021 manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Southern California include information on 504 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.
Altogether, the reports from Southern California manufactured home communities include data representations for 186,532 homesites.
Regional Trends in Manufactured Housing Community Rent
Pacific region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 2.7% increase in rent for retirement communities and a 3.0% increase for all-ages communities.
Pacific region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 0.2% increase in occupancy for retirement communities and a 0.3% increase in occupancy for all-ages communities.
“Across the Pacific region there were no reductions in rental occupancy and there were slight increases in manufactured home community lot rent throughout the region as well,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said. “In California, only one of six markets in the state experienced a dip in occupancy, and all markets experienced a slight increase in rent.”
What’s in JLT Market Reports?
Each JLT manufactured home community rent and occupancy report from Datacomp has detailed information about investment grade communities in the major markets. The detailed information includes:
Number of homesites
Occupancy rates
Average community rents, and increases
California rent control and next increase data
Community amenities
Vacant lots
Repossessed and inventory homes, and much more
JLT Market Reports also include management insights that rank communities by the number of homesites, occupancy rates, and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of August 2021 rents and occupancy rates to August 2020, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to present date in most markets.
The August 2021 JLT Market Reports for Southern California manufactured home communities are available for purchase and immediate download online at the Datacomp JLT Market Report website, or they may be ordered by phone in electronic or printed editions at (800) 588-5426.
Each fully updated report for mobile home communities is a comprehensive look at investment grade properties within a market, enabling owners and managers, lenders, appraisers, brokers, and other organizations to effectively benchmark those communities and make informed business decisions.
The 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame Induction classes for manufactured housing and RV professionals gathered in Elkhart, Ind., Monday night, surrounded by nearly 700 colleagues, friends, family, and former inductees, to celebrate the achievements and successes of the dual class of honorees.
Each year, the Hall of Fame brings in five new manufactured housing inductees and five new RV inductees, celebrated most years with a summertime gathering for dinner, ceremony, and professional appreciation.
The Class of 2020 merged with the class of 2021 after a year’s delay due to the pandemic and COVID restrictions.
Manufactured Housing Class of 2021
Ken Anderson, MHIA, Arizona
Ken Anderson humbly deflected praise during his induction, citing the leadership of his board for a great amount of his success. Board member Cody Pearce successfully nominated Anderson for the induction.
“He embellished the record so I could be here with you tonight,” Anderson said in jest. He also lauded Board Chairman Norman Ball for twice bringing him out of retirement.
“I took pay cutws both times,” Anderson said. “That’s how good of a negotiator he is!”
Anderson was inducted for his dedication to the manufactured housing industry and the Manufactured Housing Industry of Arizona is beyond measure.
He gave up his own retail sales operation of 30 years to help save the association and the industry in Arizona by taking leadership of the association and helping it to stay aloft and prosper even during trying times. He served on the board and executive committee for more than a decade.
He helped create the Arizona Image Committee; served on the Government Relations & Zoning Committee; ran several annual home shows as well as chaired many annual conventions. He has also served tirelessly on the national front, serving as a delegate to MHI for many years, as well as serving on the MHI Board of Directors and National Retailers Council.
Anderson has also participated in many of the MHI Legislative Meetings, even helping to secure Democrat support for the Dodd-Frank Reform, including the lead Democrat cosponsor, Kyrsten Sinema, and six additional Congressmen giving Arizona representation by seven out of nine state representatives. Ken has been the recipient of many awards during his time in the industry.
Keith Casenhiser, California Manufactured Home Community Owner
Keith Casenhiser said during his induction speech that even the competition in the manufactured housing industry is friendly and that its camaraderie is a great strength.
“We have a great group of people in this industry,” he said.
As a senior at UC Riverside, Casenhiser started in the industry as an intern at Fleetwood. Since partnering with Dick Bessire, they now own 10 parks and manage 80. Most park owners only participate with WMA, but Casenhiser personally joined other associations and became chairman of the board of MHET, advisory director for CMPA, and president of the board of directors of WMA. For the past 15 years, he has dedicated his allegiance to CMHI as past chairman of the board and served as treasurer on the executive committee. Casenhiser speaks and participates at round tables, panels, committees, and industry functions for all California associations and the same in Idaho and Colorado. He received top awards from WMA, CMPA, and MHET, as well as the Presidents Award and the Jack E. Wells honor from CMHI. Casenhiser contributes to PAC funds and many charity fundraisers. He is knowledgeable about industry issues and has dedicated his life to his family and his industry.
