Datacomp has published its January 2020 JLT Market Reports for manufactured home community rent and occupancy in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Utah.
JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on communities in 181 major housing markets throughout the United States. These include the latest rent trends and occupancy statistics, as well as a variety of other useful management insights.
Datacomp is the nation’s #1 provider of market data for the manufactured housing industry. JLT Market Reports are recognized as the industry standard formanufactured home community market analysis.
January 2020 manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Utah include information on 392 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.
Altogether, the reports on the six states’ manufactured home communities include data representations for 92,602 homesites. The report for the Phoenix metro area is the largest single market report among all of the JLT publications, with 186 communities and 45,055 homesites represented.
“Average adjusted rent in the six states increased by an average of 3.7%, with rents coming in flat in only a single market in New Mexico,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said. “Occupancy also increased in nearly every market represented in the January 2020 reports, with slight occupancy decreases in three Arizona markets, and in one market each for the states of New Mexico, North Carolina, and Utah.”
More About 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 the number of homesites, occupancy rates and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of January 2020 rents and occupancy rates to January 2019, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to present date in most markets.
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.
If you want to keep up with Maria Horton, go ahead and work on your cardio, but prepare yourself to watch her pull farther and farther ahead.
Ask her son Patrick, a former drift racer and current instructor at the Porsche Experience in Carson, Calif.
“She is definitely hard to keep up with. She has a lot of energy, is always the life of the party,” he said. “She’s always somewhere, always talking to people and making friends. That’s just who she is.”
Newport Pacific Family of Companies
Newport Pacific Capital Company Inc: The fee-based management services company for all forms of residential housing, including manufactured home communities.
Modular Lifestyles Inc.: The retail sales dealership to buy and sell homes for communities.
Cirus Development Inc.: The construction company that allows Newport Pacific to do on-site preparation and construction.
Miles and Miles With Maria
Maria Horton is the marketing director and a regional manager for Newport Pacific, a provider of third-party and fee-based management services for manufactured home communities. She lives in Garden Grove and works in Irvine, but at any moment can be found anywhere in Southern California.
“I am a Rapid Rewards flyer with Southwest. I have 743,762 miles on Southwest and I’m at Silver Medallions status for Skymiles with Delta, too,” Horton said. “I love to travel, and in addition to my travel for work I’ve been to Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia.
“Part of the love for travel is that I love languages, and speak Spanish and a little French, too,” she added. “In school, I took Latin, French and Spanish and at one point I worked in the same building as the Korean consulate in Los Angeles and would ride in the elevator surrounded with people who were willing to teach me the Korean language a bit.”
So, with all of her 700,000-plus frequent flyer miles, what does Maria Horton do when she’s out bounding around? She goes to industry conferences and trade shows, serves on planning and advisory boards, visits communities, engages in education for certifications or simply for the sake of learning. But, more than anything, Maria Horton travels to see people and meet people.
“I have always been a very high-energy person,” she said. “I really get energized by people, relationships, attending and achieving. Achieving is everything for me. I think it may be a little bit of making up for lost time, even after all these years.”
The Making of Maria Horton
Maria Horton’s grandfather Kenji Inomata was born in Kashiwazaki, Niigata-ken, and came to the states in the early 1900s and joined the U.S. Navy, which allowed him decades of international travel, to learn the language and gain a pension. He was promoted, got married and became a naturalized citizen.
The cover of a written history on Maria Horton’s grandfather, Kenji Inomata.
When the U.S. entered World War II, Maria Horton’s grandfather and his family were spared encampment because of his service for the top admirals in the Navy. They were guarded at home, confined during the day, and escorted at night to ensure their safety.
“It’s an astonishing story that my brother put in a book on our family,” Horton said. “It was still Los Angeles in the ‘40s, so they never had an easy time, but if it hadn’t been for those concessions made by the U.S. government I likely wouldn’t be here. I was told many stories of their bravery, as I was not yet born at this time.”
Inomata is recorded as the lone Japanese National male of record in U.S. history to gain an honorable exemption from incarceration in America’s World War II Japanese concentration camps.
“Japan and Mexico are dear to my heart,” Horton said. “My mother’s father used to collect rents in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, so, see, maybe I was meant to be in this industry?”
Her mother, who was French, German and Basque, came to the U.S. from Mexico in late 1929 after the death of her father, Alberto Lizarraga. Her grandfather was already living on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, because he had escaped from jail in Mexico for being a follower of Francisco Madero, who advocated for social justice and democracy.
“If you were a Maderista and were educated and could write letters and rally populist ideals, they would just put you in jail,” Horton said. “That’s what they did to him. His sister came to visit and snuck him some women’s clothes. He was able to disguise himself and sneak out, making his way to L.A.”.
Coming of Age in Los Angeles
Horton is the eldest of five children, raised by her mother and stepfather, Gustavo Lopez. She was educated in private schools, she is a huge Dodgers fan, and has always been someone who looks out for others.
“When I graduated from high school I was expected to go to work. My father got me a job at the phone company because that’s where nice girls went to work. But I was going to college too, to West L.A. College,” Horton said. “My neighbor said I was too smart for that and wanted me to go to Pitzer College… She urged me to fill out an application and I got a letter that I had a full scholarship. My family, though, said I was needed at work and home, and this and that, so I stayed at home. I was a bit attached to everyone at home too, honestly.”
But the thought of an opportunity missed lingered. It was a powerful, formative thought.
“That’s when I said I was going to achieve, whatever it was, to take the next step,” Horton said. “So when I got into this industry I just saw all kinds of opportunities to get new certifications and fill that need to move up, to achieve, to learn.
“That energizes me nearly as much as the interpersonal stuff, and serves me well in all that I do for Newport Pacific and the industry,” she said.
