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The Art of Hiring a Community Manager

By
Maria Horton
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hire a community manager

There is a unique process for hiring a property manager, and it’s one that has evolved greatly in the manufactured housing industry. In years past, a manager often was a senior retiree who could collect rents and enjoy either concession on their space rent or a rental home in lieu of payment for the job. Those days have escaped us.

Maria Horton, regional manager and marketing director for Newport Pacific.

At present, in order to hire a property manager, we must look for someone who is organized and is good with technology, a problem-solving decision-maker who possesses customer service skills.

A perk might be that the management position comes with a place to live and paid utilities. Industry wide, the hourly pay at times was less than minimum wage given the housing accommodations, something labor law no longer supports.

Besides, the multi-million-dollar assets we own and operate now require personnel to be carefully recruited, screened, and evaluated. In recruiting a candidate, look for experience. Look for a candidate who has worked in our industry or a similar one. Find someone who is familiar with laws that apply to housing. Inquire about the use of accounting and property management software. Make apparent the need for someone with writing skills, and ask the candidates to compose a letter as part of the application or evaluation.

How to Conduct an Interview with a Community Manager Candidate

Starting the interview process, remember you are the salesperson representing your company. Begin by selling this person on your company and why they may want to join your organization and operate a manufactured home community. Every part of this process is about you needing quality talent as much as it is about the candidate who wants a job.

Below are some questions we find helpful once the interview has begun in earnest. Remember you want the candidate to be excited about the prospect of joining your company!

Ask the candidate, toward the end of an interview, “After speaking with us and given what we’ve both learned, do you feel you’re a good candidate for this position?”

Ask the candidate to explain their answer. And, of course, to put out the questions in a bullet list like this makes the process seem like an interrogation. It doesn’t have to be. Try to keep the tone conversational, feel free to expand on the planned questions, and let the candidate responses guide you toward other lines of inquiry before returning to the planned set of questions.

Good Questions to Ask a Community Manager Candidate

General Questions

  • What is your employment goal?
  • Are you seeking a job or a career?
  • Are you interested in advancement?
  • What type of formal training have you had? Do you have any certificates that are relevant to housing and property management?
  • Are you willing to relocate to a different part of the country?
  • What are your salary requirements?
  • Do you need or want on-property housing?

Sales and Marketing Questions

  • Can you share with us your impressions about the letter-writing requirement for this position, and how well do you feel you did?
  • What is your strongest marketing skillset?
  • What other sales and marketing proficiencies do you have?
  • What experience do you have filling vacancies?

Technology Questions

  • Do you have advanced computer skills?
  • What kind of accounting and property management software do you use?
  • Are you familiar with AMSI?
  • Have you used a direct deposit machine?
  • Are you proficient with spreadsheets?

Management Questions

  • What do you like about being a property manager?
  • What do you dislike?
  • Do you work better independently or with a team, what has the mix been for you most recently?
  • How many staff members have you overseen in your prior experience?
  • Have you worked on multiple properties at the same time?
  • Have you worked as a project manager at your property? Have you worked with vendors?
  • Do you have knowledge of utilities, and if so can you explain your experience? (Power pedestals, water, sewer hook-ups)
  • How familiar are you with the state laws affecting this property?
  • What type of manager are you? Describe your people skills.
  • Do you have an example of how you motivate an individual or team through a difficult task, such as resident rule enforcement?
  • How would you handle a situation where you did not agree with your immediate supervisor? What do you feel is the best way to communicate with your supervisor?

There may be a new set of more sophisticated questions for a follow-up interview. And that’s better saved for a second installment.

Your property manager is first in line to represent your property, your company, and your residents. Hiring the right person is vital to your company’s reputation, and it’s more important than ever, in a difficult labor market, to efficiently search for, hire, train, and retain the best candidates for you and for the industry as a whole.

JLT Market Reports Available for Manufactured Home Communities in Colorado, Delaware, NJ, Wyoming

By
Patrick Revere
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Filling Vacant Lots
Photo courtesy of UMH Properties, Inc.