Charles E. Lott, Fleetwood Homes in Georgia
“In some way or another every person in the industry today has benefited from the presence of Charlie Lott,” the WNDU news anchor, and the evening’s master of ceremonies, Gary Sieber said the new inductee.
Five decades in, Charles Lott has played a pivotal role in leading affordable housing in America. He has stayed consistent over the years with a strategy that was rooted in designing and building astonishing homes with a focus on affordability for all Americans.
Every stakeholder in the industry is better from the impact he has made on the evolution of manufactured homes. Most importantly, homeowners continue today to reap the benefit of current trends, needs, and wants because of his relentless goal to improve both the homes and the people he has trained over his lengthy career.
Lott praised the leadership of Joe Stegmayer and Mallory Smith and Cavco and Fleetwood respectively. Working around bright minds, Lott said, helped him find the balance between affordability and beauty in a home.
“At first I thought I was just going to outsmart everyone,” Lott said of his early approach. “I realized that wasn’t going to be very practical, and that there are only 24 hours in a day and I would just try to outwork everybody.”
Debra J. Pizer, Zeman Properties, Illinois
Dee Pizer’s support of the manufactured homes community industry includes guest speaking at MHI meetings, mentoring women in the industry, and volunteering her time whenever asked to assist other community owners and property developers throughout the country. The time Pizer gives new community owners and operators at these meetings has been a tremendous help in the industry. Her reputation and success make her a great source of information. She helped change the perception of manufactured housing as a “male-dominated” industry. She has been essential to the growth and success at Zeman Homes, yet more so in many ways to the continuing success of the community segment.
“I think this is probably the greatest industry you can be in,” Pizer said at the induction dinner. “I am grateful every day.”
She thanked a long list of people, including Ed Zeman, Wally Comer, Christine Lindsey, and Brian and Jeff Fannon, for helping her come through the ranks establish herself as company CEO and board chairwoman.
Alan H. Spencer, Dakotaland Homes, South Dakota
Alan H Spencer has 35-plus years of accomplishments in the manufactured housing industry, including community involvement, pioneering direct-to-consumer factory sales lots, and expansion/management of national dealerships. Spencer has decades-long involvement with associations that represent the industry, and has been instrumental in helping to pass laws and fight against legislation that would negatively impact the industry and its customers in South Dakota and several Midwestern states. Spencer provided support to pass a law in South Dakota enabling manufactured homes to be placed on foundations, converting them to real property and giving the customer the option to obtain mortgage financing.
The RV industry inductees are: Eleonore Hamm, of CRVDA , in British Columbia, Canada; Jeffery M. Hirsh, from Campers Inn RV, of Florida; Robert “Bob” Parish, Wells Fargo CDF, of Florida; Jim Sheldon, of Fleetwood Enterprises and Monaco Coach, on California; Bob Tiedge, of Lippert Components, in Indiana.
“Congratulations to the 10 new honorees,” Searer said. “All of them have had or are having outstanding careers and are richly deserving of this high honor.
“I was especially impressed with the committee’s work for the diversity of this year’s class— not only in the inductee’s gender but also the diversity of regions within the U.S. as well as the diversity of nominee’s industry segments such as suppliers, manufacturers, dealers, community managers, and developers, as well as association executives.”
The RV/MH Hall of Fame 2020 Inductees
Manufactured Housing Inductees
Steven P. Adler, Manufactured Home Community Owner/Operator, Florida
Community owner/operator Steven P. Adler is president and owner of Murex Properties, LLC. Murex owns and manages 15 communities in Arizona, Florida, Oregon, and Texas. Adler has selflessly promoted the advancement of manufactured housing communities as an active member and leader of MHI and the Florida Manufactured Housing Association. He has spent a career developing, acquiring, and managing some of the finest manufactured home communities in the country.
While these accomplishments exemplify Adler’s entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen, and industry leadership, they do not tell the full story. Adler has been a staunch industry advocate for more than three decades. While serving in numerous leadership positions at MHI and FMHA, it is how he continues to serve that defines him. Adler is a doer, a leader, not just a participant. His prints are on most initiatives that have advanced the professionalism of manufactured home communities in recent decades.
“Steve is a doer, a leader, not just a participant,” the master of ceremonies Gary Sieber said.
Adler was unable to join the group, and accepted the honor in a pre-recorded video. In a recent conversation with MHInsider, Adler shared his feelings about being inducted into the Hall of Fame, particularly about being enshrined along with his father Sydney Adler.