Maria Horton’s Professional Credentials
Certified Apartment Manager (NAA)
California Certified Rental Manager (State of California)
Association Management Specialist (CAI)
Certified Manager of Community Associations (CAMICB)
Manufactured-Housing Community Manager (WMA)
Manufactured Housing Manager (EducateMHC)
City of Carson Rent Control Board member
City of Costa Mesa Mobile Home Park Advisory Committee member
California Manufactured Housing Institute member
“Along with being the public relations person for my company, when I come in I also am a regional manager overseeing three properties for the company. There are two all-ages and one 55+ property under my care, all three are in Southern California,” she said. “They take a great deal of attention to detail. Every resident relation event I attend I am involved with, and I oversee all finances, creating budgets, I handle capital improvement projects, and I work with the managers to ensure they have the tools needed to operate these communities.”
Horton has spent nearly 15 years traipsing the national housing circuit for Newport Pacific.
“This is where I was allowed to really get so much education about the industry,” she said of her current position. “I began taking certification classes on running HOAs, managing mobile home parks, apartment management and others. I was attending the national certification trainings and working on boards and commissions locally.
“There are HOAs all over the world, condo associations everywhere, and I’ve met people from here to Brazil who are very serious about these certifications,” she said. “It’s important work, and many of the certifications are difficult to obtain and require continuing education, which I’m happy to participate in.”
The Newport Pacific Family of Companies
Maria Horton lobbies Capitol Hill on behalf of the industry.
Newport Pacific owns and/or operates 125 manufactured home communities, RV parks, apartment complexes, and condo development in 15 U.S. states and Canada. In addition, the company consults with homeowners associations.
“I speak to potential clients. When we get a message inquiring about services I answer as much as I can, spend some time on the phone or offer to get together for a meeting,” she said. “I take referrals for fee-based management when I’m at conferences and meetings, and I also speak at these conferences on property management, rental, infill, energy efficiency.”
Third-party and fee-based management are services in high-demand with many new manufactured home community owners and investors looking for experienced industry management professionals.
“Maria’s passion and ability to connect with people truly exemplifies her commitment to not only our industry, but the people she interacts with on a daily basis. Her willingness to go above and beyond to ensure a positive experience, not only for customers but her colleagues, is just one of the many reasons Maria is a leader in the industry, and I appreciate her participation and leadership in MHI to move the industry forward.”
— Lesli Gooch, CEO of MHI
In 2018, Horton was honored by the California Manufactured Housing Institute with the Chairman’s Award, presented to her on that day by Joe Stegmayer, a longtime friend and colleague from Cavco Industries.
“She’s been a tremendous supporter on both the state and national levels in addressing regulatory housing and residential finance issues for manufactured homes,” Stegmayer said. “And she’s done all of this in a very professional way. The Chairman’s Award was our way of honoring Maria for her hard work and dedication.
“She really does go everywhere, and she does a lot for the industry. Both she and Mike Sullivan of Newport Pacific do a lot for the industry,” he said.
Stegmayer said all of Horton’s credentials and accomplishments are put toward the following days objectives, and that it always comes back to sensibility that may be the most important skill of all.
“I think Maria is a great relationship person,” he said. “She builds long-lasting relationships. Looking long term is a plus in my book, and she doesn’t ask for much. She really cares about her communities and just wants to learn and study, whether it’s on management, or lending or whatever the issue.”
More than anything, Horton said she sees how she’s become an idealist when it comes to ways she can productively help people.
Jess Maxcy is the executive director for CMHI.
“Maria was honored not only for her enthusiastic support of our industry in California, but also for her contributions nationally,” Maxcy said. “Her positive attitude can turn difficult situations into pleasant experiences. Her passion for our industry is obvious and contagious.”
And she revels in her ability to contribute, to travel, to meet new people and see friends she’s made during her years in the industry.
“I am a single parent with a grown son. I can go anywhere and do anything at the drop of a hat. If I’m asked to attend or speak, I’m there,” Horton said. “And the people in this industry are really the nicest, kindest people. Everyone is so warm and welcoming, so what I put out I get back. It’s a blessing.”
When in Los Angeles…
Maria Horton in a sound room while recording a PSA for the phone company.
Horton had been working for Pacific Bell for several years at the time 411 directory assistance was introduced. But, the phone utility soon learned it had a problem to solve. Too many people were skipping the old phone directory and simply placing a 411 call to get a phone number.
An agency was hired to shoot a commercial, and as advertising and production executives strolled among the operators, guess who stood out?
Horton agreed to do some screen testing, and they chose her to be the spokeswoman for the new “$55 Million Telephone Call” campaign, a reference to the cost of telephone directory lookup.
“I know how often people call for numbers already listed in their phone book,” Horton said in the commercial. “That extra service costs over $55 million a year, so if you care about the cost of your service, use the book. Whenever you can’t, we’re here to help.”
From the commercial, to a recording studio shot on the cover of the June 1974 edition of Pacific Bell Magazine, Horton carried a bit of celebrity status in a city made of stars. She moved to the retail side and sold phones to USC and Los Angeles Rams football hero Pat Haden. She dined and hung out in West Hollywood, including at Ma Maison, where Wolfgang Puck made his name. Of the many A-list clients at Ma Maison — Burt Reynolds, Elton John, Fred Astaire, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder — Horton mentions one in particular; Biana Jagger, the Nicaraguan-born social activist and former wife of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
“I had such a good time growing up in L.A. and experiencing all of this,” said Horton, who also took up small side jobs at the film studios. “I’d run into Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman and others at the farm market… They all lived there and still do. It was like ‘Whoa, look who’s here!’”
Horton later put in time as a sales representative at Castaic Brick, and worked for publisher Price Stern Sloan, and then a medical magazine publisher called Canon Communications.
In 1988, she married her first husband, a laser physicist, and they had a baby together. They remain dear friends and devoted to the son they share.