Datacomp published July 2021 JLT Market Reports for manufactured home communities in Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, and Wyoming, which include mobile home rent comps, occupancy, and other vital up-to-date data.

JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on manufactured home communities in 186 U.S.housing markets. Reports include the latest rent trends and statistics, marketing programs, and a variety of other useful management insights.

Datacomp’s JLT Market Reports are 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.

July 2021 manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, and Wyoming include information on 239 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.

Altogether, the reports from the four states’ manufactured home communities include data representations for 62,891 homesites.

Regional Trends in Manufactured Housing Community Rent and Occupancy

  • The West region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 0.8% increase in occupancy and a 4.3% increase in adjusted rents year-over-year. 
  • Northeast region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 0.4% increase and a 3% increase in adjusted rents year-over-year.

“Rent and occupancy in manufactured home communities is stable nationwide, evidenced by the anticipated moderate increases in lot rent across the four states published in the July 2021 JLT Market Reports, with only slightly higher than average increases regionally in one of the four states,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said.

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
  • Community amenities
  • Vacant lots
  • Repossessed and inventory homes, and much more

JLT Market Reports also include management insights that rank communities by number of homesites, occupancy rates, and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of July 2021 rents and occupancy rates to July 2020, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to present date in most markets.

The July 2021 JLT Market Reports for manufactured home communities in Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, and Wyoming 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.

June 30 Final Day for Networking Roundtable ‘Early Bird’ Pricing

By
Patrick Revere
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MHM Certification
George Allen stands center with the dozen MHM Certification graduates from the 2018 Roundtable in Indianapolis. Instructors Katie Hauck and Kathy Taylor are at the right with the table of class materials.

The Final Networking Roundtable, after decades of annual meet-ups across the country, has been set for Aug. 12 in Nashville. The event provides networking, discussion of important industry topics, the opportunity to make deals, and this year the honor of celebrating the career and achievements of the event’s founder, George Allen.

Networking Roundtable “early bird” pricing ends June 30, register today for the best deal.

In previous years, the Roundtable moved from Colorado, to Indiana, to Florida, most often in the late fall, attracting 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.

The Final Networking Roundtable, at the Hilton Nashville Downtown in the middle of historic Music Row, has a limited amount of exhibit and sponsorship positions for manufactured housing industry professionals. The single day of programming will include a state of the industry address by Allen, as well as a keynote address, cocktail mixer, celebratory dinner, and a special presentation to cap the evening.

“The relationships and connections fostered by George have helped many attendees catapult their careers and given a voice to community owners and operators across the country,” event organizer Erin Smith said.

Bookmark the MHInsider homepage and check back regularly for manufactured housing news!

Can the COVID Housing Boom Continue?

By
Bryce Gill
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post covid housing boom manufactured home community
Pantano Vista, Tucson, Ariz.

By many measures, the COVID recession is the worst since the Great Depression. Within two months, the U.S. lost 22 million jobs as most of the country went into lockdown in the early days of the pandemic. By comparison, the Great Recession in 2008 saw job losses of nine million peak-to-trough. Meanwhile, unprecedented restrictions on daily life over the past year have resulted in the closure of roughly one in five small businesses, with the service sector particularly hard hit.

First Trust Advisors Economist Bryce Gill.

Depending on what data you look at, though, you may not have noticed a recession at all. For example, personal income actually rose 6.1% in 2020, the result of the federal government stepping in and more than fully replacing lost income with stimulus checks and boosted unemployment benefits. Meanwhile, every major statistical group — from the top 1% to the bottom 50% — saw their net worth rise in 2020. Households saved more money than ever, paying down debt and improving their personal balance sheets.

Nowhere has this dichotomy been more apparent in the past year than in the U.S. housing market. Sales of new and existing homes rose 20.1% and 6.2% respectively in 2020, the result of people fleeing strict pandemic restrictions, large-scale urban unrest, and a desire for more personal space in the suburbs during the lockdown. The inventory of existing homes available for sale is currently at its lowest level on record back to 1999, and 74% of homes sold in February were on the market for less than a month! Meanwhile, the number of completed new homes available for sale is down 48.1% in the past year, the result of a massive increase in demand during the pandemic outrunning the ability of builders, who are hamstrung by social distancing regulations and disrupted supply chains, to bring enough new supply to the market.