“I was very close to him,” he said. “He was a very kind, and sweet man. No games. His father was the same way.
“About the hall, I do ask ‘why me’ a bit, but I’m honored,” he said.
Adler was a plucky little kid and wasn’t shy about talking to customers when he was in the field with his father, who developed Trailer Estates in Bradenton, Fla., and Tucson Estates in the same vein in southern Arizona.
“I always say that I sold my first home at age 5,” Steve Adler said. “Of course that’s not really true, but … I was 29.”
Burt Dickman, Manufactured Home Communities, Indiana (Deceased)
The posthumous induction of Burt Dickman was accepted by a daughter, Susan Reger, and his two sons, Donald and Steven.
“My dad was kind of the town orphan,” Donald Dickman said. Their father would do odd jobs around town for money, food, and perhaps a place to stay.
“He read a help wanted ad in Popular Mechanic about this new thing called a house trailer,” he said. “And that’s what he decided to do.”
For more than 60 years Burt Dickman demonstrated his hard-working talents as a visionary of the highest moral character. Dickman always remained committed to providing affordable housing. Working full time at another job he and his wife manually installed utility lines and lots at their first small mobile home park.
As demand grew, Dickman’s foresight to purchase land beside a proposed interstate highway grew into West Edge Park, a community of convenience offering city utilities and walking distance to businesses, industries, parks, and recreation. An “ethical man knows what is right … a moral man does what is right” that aptly describes Dickman’s character. Tough decisions, including financial, were made with the true moral character Dickman possessed.
“My dad had so much energy,” Reger said. “He just loved to serve people. I am so grateful for the father I had. He always said the smartest thing he ever did was marry our mother. We can’t argue with that. And he always said his wedding day was the greatest day of his life. But if he was here tonight, I think this would be the greatest night of his life.”
Ron Dunlap, Association Executive, Virginia
Ron Dunlap could be defined as a man who could be counted on to serve above and beyond the call of duty whether it was in Vietnam where he earned a bronze star, in his volunteer work for the Habitat for Humanity, or in his passion to help others through his work with the Virginia Manufactured and Modular Housing Association. As executive director and president of VAMMHA, Dunlap is known as someone who, in addition to representing his members, also would take his time to help homeowners and others who had problems or issues that need attention. Virginia is one of the more favorable places for the manufactured and modular housing industry because of Ron Dunlap.
He led the legislative efforts that produced the favorable zoning treatment Virginia now has. Without his efforts, homeowners would face county-by-county fights every day. But Virginia now has statewide protections that provide association members and customers with certainty and clarity. These efforts were by no means a slam dunk. Lesser lobbyists would have failed. Dunlap did not. And, Virginia is better for it. Dunlap is a member to the VAMMHA Hall of Fame and was recognized for his contributions by receiving a Virginia House Joint Commendation upon his retirement.
George Porter, Manufactured Housing Resources, Delaware
George Porter, since 1990, has been manufactured housing’s “go-to guy” in all matters regarding new home installation on rental homesites in land-lease communities and on developed land. His pioneering principles positioned Porter as housing installation expert used by state manufactured housing associations, MHI, and HUD to research and prepare industry-standard manufactured housing installation, manuals, and to teach installers nationwide.
“It’s not glamorous,” Porter said at the induction dinner. “It’s hard work actually.
“Did you realize the average has 15 different grades? And there are rules in here I don’t know,” he said referring to installation manuals. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years.”
In 2007, he headed the effort to prove the effectiveness of frost-free foundations. Porter is a true pioneer and continues as a recognized expert in installation matters throughout the entire manufactured housing industry. In 2008 George was named “Man of the Year” by the Journal of Manufactured Housing.
Jerry Ruggirello, Manufactured Home Community Owner/Operator, Michigan
Jerry Ruggirello, president of AJR Development and AJR Home Sales, has been recognized numerous times from associations, groups, and politicians for his time spent bettering his community and industry. Ruggirello has served on far too many committees to list. However, some of his involvement has helped avoid government overreach with key landlord-tenant issues such as ad valorem taxes and rent control.
His peers and industry professionals often credit Ruggirello with the thriving status of the MH industry in Michigan today. An example of his ambition and innovation, Ruggirello made the decision to display a manufactured home into the 2014 Suburban Collection Showplace at the Novi Home Show. This is a Home Builder Association show that Ruggirello realized was hosting a captive audience. By putting a brand new sectional home inside of the show, tens of thousands of homebuyers learned about the new MH product. The response was good. The MH Showcase in October 2019 featured five homes, one park model, and more than a dozen retailer/operator/supplier booths, and his communities have received numerous awards.