“He is so near and dear to my heart,” Horton said of her son Patrick.
When her son was old enough, she went to work for Los Angeles Unified School District.
“My son was at a top-notch school at the time, a charter school, and Los Angeles schools wanted me to come work in special education,” she said. “So I went to work there for several years. It was good to be near my son and to work with young people.”
An Entry to Manufactured Housing Community Management
The marriage with Patrick’s father lasted five years. She would marry again, a tax accountant, in 1995. That marriage would last through 2003. At that time she understood, as a single mother again, she would need to fully re-engage in business.
“My friend was working for Les Frame Management,” Horton said. “Clint Lau, who was the owner, needed an assistant in the office. He’d just been named as director of WMA, and was going to be out of the office quite a bit. This company offered me the first glimpse of what this industry is about. I was sold, as I saw this as an avenue to help people and feel a sense of accomplishment.”
She promotes Newport Pacific’s services, she promotes the industry and manufactured home community living. Horton said today she continues to be most motivated by talking to people, by learning, by reaching out and offering help.
“I love making a difference in the lives of my residents. I do my best to offer them a lifestyle in a community that makes them proud,” Horton said. “I am so fortunate to make a difference in the lives of so many people and touch their hearts at resident events or park visits or even on the phone.
“Just listening sometimes makes all the difference in the world, creating a situation where someone feels heard and is connected,” Horton said. “The old phone company saying stands – ‘Reach out, reach out and touch someone.’ So, I do.”
The service-supply exhibitor show floor at The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show.
Organizers Sold Out of Exhibitor Space at The Louisville Show, Negotiated for More
This year, show organizers sold out service and supply exhibitor space at The Louisville Show earlier than any previous year. However, Dennis Hill and his team at Show Ways Unlimited negotiated for additional space.
Those service and supply organizations that asked to be placed on a waiting list will have first shot for expanded exhibitor space at The Louisville Show. The remaining exhibitor space will then be open to other industry service and supply organizations.
The Louisville Show attendees talk to service-supply exhibitors at a recent show.
The 2020 Louisville Show will have 53 model homes, the expanded group of service and supplier exhibitors and more than 20 professionals moderating and presenting in educational seminars and panels during the show.
For the past 60 years,The Louisville Show has presented cutting edge home designs, tech specialists and a top network of suppliers in the manufactured housing industry.
In 2019, The Louisville Show attracted a record-breaking number of industry professionals, reaching 3,564 attendees from 1,156 companies.
Register for the 2020 Louisville Show, Jan. 15-17 at KEC
The Louisville Show takes place in the south wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which sits immediately adjacent to Louisville International Airport and across the street from the primary lodging for the show. Primary shows days are Jan. 15-17, with bonus pre-show seminars on Jan. 14.Register now for the 2020 Louisville Show.
As an industry trade event, the 2020 Louisville Show is open only to manufactured housing industry professionals. The show is not open to the public. For all the show details, visitThe Louisville Show website.
Hotel Information for The Louisville Show
Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport is the headquarters hotel for manufactured housing professionals attending The Louisville Show. Block rate discounts are available while rooms remain.Book a room today for accommodations with free shuttle service to the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation Presents The Louisville Show
The Louisville Show is organized and presented by The Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation, which represents the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio.
A UMH Properties community in Ohio. Photo courtesy of UMH Properties.
Datacomp has announced the publication of its December 2019 manufactured home community rent and occupancy reports for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on communities in 181 major housing markets throughout the United States. These include the latest rent trends and statistics, California rent control increases and “next increase”, marketing programs and a variety of other useful management insights.
Datacomp publishes 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.
December 2019 manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee include information on 353 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.
Altogether, the reports on the states’ manufactured home communities include data representations for 68,224 homesites.
“Community site rent has increased in 12 of 13 markets represented in the December 2019 publication of the JLT Market Reports. The exception is a slight decrease in site rent in one Ohio market,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said. “Occupancy rates increased in 8 of the 13 markets. Among those to experience year-over-year declines in occupancy are a pair of major markets in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as one market in Tennessee.”
More About JLT Market Reports
Each JLT manufactured home community rent and occupancy 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 the number of homesites, occupancy rates and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of December 2019 rents and occupancy rates to December 2018, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to present date in most markets.
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 decisions.
The Resort at Canopy Oaks. Photo courtesy of Canopy Oaks.
The Precious Few
Somewhere very near 315 new manufactured home communities have been constructed in the U.S. since 2002. There were more than 2,600 such communities built during the previous 15 years, including 395 in 1986-87 alone.
The current trend, considering 2005-2014 alone, makes sense given the conditions. We all remember the dramatic job losses, the housing collapse, and the ensuing credit crisis. There was a massive backlog of undervalued, vacant homes on the market, especially in locales like Florida, Arizona, and Michigan. Those three hard-hit states are among some of the largest manufactured home markets in the country.
But when we consider the years prior to and following that loathsome time, what should we make of a mere 60 new communities built nationally during those seven years?
Will New Communities Become a Trend? Is There Land? Are Planners Ready?
If the manufactured housing industry is able to support less than 2,000 new home sites per year for new communities, the U.S. housing market will continue to strain to keep up with rising demand.
Manufactured home production went from better than 146,000 per year in 2005 to less than 50,000 in 2009. Those were hard years. However, the economy is back and new homes are needed.
Amid the Housing Affordability Crisis, New MH Communities Are in Demand
Production of manufactured homes may be able to rise well beyond that 100,000 unit benchmark again only when the development of manufactured home communities rebounds. And for that to happen, the industry needs some favorable de-regulation, local planning officials and inspectors who will view factory-built dwellings as the only real answer to the affordability crisis, and the re-emergence of chattel lending that provides a loan on a home without land.