How to Look at the Housing Market Post COVID Restrictions

Now that vaccines are increasingly widespread, portions of the country have begun reopening the economy.

Many are left to wonder what the outlook for the housing market is. Will sales collapse as apartment rentals in the cities once again become viable competitors for single-family homes? We don’t think so. We expect the housing market to continue to perform well, with sales stabilizing at higher post-pandemic levels for several reasons.

First, a trend toward work-from-home is likely to remain in place even as pandemic-related measures are eased around the country. Many companies that previously required workers to be in the office changed their policies during the pandemic and it will be hard to reverse them. Moreover, many companies that were initially skeptical about these policies are realizing how good they can be for the bottom-line by eliminating office space expenses. That means people who were previously tied to specific locations, typically in urban areas, will have more flexibility, making more space in the suburbs or rural settings an attractive proposition.

Second, there has been a huge shift in buyer preferences over the past year, with younger buyers who have preferred cities in the past finally seeing the value of owning their own home. In fact, for the first time, Millennial borrowers in 2020 accounted for more than half of all new mortgages. This shift in preferences hasn’t all just been age-based though. All demographics of people have been leaving high-tax states with strict pandemic restrictions for greener pastures, and in huge numbers. Looking at the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau from July 2019 to July 2020, just midway through the pandemic, demonstrates this. California, New York, and Illinois on net lost 278,374 residents while Texas and Florida on net gained 615,221. In the past year, new home sales are up 20.2% in the South but are down 11.6% in the Northeast and 8.1% in the West. We expect the South to continue to make up a larger share of overall home sales in the future as U.S. internal migration continues and less arduous zoning and construction regulations continue to give the region distinct advantages from a cost-of-living perspective.

A model home in Far Horizons East, a manufactured housing community in Tucson, Ariz.

Finally, there are significant demographic tailwinds coming together for home sales for the foreseeable future. According to Pew Research, Millennials in 2019 surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest living generation. The biggest cohort of Millennial births was in 1990, meaning that group is turning 31. And Census Bureau population projections show that the key homebuying population is those aged 30-49 years. Home buying is set to grow significantly through 2039.

However, in order to meet this rising demand for housing, the U.S. will need to solve the slow-rolling building crisis that has been ongoing for decades. In the early 1960s, the U.S. built roughly three new housing units for every 100 households annually. However, that number has steadily fallen over the years to just a single new unit for every 100 households in 2020.

One part of this decline in new construction over the years is increasingly stringent zoning and construction regulations, with current homeowners pulling up the ladder behind them in large cities to the detriment of a new generation. However, another major issue is the stagnation in productivity growth for single-family construction, which has resulted in fewer homes being built at higher prices. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that between 1987 and 2019, labor productivity fell slightly for single-family home construction.

On the whole, we’ve actually gotten worse at residential building in the past 30 years!

Innovation and the application of modern manufacturing techniques to residential construction will be crucial to alleviating this problem going forward. Pre-fabricated housing, where units are designed and manufactured off-site to benefit from economies of scale before being transported and assembled at the desired location, offers a promising way to meet this challenge. We have also only just begun to see the possibilities with 3D printing, with a developer in Mexico recently printing entire homes in under 24 hours.

As entrepreneurs step in and solve the current inventory shortage in new and exciting ways, one of the major headwinds in the U.S. housing market since 2008 will begin to dissipate. This paired with the pandemic-induced shift in living preferences, improved household finances, and advantageous demographic shifts should keep housing primed for continued growth in the years ahead.

Materials & Labor

By
Patrick Revere
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Jacobsen Homes manufactured housing materials and labor

There are two vital words echoing through the manufactured housing industry and surprisingly neither of them is “shipments”, “demand”, or “perception”.

Materials and labor.

Labor and materials.