“If I never made a dollar in this industry, all the relationships and friendships I’ve made would trump it,” Ruggirello said at the Hall of Fame in Elkhart.
Manufactured housing industry veteran George Allen greets guests prior to the start of the Final Networking Roundtable.
George Allen has entered the building.
The long-awaited day had arrived, after the many months of canceled gatherings. The Final Networking Roundtable was held on Aug. 12 at the Hilton Nashville Downtown with a full schedule of presentations, mixers, a dinner, and a special event to honor the career and achievements of George Allen.
George Allen’s latest book “From ‘SmittyAlpha6’ to MHMaven”
The Networking Roundtable was founded by Allen, MHInsider’s contributing editor and the author of the Allen Legacy column. The annual event has enjoyed a nearly 30-year run and has attracted a great number of executives from all parts of the industry. The 2021 Roundtable will be the final in a series, and a culmination of Allen’s time as a community owner, property manager, trainer, consultant, and industry advocate.
Allen has said he will continue to write in his retirement, building on a collection of stories he’s told, including the latest title “From ‘SmittyAlpha6’ to MHMaven”, a 188-page text handed out to ’21 Roundtable attendees that details his boyhood years in New Jersey, college, his time in the Marines, including in combat during Vietnam, and then his entry into the manufactured housing industry.
“I’ve lived a pretty interesting life,” Allen writes in the introduction to his book. “This is my way of sharing life lessons learned… Nothing disgraceful is revealed, no lies; just how I’ve lived and learned these past seven, soon to be eight, decades.”
Attendees at the Roundtable come from the many diverse aspects of Allen’s life.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” UMH Properties Vice President of Sales Christine Lindsey said. “George has been so important to this industry, and he’s always been there for me.”
George Allen’s State of the Industry Address
Allen manages the Roundtable introductions and provides the state of the industry address.
The Final Networking Roundtable kicked-off with a round of introductions for each of the attendees, its namesake activity, and went into an industry update provided by Allen himself.
Allen covered the many changes he’s witnessed in the industry during his career.
“What has happened since 1970? The large absorbing the small,” Allen said about the homebuilding sector of the industry. “There were 26 major firms at that time, and today we talk about the big three Cs — Clayton, Champion (Skyline Champion Corporation, and Cavco.”
Though we see news reports about portfolio owners consolidating as well, there has been an overriding expansion of community owners in the last 30 years.
“In 1987 there were 25 land-lease community portfolio owners,” Allen said. “Now there are 500 portfolio owners in the United States, averaging 25 communities in each.”
Family-owned Community Owner to Provide Keynote
Scott Roberts of Roberts Communities provided the keynote address on strategies in new community development, followed by a fireside chat with Allen and others, as well as a cocktail mixer, and celebratory dinner and a special presentation to conclude the evening in honor of an industry icon. Thank you, George!
Partial Halt in Residential Evictions Continues for Those Impacted by Coronavirus
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed an extension to the eviction moratorium further preventing the eviction of tenants who are unable to make rental payments. The moratorium was scheduled to expire in July, and now is extended provisionally through Oct. 3.
The CDC’s partial extension of the eviction moratorium is for “counties with heightened levels of community transmission in order to respond to recent, unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the Delta variant. It is intended to target specific areas of the country where cases are rapidly increasing, which likely would be exacerbated by mass evictions.”
COVID-19 has presented a historic threat to the nation’s public health. Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings — like homeless shelters — by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19. With vaccines in circulation for several months, nearly 60% of eligible Americans have been vaccinated.
A statement from the White House on housing stability includes language that the “CDC’s decision to extend the eviction moratorium for one final month” would set up a long list of proposed changes in housing and housing services.
The Order prohibits residential landlords nationwide from evicting tenants who:
• have used their best efforts to obtain government assistance for housing
• are unable to pay their full rent due to a substantial loss of income
• are making their best efforts to make timely partial payments of rent, and
• would become homeless or have to move into a shared living setting if they were to be evicted.
In addition to the above requirements, one of the following financial criteria must apply. To qualify for protection, tenants must:
• expect to earn no more than $99,000 (individuals) or $198,000 (filing joint tax return) in 2020
• not have been required to report any income to the IRS in 2020, or
• have received an Economic Impact Payment (stimulus check) pursuant to Section 2201 of the CARES Act, Section 9601 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or to any other similar federally-authorized payments made to individuals in 2021 and 2021.