In the meantime, a few owners and operators have found attractive land and financing, and are making a go at some beautiful, new manufactured home communities. From Florida to Michigan and Texas to Montana, the section below provides five prime examples of the latest among the much-needed new manufactured home communities coming to the market.
Mark Calabria, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, touched on the availability of finance and affordable housing during a talk at the Innovative Housing Showcase in Washington, D.C. this summer.
“The average age of a house today is 35 years, which is the highest it’s been in over a century,” Calabria said. “We have single-family starting about 15% less than they used to be. And so the bottom line is housing supply is not keeping up with demand in this country.”
New Manufactured Home Communities in Development
The Resort at Canopy Oaks in Polk County, Fla.
An aerial view of the property being developed for Canopy Oaks. Photo courtesy of Canopy Oaks.
In Lake Wales, Fla., prospective residents at The Resort at Canopy Oaks can buy a home for less than $100,000.
“It’s going to be about a 1,000-site community with a mix of RV and manufactured housing,” Resort at Canopy Oaks President Tristan Farrell said. “Our first phase is going to be a 10,000 square-foot clubhouse, eight pickleball courts, and we’re going to have 200 acres that we’re not going to develop. It’s going to be pristine, Florida land that’s open for our visitors and residents.”
Canopy Oaks is a former event space, having hosted music festivals and motorsports events. The property, at 16950 County Road 630, is near the golf links at Indian Lake Estates. Canopy Oaks residents will have the option for special pricing at Indian Lakes, as well as access to golf carts and use of a cart path that leads from Canopy Oaks to the course.
The new community also will have a fitness center, activities such as clay shooting and pottery, outdoor areas for fishing, bocce, shuffleboard, a dog park, as well as an outdoor tiki bar and a general store.
“Our general store will be on the property near the clubhouse,” Farrell said. “We will have rentals for golf carts and kayaks, and the store will also carry everyday essentials.”
The Resort at Canopy Oaks has a tiki bar where they held a summer open house.
“They’re short double-wide homes, about 50 to 60 feet long,” Farrell said. “We’re going to put porches on them and have parking in front of the home.”
The Resort at Canopy Oaks is set up to be a 55+ retirement community. New homes will be on-site and open for tours by the fall of 2021. Farrell said he and his team opted to open in the spring of 2020 with recreational vehicle slips as a way to get customers on the property and considering a new manufactured home.
“We’ll do that manufactured housing part in segments of about 100 homes,” Farrell said. “It will take 3 to 5 years to sell out 350 sites. But once we start, it won’t stop. Demand is such that we don’t really worry about how many we can sell. It’s really more about how many can get from the plant.”
In addition to working with Champion, Canopy Oaks also is looking at homes from Palm Harbor and will consider other builders as the development grows.
A rendering of one of the proposed homes for Alta Vista in Traverse City, Mich.
Alta Vista is a New Community in Traverse City, Mich.
A new manufactured home community, Alta Vista, has broken ground in Traverse City, Mich. The community is located just east of the intersection of a pair of heavily-trafficked arteries, Hammond and 3 Mile Road.
A shopping plaza, pharmacy, daycare center, ice hockey arena and an elementary school, two middle schools and one Pre K-12 school are all within a 5-minute walk of the community. The 80-acre site is mostly meadows surrounded by a thick, heavily wooded band of hardwood trees laced with wetlands. The site elevation is high, giving some Alta Vista residents a seasonal view of East Grand Traverse Bay.
The developer, R.C. Hermann, acquired the 80-acre site from an estate in 2018. Site plan approvals and zoning were approved in the spring for a three-phase community with a total of 165 homesites. Hermann developed another manufactured home community, Woodcreek, just one mile from Alta Vista with 224 homesites. Those homes, he said, are 100% leased. Woodcreek received an award from MHI for the “Best New Community in the United States 1999” when the first phase was completed.
Lucky With Land
The site plan for Alta Vista in Traverse City, Mich. Images courtesy of Alta Vista Living, LLC.
Both Woodcreek and Alta Vista are designed by industry veteran Donald C. Westphal Associates from Rochester Hills, Mich. Zoning, site-plan approval, and engineering services come from Mansfield Land Use Consultants of Traverse City.
Hermann claims he just got lucky in discovering the site. The property is ringed by dense woods and from the highway, you don’t know what lies beyond the wooded areas.
“I’ve driven past that frontage hundreds of times without a second thought…,” Hermann said, “Until my engineering firm brought it to my attention.”
Hermann plans to pattern Alta Vista after his Woodcreek development and sell all multi-section homes with attached garages, under-ground sprinklers on fully landscaped lots. The homes will sell in the $125,000 to $195,000 range, including attached garages and other options. Additionally, Hermann has his own licensed in-community retail operation, Better Living Homes of Traverse City.
The homes are manufactured by Commodore Homes and the Schult line of homes by Clayton Middlebury. Both manufacturers are located in northern Indiana.
“We also have excellent relationships with local lenders so competitively priced 15-year loans are readily available,” says Hermann. “Local lenders have had a sterling experience with our Woodcreek homeowners, so they are not at all shy about providing financing to our Alta Vista homeowners.”
Rendering of another of the home types in the offering at Alta Vista.
What Can Be Found at Alta Vista?
Traverse City is a high cost, upscale resort area in Northwest Michigan. Affordable housing is scarce to the point where it has contributed to an acute labor shortage.
“A $150,000 manufactured home at Alta Vista would cost $300,000 and up if it’s stick-built,” Alta Vista General Manager Mary Carboneau said. “This cost advantage is the perfect solution for the demographic we are marketing to: the service sector worker, empty-nester and retiree.
“We also want to make Alta Vista living as carefree as possible, so we offer a complete menu of maintenance services to our residents,” she said. “We can even winterize our residents’ home when they leave in the fall and reopen it, reconnect all utilities and air it out just before they return.”