Arrange them any way you like.

Suffice to say, manufactured home builders and probably to a lesser degree the full swath of manufactured housing professionals, would take a 2×4 to the forehead — if they could find one — for just one more good framer, account executive, painter, or transporter.

Materials is a nice, broad term, as is labor, which means if you’re having difficulty in it, you’re having a lot of difficulty.

Mike Wnek is the vice president of business development for Jacobsen Homes in Safety Harbor, Fla.

What About Lumber Prices?

Interior home decor options for new manufactured homes from Jacobsen Homes.

Lumber prices rose more than 240% since the pandemic shutdowns began. The dramatic increase is the result of low inventory in anticipation of a spring crash given COVID restrictions. While there was a short, sharp dip, the demand for lumber rose rapidly throughout the spring and summer as a move to the suburbs ensued aside massive homeowner push for expansions and improvements. Most building industry analysts and operators anticipated a longer and more disruptive lull in building and home buying. Yet, Home Depot, the country’s largest home improvement retailer, in 2020 experienced a year-over-year sales jump of nearly 20%, an increase of more than $20 billion from annual revenue of $110 billion in 2019 to $132 billion during 2020.

But the high cost and low supply situation is not limited to lumber. Windows are difficult to source. All varieties of kitchen appliances are on backorder.

Mike Wnek is the vice president of new business development for Jacobsen Homes, the top builder of manufactured homes in Florida.

“Even smaller needs like a certain type of tape for finishing a dishwasher…. The holdups are a real problem,” Wnek said. “And there’s no room to keep a home waiting in the wings. We know that these challenges will ease up, but that’s little comfort when you’re enduring them day-to-day.”

At most plants, a home that cannot receive windows stops the production line. And most facilities were running at full tilt leading up to the pandemic, forced now to play catchup amid unrelenting consumer demand and continued pipeline disruptions.

Finding Help When You Need It

Where do you go to find good employees when most of the labor force is being asked to stay home and paid to do it?

In an environment where COVID precautions clearly are needed, but essential work must continue, the organization and its customers again are left in the lurch. Wnek said Jacobsen typically employs about 160 people at its Safety Harbor, Fla., facility. However, during COVID the number of payroll employees had to rise to more than 180 as a buffer to protect against workers needing to stay home, either because they’re sick, have been exposed, or are needing to care for someone at home who has been.

“Again, you do what you have to do to keep the homes moving,” Wnek said. 

Builders and state associations in Florida, and in other states, have formalized relationships with trade schools, community colleges, and workforce development organizations to find the help they need.

“A fellow can get a job at one of these new big box type companies like Amazon with a climate controlled facility and really good salary and benefits,” Wnek said.

“We’re competitive, but it’s hard to compete with those types of employers, and they’re all the way up and down I-4,” he said. “Fortunately, they haven’t come this far, into Safety Harbor, so we’re still doing alright with labor, but it is a challenge for us and everyone.”

Coming Out of Coronavirus Economy

It is a bottle-neck economy with backorders mounting. That’s to say, the demand for quality affordable housing and the path to homeownership has never been more valuable.

Any way you look at it, 2020 was a “good” year for manufactured housing in an otherwise awful year.

The new year is brightening. Vaccines will help return most Americans toward a relative if uneasy normalcy.

We also know job programs and talent recruitment efforts work in our favor during stable times, and material and pipeline disruptions are just that.

2021 Spells Eased Restrictions, Substantial Real Growth

Brian Wesbury, the chief economist at First Trust Advisors, said the robust job gains of the spring may translate into a jobs boom that could include 30-day reports of a million or more new jobs.

“We need it,” Wesbury and co-author Robert Stein penned in a report last month. “In spite of the surge in jobs in March, total payrolls are still 8.4 million short of where they peaked pre-COVID, with the leisure & hospitality sector, all by itself, accounting for 3.1 million of that deficit. Most of those gaps should be closed by the end of this year.”

First Trust’s ISM Non-Manufacturing index rose to 63.7 in March, nearly four points beyond expectation. The reading is the single best since recording began in 1997. All eighteen industries tracked in the index reported growth, a “feat rarely seen”.