Tenants must complete a declaration under penalty of perjury that they meet the criteria listed in the Order.
On the national level, manufactured housing is widely available and the most often used form of affordable housing, particularly as a path to homeownership. Its affordability and availability require no government subsidies and about 22 million people in the U.S. live in a mobile home or manufactured home.
But what is the value of manufactured homes to a community, on the local level?
Manufactured homes, whether placed on private property or in a land-lease community provide a great amount of diversity for the homebuyer. And diversity in housing is exactly what the domestic market today dearly needs.
What Makes Manufactured Housing Diverse?
A new 747 square-foot single-section home can be purchased through a variety of finance options for little more than $20,000. It is very likely that the same web retailer, factory, community, or retail home center can provide the very next homebuyer a new 2,600 square-foot home for something less than $200,000. Some builders today are making multi-section homes that exceed 3,000 square feet, and many of the larger homes can be built to HUD Code or made for local modular specifications, each eligible for financing via a conventional mortgage.
Of the nearly 100,000 new manufactured home units shipped in the U.S. in each of the recent years, about a third are destined for land-lease communities, though a greater percentage of the homes could fit nicely in a planned community. It’s only a matter of homebuyer preference that brings those very same homes, or others of varying configuration and size, to open land in rural, suburban, or urban infill settings.
Manufactured homes can be rural getaway bungalows and just as seamlessly placed in R-1 residential settings alongside the Tudors, Dutch colonials, and mid-century modern homes we see everywhere.
Floor plans, home amenities, material choices, and color palettes are all equally as diverse. Many manufactured home sellers today provide customers the ability to drag and drop customized home choices, as well as reconfigure interior spatial concepts, incorporate flex rooms, and plan for future on-site additions to a new home.
Through Fannie Mae’s MH Advantage and Freddie Mac’s CHOICEHome special financing programs, homebuyers today can get a new manufactured home built at about half the cost of a similar site-built home with a raised roofline, front porch, driveway and attached garage, hardwood cabinets, enhanced energy efficiency, and much more. Again, these new manufactured homes can be placed on private land, used in new development, or provide much-needed new homes in already established residential settings.
For those who read these words, and feel their temperature rise with the ringing sound of some long-ago voice talking about home values this and depreciation of that, please suspend doubt long enough to read the 2018 FHFA House Price Index pilot study on how manufactured homes retain value in a fashion similar to site-built, a valuable resource within an environment with far too few opportunities to assess such things, shouldering against the forces of exclusionary zoning and NIMBYism.
Photo courtesy of Advantage Homes.
Who Needs Affordable Housing?
Every locale in the U.S. could use a certain degree of added affordable housing. For decades, home starts and wages have been outpaced by demand and rising home prices. The gap is and has been widening.
In many higher-priced markets, this means there are few if any affordable homes for would-be residents within the middle to low-income strata. The big cities and resort towns, and increasingly the mid-size cities, too, cannot find hotel, restaurant, and theater employees who can feasibly live and work in the same community. This, of course, extends into many other areas of employment, including the hospitals, schools, banks, grocery markets, care facilities, and, in fact, the very factory that employs people to build and move our homes.
Building Community Within Community
So, is manufactured housing diverse?
The manufactured home, the factory-built home, affordable and sustainable, helps to build communities by bringing all of the participants and stakeholders together. The principal, the teacher, the parent, and the student all live in the same local community.
Manufactured homes within land-lease communities can be purchased, placed new, or rented in communities designed for families or communities designed for retirees, communities designed for workforce living or communities designed for recreational endeavors like golfing, boating, gardening, or going to the beach.
So, you have the country’s largest non-subsidized segment of affordable housing populating a great majority of the land-lease homesites too?
This little “niche” corner of the U.S. housing market, responsible most years for something less than 10% of housing starts, already makes up the most diverse, affordable, readily available and sustainable path to homeownership within a stressed market composed of eager and deserving consumers, the first-time homebuyers, the empty-nesters, and every person or family in between.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on July 30, 2021, announced an extension of its moratorium on evictions for foreclosed borrowers and their occupants through September 30, 2021, and noted the expiration of the foreclosure moratorium on July 31, 2021. This extension is part of President Biden’s announcement on July 29 that federal agencies will use their authority to extend their respective eviction moratoria through the end of September, which will provide continued protection for households living in federally-insured, single-family properties. FHA’s eviction moratorium extension will avoid displacement of foreclosed borrowers and other occupants who need more time to access suitable housing options after foreclosure.
