George Allen / EducateMHC Blog Mobile Home & Land Lease Community Advocate & Expert

Blog Posting # 867; Copyright 14 November 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Mode RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built single-family residential housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Land lease communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘’CRE’) component of MH. And, along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate-secured mortgages) constitutes the post-production segment of the MH industry.

EducateMHC is an MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, or www.educatemhc.com, to purchase ‘Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry’ (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and ‘SWAN SONG’ – History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, ‘From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven’, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH &  community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for ‘MHInsider’ magazine.

What Will Your Acceptance Speech Be Like?

I wasn’t present to hear it, but what I heard about Jim Ayotte’s acceptance speech motivated me to want to read and share it with you. The occasion was Manufactured Housing Institute’s annual meeting, where the institute honored Jim with MHI’s Lifetime Achievement Award. I have no idea what the meeting hosts said about Jim Ayotte, to validate honoring him in this fashion (Actually, I do – from personal experience and recollection), but how he describes his 38 year career in manufactured housing is well worth reading and reflecting upon, especially as to what one (you) might say, given similar circumstances. (Following is lightly edited. GFA)

“I am honored and humbled to receive this recognition. It’s difficult believing I’m being honored for doing what I am ever so passionate about!

What I do, NO, what WE do, in manufactured housing is important! Homeownership is the cornerstone of the American dream. Homeownership is more than just a financial investment. Owning a home provides stability, security, and a sense of pride. Homeownership supports strong families and strong communities. Whatever role you play in the manufactured housing industry, you should be proud of the positive impact you have on the lives of families throughout America.

My love affair with the industry began in Storrs, Connecticut in 1987. I had recently graduated from business school, and knew I wanted to work for a trade association. I interviewed with a group of community owners for the executive director position at the New England Manufactured Housing Association, a six state trade body representing mobile and manufactured home communities in New England states. I knew nothing about the industry! The interviewers told me they sold homes built in a factory and rented the land where the homes were sited. A light went off in my head: What an incredible business model! Affordable homes in a neighborhood setting!

From that point on, I was hooked on the industry. It gave me a sense of purpose, and I knew that factory-built housing should be an important component of our nation’s housing supply.

My passion eventually took me to Columbus, Ohio. There I had the opportunity to display two identical factory-built homes across from the state capitol. Everything was identical down to the pictures on the walls. We handed out fortune cookies to legislators which said: ‘Today you will learn about America’s best kept housing secret!’ When legislators visited the homes the secret was revealed. One home was a manufactured home, the other was a modular home built to the state building code. The point of the exhibit was to begin a dialogue about the affordability of modern manufactured homes and land use discrimination. This home display led to the expansion of land use opportunities for manufactured housing in Ohio.

In 1995 I was hired by MHI to head up the newly created National Communities Council, today a full-fledged division of the institute.*1 Then I was put in charge of the National Manufactured Housing Federation as it merged with MHI. Know how often life comes full circle? Well today. 25 years later, I am chairman of MHI’s Federated States Division.

Parenthetically, I know from experience that working with Congress and federal agencies is not easy. So I commend Dr. Lesli Gooch and her team for making so much progress for our industry in such a challenging environment.

I really hit my stride when I went to work for the Florida Manufactured Housing Association. I ended my interview with their Search Committee by saying: ‘If you are looking for an association manager, I may not be your guy; but if you are looking for someone to lead this industry in Florida, I am up for the task!’ We have made tremendous strides advancing the manufactured housing industry in Florida. A few years ago I couldn’t get a return call from local government officials to discuss manufactured housing. Today, local officials often call to discuss how to incorporate factory-built housing into their housing strategies, to address their pressing need for workforce and senior housing.

As I wind down my career at FMHA, I have an observation I want to communicate to you. While it’s not super insightful, it is right on point. The biggest impediment to expanding manufactured housing in Florida, and elsewhere around the country, is this: We build homes that local governments need, but local governments want something different. They want more residential-looking homes for residentially-zoned area. This is a huge potential market for our industry! We can build those homes! The question is – will we seize upon this opportunity?

We are closer than ever to becoming part of mainstream housing in America. We need to continue the fight – to educate and innovate, to communicate our message whenever and wherever possible!