Who is Buying A Home?

And then there’s the homebuying crowd.

Even through the winter and early spring, amid continued lockdowns and moratoriums, home buying stayed strong. Similarly, homestarts nationally waned only with seasonality and for a short time through the devastating weather in the central plains. Housing starts increased 19.4% in March to a 1.739 million annual rate, beating the anticipated  1.613 million. Starts are up 37.0% versus a year ago.

The gain in March was due to both single-family and multi-family starts, Westphal said. In the past year, single-family starts are up 40.7% while multi-unit starts are up 28.8%. Starts in March rose in the Midwest, Northeast, and South, but fell in the West.

The Case-Shiller index is up 11.2% during the last year, its largest single-year gain since 2006. The FHFA index is up 12% during that time, its largest gain since the index began in 1991.

“We anticipate a return to the upward trend in housing starts very soon, led higher by single-family homes,” Wesbury said. “First, despite a 10.8% decline in February, building permits for future construction remain near the highest level since 2006. Moreover, permits have now outpaced new construction for seven consecutive months. This has resulted in a backlog of projects that have been authorized but not yet started, which is now the largest in nearly 15 years. So, with plenty of future building activity in the pipeline and builders looking to boost the inventory of homes as well as meet consumer demand, look for both overall and single-family starts to post even higher highs in 2021.”

And, as First Trust colleague and economist Bryce Gill notes in the 2021 State of the Industry edition of MHInsider magazine, a huge shift in buyer preferences has occurred during the last year, very notably with younger buyers seeing an increased interest in owning their own home. Last year was the first in which Millennial borrowers made up better than half of new mortgages.

If general economic models hold, the manufactured housing industry is poised to do well.

Florida Manufactured Housing Association Meets in Sarasota

By
Patrick Revere
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FMHA annual meeting 21 board members
FMHA Executive Director Jim Ayotte leads the board through its annual meeting.

Among the very earliest manufactured housing industry trade shows and meetings to convene in person, the Florida Manufactured Housing Association annual meeting, took place June 17-18 at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota.

Bobby Jacobsen, of Jacobsen Homes, accepts the Bill Turney President’s Award during the 2021 FMHA Annual Meeting in Sarasota.

The FMHA annual meeting was themed “We’re Better Together”, an ode to the post-pandemic re-emergence of public gatherings and industry meetings. FMHA Board of Directors met prior to the event, which kicked off with registration, an 11 a.m. Thursday morning coffee greeting, and a talk on “All Things COVID” covering topics from liability protection to policy and lawmaking. Manufactured housing professionals at the meeting toured the exhibit hall, and attended a 5-7 p.m. mixer sponsored by Lutz, Bobo & Telfair.

After breakfast Friday morning economist Elliot Eisenberg gave a talk, and there were a pair of workshops on labor and retention, and how automation can increase sales. Recipients of FMHA member award were announced during the Friday luncheon, and the main program continued with a marketing talk, and a session on legal topics in the industry.

Jim Hoekstra, of Sun Communities, won the Bill Hart Member of the Year Award. The Bill Turney President’s Award went to Bobby Jacobsen, of Jacobsen Homes, and David Eastman, the association’s general counsel, won the Williams-Olsen Award.

“We have many good years ahead of us in Florida and in this industry,” Jacobsen said in accepting the award. “I hope you enjoy the work as much as I have. It’s an honor to work in this industry.”

Bookmark MHInsider for all of your manufactured housing industry news, and keep up on the latest in manufactured housing industry trade shows and events.

The Manufactured Housing Industry Post-Covid

By
Darren Krolewski
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How A Pandemic Fundamentally Changed Our Business

As far as I know, there’s no playbook for dealing with the aftermath of a pandemic. 

Even as the experts struggle to find new adjectives to describe the unprecedented events we all experienced over the last 18 months, recent indications suggest that we may finally be nearing the threshold of a post-pandemic return to normalcy.