“We must continue to do everything within our authority to make sure that foreclosed borrowers who are impacted by the pandemic have the time and resources to secure safe and stable housing, whether it’s in their current homes, or by obtaining alternative housing options,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Lopa P. Kolluri said. “We don’t want to see any individuals or families displaced unnecessarily while trying to recover from the pandemic.”
With today’s announcement, mortgage servicers must continue to halt evictions for FHA Single Family Title II forward and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) foreclosed properties, except for those properties that are legally vacant or abandoned.
Mortgage servicers may initiate or continue foreclosures in accordance with FHA requirements once the Single Family foreclosure moratorium expires as planned on July 31, 2021, but may not evict a foreclosed borrower or other occupant.
The CDC eviction moratorium allowed to expire at the end of July has been reinstated provisionally “in counties with heightened levels of community transmission in order to respond to recent, unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the Delta variant.” The CDC said its extension of the eviction moratorium is intended to target specific “areas of the country where cases are rapidly increasing, which likely would be exacerbated by mass evictions.”
“Throughout the pandemic, MHI has worked with a coalition of national housing industry organizations to call for rental assistance to reach those in need and oppose a blanket federal moratorium on evictions,” the Manufactured Housing Institute said Aug. 3 in a statement on the extension. “The coalition is calling on the White House and Congress to focus on getting the nearly $50 billion that has been made available in federal Emergency Rental Assistance to those residents and housing providers in need.”
Manufactured Housing Industry Transaction Being Finalized, Planned for Completion in October
Cavco Industries has signed a binding offer for the purchase of Commodore Homes, the nation’s largest independent manufactured home builder.
Cavco is traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CVCO.
The scheduled Commodore acquisition is expected to be complete in October. The acquisition provides an increased market presence for Arizona-based Cavco in the midwest and mid-Atlantic markets, as well as an entry to the northeast housing market.
The purchase price for the acquisition is about $150 million, though pricing adjustments are anticipated in the months to come.
Cavco President Bill Boor said he and other executives with the two companies have been meeting and will continue to meet as filings are made and the transaction is made final. Part of the filings and approval is a regulatory review.
“We don’t think there is an issue created by this transaction, mostly because it really is a new territory for us. We have done very little business to this point in the northeast,” Boor said. “And a lot of the Commodore product is modular, and that’s something we only have going in one plant currently. We have new geography, and new product in the transaction so we don’t expect a problem with anti-trust.”
He said the daily agenda is 100% getting ready for the transition.
“We at Cavco have a long history of acquisitions, and we typically want to keep people in positions, but there are bound to be areas of duplication where we might make a shift,” Boor said. “Even if a position isn’t changing, there are different administrative processes. There’s a lot of work that goes into figuring out what we’re going to focus on day one, day 30, and in six months, how are we going to bring these two companies together?”
Acquiring Commodore means Cavco will assume and operate six new manufacturing facilities, two retail locations, and a home finance organization.
Boor said Commodore brands should remain intact following the acquisition, as has been the case with Fleetwood a dozen years ago and Palm Harbor about 10 years go.
“We do not intend to change them,” he said. “Those brands have a lot of value for the dealers and for homebuyers in the market.”
Boor praised the vision and work ethic developed at Commodore under Barry Shein’s leadership. He said the company has a reputation for quality, design, customer relationships, and integrity that is very consistent with Cavco’s philosophy and approach to doing business.
“This deal took quite a while to put together and the upside is that we really got to know each other really well,” Boor said. “They’re very knowledgeable and very good people for us to be working with.”
Commodore builds manufactured homes in two states — Indiana and Pennsylvania — under the brand names Commodore Homes of Pennsylvania, Commodore Homes of Indiana, Colony Homes, MidCountry Homes, Pennwest Homes, and R-Anell Homes. The company has about 1,200 employees and operates across the northeast, midwest and mid-Atlantic regions. Its retail operations are in Indiana and New York.
Commodore generated net sales of approximately $258 million and sold over 6,600 modules, equating to over 3,700 homes, in the last 12 months, according to a joint press release issued by the companies.
Commodore President and CEO Barry Shein said he and his team feel they’ve found a great fit with Cavco.
