Manufactured Housing Event To Be Held Aug. 12 in Nashville
The Networking Roundtable for manufactured housing professionals that has operated for nearly 30 years in varying locales will be postponed.
Organizers Susan McCarty and Erin Smith of EducateMHC said the decision to postpone was difficult, but best for the health and safety of everyone involved.
“As one of the longest-running manufactured housing Industry events, the Networking Roundtable unites land-lease community owners and operators from around the country to gather for hands-on, timely education on key manufactured housing industry issues,” Smith stated.
The 2020 dates for the 29th Annual Networking Roundtable in Nashville were to be Sept. 2-4. Nearly every manufactured housing tradeshow, conference, and meeting since March has been canceled or made a virtual meeting out of concern regarding the spread of the coronavirus.
There are over 50,000 land lease communities, representing an impact of over $1 trillion dollars to the U.S. economy, Roundtable founder George Allen said.
“This gathering represents a level of enthusiasm, deal-making and progressive-thinking found nowhere else,” Allen said.
Information on registration for the 2021 Networking Roundtable is available through the EducateMHC website.
The Manufactured Housing Institute will provide industry professionals with a new interactive webinar series that kicks off with the topic “Developing with Manufactured Housing”.
MHI will hold the first webinar on June 17 from 2:30 to 4:30 eastern standard time. The manufactured housing webinar is open to anyone who would like to participate at the cost of $35. However, the webinar is free for MHI members who enter the registration code “MHIMEMBER” when signing up.
MHI developed the webinar from its annual full-day development seminar that coincides with the Congress & Expo. Scheduled for April in Las Vegas, Congress & Expo was canceled due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. The event will return April 6-8 2021 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Agenda for Developing with Manufactured Housing Webinar
Industry planning and development professionals Roderick Knoll, Emeka Nnadi, and Donald Westphal will join MHI staff to lead webinar participants through the program.
“Our faculty will provide industry knowledge for builders and developers who are considering factory-built housing to save time and money on their projects,” MHI President Mark Bowersox said. “The two-hour webinar will deliver a virtual opportunity to explore a wide spectrum of topics.”
An overview of the agenda includes discussions on:
Manufactured housing industry overview
The development process and site selection
Pro forma cash flow for manufactured housing developments
Communicating something you’re passionate about can be a difficult task. This is particularly true when your topic spans multiple industries and is based on places that tens of millions of Americans call home.
Epperson and Eason began having a conversation and conceptualized what the white paper might be in 2018.
“It’s not a secret that off-site built housing is a great solution for affordable housing,” Eason said. “The real opportunity was to create a document that aggregates information about the important role off-site built housing plays in the industry. It’s about making something that’s accessible and easy to use when talking with the public or even a developer who’s not considered off-site housing.”
What the White Paper Covers
The white paper on off-site built homes includes information on manufactured homes and modular homes. It focuses on the current prevalence of factory-built dwellings, how they fit the changing marketplace demands, and the sustainability of new homes.
“We wanted to touch on everything, but something that really spiked our interest when talking with Next Step was about the opportunity for appreciation. Manufactured housing appreciates over time in a way that mimics site-built homes,” Eason said. “That’s why we wanted to highlight that particular point.”
“Each time I speak, particularly outside of the industry, I am asked about appreciation,” Epperson said. “We have information now that’s so solid and recent, that we really can capture people’s attention.”
Clayton and Next Step, which are long-time collaborators on a series of initiatives, are working together to organize a schedule of presentations at event within and outside the manufactured and modular industries.
Eason and Epperson said they felt with the development of CrossMod™ homes that can be placed seamlessly in many urban areas alongside all variety of site-built homes that the timing was particularly good to reframe the conversation.
“I really see the opportunity with CrossMod because it aligns so well with what Next Step has been preaching for a long time, specifically about the benefits of a permanent foundation, energy-efficient features, and consumer-friendly financing,” Eason said.
“We believe and have proven that you can go into suburban areas with this product, build a great product and help improve the neighborhood,” Eason added. “It takes some time because there initially is a little bit of ‘not in my back yard’ sentiment for affordable housing specifically surrounding manufactured housing. But it’s great to go through the process and watch how people’s impressions can change.”
Where is The White Paper Going?