Alta Vista residents will have the use of a 5,200 square-foot clubhouse, fitness center, woodshop, outdoor pool, deck and fire pit, basketball, pickleball and tennis court, community garden, dog park, and hiking trails.
Hermann is a 30-year veteran of the development industry.
“I’ve endured some brutal economic swings over the years, but I’ve survived by always being in the top 5% of the market in terms of location, quality of construction, value and affordability,” he said. “When times get tough it’s a lot easier to lure tenants from competitive properties and keep your property full. Alta Vista definitely meets that criteria.”
West Evergreen Estates in Kalispell, Mont.
Brothers Mike and Garry Seaman are developing a 122-lot manufactured home community on 33 acres. The proposed community sits adjacent to a local public school in Kalispell, Mont.
West Evergreen Estates is the first such proposed community in the state in years. It gained approval in the spring of 2019.
Mike Seaman is the owner of Patty Seaman Homes in Kalispell, and Garry Seaman is an area attorney.
The property, at 74 West Evergreen Drive, is used for agricultural purposes. However, it was redesignated for two-family residential zoning. Early plans for the new manufactured home community include lot widths of 50 feet or better. The lots at 5,000 square feet or wider are for a single-section home, whereas lots of 6,000 square feet or more are for a multi-section home.
West Evergreen Estates is breaking ground and will be developed in two phases with about nine acres of land left open for common recreational space.
Stonegate Manufactured Housing Community
Chase Gardaphe owns and operates Stonegate Manufactured Housing Community in Midland, Texas. The 171-home community has served Midland well, which prompted the developer to put in plans for a new, larger community to be developed across the street. The new all-ages community is planned for 50 acres near Fairgrounds Road, which gained approval in July.
Stonegate will include amenities such as:
Beautiful downtown views
In-ground swimming pool
Community basketball court
Community mailboxes
Paved parking
School bus stop
EZ Rider stop
City water and sewer
Landscaped entrance
Convenient trash drop-off
On-site maintenance
On-site manager
Dog-friendly (most breeds)
Gardaphe said the new development will be larger than its predecessor, with as many as 600 new home sites. Single-section manufactured homes, multi-section manufactured homes and potentially some tiny homes will be used to fill the community.
Vista Lago Estates
Another new manufactured home community is in Texas’ Guadalupe County. It will provide the area with 700 new manufactured homes in a community setting.
Vista Lago sits at Farm-to-Market Road 725, and includes 145 acres for development.
A modular duplex built by Adventure Homes within the envelope of a manufactured home for affordable and workforce housing.
Duplexes for Workforce Housing Among Modular Homes Approved for Communities
Lengthy conversation between manufactured housing industry professionals in the upper Midwest and the state of Ohio Department of Commerce has resulted in a decision that allows for modular homes in manufactured home communities.
“We recently met with the Department of Commerce, MH program and Industrialized Unit section to clarify the use of modular units inside of manufactured home communities,” Williams said. “It was determined that modular/industrialized units can be installed in communities as long as parks follow local and state guidance.”
Modular and modular duplex homes are allowed if the Industrialized Unit section of the Ohio Department of Commerce approves the home plan from the manufacturer.
Indiana Manufacturer Lays Modular Plans for Ohio Communities
The interior of one of two residences within a modular duplex designed and built by Adventure Homes of Garrett, Ind.
Adventure Homes, a manufacturer of HUD-code and modular homes, initiated the conversation in the state of Ohio about having modular homes in communities. Rich Rice, the general manager for Adventure Homes, said the company was interested in building duplexes for workforce housing.
However, the HUD code allows for only one residence per structure. With that in mind, the company moved to the concept of building modular duplexes within a HUD code envelope.
“You must use the state modular code in order to build a duplex,” Rice said. “Once we got approval to build state code duplexes, the obvious next move was to get mods approved for communities that also were reserved for HUD-code single-family homes.
“The duplex allows expansion of available affordable housing, such as workforce housing in already existing permitted communities,” he said.
Rice said the state of Minnesota also has approved modular homes in communities, and that similar talks are underway in Indiana.
Beyond the use of duplex homes, acceptance of modular homes in communities is important, Rice said, because it will create a greater depth of affordable housing for sale. Specifically, it’s quickly and easily expandable for workforce housing in markets where jobs have outpaced attainable housing.
“This is yet another new avenue to pursue affordable housing to meet the immediate need,” he said.
A home in Melrose Village, one of 38 communities in Ohio owned and operated by UMH Properties. Photo courtesy of UMH Properties.
Elements of Ohio Basic Building Code Pertinent to Modular Home Approval for Communities
This compliance is assured by securing an IU plan approval. Permitting, plan review, and inspections of any site-built construction and installation would be performed by the local residential building department, if there is one, to ensure compliance with the OBBC.
Footings and foundations and any other site-built component work done on the industrialized unit, such as roofing, dormers, and garages, is not a part of IU approval. In the absence of a local building department, work must comply with the requirements of the Residential Code of Ohio/OBBC.
“Where there is a local building department, that building department would inspect the home foundation and other site-built features for a certificate of occupancy,” Williams said. “Setback requirements and lot spacing, along with any other spatial considerations, are required to comply with the park’s approved spacing requirements and setbacks.”
The manufacturer of the home is required to submit foundation designs for that specific home to the commerce department. Approved foundation designs will be used for local inspection and approval processes.
Owners Considering Modular Homes in Communities
A park operator considering the placement of a modular or manufactured home in Ohio will contact and notify regulating authorities prior to placement. Should there be any confusion with local building departments in particular cases, the industry is able to call on the Department of Commerce to provide clarification.
The commerce department and industrial compliance division will perform plan reviews and inspections to ensure compliance with the manufactured home park rules in Chapter 4781-12 of the Ohio Administrative Code.