“Based on their vision for the industry and business philosophy, I have complete confidence that this is the right move for our dedicated associates, our valued suppliers, and our long-time customers,” Shein said. “I offer my full support to ensure a smooth transition and a successful future for Commodore and its employees as part of the Cavco family.”
Boor said he anticipates a good blend of business practices prevailing from the transaction.
“There are huge opportunities in operations. A lot of times when one company buys another there’s a tendency to come in and say you’re going to implement all of operating procedures across the new locations,” Boor said. “The really interesting thing is that Commodore does some stuff in manufacturing that I am really looking forward to investigating and bringing into all of our plants.”
In a separate announcement from Cavco earlier in July, the company said it has completed a 22,400 square foot expansion of its Palm Harbor operating facilities in Forth Worth, Texas. Eric Fletemeyer, general manager for the facility, said the added space means six new stations for homebuilding.
“Our plant will enjoy increased output, less rework, improved drying times, fewer delays, and fewer defects, while helping to create a highly efficient and employee-friendly workplace,” he said.
A SECO Planning Committee member speaks with an exhibitor at SECO19 in Atlanta, Ga.
The gathering’s second year going virtual will cater to hundreds of mobile home community owners and managers
The SECO National Conference of Community Owners announced today that registration is now open for SECO21. Registration for the Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 event includes an early bird discount for manufactured housing professionals who register before July 31.
Now in its 11th year, SECO has been a landmark conference “for community owners, by community owners,” providing the opportunity to learn, interact, network, and shop the latest manufactured housing offerings. The event has grown since 2009 into a national event representing all parts of the industry, with an emphasis on small to midsize community owners.
“We’ve decided to host SECO21 virtually following SECO20’s strong success as our first virtual event,” SECO Co-Founder and organizer Spencer Roane said. “The virtual format allows for an even wider network of industry professionals to network and take part in our roundtables, presentations, and panel discussions.”
Register Today for a Discounted All-Access Package
SECO21 attendees who register before July 31 can take advantage of a discounted $399 Early Bird All-Access package. The package not only includes an all-access pass to SECO21, but also event recordings from both SECO21 and SECO20 (a $746 value). SECO20 event recordings will not be made available with any other ticket. All-access tickets to SECO21 will increase to $499 on August 1.
After SECO20 attracted nearly 500 attendees, SECO21 expects around 700 attendees to take part this year, which will be its second as a virtual event. Beyond attendance, SECO21 has several exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities still available for industry professionals and organizations. Sponsorship packages are available at the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels.
This year’s conference is once again a partnership with MHVillage, the leading marketplace for manufactured and mobile homes.
“We’re working hard to make SECO21 another standout success for community owners across the nation,” Mark Dollan, Vice President of Marketing for MHVillage, said. “Community owners and managers have relied on SECO time and time again to deliver the insights and industry updates that they expect, and we’re ready to exceed those expectations.”
For more information on SECO21 or to register online, visit secoconference.com. SECO21 is an industry conference for manufactured housing professionals and is not open to the general public.
About SECO National Conference of Community Owners The SECO National Conference of Community Owners was founded 11 years ago by a small group of committed manufactured housing professionals and has been held each year near Atlanta. The gathering is dedicated to building an industry environment and culture that looks to share best practices and help form new ideas. SECO, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, was created for community owners, by community owners. All proceeds go toward planning and programming for the next year’s national gathering. Any excess revenue supports the Veterans Assistance Fund founded by SECO organizers in 2018 in support of veterans and first responders across the U.S
Chateau at Onion Creek is a Roberts Communities all-ages offering in Austin, Texas.
Scott Roberts, of Roberts Communities and Roberts Resorts, will provide the keynote talk at the final Networking Roundtable, an educational networking event for manufactured housing professionals celebration of the career of the event founder George Allen.
Allen founded the Roundtable 11 years ago and organized meet-ups annually in alternating locations. The event provides networking, discussion of important industry topics, and the opportunity to make deals.
Networking Roundtable attendance is limited, so register today to secure your place.
The Roundtable attracts many of the most engaged and knowledgeable leaders in the business, from community management, to finance, retail, manufacturing, and services. Each year provides a schedule of panels and speakers covering industry trends and topics, as well as an opportunity for each attendee to introduce themselves and their company to the attendees.
Scott Roberts is an industry veteran who runs a generational business from Austin, Texas. The organization’s properties are award-winning communities that meet a wide range of resident needs.
