May Shipments increase 15.2 percent year-over-year
In May 2017, 7,848 new manufactured homes were shipped, an increase of 15.2 percent from May 2016, according to the Manufactured Housing Institute, the national trade organization representing the factory-built housing industry.
Shipments decreased month-to-month, down 8.9 percent from April 2017, a difference of 643 homes.
Compared with the same month last year, the trend reflected gains across the board, with shipments of single section and multi-section homes up by 15.1 percent and 15.3 percent respectively. Total floors shipped in May 2017 were 12,156, an increase of 15.5 percent compared with May 2016.
Adjusted annual shipments also up
The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of shipments was 89,412 in May 2017, up 9.4 percent from the adjusted rate of 81,767 in April 2017. The SAAR corrects for normal seasonal variations and projects annual shipments based on the current monthly total.
The number of plants reporting production in May 2017 was 129 and the number of active corporations was 35. Compared to the previous month, both the number of plants and active corporations were unchanged.
Kevin Bupp will tell you he’s in a better place today than he was just three years ago.
That’s saying something for a guy who’s spent two decades in real estate and has learned to find the right seller so he can buy and capitalize on single-family homes, commercial properties and apartment buildings.
There are worse fates.
Sales consultant Ken Corbin and community owner Brian Spear chat during opening day of the Networking Roundtable.
And, Kevin wears a big smile, readily sharing his joy about where he and his associates have landed.
“We’re still small fish in a medium sized pond, because the industry is still not as large as it could be,” said Bupp, a resident of Clearwater, Fla., and co-owner with Charles DeHart and Brian Spear of Sunrise Capital Investors. “Manufactured is all we focus on now.”
Bupp and his partners who invest in mobile home parks look to purchase and improve communities.
Some of the communities Sunrise purchases have homes that pre-date the 1976 HUD regulatory change. However, most are small- to mid-size communities with homes from the 1980s and ’90s, some newer.
Their mobile home investment targets represent a middle-market niche that larger investors and owners overlook, though less so in recent years. And a good portion of how they get there is by focusing on how to find the right seller.
Value-add Niche in Mobile Home Park Investing
“We’re really value add guys,” Bupp said. “We are really good at taking a community that is in distress, but in a good market, and taking out the bad elements, bringing in some improvements and making things work.”
It’s a niche that’s gaining stability and wider recognition all the time, largely because the ROI doesn’t lie.
“It took us a year to buy the first park, then it’s been one or two in those in between years,” Charles DeHart said. “In the last 18 months, we’ve purchased six parks.
“We have five more parks currently in contract (pending sale) that represent 430 spaces,” he said.
Sunrise has raised more than $2 million in cash during the last two years from the attraction of 10 dedicated outside investors, and they look to raise $3-5 million more to purchase another six parks – perhaps 800 land-lease spaces – during the next 12 months.
It’s not BIG business investing, but it’s been shown as a way to steadily grow wealth. And, if you ask the Sunrise and similar mobile home park investors, it’s a way to improve affordable housing stock – for the metro area and for the park residents.
“We’re in a niche that allows us to earn a very reasonable return for our investors,” DeHart said. “And also provide quality housing for people who may be coming into home ownership for the first time in their lives or even in their family’s history.”
Find the Right Seller – How it’s done
They don’t buy through a broker. Brokers typically want to work with higher volume investors, and also make sizable commissions. Rather, Bupp and DeHart delve into county records within a geographic area of interest. They find out where the communities are and who owns them. If they’re fortunate, they find a phone number for the owner.
After that, its sales 101; they make cold calls, employ heavy use of direct mail and sometimes put out bandit signs.
“We typically have five or six unique owners in the system at any given time, and check back with them three to four times per year,” DeHart said. “It’s not just finding the right seller, it’s about finding the right seller at the right time.”
Often, they’re in front of a prospective seller before the owner of a property realizes they’re in a good position to sell. So, checking back often is key to being in the right place at the right time.