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and his staff received a copy of the “Off-Site Built Homes: An Evolving Industry that Meets Today’s Affordable Housing Needs” white paper during a tour of a home building facility in Alabama earlier this year.
“We’ll take it on the road with our different stakeholders across the country,” Epperson said. “We participated with the Aspen Institute this year and played a role in an affordable housing research project they are working on.
“The change I’m seeing nationally right now with funders, think tanks, thought leaders, the conversation has shifted,” she said. “The door has opened to really engage deeply on making manufactured housing more available.”
Datacomp today announced the publication of its June 2020 JLT Reports for mobile home rent comps, occupancy, and other vital data from Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Virginia manufactured home communities.
JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on communities in 184 major housing markets throughout the United States. These include the latest rent trends and statistics, 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.
June 2020manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Virginia include information on 178 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.
Altogether, the reports from Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Virginia manufactured home communities include data representations for 32,781 homesites.
Regional Trends in Manufactured Housing Community Rent and Occupancy
Midwest region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 1.3% increase in occupancy and a 3.6% increase in adjusted rents.
Northeast region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 0.2% increase in occupancy and a 2.9% increase in adjusted rent.
South region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 0.8% increase in occupancy and a 4.3% increase in adjusted rent.
“Occupancy for manufactured home communities in the four states was very stable year-over-year, and the reports show moderate increases in adjusted average rent in nearly every market,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said. “Occupancy was down slightly in one Iowa market, and rent was flat in one Virginia market.”
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 number of homesites, occupancy rates, and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of June 2020 rents and occupancy rates to June 2019, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to present date in most markets.
The June 2020 JLT Market Reports for manufactured home communities in Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Virginia 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.
ECN Capital Corp. today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Triad Financial Services, Inc., has been approved by Freddie Mac as a qualified mortgage seller and servicer.
“We are thrilled to partner with Freddie Mac in support of its mission to empower homeownership,” Triad President Michael Tolbert said.
“Manufactured housing provides a vital solution to affordable housing in the U.S.,” said Mike Dawson, vice president of strategy and policy for Freddie Mac’s Single-Family Business. “We’re excited to partner with Triad Financial to help increase borrower access to quality, yet affordable homes in markets that have traditionally been underserved for those seeking homeownership.”
Freddie Mac’s CHOICEHome® is an affordable mortgage initiative that offers conventional site-built financing for real-property factory-built homes, that are built to the HUD code and have the features of a site-built home. When a factory-built home meets certain prescribed specifications, it is granted certification and is eligible for CHOICEHome financing.
“This partnership with Freddie Mac will allow Triad to scale its real property lending solutions to help meet the nation’s affordable housing needs,” ECN Capital CEO Steven Hudson said.
A century ago, advertisements in magazines and newspapers implored homeowners to install the latest and greatest appliance: gas-powered water heaters.
One ad says a gas water heater “stops ALL waiting and fussing when you want HOT WATER.” Another declares: “Just turn the faucet and enjoy an inexhaustible supply of hot water.”
No coal, ashes, or dust with these modern marvels. Hot water on demand without compromise — what will engineers think of next?
It turns out the answer is, “Something even better.”
A Tankless Task
Technology marches on in every industry, including the home appliance industry.
Leading that march? Georgia-based Rinnai Corporation, manufacturer of the number-one selling brand of tankless gas water heaters in the United States and Canada.
Founded 100 years ago, Rinnai’s leadership lineage reaches back to the debut of gas-powered water heaters. The company’s role in producing tankless water heaters stretches back nearly as far. In 1921, Rinnai & Co launched their first tankless water heater product.
To put that in perspective, World War I had ended just three years prior.
The quality and reliability of their tankless water heater products assured Rinnai’s leadership in the field from that point on. It’s a position the company retains to this day.
Water Heaters Get Smart
When it comes to today’s homes, “smart” is in.
Programmable thermostats started the trend. But now there are smart light bulbs, smart window shades, even smart toilets. It only makes sense, then, that something as essential to comfort as water heaters join the club.
Rinnai offers tankless water heaters with both Amazon Alexa and Google Home support. As a result, water heater control is as easy as saying, “Alexa, tell Rinnai I want to take a shower,” or “OK Google, tell Rinnai I need hot water.”
Rinnai also provides a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices that allows for even greater control, including built-in schedules for multiple on/off recirculation periods throughout the day and a vacation mode users can activate remotely.
“Tankless is what we’re known for, and we’re continuing to drive changes, making installation easier and creating these user interfaces for a product that’s not really known for that,” said David Federico, brand director for Rinnai America. “We’ve taken that to the next level for control with an app… for instance, when your kid is showering you can set the water at 97 degrees, and when you need to wash dishes you bring it up to 120 degrees.”
The interface also provides error alerts for plumbing problems that otherwise may go undetected for long periods of time, Federico said.
Consumer spending on smart home systems tops $100 billion, so it’s a strong market for the company. As for what the future holds …
The Next Hundred Years
Rinnai’s plans for the future include continuing to offer homeowners with solutions that promote comfort and health. They anticipate achieving that through technologies that continue to emerge and evolve.
If the past is any indication, homeowners will one day look back on this period with the same nostalgia that arises from reading yesteryear’s ads touting the amazing properties of gas water heaters. Maybe something like, “Can you believe there was a time when you couldn’t talk to your house and have it turn on the shower for you?”
Rinnai and Manufactured Homes
NXT Homes, a line from Clayton Homes on display at The Louisville Show.
Tankless Heaters Considered for New HUD Code
For some, technology can move too fast.
That’s the case when it comes to mobile home manufacturing and tankless water heaters, such as those provided by Rinnai.
The reason: many manufactured housing professionals see the rules laid out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as antiquated in the era of tankless water heaters, smart home technology, and other advancements in home manufacturing.
The result is that while tankless water heaters can be installed in manufactured homes, HUD-approved installation is limited to aftermarket providers. Such a guideline prevents a new home from all of the latest options available.
Fortunately, HUD is aware of the issue and is working to revise the HUD code to include provisions for new technologies.
Indiana Tour of Homebuilding Factories, Educational Seminars Return in 2021
Organizers for the annual MH FacTOURy Summit, with educational programming and tours of Indiana homebuilding plants, have called off the event previously scheduled for Aug. 3-4 due to continuing safety concerns in regard to the potential spread of the coronavirus.
Ron Breymier, executive director for the Indiana Manufactured Housing Association-Recreation Vehicle Indiana Council, said the cancelation was a difficult decision.
“We surveyed all of the manufacturers involved in hosting plant tours and had a lot of other conversations with industry leaders,” Breymier said. “It became apparent that the safest and most productive strategy would be to focus on the return of MH FacTOURy Summit on Aug. 3-4, 2021.”
Attendee and sponsor registration costs can be carried over to 2021. Organizers will consider any requests for reimbursement.
In its fifth year, the sit-down education sessions in conjunction with walking tours of Indiana’s manufactured housing plants is geared toward industry professionals who want the latest information and opportunities from the manufactured housing industry.
MH FacTOURy Summit Meets Industry Needs
The MH FacTOURy Summit is presented by the IMHA-RVIC and MHVillage. Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities for the 2021 summit remain available.
“Each year we and our industry partners formulate a robust offering of seminars and factory tours for manufactured housing professionals who want to learn more about the latest building techniques, as well as marketing practices, finance options, purchasing, and sales strategies,” Breymier said.
The summit features a full day of seminars at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, 21565 Executive Parkway, Elkhart, Ind. The other day focuses on factory tours at several area home building facilities. Participating manufacturers have included Adventure Homes, Champion, Clayton Homes, and Fairmont Homes.
MHInsider received responses from more than 200 owners and operators nationwide about May rent payments in manufactured home communities during the 2020 coronavirus economy.
Survey results show more than 90% of manufactured home community May rent payments arrived on time. Additionally, survey respondents for the most part said 55+ and all-ages communities performed similarly, and with only a moderate need for assistance from government stimulus payments.
Manufactured Home Community May Rent Payments During the Coronavirus Economy
Barry Shein, second from right, holds a Platinum Builder award bestowed on Commodore Homes of Indiana by 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty during the 2020 Louisville Show. From left is Chris Parker of 2-10, Commodore President Bob Bender, 2-10's Ron D'ambra, Shein, and Don Strick, vice president of sales and marketing for Commodore.
The Commodore Corporation and its affiliated brands are mainstays among builders that display model homes at manufactured housing trade shows. However, Commodore owner and CEO Barry Shein tends to shy away from the spotlight, pleased that his companies and homes get the attention.
MHInsider magazine managed to catch up with the elusive executive for a short conversation during his commute between company headquarters in Goshen, Ind., and the home building facilities in Pennsylvania.
‘A little Bit Different’
Shein never wanted to operate like the others. Commodore and its brands — Colony, Manorwood, MidCountry, Pennwest, and R-Anell — build 6,800 floors per year and provide those manufactured homes to retailers and homebuyers in the upper Midwest to the east and up the Atlantic seaboard.
“Yes, our business model is a little different,” Shein said. “We always want to do something a bit different than the public companies. We do what they choose not to do. We stay away from the really low entry-level and we stay away from the high-end custom homes. We look at the meat of the market.
“Our specialty is in engineering, allowing us to customize efficiently,” he said. “In house we do all of the production prints, this creates a great amount of flexibility and option packages for our customers.”
In our effort to keep the design and construction of homes keyed in on the market served, Commodore leadership asks each plant to operate largely on its own.
“We give a lot of responsibility and authority at the plant level,” Shein said. “The home office is here to serve the plants, not vice versa. We want each one of the plants to be an entrepreneurial effort.”
Investing in Automation
Commodore Corporation picks its spots to upgrade machinery and advance production. It’s most likely to expand with an existing factory, and turn to interior upgrades that can be phased over time, rather than build a new factory.
It doesn’t take actuated overhead infrastructure to more effectively move a home down the line.
The use of CNC machines, for instance, allows Commodore to produce a better countertop in less time, with less waste, and with a greater amount of consistency from home to home. CNCs and gantry systems provide automation at a price tag that’s far less than the price tag for a fully automated factory.
“You can use a machine instead of a worker stooping over, bending their back with a nail gun,” Shein said of the gantry implementation. “It’s not anything that’s fancy, but it’s very effective.”
Looking Back on His Career
Shein graduated from the University of Miami in 1961 with a degree in accounting. He worked for the Internal Revenue Service for five years, and also served in the Army Reserves. He spent some time at Griffen Industries, a fabricator and provider of floor coverings, and moved to TrammelCrow, one of the largest commercial developers in the country.
During his tenure at TrammelCrow, Shein served as controller and vice president of the Atlanta market, which involved oversight of projects that included Cumberland Mall and Riverbend Apartments, now called Walton on the Chattahoochee.
In 1977, Shein went to work for Equity Financial and was involved with Mobile Home Communities, now Equity LifeStyle Properties, run by the iconic Sam Zell.
“He was known at that time as the ‘Grave Dancer’, and that’s kind of stuck because he bought a lot of distressed properties,” Shein said of Zell. “He is a genius. I imagine the greatest deal maker I’ve known. He’s really a down to earth guy, he’s really easy to talk to. I will always remember and appreciate the time I spent there.”
Enter Commodore Corporation
Shein worked with Zell for 10 years. It was during that time that Commodore became available.
“With Zell, I was primarily in charge of an office building portfolio and the mobile home portfolio,” Shein said. “Commodore borrowed money from one of Zell’s companies Great American Mortgage, and actually defaulted on that loan.”
Zell’s team, including Shein, gathered enough people and funding to carry Commodore into bankruptcy and attempt a restructuring. It was only a matter of who was going to run the operation.
“I remember ‘Hey, Barry, you run the mobile home portfolio, you must be the guy.’ I became chairman of the bankrupted company and reorganized. We released all of the top management and brought in a new president and I stayed in Chicago as chairman. That was at the end of 1987.”
Commodore wasn’t really an active part of the Zell group of companies; it was something they obtained almost by accident. The company was restructured to save production jobs and to keep that pipeline of homes to market.
“By then, my life had changed a bit. I married, and didn’t want to travel as much. I asked Sam if I could do something else. He offered half of Commodore, and I bought it. I bought the second half in 1992.”
Change and Re-Growth
Commodore at the time of the bankruptcy had 20 plants. Shein said “We ate off the seed corn”, indicating desperate measures were at hand to save the company.
“We ended up with five plants,” he said. “We expanded Goshen and closed Syracuse, Ind. We built the new plant in Shippenville, and then we built the Pennwest plant,” he said. “We also closed another archaic plant in Danville, Va., and we bought R-Anell out of bankruptcy.”
During bankruptcy and the years immediately following, Commodore built all HUD-code homes. Now the mix between modular and manufactured is even.
Commodore has two plants that are all mods, R-Anell and PennWest; Commodore of IN is primarily Mods. Midcountry Homes, Commodore Homes of Pennsylvania and Colony Factory Crafted Homes plants are primarily HUD.
“We’ve made our money, and we’ve grown our company staying under the radar. We don’t want to challenge the gorillas. We don’t have a huge corporate staff,” Shein said. “We have a group of people who run this as a family company. We care about our people, and our relationships with communities, dealers and builders.”
Building Relationships One Home at a Time
Commodore Corporation pays special attention to its vendors, dealers, and home buyers. They build each home knowing the importance of the purchase to the homebuyer. They strive to have Commodore’s reputation for quality homes at a fair price be second to none.
“We always want to build a better house. Not a more expensive house, but a better house. That’s our mantra,” he said. “And all of the other stuff matters, too. I am very proud of our website. We’ve put a lot of time and attention into making it user friendly.
“We think sometimes the millennials might know as much about our homes as our dealers by the time they go in to actually see a home,” Shein said. “And that’s a good thing.”
Commodore has been blessed with big-time talent, Shein said.
Chief Operating Officer Bob Bender is the public face and future of the company. “He will take Commodore to a whole new level,” Shein said of Bender. “I have full confidence in that.”
Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales Don Strick and Senior Vice President of Engineering Nader Tomasbi are integral to the company’s success, he said.
As for Shein, he winces at retirement plans.
“I guess I’ll retire when Bob shoves me out the door!” Shein exclaimed. “In the meantime, I am shifting a lot of the responsibility in giant chunks to Bob.”
Company Culture
Shein said the company’s top-flight team organically built the culture and continues to intentionally drive it by nurturing and advancing core values.
“This is all fairly new, and it’s something we came to,” Shein said of the core values. “A decade or so ago, we had a mission statement like everyone else.”
Commodore’s Core Values
Relationships matter
Create teamwork to win
Integrity
Trust
Curious to be better
Diversity of thinking and debate
“That’s what drives us,” Shein said. Commodore Corporation pays membership dues and provides sponsorship support to both MHI and MHARR, as well as to the independent Manufactured Housing Buying Group run by Dave Roberson.
Shein and his wife Cari get great pleasure by giving back to the community including to public and private education and other local charities as well as the South Bend Symphony.
MHBuyersGuide.com is a product of MHVillage and MHInsider magazine.
MHInsider, the leader in manufactured housing news, has launched a new online buyer’s guide and supplier directory for the industry at MHBuyersGuide.com.
The new buyer’s guide and supplier directory comes from the inaugural print Buyer’s Guide from MHInsider and allows manufactured housing professionals to claim and manage their listings online.
“MHBuyersGuide provides retailers and manufactured home community operators a way to efficiently source the goods and services they need. Industry service and mobile home supply professionals can claim and upgrade their listing, as well as consider several advertising opportunities,” MHInsider Publisher Patrick Revere said.
MHInsider is offering a $99 special introductory rate for a premium listing valued at $299.
What Comes With a Listing on MHBuyersGuide?
A basic, free listing on MHBuyersGuide includes the business name, logo, short description, and phone number. A premium listing provides the following added features:
A contact form for sales leads
Link to your website
Image gallery
Embedded Youtube video
Links to social media profiles
A map of the business location
Manufactured housing professionals can browse listings and search more than a dozen categories that include wholesale inventory, finance, insurance, industry events, associations, and services.
MHInsider and MHBuyersGuide both are operated by MHVillage, the #1 marketplace for manufactured homes and mobile homes for sale and rent, and are operated in association with Datacomp, the national leader in mobile home appraisal, inspection, and community data.
For more information, to request a media kit, or to explore home listing and advertising opportunities call (877) 406-0232 or visit www.mhbuyersguide.com/advertise.
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