Roberts will talk about his company’s development of raw land into land-lease communities in several regions of the U.S., noting the uptick of activity in new development in general. For the first time since the mid-90s, Roberts said, a significant amount of new land is being developed for factory-built affordable housing.
The venue for the final Networking Roundtable is positioned in the middle of Nashville’s historic Music Row. The event will have a limited amount of exhibit and sponsorship positions. The single day of programming will include a state of the industry address by Allen, the Roundtable keynote address, a cocktail mixer, a celebratory dinner, and a special presentation to cap the evening.
The Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention again extended a moratorium on housing evictions through the end of June 2021 just days before the prior moratorium was set to expire on March 31. As housing advocates continue to convince the U.S. and individual state governments to extend the moratorium through the pandemic, more than 10 million Americans are behind on rent or mortgage payments, and more than five million say they are at risk of eviction or foreclosure, according to a recent Census Bureau survey.
But one of the most underreported fallouts from seemingly interminable government COVID rent moratoriums and rental assistance programs, is the impact that more than a year of “bad” rental debt is going to have down the road for both landlords AND tenants.
As a reminder, rent moratoriums do not erase the contractual obligation of people to pay their rent. Neither does it erase the obligation landlords have to pay their mortgages.
There is no magical black hole for the debt that has accumulated during this period of government-sanctioned rent suspension. To be frank, it’s going to affect all of us, landlords and property owners as well as renters and taxpayers.
— Attorney Matthew I. Paletz
My biggest question has been this from the beginning: if the government continues to send out checks for rental assistance, why do we continue to need a moratorium? Eviction, as every landlord and property owner knows, is a natural part of a tenancy contract and if they cannot legally hold their tenants to these contracts, there is no real incentive for renters to negotiate payment if they can live there perpetually for free.
This is not unlike the recession of a dozen years ago, when homeowners who could not pay their mortgages, sat in their dwellings for sometimes years, rent-free, before the banks finally foreclosed on them. The banks did not want the home inventory then and I can guarantee they do not want it now if these moratoriums cause property owners eventually to walk away.
What Happens When the Moratoriums End?
You don’t have to look very far into the future to fully understand the long-term implications of these state and federal government rent moratoriums.
Eventually, those who can’t pay their current or back rent are going to find themselves harnessed with a form of renter double-jeopardy when they are evicted and looking for another place to live. Specifically, not only are landlords going to be forced to raise rents to make up for COVID-related shortfalls, pricing many renters out of the market, but they’re also going to tighten the process of financial pre-approvals, a bar many renters will not be able to meet.
Of course, government “solutions” like rent abatement and assistance programs are almost always short-term, knee-jerk fixes to much bigger problems. In this case, these programs are going to adversely affect, on a continuing basis, the people they were meant to help.
As another example of the federal government run amock is the incredulous situation that the CDC, is writing housing policy, a matter that as of press time remained under federal review. Even now, its authority is being struck down in federal courts in Texas, Ohio, and Tennessee. These moratoriums and subsequent accumulated debt will affect a renter’s credit rating, their reputation and financial status for years and years. So landlords, even when they do legally get their properties back, may have a lot of hesitation in renting to an applicant with more than a year of bad debt. The result is going to be that an awful lot of people needing a place to live will have very few options due to the government’s short-sighted policies. And no one can blame the landlords for not taking on any tenant who looks like a potential payment risk after all they’ve been through in the last year.
As a result, this bad rental debt will not only keep families from finding affordable housing in the future, but financially will leave landlords holding the bag if these tenants file bankruptcy. Then, the next logical domino to fall is local municipalities, which are going to find themselves cash-strapped due to a lack of revenue and will in turn undoubtedly raise taxes and add more red tape to their housing oversight, costing everyone additional money in fees and other regulations. Again, a foreseeable consequence that will negatively affect renters.
Anyone who follows these types of government programs could see from a mile away how this overreach, which I find unconstitutional, would disrupt the delicate balance between landlords and tenants. The bottom line is this governmental interference is unsustainable, and the negative effects will be with us all for years to come.
Matthew I. Paletz is the CEO of Paletz Law and he is licensed to practice in Michigan and Ohio. He is a leading national advocate and supporter of legislative efforts on behalf of the real estate industry with his practice emphasis dedicated to landlord-tenant law, nationwide fair housing defense of property owners, and protecting the rights of creditors in bankruptcy. Paletz Law is on the cutting edge of technology and offers PaletzTrack, an online software platform and mobile app. You can find them at www.PaletzLaw.com
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