Vaccination numbers continue to rise. COVID cases, and the severity of those cases, are on the decline. Restrictions are being eased. Workers are returning to their offices. In-person events are on a comeback. While the safe bet may be to remain cautiously optimistic, the progress is certainly positive, if not a bit tentative.

But that’s how it’s been since the beginning. If there’s a trend that emerged in the past year, it’s uncertainty. Who would have ever expected that a potential economy-ending apocalypse would have resulted in the creation of historic consumer demand for housing? Yet despite all the unknown territory that we have collectively navigated, there is one undeniable truth that has emerged from all of this. The pandemic has fundamentally changed our business. And for many of us, far-reaching effects will persist long after the pandemic is behind us.

Consumer Expectations Have Changed

Some of the earliest adaptations we had to make as an industry were in response to rapidly shifting consumer preferences. This time the driver was more than convenience, it was health and safety. Physical showings and open houses were replaced by virtual tours and video walkthroughs. Walk-ins became scheduled video conferences. In-person closings went curbside. For many in our industry, this was uncharted territory. There was a lot of “figuring it out”. It involved changes to processes, procedures and our own comfort with technology. 

Nowhere was the shift in preferences more apparent than MHVillage, where our website is on the front lines when it comes to identifying rapid changes in consumer sentiment. Like many companies, as the market pivoted we responded to the needs of our customers by developing a virtual open house product, supporting new virtual tour formats and making it possible to include more photos across our listing categories, all in record time. These changes were essential to serving the needs of our customers, so they could continue to serve their customers. 

Even as the pandemic subsides, these enhancements are helping to make the consumer experience better. Much like online order pickup, same day delivery, and movies that stream the same day they hit movie theaters, many of the improvements companies made to to serve their customers during the pandemic are here to stay. They’re no longer optional. They’re expected.

The Concept of Home Has Changed

scenery for manufactured home virtual open house community pond

Because of our leadership position in housing affordability, manufactured housing has always been at the forefront of preserving the American Dream. That dream is more important than ever in a post-pandemic world. Home is security. Home is comfort. Home is uniquely individual. 

The events of the past year have brought the concept of home into even greater focus as kitchen tables became classrooms and bedrooms transitioned into work spaces. What consumers want in a home has evolved. More space. More function. Multipurpose areas. Outdoor living. It goes beyond having a home office for those able to work remotely. For some, economic realities have necessitated adult children to move in with their parents. Likewise, many adult children have had to become caregivers to one or more of their aging parents. People have taken on new hobbies. Started home businesses. Turned that formal dining area into a fitness room. Retired earlier than anticipated. 

The demands on the home are greater and will shape the features and amenities we build into our product for years to come. And it’s not just the product. It’s also the location. Suddenly, people don’t have to live near where they work. They can live on a lake. Or in the woods. You’ve heard about the exodus away from the major urban centers. That trendy, pricey apartment near downtown became less appealing when everything was closed. Location has always been everything, and the pandemic has prompted consumers to evaluate where they live as much as how.

Interest in Manufactured Housing Has Changed

Panama City Housing Code
A new manufactured home from Clayton with residential design features now permitted in R1 and mixed-use districts of Panama City, Fla.

There’s a well known aphorism that “a rising tide lifts all boats”. One might say that’s true about the overall housing market and the manufactured housing industry. 

As site-built housing inventories remain at all time lows and residential real estate prices continue to push the boundaries of sanity, let alone affordability, interest has slowly turned to manufactured housing as a potential solution. Whether it’s the desire for a more affordable alternative, a better method of building a second home or an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) as an income property, the pandemic may be the catalyst for sustainable heightened levels of interest in manufactured housing, at least as long as the residential real estate market continues its ascent.

Point2, a division of Yardi Systems, recently cited that 23 U.S. states have seen manufactured home searches increase by 50% or more according to Google Analytics data. This increased activity in consumer interest is mirrored by our internal data at MHVillage, which saw year-over-year increases in search volume ranging from 52% to 149% in many markets at various points during the pandemic.