Finally. I am not standing here tonight on just my efforts. I have had plenty of support from industry pioneers and leaders like Kris Jensen, Jim Moore, Jim Fryer Sr., Bill Poole, Jim Dale, Nelson Steiner, and many others in this room that have encouraged and supported me throughout my career.*2

And I would not be able to do the work I do without the support of my family. My wife Chris and daughters Muneerah and Munezah are amazingly supportive; I am so blessed. They put up with my hectic travel schedule, taking phone calls at night and over weekends, and my personal distraction during legislative sessions. They indeed fuel my passion and zest for life.

The Florida Manufactured Housing Association board of directors has been incredible. The board has always been receptive to my suggestions for legislation, regulatory changes, consumer education and marketing, and exhibiting homes around the state, to familiarize state and local policy makers about the strength, durability, style and value of today’s manufactured homes. I could not ask for a better, more supportive employer!

I have enjoyed an incredible career and want to thank MHI once again for this high honor!

Jim Ayotte, CAE

End Notes

1. For the NCC story, read Bruce Savage’s ‘The First 20 Years’. Available from www.educatemhc.com

• Jensen, Moore and Steiner are RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinees.

Blog Posting # 866; Copyright 7 November 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built single-family residential housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Land lease communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. And, along with various types of housing finance 9e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate-secured mortgages) constitutes the post-production segment of the MH industry.

EducateMHC is an MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, or www.educatemhc.co, to purchase ‘Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry’ (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and ‘SWAN SONG’ – History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, ‘From SmittyAlpha 6 to MHMaven’, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist and editor at large for ‘MHInsider’ magazine.

TOTAL U.S. HOUSING COMPLETIONS DURING SEPTEMBER 2025

George Allen’s Estimated Total of New Onsite & Offsite Construction Homes Together!

Sorry, but no report yet! Why? Apparently the federal government shutdown has affected the U.S. Census Bureau too. As of yesterday, 3 November, the August 2025 Press Release to this end (i.e. Estimated Total of New Onsite Construction ‘permits, starts & completions’) was still being displayed on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website.

Just as soon as the September 2025 Press Release appears, I’ll write it into the next blog posting. Until then, there’s little that can be done but await the end of the shutdown.

Something to Think About & Anticipate Reading…

Yes, I am retired and enjoying bonus time with Carolyn and our great granddaughter Emmie, who we child-sit a couple days most weeks. She’s four years old now, but has been a regular visitor with us since she was a few days old, so her mother can work as an attorney and father as pastor of a local church. Her older sister Peyton is still in high school, and older brother Hunter, is in the U.S. Army, and with his wife, are parents of our newly arrived great great grandson. That’s just part of our growing family…with two more recent babies recently on the scene.

I continue to write professionally. There’s the weekly blog you’re reading right now, and the quarterly ‘MHInsider’ magazine that features my Allen Legacy column. Hope you receive and read that regularly. I’ve got several highly interesting articles planned for coming months.

What you probably don’t know is, for the past two years, I’ve been researching and penning the history of the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. I calculate I have another two years of work (2026 & 2027) before the tome will be ready for printing, binding, and distribution.

Why the extended time frame? In part, my work schedule. However, the truth of the matter is  there’s a lot of territory to cover, i.e. decades of history, from 1972 thru 2025, so far. And some of the ‘early history’ is pretty sketchy, due to economic ups & downs in the MH & RV industries. The late Dr. Carl Edwards, RV/MH historian until the early 1990s, prepared but never published a manuscript titled ‘History of the Recreation Vehicle & Manufactured Housing Heritage Foundation’. I’ve used much of Edwards’ work as Part I (i.e. 1972 – 1992) of the umbrella history project. Part II is well underway and covers 1993 thru probably 2026. I’m treating each year as a ‘chapter’ in the project, so there’re 54+/- such segments in play.  Project format?

Each chapter will likely feature a recitation of world and or national historic events for that year (chapter), followed by notable developments throughout the RV & MH industries. The chapter (year) ends with a list of individuals inducted (some say enshrined) in the RV/MH Hall of Fame that year. All told there are more than 400 such individuals today, and each will have a brief biographical sketch following their name. And therein is where readers will find the most interesting information, e.g. Who introduced ‘forced air heating’ in manufactured homes, who worked with the federal government during WWII to supply ‘trailers’ and develop ‘mobile home parks’ for use by government workers, and on and on….By the way, there were no inductions during 1977, and annual ‘classes’ sizes number between five and 15; today the average is ten inductions per year.