Examples of what DOC/DIC May Examine:
Lot drainage (O.A.C. 4781-12-06)
Spacing and setbacks (O.A.C. 4781-12-08)
Utility lines placement (O.A.C. 4781-12-13)
Minimum recreation area (O.A.C. 4781-12-21)
Williams said the commerce department indicated its “scope of review” will be taken largely on a case-by-case basis. However, any review must include access to and consideration of complete plans for the entire community proposing a modular installation.
“So, if a park has not provided overall park development plans to DIC previously, it will need to do so when applying for plan approval on any modular home,” Williams said.
Under certain circumstances, regulatory overlap may occur. In such cases, placement of the modular home would be subject to regulations of both the local and state authorities. In the event of conflicting standards, the DIC should be informed and allowed to weigh in.
What Happens If A Local Jurisdiction Has No Local Building Authority?
The interior of a home in Melrose Village, in Wooster, Ohio. Photo courtesy of UMH Properties.
In the absence of a local building department, modular homes in communities would only need to comply with park spacing requirements with no further local inspection required. Regardless, duplex homes and single-section modular plans would need to be submitted to the Ohio Department of Commerce for “new development” approval.
In other words, adding a new lot, making changes to an existing lot, and/or placing a modular home on a lot in a manufactured home park would constitute “development” that requires plan approval by DIC.
The Ohio Department of Commerce asks that factory-built housing professionals be aware that other statutes, administrative rules, zoning restrictions, or other regulatory authorities may impact whether a specific modular home may be placed in a specific manufactured home community.
“Ohio Department of Commerce can only speak to the conditions in which a modular home may be placed in a manufactured home under the statutes and rules in the Manufactured Homes Program,” the commerce department indicated in its guidance. “Parks will need to check all applicable authorities having jurisdiction to determine if and how a modular home will be permitted in a manufactured home park.”
Additionally, the Department of Commerce manufactured housing inspectors will continue to have jurisdiction over the maintenance of the modular home lot as part of the overall community inspection process.
“Allowing modular homes and duplexes in manufactured homes parks can only serve to provide additional options for affordable housing,” Williams said. “With much of eastern Ohio in the midst of a shale boom, modular duplex homes can add much needed capacity for all the new jobs within the oil and gas industry and related business activity. The value of a park under such circumstances can also enhance the overall park portfolio value.”
The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show Will Be Held Jan. 14-17, 2020 at the Kentucky Exposition Center
The 2020 Louisville Show will be bigger, and better than ever, with more than 50 model homes, a record number of service and supplier exhibitors and more than 20 leading manufactured housing industry professionals moderating and presenting during the show and pre-show seminars.
For the past 60 years, The Louisville Show has presented cutting edge home designs, tech specialists and a top network of suppliers in the manufactured housing industry. In 2019, The Louisville Show attracted a record-breaking number of industry professionals, reaching 3,564 attendees from 1,156 companies.
The 2020 Louisville Show experienced the event’s earliest ever sellout of service and supply exhibitor space.
Register for the 2020 Louisville Show
The Louisville Show takes place in the south wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which sits immediately adjacent to Louisville International Airport and across the street from the primary lodging for the show. Primary shows days are Jan. 15-17, with bonus pre-show seminars on Jan. 14. Register now for the 2020 Louisville Show.
As an industry trade event, the 2020 Louisville Show is open only to manufactured housing industry professionals. The show is not open to the public. For all the show details, visit The Louisville Show website.
Hotel Information for The Louisville Show
Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport is the headquarters hotel for manufactured housing professionals attending The Louisville Show. Block rate discounts are available while rooms remain. Book a room today for accommodations with free shuttle service to the Kentucky Exposition Center.
The Louisville Show Seminars
The 2020 Louisville Show will have expanded seminar space with the newly renovated south wing of the Kentucky Expo Center.
Wednesday, Jan. 15 8-9 a.m. — State of the Industry
Veteran public speaker and sales professional Ken Corbin moderates a panel of six manufactured housing experts on an overview of the industry. 9-10 a.m. — Leadership vs Management
Seasoned sales professional John Ace Underwood the five functions of leadership and separates them from management practices. 10-11 a.m. — Internet Marketing
MHVillage Co-president Darren Krolewski offers up digital marketing expertise in the areas of reaching the ideal customer, dominance on mobile platforms, increased conversion rates, and doubling lead-to-close rates.
Thursday, Jan. 16 8-8:45 a.m. — Issues Eating Companies Alive
A four-person panel of experts led by Illinois Manufactured Housing Association Executive Director Frank Bowman will cover the cost of community acquisition, resident communication, local zoning and subcontracting. 8:45-9:30 a.m. — Manufacturer Panel – 2020 Top Trends
Moderator Ken Corbin will join executives from three large manufactured home builders through a talk on hot home trends, how to design and build for different generations of homebuyers, selecting home features that sell, and how retailers and community owners can most effectively partner with manufacturers. 9:30-10:30 a.m. — Growing Your Business
Ken Corbin Provides insight on how to grow your retail operation or community through progressive practices that match the changing times.
Friday, Jan. 17 8-8:45 a.m. — Chattel Financing in Today’s Market
Moderator Darren Krolewski joins panelists Tim Cooley of ManufacturedHome.loan and Luke Foster of Park Lane Finance. 8:45-9:45 a.m. — Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & Duty to Serve
Dennis Smith from Freddie Mac and Jose Villarreal and Ben Navarro, both from Fannie Mae, join moderator Darren Krolewski for updates on Duty to Serve.
2020 Louisville Pre-Show Seminars
The pre-show seminars prior to the kickoff for the 2020 Louisville Show will include a Manufactured Housing Manager Class. Successful completion of the class, attended by hundreds of successful operators, provides professional industry certification from EducateMHC. Covered topics span from management basics, to selling and leasing, resident relations, maintenance and more.