While the roller coaster ride that was the early weeks of the pandemic has stabilized, the year-over-year increase in national search activity continues to hold in the 35 to 40% range and shows no signs of abating. Backlogs are evidence of that. Backlogs to get homes. Backlogs to get homes delivered and set. Backlogs to get on-site work completed. This may be the new normal for a while.

Our Embrace of Technology Has Changed

technology post covid changed our business

Our industry has historically not been one for early adoption of technology. When the day comes when manufactured home buyers want to pay for homes in cryptocurrency, I can assure you that MHVillage will be one of the first to support it, but as an industry, we tend to favor a more decided approach. We like what’s reliable, tested, proven. All things that tech advancements often are not. 

That said, the industry has been on a technology trend. Pandemic-fueled business growth has necessitated changes to internal systems to support higher levels of activity. Months of travel restrictions put a renewed emphasis on everything from property management systems and online resident screening platforms to remote monitoring systems and apps where residents can submit concerns or maintenance requests.

We all seemed to take the opportunity to find better ways to run our businesses. 

At the very least, perhaps priorities have shifted, affording time to tackle long standing projects that just never seem to progress among the usual gauntlet of in-person meetings, site visits and industry-related travel. Our technical team has done more integrations with third-party software on behalf of our clients in the past year than we’ve done in the five years previous. This isn’t going to go away. If anything, success with technology is going to accelerate these decisions.

The Cost of Doing Business Has Changed

One of my colleagues recently forwarded me an internet meme that read: “I have a sheet of thick plywood. Will trade for 2018 or newer Corvette. No lowballers. I know what I have”. Has anyone seen the price of lumber lately? Seriously, it’s no joke. 

What goes up is supposed to come down, but sadly that never seems to be the case. At least not as quickly as anyone would like. Everything has gotten more expensive during the pandemic. Raw materials. Freight. Services. Labor. Labor, that is, if you can find it. I’ve read a number of articles recently that pretty much said the combination of heightened demand during the pandemic coupled with increased order volume for the impending recovery has created backlogs for everything, everywhere. Hot tubs. Generators. Pickles. Yes, pickles. Apparently they can’t get the jars.

I missed the boat on patio furniture last summer, so when the order I placed then finally arrived a couple weeks ago, I thought I was in good shape. Until I went to order another matching piece. Backordered until October. Oh well, maybe next year. I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t been affected by a shortage, surcharge or delay related to at least one aspect of their business. It takes a toll on productivity and on profits. From the looks of demand, it may be some time before there is any relief. 

Ultimately, and perhaps most importantly, the way we do business has changed. It had to, and mostly for the better. As we near the turning point of the pandemic, we may all be able to finally breathe a sigh of relief and get back to the usual array of non-COVID challenges. We’re incredibly fortunate, as an industry, and as a company. I, for one, will do my best to never lose sight of that. There may not be a playbook for dealing with what comes next, but that’s the best part. It’s an opportunity to write the next chapter of our own future.

Data Infographic on Manufactured Housing Industry Statistics and Trends

By
Merit Kathan
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mhinsider infographic manufactured housing industry statistics and trends

What’s The State of the Manufactured Housing Industry?

This post provides MHInsider readers with the full manufactured housing industry statistics and trends infographic published in the May/June 2021 “State of the Industry” edition of MHInsider magazine. MHInsider is the leading source of manufactured housing industry news and information.

Manufactured Housing Industry Statistics and Trends Infographic

2021 manufactured housing industry statistics and trends inforgraphic

Need More Manufactured Housing Industry Trends and Statistics?

Compare the 2021 MHInsider State of the Industry trends and statistics with the 2020 infographic of manufactured housing industry trends and statistics. Or turn to Datacomp, the leader in manufactured housing industry data, for national manufactured home community rent and occupancy market reports.

HUD’s MHCC Meeting June 10, To Hear Public Comments

By
Patrick Revere
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web analytics terms measure traffic

The Manufactured Housings Consensus Committee will meet June 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, and will take input from the public on its agenda and discussion.