The most frustrating thing about this personal writing project? Having apropos historic resources from which to draw highlights, inventions, and more. For example, only a dozen land lease community owners/operators, during the past 50 or so years, have written and self-published (Sam Zell’ book is the only one from a traditional publisher) their autobiographies. And I’ve attempted to quote from each of these industry pioneers in the history project. But there are many of you out there today, who have compelling stories to tell as well – but are not doing so! Like, who conceptualized the Frost Free Foundation? Who named the Community Series Home? Who birthed the CrossMod® home design? Who visualized the largest land lease community in the U.S. and manufactured every HUD-Code home sited within it? I know, but it’d be so illuminating to read those stories in the words of their inventor.

Even more frustrating is the paucity of printed literature describing the various stages of development throughout the history of the RV/MH Hall of Fame!

Well, now you know how I spend much of my time during retirement. If you have suggestions relative to historical resources, etc., please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 855; Copyright 31 October 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built single-family residential housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Land lease communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. And, along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate- secured mortgages) constitute the post-production segment of the MH industry.

EducateMHC is an MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, or www.educateMHC.com, to purchase ‘Community management in the Manufactured Housing Indu8stry’ (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and ‘SWAN SONG’ – History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, ‘From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven’, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for ‘MHInsider’ magazine.

FOUR STEPS & SIX RULES OF THUMB

In my ‘Chapbook of Business Management & Wisdom’ you’ll find the Five Ms of Management*1, Six Steps to Closing a Sale*2, and an eight step Problem-Solving Procedure*3. However, what you won’t find are the Four Steps to Selling & Financing New Homes Onsite Within Land Lease Communities, and the Six Right Ps of Marketing New Homes Within Land Lease Communities. These two procedures have been commonplace throughout the land lease community real estate asset class since 2017. They were introduced at the first ‘Two Days of MH Sales Seminars & Plant Tours’ presentation that occurred at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart during the spring of year 2016. And they’re repeated here as a training aid for new community owners/operators throughout the U.S. And that two days sales training program continues annually under the leadership of Indiana’s IMHA/RVIC at the Hall of Fame.

FOUR STEPS TO SELLING & FINANCING NEW HOMES ONSITE WITHIN LAND LEASE COMMUNITIES

1. Getting Ready! This involves maximizing curb appeal, freshening offsite and onsite signage, improving advertising online and in the local press, reviewing and improving apropo policies & procedures, being sure of homebuyer/site lessee profile, and ensuring appropriate business licenses are in place.

• Buying New Homes. What size & quality needed and wanted? Appropriate factory nearby? Use of Community Series Homes (‘CSH’) &/or CrossMod® models? What support is available from factory?

• Selling New Homes & Lifestyle. Leasing homes? Property & product USPs (‘Unique Selling Propositions)? Using Six Right Ps of Marketing? More to follow on this….

• Financing New Homes. What $ resources are available, including cash, lease-option & contract sales? Importance of pre-qualification & compliance!

Those four steps simply get one started selling new HUD-Code homes onsite within land lease communities. What additional steps do you think should be added? Let me know via gfa7156@aol.com

SIX SRIGHT Ps OF MARKETING NEW HOMES WITHIN LAND LEASE COMMUNITIES

1. Right Product model, home size, appearance, floor plan, features & amenities, e.g. A CSH is known for its’ durability, enhancing features (front end loaded porch) and WOW factors! And CrossMod® homes are ideal for single-family residential subdivisions.

• Right Place or location within the property, and how oriented to the sun and wind, as well as good drainage and proper installation.

• Right Price per type deal*4, also customer’s Annual Gross Income or AGL, and local housing market’s Annual Median Income or AMI, relative to 30% Housing Expense Factor (‘HEF’) and site rent rate.

• Right Promotion per USP (Again, ‘Unique Selling Proposition’) – for house and property e.g. Energy Star & front porch loaded, using print and online advertising, fresh signage off and onsite, plus resident referrals.

• Right People  based on anticipated sales volume and # of vacant rental homesites to fill. Staff capable, experienced, motivated and properly trained & supervised by professionals?

• Right Process includes planning*5 and procedures to ID and meet shelter needs & wants of target audience and mix in specific local housing market.