Manufactured Housing Manager is a separate $395 registration fee from registration for The Louisville Show. The class will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport, which is just across the street from the main show venue at The Kentucky Exposition Center.
The other pre-show opportunity for manufactured housing professionals going to Louisville is the 2-5 p.m. class titled Success 2020: 5 Ways to Boost Home Sales. This special three-hour session led by seasoned industry professionals will help participants learn more about:
Homebuyer tendencies
Boosting qualified sales leads
Creating a memorable and productive open house
Industry best practices
The Success 2020 seminar also requires separate registration and will be held at Crowne Plaza.
A model home from the Champion Homes display at The Louisville Show in 2019.
The Louisville Show is Presented by The Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation
Each year, The Louisville Show is organized and presented by The Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation, which represents the states of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois.
Brandon Boswell recently made headlines in Owensboro, KY., for his work ethic, entrepreneurship, and youth. At just 24 years old, Boswell has secured the concrete and foundation work for Kentucky Dream Homes, the largest manufactured home dealer in central Kentucky.
How does someone who studied welding in high school, and then worked as a boilermaker, come to run a successful excavation business in the manufactured housing industry?
Boswell’s first response was C.J. Troutman.
He is the owner of Troutman’s Mobile Home Transport and Sales of Utica, Ky. He also got his start in manufactured housing early, the second day after his high school graduation back in 1998.
There are other similarities — and some differences — between Boswell’s and Troutman’s stories.
Origin Story Déjà Vu
Brandon Boswell of Bozz’s Excavating prepares a site for a new manufactured home.
“I’ve known Brandon since he was in diapers,” Troutman said of the owner of Bozz’s Excavating. “We were next-door neighbors. He’d come over and help at 13, 14 years old and work with me moving homes. Later on, when he came to me, I felt like I could bring the guy on. I opened the window and he climbed through.”
Like Boswell, Troutman also got into the manufactured housing industry by first learning from an elder. Troutman’s grandfather helped him transport mobile homes as a teenager before deciding to make it his business as a young adult. Jake Troutman, whom Troutman calls Granddad, worked with his former protégé full-time, post-retirement, for 18 years.
Troutman’s first mobile home delivery back in 1998 went smoothly, but on his second delivery, he knocked over seven mailboxes.
“Granddad looked at me and said, ‘Son, you’re gonna have to do a little better,’” Troutman said.
On-The-Job (Self-Initiated, Self-Directed) Training
Boswell, on the other hand, took more time to learn on his own.
“I think my biggest challenge was going into my first day and not knowing a thing,” Boswell said. Boswell had never dug and poured a foundation before his first job for Kentucky Dream Homes. He learned what he could from YouTube and then figured it out in the field as he went, renting the equipment he needed from Troutman until he could afford his own.
Today, Boswell can dig and pour a foundation in a day. But that first day, it took him and his brother 17 hours just to dig for the foundation.
“Every time I drive past it, I look at it,” Boswell said.
Business as the Product of, not the Impetus for, Strong Support Networks
Both Boswell and Troutman describe the other as hard-working and smart, the sort of all-around competent person you can trust to get the job done, and done well. But neither is quick to take credit for their accomplishments, each attributing their individual success to the team of people around them, their networks of personal and professional connections.
For Boswell, only two years in, that network remains relatively small: his girlfriend, one full-time employee, and C.J. Troutman. Troutman’s circle, 21 years in the making, is understandably bigger. He credits his grandma and granddad, who at nearly 90 years old still help run the rental side of Troutman Mobile Home Transport and Sales; his foreman, Les; his assistant, Baily; Mason Quick of Kentucky Dream Homes; and former Kentucky Dream Homes manager Joe Marchberry, who once told him, “Son, if you’re going to be in this business, you learn to sail the ship in all weather conditions.”
All photos courtesy of Bozz’s Excavating.
A Man, a Stuck Truck, and a Wheelbarrow
When asked about his most difficult job site, Boswell talks about the time six months into his work excavating and pouring foundations for Kentucky Dream Homes when the cement truck buried itself.
“We had to move seven yards of concrete — that’s four thousand pounds — by hand,” Boswell said.
How far?
“I don’t know,” Boswell said. “But it was up a hill.”
The new URBANEER 510 will be unveiled at the International Builders Show, held in January in Las Vegas.
Partnership Brings Small Backyard Homes to 48 States
Champion Home Builders and URBANEER have agreed to co-brand a new line of Accessory Dwelling Units.
The new line will be branded URBANEER by Genesis. The first design, The URBANEER 510, will be unveiled at the International Builders Show this January in Las Vegas.
URBANEER and Champion’s partnership creates access for Champion to use interior components in their other modular and manufactured homes. Two of these components — a moveable wall with wireless power that allows for reconfiguring of the ADU’s spaces, and a fold-down wall bed — have been integrated into the design of The URBANEER 510.
Approval of Accessory Dwelling Units in States, Metros Surges
States and municipalities nationwide have embraced the concept of ADUs, particularly in markets with surging home prices. Accessory Dwellings, a website that serves the ADU market, dubbed 2019 “The Year of ADU Financing“.
“Innovation is key to our success, so we’re thrilled to collaborate with housing visionaries like URBANEER and bring their expertise in designing small living spaces to our customers,” said Mark Yost, President and CEO of Skyline Champion Corporation. “Combating the affordable housing crisis requires multiple viable solutions. Skyline Champion believes placing ADUs in America’s backyards is one powerful, practical and cost-effective step in the right direction.”
In addition to the design and building of the co-developed ADU line, both companies agreed to jointly market ADUs across the 48 states.
“The partnership between URBANEER and Skyline Champion creates a powerful team focused on solutions for housing attainability. We see our co-branded compact homes providing more options for consumers who seek to live in locations and at price points they desire,” said Bruce Thompson, URBANEER Co-Founder and CEO.
Cinnamon Woods in Conowingo, Md. Photo courtesy of UMH Properties.