MHCC is a statutory Federal Advisory Committee that makes recommendations to the HUD secretary on the revision and interpretation of the manufactured home construction and safety standards as well as related procedural and enforcement regulations. The committee also is charged with developing proposed model installation standards for the manufactured housing industry. By regulation, HUD has included the MHCC in the process of revising the Manufactured Home Model Installation Standards, Installation Program Regulations, and Dispute Resolution Program regulations.

Members of the public who wish to ask a question or comment on the MHCC agenda must register in advance. The comment period for the coming meeting closed June 3. Questions and comments may be submitted for future MHCC meetings by contacting the Administering Organization Home Innovation Research Labs.

Manufactured housing professionals and the general public can join the meeting by calling (301) 715-8592 or (646)558-8656. The public meeting also is available via Zoom.

MHCC Meeting Agenda for the June 10, 2021

I. Call to Order—MHCC Chair & Designated Federal Officer (DFO) Roll Call—AO

II. Opening Remarks—MHCC Chair & DFO

Introductions:

i. MHCC Members

ii. HUD Staff

iii. Guests

Administration Announcements— DFO & AO

III. Approval of draft minutes from January 7, 2021 MHCC special meeting on the Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking on Minimum Payments to the States.

IV. Public Comment Period—15 minutes

V. Report from the Technical System Subcommittee to the MHCC and Review of Current Log & Action Items

[Log 211, Log 212, Log 216, Log 219, Log 222, Log 223]

VI. Report from the Regulatory

Enforcement Subcommittee to the MHCC and Review of Current Log & Action Items

[Log 195, Log 209, Log 214, Log 218, DRC 4]

VII. Lunch from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

VIII. Report from the Structure & Design Subcommittee to the MHCC and Review of Current Log & Action Items

[Log 207, Log 208, Log 210, Log 213,Log 215, Log 217, Log 220, Log 221, Log 224]

IX. Presentation by Department of Energy regarding Manufactured Housing Energy Conservation Standards

X. Public Comment Period—15 minutes

XI. Wrap Up—DFO & AO

XII. Adjourn

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Reintroduced ‘YIMBY’ Bill Looks at Housing Practices, CDBG Funds

By
Patrick Revere
-
Manufactured Housing under new administration

A House bill introduced in 2020 to address discriminatory housing practices with reporting requirements tied to Community Development Block Grant funding has been brought back for consideration in both chambers of Congress.

The “Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act” was re-introduced in the House by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, R-Ind., and Rep. Derek Kilmer D-Wash. The measure was brought to the Senate by Senators Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Todd Young, R-Ind.

The YIMBY bill passed in the House in March 2020 but never made it to the Senate.

Under the bill, local governments applying for federal housing development funds would be required to report whether they have enacted policies to reduce counterproductive regulations that may affect affordability.

Language in the YIMBY bill calls for “allowing manufactured homes in areas zoned primarily for single-family residential homes.”

“Our nation had challenges with housing before this pandemic — and those challenges have only been exacerbated by it,” Rep. Kilmer said. “We need more workforce housing, more senior housing, more homeless housing, and more affordable housing. We need more housing units, period.

“That’s why I’m leading bipartisan legislation to help communities in our region and across the country reduce barriers to housing construction and build more affordable housing for the folks that need it the most,” he said.

The YIMBY measure is endorsed by nearly 200 organizations, including AARP, Up for Growth Action, the American Planning Association, Habitat for Humanity International, the Manufactured Housing Institute, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, the National Apartment Association, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and dozens of state, regional and local groups.

“Across the country, there are countless examples of state and local zoning, planning, and development restrictions that either severely limit or outright prohibit the placement of a manufactured homes, a primary source of affordable housing,” Manufactured Housing Institute CEO Lesli Gooch said. “MHI is a strong supporter of the YIMBY Act, which gives HUD a constructive role in solving discriminatory land use policies and removes barriers that prevent the development of needed housing in communities throughout the United States – a top priority for MHI. The YIMBY Act is just one example of MHI’s strong ongoing advocacy efforts with Congress and the administration to help alleviate state and local impediments to manufactured housing.”

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