End Notes:

1. Five Ms of Management: Manpower (Think personnel & labor) Machinery (Think equipment & tools), Material (Think inventory & service), Methods (Think policies & procedures), and Money (Think income & expenses).

• Six Steps to Closing a Sale: Preparing, Listening, Establishing Confidence, Overcoming Objections, Popping the question (a.k.a. AFTO or ‘Ask for the order!’) and Waiting for an answer. These insights originated with Darryl Benjamin

• Select a Problem, a task; Define it, document it; Study It, question every detail; Research & Organize Data; Refine & Digest Data; Produce & Rework Ideas; Implement & Monitor; Follow-up & Recap Results.

• Use of 3:1 Rule. Where land lease community site rent is one third that of 3BR2B apartment rent in the same local housing market.

• ‘Proper Prior Planning Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance!’

The aforementioned ‘Chapbook of Business & Management Wisdom’ is available for purchase via www.educatemhc.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 864; Copyright 24 October 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built single-family residential housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Land lease communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. And, along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate-secured mortgages) constitute the post-production segment of the MH industry.

EducateMHC is an MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, or www.educateMHC.com, to purchase ‘Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and ‘SWAN SONG’ –History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, ‘From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven’, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for ‘MHInsider’ magazine.

SEE YOU AT THE 2026 LOUISVILLE SHOW?

That’s the 2026 Louisville Manufactured Housing Show, or briefly, the Louisville MHShow. Here’re the dates and location: 14 – 16 January 2026, at the Kentucky Exposition Center, 937 Phillips Lane, Louisville, KY. Reach Show Management Team via: info@thelouisvilleshiow.com or phone (616) 888-8030. The Louisville MHShow has been a popular mid-winter business destination for at least the past 65 years!

Assuming you’re active in the manufactured housing industry and or own/operate one or more land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities or ‘mobile home parks’); this is the sole Midwest-based national trade show for this industry and realty asset class! There will be dozens of new HUD-Code manufactured homes on display indoors, even more supplier and exhibitors of products and services of interest to attendees.

Me? I attend for the opportunity to see and visit many new manufactured homes, inside and out, and talk with factory personnel present to answer questions and display product. It’s always interesting – and educational, to see how manufactured homes evolve over the years. A recent trend has been new singlesection and multisection homes designed with ‘front end loaded porches’. Why is this design appealing? Because, in land lease community ‘sets’ it’s rare to find homes installed parallel to the streetscape in front. So, having a ‘front end loaded porch’ makes it possible for homeowners/site lessees to accomplish the same end, showing off the front, narrow axis of their new home. Today, a hot design, but slow to catch-on, has been the CrossMod® home, sponsored by the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) – making MHs more homelike than ever before!

In recent years, and perhaps this one as well, we’ve seen a variety of Accessory Dwelling Units of ADUs on display, i.e. small self-contained dwellings or residential units, a.k.a. granny flats or casitas. ADU designs also include Park Model RVs, Tiny Houses, small 3D-fabricated units, even garages and larger sheds converted into secondary living units. The whole ADU category of housing, however, presents a problem for housing statisticians. The U.S. Census Bureau, every month, estimates the annual volume of new onsite construction (i.e. stick-built homes), but totally ignores the existence and roll of offsite construction (a.k.a. HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular & panelized housing, and Park Model RVs) – and Accessory Dwelling Units! At present the underreporting appears to be, in my opinion, 10,000 new units per month, 120,000 annually. Consequence? Continued underreporting of the U.S. affordable housing crisis!

Supplier exhibits. Now there’s a perennial pleasure: seeing who and what’s new across the industry and property type. Even here we spot trends. For example; when several large property portfolios ‘went public’ in 1994, at least a half dozen other large land lease community owners/operators started ‘displaying’ at the Louisville MH Show. Why? To identify present day owners/operators who might be interested in selling their communities. This went on for two decades, until the majority of large (i.e. 150+ sites in size) communities were in property portfolios. Today it’s rare to find even one of these ‘players’ exhibiting in Louisville.