What Forms of Lending Are Available for Retailers and Community Owners?
Ken Rishel, Rishel Group
Prior to the late 1990s, retailers and community owners had many options for their customers to finance the purchase of manufactured homes.
At one time, there were 18 national lenders and over 30 regional lenders providing financing to prospective owners of new and pre-owned manufactured homes. By 2001, there were only three national lenders and a smattering of regional lenders still actively seeking new loans.
As a result, sales plummeted and retailers and community owners began seeking alternative methods of getting their customers financed.
Many methods emerged — some legal, some not, some existing in an undefined gray area of the law. Most were disastrous for both the provider and the borrower. With the passage of the SAFE Act (2006) by the states at the demand of the federal government, almost all of the methods of finance became instantly illegal.
Lending for Retailers & Community Owners Post SAFE Act
There are legal alternatives, however… some very complex and some easier to implement. Which alternative to pursue depends on the abilities and resources of the retailer or community owner.
The larger operator with considerable resources and the potential for a high volume of loans can consider setting up a related or captive finance company to make loans to the customers of the selling organization. This only works for organizations that already have capital sufficient to make the loans, or capable of accessing capital at rates and terms that will make lending to customers workable and profitable.
For many who have done so, the profits from lending have exceeded the profits of the original operation. For others, however, it was problematic, because they lacked the ability to effectively manage a lending operation. That accounted for a dozen or so large organizations abandoning this type of effort, despite the huge profits.
Joint Ventures
For others, there are joint ventures that vary in methods of operation, mostly based on the selling entity’s access to capital. This type of operation usually consists of a selling organization working with an existing lending operation to make loans to their customers, either using the seller’s capital or the lender’s capital.
For those sellers with capital to fund loans that also operate land-lease communities, companies like Park Lane Financial and Triad Financial Services offer solutions that work — if the loan volume is sufficient to interest these organizations. However, at this time, stand-alone retailers are excluded from these programs.
Park Lane and Triad also offer programs that utilize their capital, as does the CASH program offered by 21st Mortgage.
Know What You’re Getting Into
For a retailer or community owner to make the right choices, it is important to understand the risks and rewards of the methods they are evaluating. It also is important to understand what they can and cannot bring to the table to make a solution work.
The most important consideration is the risk the method presents when a loan or loans go bad. Many years ago, it was common for lenders to make very risky loans to buyers because the retailer or community owner had signed a recourse agreement that fully indemnified the lender against any losses from a non-performing loan. Typically, the guarantor had little real underwriting knowledge on who did or did not get a loan, and even less on how the loans were serviced. While that was good for the lender most of the time, it could be disastrous for the seller who guaranteed the loans.
The simple truth is when loans go bad, the person or entity guaranteeing the loan loses money. The trick is to make enough performing loans, at a high enough interest rate, to cover the non-performing loans and still make a profit.
Choose Carefully The Loans to Make, Those to Pass On
Both retailers and community owners make money selling homes, and community owners also make money by filling pads and collecting lot payments. But, as soon as either involves themselves in financing, they should understand which loans should be made and not. This is difficult — the need to sell homes and fill communities is pressing — but it is vital to continued success.
To accomplish this successfully, the retailer and/or community owner must gain the knowledge necessary to understand how to make prudent lending decisions. They must also have the power and authority to use that knowledge to approve or veto prospective borrower loan requests. They also need knowledge and understanding of how to properly service loans to avoid unnecessary repossessions.
Just because a lender makes manufactured home loans doesn’t necessarily mean they fully understand what they are doing. Past debacles involving a number of lenders clearly make that point. Those supposed experts on manufactured housing lending were not, as their spectacular meltdowns prove.
For lenders working with sellers (and the sellers being ultimately responsible for assuming any losses), the lender often is disincentivized to some extent to even care about a loan portfolio’s performance. Again, the guarantor, normally the retailer/community owner, needs to be knowledgeable and have enough authority to assure proper underwriting and service to avoid excessive non-performance. Done correctly, this does not mean dealing only with A-credit buyers; with proper understanding and structuring, it allows for making successful loans to subprime borrowers, too. There have been, and continue to be, performing loan portfolios rife with sub-600 FICO scores.
A Successful Method
One of the most successful methods for retailers and community owners who lack the funds to make their own loans to customers is to enter into a joint venture relationship with a depository institution. This method allows the depository to provide the capital for lending, and to assume regulatory responsibility, as well as providing the entity to make and service the loans. The retailer and/or community owner obviously provides the prospective borrower, but also much more.
Depository institutions have a horrible track record at manufactured housing lending. Many have lost so much money making these loans that their regulators actively discourage them. That creates the opportunity for a retailer/community owner to propose and engage in a joint venture relationship that is profitable to both and provides a robust system of financing the homes sold by the retailers and community groups.
Trust Yourself to Control the Program
For this method to work, the retailer and/or community owner must have considerable input and control into three areas:
Loans to be made
The structure of loan offerings
Operation of service, collection, and repossession
This creates the backbone of the joint venture agreement and, when properly done, assures success for both parties.
To make this viable, the retailer and/or community operator must be knowledgeable about the peculiarities of manufactured home loan underwriting and the structuring of any resultant loan offers to borrowers. They also must be knowledgeable about the differences in servicing, collecting, and collateral recovery in manufactured home lending. The retailer/community operator also must be able to effectively communicate and train depository personnel in these differences.
If properly presented to a depository needing to get capital on the street, the depository is often an eager participant, as these types of loans have a higher return than other types of loans the depository normally makes. The key to success is that the retailer/community operator must be able to bring specialized industry knowledge to the joint venture, which can assure success for both parties.
In August, the RV/MH Hall of Fame will celebrate the 2025 class of inductees, five from each industry.
“Our selection committees held meetings to review...
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:
