The Louisville Show 2018 Exhibitor Space Near Full
The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show turns 60 in 2018, and excitement is building!
A perennial mainstay in industry education and collaboration, The Louisville Show began in 1958. The 2018 show is at the Kentucky Exposition Center and will include 57 new model homes from nearly 20 manufacturers.
“The degree of early commitments is very encouraging,” said Dennis Hill, the show coordinator since 1987.
“We’re down to about four exhibitor booths remaining,” Hill said of Louisville 2018. “We don’t typically get there until about December, and 12 of those are brand new exhibitors. The enthusiasm is very high.”
The show will be held Jan. 17-19 at the Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport Hotel adjacent the KCE and minutes from major attractions. Book rooms now, with Crowne Plaza, to assure special room rates apply. And sign up for The Louisville Show newsletter to receive information and updates on registration and programming.
“Our show has grown steadily since 2008,” Hill said. “We have been very successful in emphasizing seminar development, in particular. Education in the industry is very important, and overall it brings more people in to see the product.”
The Louisville Show is an industry show for professionals, and is not open to the general public.
As the industry’s largest indoor manufactured housing show, The Louisville Show brings the latest products, services and technology together for nearly 3,000 industry professionals representing more than 900 companies. Whether you are a community owner or operator, retailer, builder/developer, supplier, or other industry professional, The Louisville Show is the most significant event of the year to observe industry trends, increase your knowledge and network with fellow industry professionals.
The Louisville Show operates in support of its five member organizations: The Illinois Manufactured Housing Association, Indiana Manufactured Housing Association, Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute, Michigan Manufactured Housing Association and Ohio Manufactured Homes Association. The annual event is billed as the premier manufactured housing industry show in the Midwest.
ROC USA plants the seed of possibility with a resident-owned community
Homeownership is a giant step toward independence for many Americans, but often it’s far from the last step. For those who own a manufactured home, the formation of a resident-owned community may be the path to a sustainable housing solution. Mike Bullard and others at ROC USA, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit, help residents ask “why not?”
ROC gains steam nationwide
ROC coaches residents as they form coalitions and navigate the tricky waters of purchasing property.
Residents gather to vote.
Residents — the majority of whom already own their homes — form a co-op and board of directors. Each community member pays a price up front to join the co-op.
That amount typically is between $240 to $500, which also helps establish buy-in for the effort.
This model began at the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund in 1984. “Don’t lose the nun’s money,” became a common mantra after they made their first purchase with the Sisters of Mercy fund.
Natividad Seefeld is an organizer within her community.
Building Community
ROC residents lead the community together. They control who to admit, how to screen candidates and, of course, how to spend the money.
Each member becomes a shareholder, owning a percentage of the park’s land as a whole, rather than simply owning what’s beneath them.
This means it’s in each landowner’s best interest to help their neighbors. Monthly rent goes to the community, often used toward maintaining or updating the community, for garbage, snowplowing or landscaping.
As a result, community relationships improve as well. “People always used to say they knew their neighbors, and maybe a few other people in the community,” said Bullard, communications and marketing manager for ROC USA. “It runs a lot deeper now, and I hear it all the time as I walk through a community.”
One Resident-owned Community in Minneapolis
Natividad Seefeld raises the sign at the new Park Plaza playground.
Natividad Seefeld, board president of Park Plaza, a ROC near Minneapolis, uses the co-op model to create a thriving community.
As a fellow resident, she has vested interest in developing ways to improve the park. Seefeld organizes nights out against crime and lines up funds for huge projects. These include a new playground, paid for by raising private donations through the ROC USA website. Park Plaza also replaced the water system. One winter, in the middle of a cold snap, a pipe burst under a house. Water gushed out onto the street and froze.
The co-op had to bring in a crane to lift the house to remedy the immediate problem. Later they were able to fix entire water system.
ROC gains an Industry Name
Each year, ROC USA transforms an average of 15 parks. One of the most important aspects of the mission is the time spent with community owners, brokers and realtors. These are the professionals with an inside track on what communities are coming up for sale.
ROC USA aims to gain information through these connections and supporters. The organization’s employees inform everyone they meet how selling to residents can be the most beneficial exit strategy.
“Many community owners aren’t particularly interested in even contemplating a resident purchase,” explained John Wiltse of Pathstone, a nonprofit in the ROC USA network. “It’s different from the traditional business model.”
Pathstone is a CTAP, or Certified Technical Assistance Provider, one of nine nationwide. These nonprofits focus on making ROC known and building partnerships locally. This is done through joining the state manufactured housing association or by showing up at an industry-related event.
There is a prime challenge supporters face when attempting to convert a community owner to ROC’s cause, Wiltse explained. It takes effort to convince owners that the residents are good buyers, and ones capable of taking over the operation of the community.
“Many may believe their homeowners could never do what they do and have concern toward disclosing any part of their operation to their homeowners,” Wiltse said. “They’re used to a business model built around limiting access to that type of information, and they’re concerned that if the community goes to sale, everyone would leave or stop paying rent.”
Wiltse argues this belief is unfounded, but residents, too, often doubt their ability to own land and run a community.
How to Create Buy-in
To show the residents it is indeed possible for them to get a loan, pay for the land, and manage the park, ROC USA offers a skills survey at the start. The goal is to identify people in the community who can serve as treasurer, bookkeeper or secretary.
“People don’t necessarily know the talent in their own community,” Bullard said.
In the beginning, residents can be “skeptical and jaded” with conversation between a willing park owner and the resident group, Wiltse said. But with time, a light comes on in their eyes as the potential for ownership builds.
ROC USA’s devotion to connection-building and overcoming obstacles has led them to a 100-percent success rate with their communities. Each community to enter an agreement with ROC USA has maintained payment on the property and continues to effectively operate it.
ROC USA continues educating people in the industry, and organizers hope selling to residents continues to have a growing place in the market.
Visit ROC USA to find out more about the work it does, and contact them here.
Attendees in Biloxi will get the opportunity to tour three dozen homes.
The 2018 Tunica Show Has More Convenient Scheduling and New Pre-Show Events
Tunica, Miss., (Aug. 7, 2017) – Make your plans to attend the 2018 Tunica Show, the Southeast’s largest industry trade show for manufactured housing professionals.
Organizers anticipate 2,000-plus in attendance and more than 70 new home model on exhibit.
The 2018 Tunica Show will be held March 20-22, in Tunica, Miss., with pre-show events, including a new golf outing at River Bend Links Golf Course on March 19.
On March 20, there will be a host of dynamic seminar speakers to present on way to improve and grow your business.
“As a manufactured housing professional in the Southeast, attending the Tunica Show is essential to stay current with the latest industry trends, forecasts and strategies,” Show Chairman Gene Rogers said.
“We also have received valuable feedback from previous attendees that adjusting the show dates and schedule would make for a more convenient experience in travel and month-end business obligations,” Rogers said.
Moving the show up one day allows attendees to make it home for the weekend. Additionally, moving the show back one week in March, would accommodate industry professionals who bear responsibility for month-end financials.
“We’ve received very positive response to this change,” Rogers said. “We look forward to accommodating industry professionals who in years’ past may have been unable to attend, or would have had to leave early.”
Event Details for 2018 Tunica Show
As the Southeast’s premier event for manufactured housing professionals, the 2018 Tunica Show presents many professional opportunities. These include: Updates on the latest industry trends, model homes tours from the region’s leading manufactured home builders, participation in informative seminars, networking with colleagues.
The show is at the Hollywood and Resorts Casinos. Attendance of approximately 2,000 manufactured housing industry professionals will represent in excess of 500 companies.
As a result, the 2018 Tunica Show is the most significant trade event in a multi-state region that that attracts attendees from Illinois to Texas. The event is ideal for manufactured home community owners and managers, retailers, installers and builder/developers.
Seventy new model homes from 20 prominent manufacturers will on display. In addition, there will be more than 90 suppliers representing every facet of the manufactured housing industry. Attendees will include service professionals from transport and installation, building materials, financing and professional services.
Exhibitors continue to grow in numbers and more will be added before the roster is finalized.
Exhibitors and Seminars
The Tunica Show allows exhibitors to showcase products and services at the location where qualified industry buyers come for ideas and inspiration. March is an optimal time to understand customers’ wants and needs as they prepare for the region’s spring selling season.
Added to the exhibitions, there will be a variety of business-building seminars conducted by knowledgeable experts. The seminars are on the topics of sales and business operations, home design trends and consumer financing. Program details will be added in the fall.
And this year’s show also includes a new promotional money giveaway on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the manufacturer’s exhibit area. A pair of lucky retailers, builder/developers or community managers will win two different $500 prizes. To be eligible, attendees must register in the SCMHI hospitality tent before the deadline. The hospitality tent is near the show office in the manufacturers’ exhibit area. Registration for prizes start on March 20. You must be present to win!
As an industry trade event, the 2018 Tunica Show is not open to the public. Industry professionals interested in attending the show can stay updated on exhibitor and attendee registration, as well as other show details, by signing up for the newsletter at http://www.TheTunicaShow.com.
Show Produced and Managed by:
Show Ways Unlimited
Dennis Hill, Show Coordinator
(770) 587-3350
About: The South Central Manufactured Housing Institute
The South Central Manufactured Housing Institute is a non-profit trade-association in the promotion and advancement of the manufactured housing industry in Mississippi and Alabama. The Institute holds the Tunica Manufactured Home Trade Show annually in Tunica, Mississippi.
Calling all Manufactured Housing Professionals in Florida! The 2017 Florida Manufactured Housing Association Annual Convention is coming up soon – and you won’t want to miss this!
2017 FMHA Annual Convention B Resort, Orlando September 27-28, 2017
MHVillage will exhibit at the FMHA Annual Convention and conduct a workshop on Thursday, Sept. 28. Be sure and stop by our booth and check out our workshop to learn about strategies for effective lead management.
1:30-3:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 – “A Sales Lead is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How to Close More Sales in Less Time”, presented by Dawn Highhouse, MHVillage VP of Customer Relations, Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy.
According to Forbes Magazine, businesses waste 71% of their sales leads. Do your managers and sales staff know the best ways to close internet leads? Dawn Highhouse, Vice President of Customer Relations at MHVillage.com, will walk you through simple techniques for maximizing your online leads and turning them into sales. From the moment the lead hits until the deal is closed, she’ll give you what you need to make the most out of your advertising. Learn about internet lead response times, nurturing important leads and the best times and the best ways to contact manufactured home buyers.
With that in mind, here is just a taste of the other events offered at the 2017 FMHA Annual Convention:
Welcome Reception
Annual Awards Luncheon
Active 55+ Resident Relations – Connecting Residents with Resources to Support Aging in Place (Workshop)
Operation Outsource: Master Efficiency Using Technology (Workshop)
Ask the Lawyers
and much more!
Go to www.fmha.org today for more information and register to attend the 2017 Annual Convention. Cut-off dates for special rates on hotel rooms at Orlando’s B Resort & Spa end Sept. 5, so make sure to reserve your spot today.
As you know, MHVillage has quite a few different advertising options for homes, communities and companies on our site. In addition to our listing types, we also have Pay-Per-Click Ads that allow you to set your price per click and your daily limit.
What kind of professionals typically advertise with Pay-Per-Click Ads?
Often we work with professional home sellers who have inventory in a smaller town. Since our website is a location-based search engine, homes outside a metro area might not show in certain search results. PPC ads are a great way to direct the customers viewing homes in that big city over to your website!
Another good use for Pay-Per-Click advertising is to reach homeowners in need of services. With anything from insurance to home maintenance, these advertisements are a great way to be sure your target market gets more information about your company.
How do I create an ad?
Creating an ad is super simple! From our menu bar across the top of our page you can choose the “Professionals” tab, then select the “Pay-Per-Click Ads” option.
This will bring you to a step-by-step tutorial on the process of making your ad.
How will my ad look?
Your ad will appear within a red border and will show to the right and left of the general search results. You can update and edit your text and the website link at any time! There is a character limit of 100 for the body of the ad, which excludes the ad title and web link.
Where will my ad display?
When you create your ad, you will get to choose the counties where you want it to show. Customers typically come to the site to search for homes in specific cities, counties and zip codes. So, they are presented with a list of all the homes available in their targeted search area. If their target area is in a county you have chosen, your ad appears to the right or left of the results. Your ad never appears on search pages for counties in which you are not interested.
What does it cost?
The cost is completely up to you. First, you decide how much you will pay per click (minimum 30¢). Then you decide the maximum amount of money you will pay per day. When your daily maximum is reached, your ad is no longer displayed that day.
How do I pay for my ad?
Just like our monthly professional accounts, you only pay for a service that has already been used. So, if you already have a monthly account, the cost of this product will be added to your already established billing cycle. If you do not have an account with us yet, then you will be asked to set up billing information, which includes credit card information, and then you will see your first charge 30 days from the day you create and activate the ad.
Do these ads really work?
Pay-per-Click ads are very effective because you only pay for results. You are charged only if someone clicks on your ad and goes to your website. Plus, you can precisely target your market area and provide a direct link to your website!
As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, federal regulations now require lenders to provide buyers of new, financed manufactured homes a valuation disclosure when a home-only transaction meets certain criteria and is defined as an HPML, or Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan.
Fortunately, our friends at Datacomp have developed a valuation product that is quick, easy and intended to fulfill these requirements. Not only is it an important compliance resource for lenders, it can also be a valuable sales tool for manufactured home retailers and communities.
What is the MSRV report?
The Datacomp MSRV, or Market Suggested Retail Value, is a valuation report that is intended to fulfill the HPML appraisal rules (12.CFR 1026.35) for new manufactured homes. Based on Datacomp’s trusted platform for accurate, market-based valuations, the MSRV establishes an independent, local retail value for a new home based on actual market sales.
Why would I need an MSRV report?
If you are a lender, a valuation disclosure is required to be provided to the client three days prior to closing when a new, home-only transaction meets certain requirements to be considered an HPML.
As a retailer or community, this disclosure requirement is handled by your lender as part of the financing documents. However, Datacomp also offers a pre-sale MSRV certificate designed as a sales tool for retailer and communities.
Many retailers display a pre-sale MSRV in the home to show value to the customer. Also, it gives buyers confidence in the selling price of the home. The report provides insight to the value the buyer will receive from the lender. And it introduces the concept of a valuation to the buyer, so it is a non-event when it happens.
How is value determined?
The Datacomp MSRV uses a market approach based on comparable, new home sales transactions. Consistent retail values are provided through automated decision-support tools and appraiser-reviewed for accuracy and reliability.
How can I order an MSRV report?
Whether you are a lender, or a retailer, you can order the appropriate MSRV report from the Datacomp website. From this website, you can order the MSRV with your Datacomp account, as a guest user or you can download an order form that you can fax to the office.
Datacomp also offers a number of other valuable reports on its website, as well as an experienced customer service team to assist with any questions!
Maybe it’s the heat getting to us, or these adorable puppies. Either way, we are giving you $5 Promo Credit for your next listing upgrade with MHVillage!
To apply, enter this AdCode when you select your listing package.
If you have any questions, or if you would like one of our representatives to walk you through the process, please give us a call 1 (800) 397-2158.
New Manufactured Home Community Set for Central East Florida
The effort it takes to build something new often is viewed as a source of frustration.
However, a new manufactured home community, like one being developed in Ormond Beach, Fla., with approval to clear and level, start utilities and lay out a site plan certainly is cause for celebration.
The development of a new manufactured home community in Florida last occurred about 15 years ago. The challenges can include a difficult economy, zoning hurdles, investment barriers and the negative perception of a new manufactured home community.
New Development Data
What is the Trend for New MH Communities?
About 310 new manufactured home communities were built nationwide since 2002. Note the 2,645 new communities during the prior 15 years, including 395 communities built during 1986-87 alone. Comparatively, it’s easy to understand why affordable housing advocates are concerned.
Ormond Beach Commissioner Dwight Selby serves Zone 1 where the new community is located. Additionally, he serves as treasurer for the Florida Manufactured Housing Association and co-owns the nearby Shady Oaks manufactured home community.
“I think it’s important to stay focused on providing housing for all kinds of income, not just the rich and uber rich,” Selby said. “We have a huge gap in affordability. Most builders aren’t putting up anything below $250,000 – $300,000, and the developers at Plantation Oaks are coming in at half that. It’s a way more affordable number for a lot of people.”
“We’re selling the lifestyle, the amenities, the gated entry,” Mynchenberg said of the 55+ community.
Plantation Oaks is near the intersection of I-95 and U.S. 1, north of the municipality. The plan includes annexation of the unincorporated property when phase one is complete.
Phase one of the development calls for 427 lots. The final project will include 1,577 home sites.
“We were just held up for a bit and got back at it,” Bledsoe said. “We’re in a great location to do this. Ormond Beach is among the nicer communities in the area. It’s a great place to live.”
Two- and 3-bedroom homes in the new manufactured home community will range from 1,200 to 2,400 square feet. Prices are between $120,000 and $200,000. The community will operate as a dealer for homes from two makers, Homes of Merit and Palm Harbor. Homeowners can rent the land their home sits on for about $700 per month.
“The rents will vary a little,” Bledsoe said. “Depending on whether you have a waterfront lot, a premium lot or a lot that borders a preservation area.”
Add to that, each home will have a front porch, and a two-stall garage rather than carports.
The Obstacles for a New Manufactured Home Community
“Once they’re leased up, they’re sought after by investors,” Bledsoe said. “Not so much when they’re being developed.”
Commissioner Selby said bridging that gap should be a priority locally, and nationally.
“It’s a total mystery to me how a product class can be so attractive, yet there are no people chasing new deals,” Selby said. “It relates to financing and delayed returns, but all that being said, somehow we have to figure this out.
“There needs to be a mechanism whereby new communities can be built,” he said.
That said, Selby points to the wave of Baby Boomers who will retire to Florida and other warm weather places. If there are homes for those arrivals to live in, Florida’s economy can reap the benefits.
“Boomers add a lot and require very little,” Selby said. “We should prepare ourselves before they advance to an age where more community services will be required.”
Community perks
“We’re doing a 10,360 square-foot clubhouse with café and large kitchen, as well as community rooms to play cards, exercise and meet friends,” Mynchenberg said. “Out back are covered and screened porches that overlook an Olympic size zero entry pool. It’s ADA accessible, and very good for seniors.”
Mynchenberg is a civil engineer, landscape architect and pool designer. Bledsoe has significant experience as an underground utilities contractor. The two have teamed in development efforts several times, including on Plantation Oaks of Flagler between 1998 and 2004. They sold that community and purchased the Ormond Beach property, waited out the recession and in 2012 worked on re-zoning for manufactured housing.
Plantation Oaks of Ormond Beach will boast dog runs and dog parks. Additionally, it will provide tennis and pickle ball courts, shuffleboard, walking and bike trails, boat and RV storage, nearby shopping and entertainment.
The Plantation Oaks Lifestyle
The median home price near the coast is significantly higher than the cost at Plantation Oaks. However, Bledsoe and Mynchenberg have declined to advertise the community as affordable housing.
“I think if you asked the customer about the high point, it’s not affordability, it’s lifestyle,” Bledsoe said. “We’re proud of this community. We’ve had a huge response. When we put up the billboard alone, I can’t say how many emails we received.”
The first model homes were placed during the fall, model homes will be open for a walk-through in the spring and all infrastructure and amenities will be complete by the time residents begin to move in by early 2019, Sales Director Doug Kamm said.
Plantation Oaks is hosting an industry open house on March 20, and will have a grande opening April 4 with three days of home and community tours to follow.
Head of Rochester Property Group Watches Great Lakes Manufactured Housing Communities from Afar
Jason Janda, Rochester Property Group
Jason Janda works in L.A., and spends his day thinking about manufactured housing communities in Great Lakes states and to the east.
An attorney in tax law for a private equity firm, he purchased apartment buildings on the side. In 2014, Janda was drawn to manufactured home communities. He enrolled to the Mobile Home University boot camp, run by Dave Reynolds and Frank Rolfe, and read everything he could find on the subject.
In 2016, he took the leap and made the purchase of his first park.
Re-imagine What You Know
“You really have to educate the investor and break those false impressions that are created by TV and our culture in general, and make sure the first investment goes really well,” Janda said, looking back on the deals he might have signed if hadn’t initially been so risk averse. “I couldn’t afford to have anything go wrong, otherwise my investors would question the whole direction, the whole industry.”
The investors he’s attracted are high earning professionals who aren’t distracted by the details, they just want to know they’re getting 10 percent return on investment.
Janda purchased from a gentleman who had operated a Wisconsin park for 35 years and ran into some health problems. The owner sold so his wife would get a regular check if something were to happen, Janda said.
He bought the “Ma and Pop” community south of Lake Winnebago, a small park that could be fixed up, But it was hardly the 200-plus site “Cash Cow” larger investors have targeted.
With it, he has an adapted strategy that suits him well.
“It’s still a good niche to be in, and will stay pretty good for the near to middle term,” Janda said. “If I was looking to buy something at a 5 cap, I’d be doing something off market in apartments still. I’m here because I want an 8 cap, and that’s still happening in the Midwest.”
An Effective Strategy
“Let’s say you try to buy 300 sites all together in a single metro area, you’re paying a lower Cap. You could also buy 50 sites at six different places all within two hours of each other.”
There’s a regional manager and a maintenance supervisor who can drive to a community within a couple hours. That person can put in four hours on site and drive home by the end of the workday.
“You need to have these employees getting to every community at very least once per month, and then you also have a site manager who’s there every day,” Janda said. “Without the technology we have today, this couldn’t be done. So, if you’ve been in the business for decades, you’re not compelled to work this way. But if we’re picking up communities, we can implement this way of working that happens remotely almost instantly.”
Janda works without a broker, checks mil rates for tax purposes, and makes his own net operating income estimates. A community priced higher than his budget is justifiable if the place is in reasonable physical condition. This is particularly true if the park has some improvements to be made in operations.
His intention is to add as many as 200 sites in his portfolio of manufactured housing communities by 2018.
“An adequate goal for us would be at least two park purchases every year for the next 10 years,” Janda said. “And maybe it’s three or four per year in those later years.
“The manufactured home industry is in itself a community,” he said. “People are generally helpful. It’s more open than many places you might invest.”
The 26th Annual International Networking Roundtable is a Homecoming for Its Founder
George Allen, MH professional
When George Allen was in his early 20s and new to real estate, he worked with a group that gave him a portfolio of apartment properties to prop up.
He did such a good job, they offered him a nice raise, gave him a bonus and a well-earned vacation.
When he returned, they reassigned him to a group of mobile home parks.
“I had to think about that for a little while,” Allen admitted. “I was apprehensive, and had never been around ‘trailer parks’. That was mostly what they were called in those days. I had a feeling about it, but I was unsure what it all meant and how I fit in.”
Even more so than his career trajectory, he had a wife and kids to consider.
Upset, he gave himself 60 days to gain what he calls “a major attitude adjustment”. Allen took to the road to visit the communities. He talked with managers and residents. All of the parks were operating in the red, and many had very poor social conditions.
He did want to turn things around, but he realized there was a catch.
“There was not a single book, tape or newsletter to get a hold of,” Allen said. “I thought, ‘perhaps I can replicate what I had in apartments for mobile home park training materials’. That’s what really intrigued me.”
Write the Book
More than three decades later, Allen’s trek through the annual calendar includes 24 newsletters, 50 blogs, four to six manufactured home management classes and a late summer roundtable, the latest rendition of which will occur Sept. 6-8.
During that time, Allen has purchased and operated his own manufactured home communities in Central Illinois and authored several books, including “Swan Song”, a history of manufactured housing soon to be released.
So, the man’s been busy. Busy making himself the voice of an industry.
“It was really peer pressure,” he said of the original Allen Letter, the professional journal for the manufactured housing industry, published each month for 27 years.
“Everyone subscribed to it, and it was successful. It helps us all make some money, and a lot of people give us credit for having a cohesive effect on the industry,” Allen said. “So, the natural next request was that I organize a meet-up.”
The Show
The 26th Annual International Networking Roundtable comes with a certain amount of synchronicity for Allen. The first one was in Clearwater, Fla., with about 70 people. The 2016 Roundtable was at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville with about 250 attendees. In the years between, the event has traveled from San Diego to Atlanta to Mystic, Conn. and points in between.
“This is the first time in 26 years of hosting this event that I’m bringing it to my hometown,” Allen said. Despite Allen’s tenure, not to mention the title of his new book, this year will not be his swan song.
“I am trying to slow down,” Allen said, emphasizing trying. “I have some younger people coming along side me who I might be able to let take it over. We don’t have a schedule for that, but I figure bringing the Networking Roundtable to Indianapolis will help with an understanding for what we do.”
Part of what he does is settle down each January to look at the most recent of his newsletters, to judge “what’s hot and what’s happening”, to then form the annual event’s agenda.
This year’s broker presentations, for instance, will include Tammy Fonk, of Milwaukee, Wis., from HomeFirst Properties, and Joanne Stevens, of Des Moines, Iowa, from NAI, offering insight on “Anatomy of the Deal” for investors and brokers and “Preparing Your LLCommunity to Sell”.
“A lot of people who are coming want to know who else is in the same business, but part of that is finding out whose community you’re going to buy,” Allen said.
Looking back
There are few years that stand out less for the content of the International Networking Roundtable and more for the events or circumstances of the day.
Colorado Springs in 1997, when George and his wife Carolyn arrived on Wednesday to prepare, the sun was out and the weather was very warm.
“Friday night when we had our second reception they had a snow like I’ve rarely seen,” Allen said. “There was five feet the next morning. The whole place shut down.”
So, they made the best of it.
They continued on, they ate in the hall and eventually retired to the Marriott lounge to have cocktails and watch the Indians and Marlins in the World Series. The bartender at some point began to close down, and the patrons were put on notice.
“One of the guys there was friendly with Bill Marriott and had someone make a call to explain the circumstances, and they re-opened the bar and left it open. No one was even able to leave until Monday,” Allen said.
There was one question about potential upcoming venues on the feedback forms returned by attendees. The consensus was “anywhere but snow”.
The Roundtable was in Del Ray Beach, Fla. in 1998. Attendees arrived as much of southeast Florida was fleeing Hurricane George.
“We managed to get about 70 people in the hotel before they battened down, and the hurricane was raging. You couldn’t really hear it but it looked awful,” he said.
Feedback form response: “Anywhere but snow, hurricanes… and let’s throw in earthquakes for good measure”.
Flash forward to 2001, all air travel was halted following the 911 terror attacks when attendees were set to fly to Chicago. The Roundtable was held a week later than planned, and was well attended, but the notion of “can we stick with the less eventful events?” was very real.
More to Come
Yes, the Septembers of late have been more kind, even if the murmurs of George Allen’s possible retirement have heightened.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been dealing with the sons and daughters and heirs apparent,” Allen conceded. “So, every time I start to rattle on about doing something else, I hear about it from the industry people who begin to worry about where they’ll turn.
“I can’t just go away,” he said. “It wouldn’t stop the business, but it would dramatically change how people interact and learn.”
It’s true, even hard-to-impress industry leaders can appreciate that the 200 people Allen draws are high-level players; owners, CEOs, CFOs and highly regarded analysts and consultants.
And Allen himself, with those decades of experience, and the way he weaves a story.
So, come to Indianapolis this year for the George Allen International Networking Roundtable, grab a copy of “Swan Song”, and let Allen tell you how he once, long ago, purchased a community for $400,000 and a couple years later sold it for $2.5 million in cash.
It’s one worth hearing.
Allen, center, and Darryl Searer, left, with Mike Sullivan wear their green RV/MH Hall of Fame jackets
More than 1,500 manufactured housing professionals are expected in Las Vegas April 7-9 as the Manufactured Housing Institute’s Congress and Expo returns to the...
With more homes, more exhibitors, and more buzz than ever before, the 2026 Biloxi Show is expanding, and fast.
The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Show &...
“We’re doing a 10,360 square-foot clubhouse with café and large kitchen, as well as community rooms to play cards, exercise and meet friends,” Mynchenberg said. “Out back are covered and screened porches that overlook an Olympic size zero entry pool. It’s ADA accessible, and very good for seniors.”