At one time or another we’ve seen land lease community real estate brokers set up shop, giving their firms names such as ‘The Park Girl’. And for a couple years, Scale Model Homes Company featured plastic models of manufactured homes, with detachable roof systems, ‘for sale’. Why buy them? To use as display models at independent (street) MHRetailer sales centers and elsewhere. Some of the plastic models are now on display in the RV/MH Hall of Fame museum in Elkhart, IN. Other years, bumper stickers were handed out as SWAG, e.g. ’I LOVE (heart) MY MANUFACTURED HOME’, & ‘1995 – 2005: DECADE OF THE MANUFACTURED HOME COMMUNITY!’’ Just about any book worth reading and using in the MH business has been or is on display at this show. For example, the only professional property management textbook to be introduced at the Louisville MHShow, focused on land lease communities, is ‘Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry’. It’s available via www.educatemhc.com

Interpersonal Networking. Few venues offer more opportunity to get to know folk in one’s business than the Louisville MHShow! All the while looking at the new homes, and visiting supplier vendors, it’s easy to see old friends in the business, and make new ones as possible valuable future contacts. In many cases this is the only time of the year we get to see and talk with one another.

Educational Sessions. This hasn’t always been a staple at the Louisville MHShow. ‘Years ago’ housing manufacturers eschewed anything (i.e. seminars & panels) that’s drew ‘shoppers’ away from visiting show homes. That’s changed today, probably because of the increased number of community owners/operators present. These sessions are almost always well attended, given the topics being presented and discussed. For example, when community owners/operators started selling and financing new HUD-Code homes onsite, they learned to execute legal lease options at the Louisville MHShow and at the SECO conference in Atlanta during spring months.

Know my most memorable experience at the Louisville show (Besides enduring bitter cold weather from time to time)? It occurred when I was invited to attend a private country western concert hosted by Jim Clayton in a downtown hotel. Jim played his guitar and sang, accompanied by an attractive female backup singer. For more than an hour Jim entertained us  with his music and impromptu tales.

Maybe you’ll get lucky and find yourself in a similar memorable environment this January!

George Allen

Blog Posting # 863; Copyright 17 October 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (“MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction!) Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. And, along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate mortgages) constitute the post-production segment of the MH industry.

EducateMHC is a MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG – History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrine, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.

What Are the Five Asset Classes?

Are you a wealth builder – some say wealth preservationist? In either event, if you’re an adult, working as an employee, business executive or entrepreneur, you’re likely focused on one or more of five asset classes, or categories of investment with similar characteristics that work similarly in the marketplace. In abbreviated fashion the five asset classes are:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Real estate
• Cash & cash equivalents
• Commodities

All I hope to do here is acquaint you with these ways to accumulate and preserve personal wealth. Some folk do this on their own; others identify and use capable and experienced – and sometimes credentialed individuals specializing in one or more of these asset classes. Me? I spent my career in the commercial investment real estate asset class; specifically owning and operating land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’). I also monitored my investment in the ‘cash & cash equivalent’ asset class, and did not participate in the commodities asset class at all. As far as stocks and bonds are concerned, I’ve long relied on the guidance of financial planners, a.k.a. wealth preservationists. Success I’ve enjoyed there has, in large part, not only a personal and corporate advisor, but my inclination to be a very conservative investor.

Now, more about the five asset classes.

STOCKS. These are shares of ownership in private or public companies. Stocks often generate high returns over time, but can also be very volatile as they react to current events, and other market influences. One has a choice, when investing, to do so with individual stocks, or via exchange-traded funds (‘ETFs’) that allows one to invest in a group of stocks at one time.

BONDS. These are loans you give to a company or government (to build local community buildings and infrastructure) in exchange for regular interest payments during a set period of time – until the bond matures. Bonds are generally considered safer than stocks but have lower returns. Frankly, I started off investing in bonds then switched to stocks.

REAL ESTATE. Real estate involves acquiring property, e.g. homes, commercial buildings, even raw land – with an expectation it will appreciate (increase) in value over time. Not only is price appreciation a positive feature of real estate, but the possibility of rental income is helpful. Investing in real estate also requires significant upfront investment and ongoing management.

CASH & CASH EQUIVALENTS. What does this asset class include? One’s funds in checking and savings accounts, also short-term investments that are easily converted to cash. The asset class’ characteristically offer lower returns than stocks, in exchange for providing liquidity (easy access) to one’s money when needed for emergencies or other immediate financial needs and opportunities.

COMMODITIES. Commodities include physical goods such as gold, silver, oil, even agricultural products. They are viewed as a hedge against inflation since the prices can rise when the cost of living increases. Investing in commodities lends diversity to one’s wealth-building portfolio. But also know that price volatility can work in the opposite direction as well.