Help From a ‘Trainee Broker’
They work some of the prospects themselves, but commonly put out a post to acquire a “trainee broker” who can visit communities of interest, take photos and notes, and possibly make an introduction to get talks underway. That trainee broker also learns how to access county records that are unavailable online, and does this on their own time and earns a commission when a sale is made.
In training these brokers, Sunrise is creating more than a strategy, more than a company brand. They’re helping to build an industry. Along those lines, the three operate Mobile Home Park Academy, which teaches others how to do what Sunrise does. Charles and Kevin host a podcast on the topic, and also are in the final throes of writing a book on how to invest in mobile home parks.
“At Sunrise Capital, we intend to be in the business for a long time. We really enjoy it, it’s lucrative and we appreciate being able to provide a critical affordable housing segment,” Bupp said. “We only buy stuff that makes sense. If we only buy one community in a year, that’s good with us. It will be the one we want to buy.”
The marketing and advertising world is ever-changing, and something we hear quite a bit is that you have to keep on top of the next generation, making sure everything is new, exciting and changing with the time.
While these are important factors, in our industry it’s also important to maintain and customize your advertising to the generations that are looking to retire!
Provide key details about your community, home, or the general area. What is ideal for a retirement-age buyer? Here are some items you want to include:
Is your community an “Age Restricted” community?
Some communities require their homeowners to be 55+ in an effort to maintain an environment suitable for this demographic that’s looking to retire. This is important to add to your community listing and your home listing. It is also helpful to note if your community allows exceptions to this rule.
Does your community allow pets?
Not only do you want to include in your advertisements if the community allows pets, but it is helpful to detail specific restrictions. Some allow cats but not dogs. Some allow cats and dogs but only certain breeds or dogs of a certain weight. All of these details are incredibly important since no one wants to leave behind their furry family member!
Is the home accessible?
Some homes have modifications added to allow more accessibility for an individual who has a disability. If your home or the community has any specific features that would be helpful or useful for someone in this position be sure and include this in the description.
What is the community like?
We all have our own idea of what our “perfect” retirement environment would be. Is your community on the waterfront with access to fishing, or walks through a wooded path? Or maybe your community is a social one with planned activities and a game room. Either way letting the buyer looking to retire know what the atmosphere of the community provides can be essential.
What is the area like?
Similar to the including details about the community, accessibility to grocery stores, shopping malls, cultural events and other local attractions are great details to provide your buyer.
While these tips might sound simple to include, they can make the difference in turning that interested shopper into a buyer!
‘Mobile Home Gurl’ Finds Her Niche in Mobile Home Investment
In her own words, the woman known to some as “Mobile Home Gurl” is an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a thinker. A doer.
She started investing in real estate with single family homes, but her mind was captivated and heart captured when she immersed herself in the world of mobile home investment. And she’s taken quite a few of us on the ride with her, in her blog and in the book “Adventures in Mobile Homes” and others.
Rachel Hernandez, as she also is known, operates in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas.
Rachel Hernandez, “Mobile Home Gurl”, addresses the audience at a recent author’s seminar.
She prefers to buy locally to regionally, and rather than looking for parks she has concentrated on purchasing individual mobile homes. More recently she has leaned on securing the land they sit on. Or a good parcel where the home can be placed.
“I focus on the area first and then find the deals,” Hernandez said. “As an experienced investor, I’ve learned to find motivated sellers. Usually, I can tell over the phone whether a seller is motivated or not.”
Strategy Talk from Mobile Home Gurl
Most of the deals Hernandez pursues are unadvertised. She has an education and background in sales and marketing, and networking is among her greatest strengths. She leverages that capability and relies on her industry interactions and relationships to find opportunity.
Her first deal took about a year to complete, and she continues to take it relatively slow. She purchases one or two homes at a time, and puts her “sweat equity” into them.
“Usually, I get them up to apartment standards,” Hernandez said. “New carpet and paint at a minimum.” She fixes the leaks, fills any cracks or holes and gives a thorough cleaning. Then she offers the home on a rent-to-buy plan.
“Most people appreciate this hybrid as it’s not like a mortgage where you’re locked in, but at the same time you’re not just renting,” she said.
Her mobile home investment inventory is on the rise, to the point where she owns in quantity what would be a small mobile home community. Hernandez does receive regular offers to partner, but has resisted the urge to purchase an entire community outright. She remains on the lookout for land, and does work in communities buying both homes and pads, operating just on the fringe from that investor who looks to buy or infill on a larger scale.
She Meets the Challenge
And while she appreciates having all of the particular on paper, she mostly “follows her gut” when deciding what to pursue and what to leave alone.
“It’s more the person than the price. If the person I’m talking with on the phone does not seem trustworthy, or seems like they’re covering something up… I back off immediately,” she said. “No matter how good the deal sounds, an untrustworthy seller is a deal breaker for me.”
“I imagined buying a home, filling it and moving on to the next deal,” she said. “Though I did this for many years without many issues, I started taking back more homes as my inventory grew.”
A rent-to-own resident loses a job, goes through a divorce or wants to move closer to family, and sometimes the only solution is to reclaim the home and find someone new for it.
“I knew taking homes back was part of the business. But I didn’t plan on it being a large one,” Hernandez said. “So, I had to learn to work with contractors. There was no way I could fix up all these homes myself.”
Another difficulty has nothing to do with residents and everything to do with one of her favorite parts of the vocation… the prime location.
“Unfortunately, sometimes local ordinances may place more scrutiny on mobile home parks, as an asset class,” she said. “There’s still that mindset.”
The not-in-my-back-yard attitude, the general concern of reduced property values, and the perceived threat of residents who pay less tax than many for the same municipal services, often can be difficult issues to navigate when looking to obtain rezoning or a new use permit – regardless of the great need for more affordable housing.
All Part of the Journey
The take-back and fix-up strategy, as well as the municipal hurdles, have resulted in another of her books, this one entitled “Real Estate Investing Sucks: How to Deal with Change and Find Success as a Real Estate Investor”.
“I document my entire experience,” Hernandez said. “I persist, know what I want and keep going. Success takes time.”
You’ve heard the term “Investment Grade Property”. That label increasingly is being applied to entities in the manufactured housing sector.
In our new series on community investment in today’s market, MHVillage will shed some light on the dynamics at play in conducting due diligence on a property.
A general surge in employment, rising home prices – particularly in sizable metro areas – and the largest demographic of aging Americans are all playing into the demand for affordable housing. This has professionals involved in mobile home park investing eyeing a wide range of manufactured housing options. From massive trusts to the niche investor, mobile home parks and manufactured home communities have become the apple of the eye for many.
Manufactured housing real estate investment trusts in the U.S. during 2016 posted a return of 28.5 percent, 9.7 percent better than apartment REITs and more than 15 points better than single-family home REITs during the same period.
Big Mobile Home Park Investing Moves Toward Finding Best Deals Before Market Levels
From Bellingham, Wash. to Newnan, Ga., Jon Harrison scans the map for just the right patch of land. He talks to brokers, owners and investors, scours county records and relies on whatever information he can gain from inside sources.
All in the name of finding the prime manufactured home community.
Harrison isn’t looking for his retirement place. He’s not looking for the simple yet ideal coastal getaway for the family. He works for Inspire Communities, not the largest of the community owners, but certainly entrenched in the top quarter of the industry.
A former broker himself, Harrison is in acquisitions, and always is looking for the perfect mix of placement and amenities that can be a great home for 200 hundred residents or more – and no less important, a stellar portfolio addition for the company owners and investors.
Start your summer sales strong by advertising your Open Houses on MHVillage.
Are you or your community having an Open House? Open Houses can bring a lot of potential buyers through your door, but they do require a fair amount of work. Make sure you are getting the most foot traffic possible by adverting your event on MHVillage.
Here’s how it works:
You can add an Open House to any of your MHVillage listings for just $2.95 per day.
We’ll display a bright red banner showing the dates of your event. When buyers click on your listing, we show the times, dates and an additional section for your specific details about the event.
Plus, we move your listing to the top of the page in that area and send an email to buyers who have been watching your listing to let them know about your event.
To add an Open House to your home listing:
Log into your MHVillage account and go to View/Change/Remove Listings section. Click “Add Open House” on any home. You can select the days and times of the event, and when you would like to start advertising it. Your home will appear at the very top of all searches in your home’s area until your open house is finished. Once the event is finished, there is nothing to do. The extra advertising falls off automatically.
If you have questions, please contact our customer service team. We are happy to help!
We all know the age-old saying “Location. Location. Location.” Are you promoting all the location benefits of your Homes or Community in your ads?
Know Your Location Benefits
For instance, if your community is in a great school system, that can appeal to families. If your community or home is located near a popular urban city or a shopping center, or even popular restaurants and bars, those can be valuable features to a home buyer who wants to be social and on the scene. Access to bus lines can also be important.
And don’t forget about those retirees looking for a nice quiet place to call home!
If your community or home has access to a beautiful body of water, or is a short distance from a relaxing park or hiking trail, you’ll want to be sure and include that information too. Even if you aren’t an “age qualified” community – you just might have the perfect home for a home buyer looking to retire. All of these details give the buyer a better idea of what their day to day would look like, which might be the little extra nudge they need to give you a call!
How to Advertise Your Location Benefits
MHVillage has Description sections for both home listings and communities. (Sales centers too, but that’s for another article all together!) This is the perfect place to tell people the wonderful features of your area. There is no word limit and home buyers on the site really do read them. The more information you provide, the easier it is for a buyer to sell themselves right from your online ad!
As always we are here to help, so if you would like to have one of our account reps review your home or community ads for you, just give us a call or email and we can set up a time to go through it all!
Make Your Sales Caption as Effective as it Could Be
MHVillage offers a space for a “Sales Caption” on Pro+ Sales Centers, Showcased Communities, Featured Home Listings and Premium Home Listings.
Each one of the above listing types will allow you to enter a sentence that will show above your listing. This is a space for you to offer something that is eye-catching, inviting and will get the customer to click on your add from the search result.
Often, I come across some Showcase Communities or Pro+ Sales Centers in an area that simply are not entering a Sales Caption at all. These are missed sales opportunities.
Actual Premium Listings that are Missing Sales Captions on MHVillage:
Then there are the Featured and Premium Listings sellers who enter a caption, but it’s not as effective as it could be. While “Best Value”, “Great Community” or “Beautiful New Home” as a sales caption sounds okay, it’s not really all that inviting or unique. Plus, you would be surprised how many times I have looked at a search result on our site and seen basically the same simple caption on all of the listings in an area.
Also: If you have one of the more expensive homes in the area, a sales caption can help you explain why. There should be a good reason if your home is priced significantly higher than others in the area. However, browsers might skip the most expensive home – unless there is a caption line to explain why the home costs more, whether it’s on land, is newly renovated, fully furnished or the like.
So how do you ensure you are getting the most out of your caption?
Here are a few tips:
Research: You want your listings to stand out above the rest in your area. Do a few searches on MHVillage in your area. Make sure you are using different language than another seller.
Unique Details: Try to find something unique about your ad that you can highlight in the caption. Here are some examples for…
a home – “Fully furnished, renovated home, with open floor plan” or something similar
the community – “Retirement Community with brand new waterfront homes available”
your Company – “Family owned company, with previously owned homes and new homes in stock!”
Current and Updated: One of the benefits of online advertising is you can update your information at any time. So, be certain to keep the information updated and current. If you have a sale or an incentive highlighted within the sales caption on a listing, make the change when the promotion ends.
This feature really can make the difference for your traffic on our site. It can be the detail that turns a shopper into a buyer!
And, if you you would like assistance updating your sales captions, please feel free to contact our customer service.
Aspen Skiing Company Enters Contract for Employee Tiny Housing
Sprout Tiny Homes has entered a new contract with Aspen Skiing Company to build commercial-grade tiny homes. The contract is in effort to meet expanding need for affordable employee housing.
There now will be more than 40 tiny homes for employee housing deployed in ASC’s Basalt, Colo., location. Furthermore, the deal may send a message to the manufactured housing industry that new, niche markets are emerging.
The new homes will feature state of the art construction methods and climate control technology to meet the extreme weather conditions of the Aspen valley. Furthermore, Sprout homes feature chemical-free interiors. Energy recovery ventilation provides fresh air and a healthy living environment for residents.
Second Wave of Employee Housing
Aspen Skiing Company previously contracted and collaborated with Sprout to design and provide six prototype homes to ensure it could meet the needs and requirements of employees and the region in which they work.
The new models will house a minimum of three Aspen Skiing Company employees.
Homes have living room furniture, a pair of furnished sleeping lofts and a complete main level bedroom. Also included are window coverings, flat screen smart TV, full kitchen and 1¼ baths. In addition, the workforce housing has fixed storage lockers and floors have infrared radiant heat. Finally, the homes have temperature control and fresh air systems.
Also, the homes are move-in ready and connected to local utilities.
“We delivered on our first contact with Aspen Skiing Company and are very pleased to be awarded what we believe is the largest single contract of tiny homes to date in the country,” Rod Stambaugh, owner of Sprout Tiny Homes, said of the project in July 2017.
Consequently, Sprout, of La Junta, Colo., opened a 45,000-square foot facility in Pueblo, Colo., to meet the local demand.
“Having local affordable employee housing solutions in the valley is extremely important as we compete for employees and try to reduce our impact on the environment,” Philip Jeffreys, Director of Planning & Development for Aspen Skiing Company, said.
Update on Aspen Workforce Tiny Housing: Project Wins Award
Sprout’s workforce housing project with Aspen Ski Company has earned a prestigious honor from the Urban Land Institute at its fall meeting in Boston, Mass.
The Kemp Award jury recognized the Aspen Skiing Company’s innovative workforce housing project in Aspen with the Chairman’s Award, a special recognition bestowed this year for a creative project designed specifically to address the critical shortage of affordable housing for resort workers in Aspen, Colo.
Sprout designed, manufactured and delivered 40 high quality tiny homes with innovative floor plans and HVAC systems to Aspen Ski Company that house nearly 120 employees.
“Sprout is very honored and pleased that SkiCo was acknowledged with this prestigious ULI Kemp award as it clearly brings light to the kind of high-quality innovation we are delivering for our commercial clients,” Stambaugh said. “The evolution of housing is escalating at a rapid pace and we have a clear vision of the kind of design, technology and desire for zero energy ready homes that will completely change the approach builders must take to compete in an evolving market.”
Stambaugh pointed to some of the aspects of smaller, high-efficiency housing that makes it worthy of note:
Smaller footprints
High-quality construction
Chemical free interiors
Innovative floor plans
State of the art HVAC/air quality systems
Smart home automation delivered at an affordable price
Add to that, the added benefit of certified Zero Energy Ready status
“This is the future of housing and we are delivering it today,” Stambaugh said.
Finally, the receipt of a third order of our homes further validates the success of the partnership. With that, the new home orders to those in place at housing SkiCo employees.
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 &...
that you have to keep on top of the next generation, making sure everything is new, exciting and changing with the time.
Log into your MHVillage account and go to View/Change/Remove Listings section. Click “Add Open House” on any home. You can select the days and times of the event, and when you would like to start advertising it. Your home will appear at the very top of all searches in your home’s area until your open house is finished. Once the event is finished, there is nothing to do. The extra advertising falls off automatically.
location benefits of your Homes or Community in your ads?