So, how many of these asset classes are you invested in today? Interested in broadening one’s involvement? If so, do more research. Get comfortable with the class(es) in which you have interest.

GETTING OLD & BEING FORGOTTEN!

OK, I admit it. Thoughts of getting old and being forgotten rarely crossed my mind until I retired several years ago, then noticed how nary a week passes without word of another friend, relative, or business associate dying.

Where my business associates are concerned, another reality has come hard to mind: Did or did they not take steps to document their personal or corporate legacy, ensuring the preservation of their memory among friends like you and me? The sad answer to that question is more often than not, NO. This hit home with me recently when I received a fall newsletter from a Midwest MH association. Front page title? ‘Remembering_____, An Industry Pioneer and Friend’. Well this was a nice write-up on a now deceased pioneer in our industry. But guess what? Once this month passes, so too will the memory of this RY – except for his being an enshrinee in the RV/M Hall of Fame. To the best of my knowledge, he wrote neither memoirs (i.e. short stories) or an autobiography. And his is not an isolated case. Just sitting here I can easily recall the recent demise of other friends/acquaintances in our business, e.g. Bud Parkhill in IL., Don Gedert in IN., and Charles Irion in AZ. All of whom I asked to pen their life stories….

In the latter instance, Chuck was a complicated, colorful, giving individual. He authored nearly a dozen books, mostly adventure/mystery tales, and some nonfiction (e.g.                                      ). Chuck ‘made is mark’ in MH as a land lease community broker and ownership partner. He spent the last few years of his life traveling the world with Nora, documenting their adventures on Facebook, but often donating funds and medical equipment along the way. His recent death was sudden – and he too, to the best of my knowledge, did not document for posterity, all that he did and experienced. Now he’s gone. I knew him and will miss his lively banter, but so far, no one else will remember all that much about his business acumen, philanthropy, and love for people.

Now there’s a positive side to this recollection. To date, a dozen guys (no women, sad to say) have penned autobiographies. I’ve read them all and collected excerpts in a booklet titled ‘Who Will Preserve Your Legacy? Answer: You!’ A free copy is available to you for the asking, via gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 862; Copyright 10 October 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing &Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) are the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. And along with various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate mortgages), constitute the post-production segment of the MH industry.

EducateMHC is an official MH historian, trade term trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG – History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, from SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.

TOTAL U.S. HOUSING COMPLETIONS DURING AUGUST 2025

George Allen’s Estimated Total of New Onsite & Offsite Construction Homes Together!

This TOTAL U.S. HOUSING COMPLETIONS REPORT for August 2025 combines online data from the U.S. Census Bureau monthly report of estimated annual onsite construction (i.e. 1,608,000 units divided by 12 months = 134,000 units @ August), then combine this monthly total with 11,776  offsite construction completions for the same month. The offsite construction total is comprised of 1) HUD-Code manufactured housing production data (@ 8,696 units) per Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’)*1; 2) modular & panelized housing units estimated to be 2% of the onsite construction completions total (@ 134,000 X .02% = 2,680 units); and, 3) RV Industry of America (‘RVIA’) reporting 400 Park Model RVs produced.*2 So together, 134,000 onsite construction units plus 11,776 offsite construction units = 145,776 onsite & offsite construction completions together!

So, what’s going on here? Why the partial reporting of U.S. housing completions (.e. only onsite construction units) each month by the U.S. Census Bureau? I have no informed response. But it appears to me that since onsite construction totals are akin to stick-built housing alone (except for the occasional permanently-sited HUD-Code manufactured home); this is helpful information to traditional builders. Then there’s the happenstance that offsite construction data posting (i.e. IBTS & RVIA monthly reports) occurs a month later than the U.S. Census Bureau online posting.

Consequence of this partial reporting? Just using August 2025 housing completion totals (134,000 onsite construction & 11,776 offsite construction), total housing completions of 145,776 units is underreporting by 11,776 units – that’s 141,312 units when annualized, i.e. ‘more than a one month total of onsite construction’ units! So, U.S. Census Bureau appears to be underreporting total U.S. housing permits, starts & completions by 10,000+/- units per month and 100,000+ units per year! How long is this travesty to continue before correcting?

U.S. affordable housing crisis. Just how bad is it really? At the levels reported by the U.S. Census Bureau? OR, should offsite construction units be added to onsite construction unit totals to provide a more accurate data picture for housing planners and professionals?*3 The answer should be obvious to housing practitioners!

As we’ve said before, this ‘Total U.S. Housing Completions Report’ is a work in progress. Let us know what you think of this ghosting interplay between onsite and offsite housing completion statistics: gfa7156@aol.com

End Notes.

1. Housing data source reporting is not without its’ challenges. Take the IBTS as an example. For August 2025 it reported 8696 new HUD-Code homes as being shipped, including 26 Destination Pending units (i.e. unshipped at time of reporting). Well, the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) reports to its’ members 8,688 new HUD-Code homes shipped, eight units fewer than what IBTS reported to them. This is because MHI, after deducting the 26 Destination Pending units from IBTS’ total, adds back the number of Destination Pending units deducted the previous month (July). As long as this confusing practice continues, the MH industry will never realize universally accurate reporting of HUD-Code housing shipments!

• Park Model RVs. The question sometimes arises, ‘Why include Park Model RVs’ as part of offsite construction? Two reasons. First, an increasing number of Park Model RVs (i.e. 400 square feet or less in size) are used as permanent and seasonal dwellings across the U.S., e.g. entire Park Model RV villages in the state of Florida and elsewhere. Second, including Park Model RVs serves as a ‘place holder’ for accessory dwelling units (‘ADUs’), yet another increasingly popular form of housing (i.e. Think ‘tiny houses’).

• Yet another issue lurks in this reporting of ‘Total U.S. Housing Completions’. Has to do with ‘manufactured housing as percentage of single-family home starts’. MHI in its’ Monthly Economic Report dated 3 October 2025, covering August 2025, claims: “Manufactured housing accounted for 10.0% of single-family home starts in August 2025.” However, given the accuracy of numbers reported in the previous paragraphs, it appears the correct answer to this question is not 10 percent, but 6 ½%. How so? MHI-reported 8688 HUD-Code MHs divided by 134,000 onsite construction units equals 6 ½%

.

George Allen

Blog Posting # 861; Copyright 3 October 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. Various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate mortgages constitute the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC, an MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG – History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

My autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.

‘TURN YOUR STORY INTO HISTORY!’

Several notable personages, active in manufactured housing and land lease community ownership, are penning their autobiographies! Are you one of them? While I hope so, I doubt it. Why? Because writing personal and corporate memoirs (i.e. short stories) is a time-consuming and lonely task. But pulling memoirs together into a self-published corporate history, biography (of someone else) or one’s autobiography, while turning ‘stories into history’ – is a laborious service to mankind and preservation of one’s legacy! In my opinion, it’s well worth the time, effort and expense. Here’s why….

So many of our personal, even corporate experiences, are unique to us, our family, our business, our industry, and deserve recording. Just one example. As many know, I’ve been researching and penning a comprehensive history of the RV/MH Hall of Fame for the past two years – and know I’ve got another two years to go. Along the way I’ve relied on anecdotes and histories archived in the Hall of Fame library, and a raft of autobiographies. I’ve read and used material from more than a dozen manufactured housing and land lease community-specific autobiographies (More about this later), and of late, a half dozen RV-related collections of memoirs. If these personal and corporate histories had NOT been penned and, for the most part, self-published, I’d be ‘dead in the water’ where this project is concerned, and all this ‘history’ would be lost to future generations of MH/RV aficionados and would be practitioners.

Since I have these tomes for my use, the stories have fleshed-out ‘specific events by date’ histories I’d have otherwise not written. For example, I’ve learned of the fair number of immigrants who’ve come to America and realized Horatio Algier dreams of personal and corporate success (e.g. Kris Jensen, Dan Pocapalio, Boris Vukovich, et. al.). And how many, if not most, MH & RV manufacturers started, fabricating product prototypes, in someone’s garage.

So, are there stories in particular I’d like to see penned and published? Sure, here’s a sampling.

Several corporate owners/operators of land lease community portfolios ‘went public’ as real estate investment trusts (‘REITs’) in 1994 – and all have continued to grow in size since then. So there’re certainly interesting, if not exciting, stories to share now and in the future.

How ‘bout the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’). Everyone in the MH business knows who they are, but ‘who’ really knows the institute’s history? Some tidbits to disclose: original name and when started; who were the many executive directors during past seven or more decades? How was MHARR spun off in 1985? Same to be said about the RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industry of America).

Adventure Homes in Auburn, IN. This was originally a plant for a major MH player, but is now owned/run by employees – or so I’m told. There simply has to be ‘a grand tale to be told there’.

Annual SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA. During the past 13 years this event has grown from a small regional gathering into the premier gathering of small-to-mid-sized land lease community owners/operators from throughout the U.S! New manufactured homes are always on display. Rumor has it that a book is being written, but mainly about one of the transaction methodologies conceived and matured along with this annual event: MH lease option.

There’s a new tale unfolding right now – the acquisition of American Homestar by CAVCO Industries. Hmm. Wonder if anyone there will pick up the pen and tell us that inside story? Maybe a similar tale, albeit larger in $ size, is the soon acquisition of YES! Communities.

A story I’d really like to read is one that describes the growth of Lautrec, Ltd, under Spencer Partridge; then the founding and rapid growth of RHP Properties, under his son Ross Partridge.

ROC USA is surely a tale with many tangents. Resident-owned Communities (‘ROC’) have come into their own during the past couple (few?) decades. Founder Paul Bradley has moved into other leadership there, succeeded Emily Haden. Anyone going to tell us this compelling story?

The most intriguing story yet to be told, is about Randy Rowe of Green Courte Partners. I was at his side when his saga began in the early 90s – when he took MHC cum ELS, Inc. public as a REIT. Then came his founding and rapid growth of Hometown America, followed by Green Courte Partners. And along the way, Randy was the inspiration to launch the National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division at MHI*1; Oh, and lest we forget, the short-lived Manufactured Housing Communities Council (‘MHCC’), of the Urban Land Institute (‘ULI’).

Know what? There are many additional individuals out there who have very worthwhile personal success stories to tell. I’ll name just a few here: Charles Fanaro of Saddlebrook Farms fame – as visionary real estate developer and top shelf MH manufacturer*2; Eugene & Sam Landy, father/son at UMH Properties; the Hames family in Iowa; Jim Ayotte, executive director of FMHA (Florida), Mike Sullivan, CPM, of Newport Pacific Family of Companies; Sharon Niccum, now retired Indiana-based community owner/operator; Don Westphal, renowned landscape architect; George Porter, father of MH installations; and Suzanne Felber, interior decorator par excellence.

Earlier I spoke of land lease community owners/operators who’ve penned and published their autobiographies. Quoting from the booklet ‘Who Will Preserve Your Legacy? Answer: you!’:

Kristian Jensen, Sr., A Danish American. Long out of print but in the RV/MH Hall of Fame library

John Crean, The Wheel & I. Most extravagant MH book ever published, with gilt edged pages…

James Clayton, First A Dream. Profits from these book sales donated to RV/MH Hall of Fame

The Life & Times of B.M. Vukovich, a photoautobiography prepared and published by his family.

Harrell & Darrell Cohron, The Trailer Twins. Both deceased; company in 3^rd or 4^th generation

Mike Conlon, Unconventional Wealth. Covers first half author’s life, more to come….

George N. Goldman, The Road Less Traveled. Once renown Midwest owner/operator

Alvan L. Schrader, No Respect At All…A PATH TO MILLION$. Contains pithy challenge to MH folk

George Allen’s SWAN SONG, History of Land Lease Communities & annual MH #s from 1955…

Samuel Zell, Am I Being Too Subtle? Long awaited book from largest public owner/operator.

Matthew Jenkins, DVM, Positive Possibilities. USAF veteran, veterinarian, owner/operator

Jim, Ralph & Jeff Scoular, Leap of Faith. Tale of three MH ‘players’ all in one family.

George Allen, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven. From Vietnam combat to community owner

George O’Leary, the O’Learys of Beechwood. Little known MH & RV developer/operator

Now, wouldn’t you like to see your life story, or corporate history, added to this august list? For a head start to this end, request a FREE copy of the aforementioned booklet. It contains brief summaries of these titles, and at the end, a Five Step procedure for preparing one’s memoirs and autobiography. Request via gfa7156@aol.com Most of these books are available to purchase via the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. Visit their website: RV/MH Hall of Fame.

And remember, tongue in cheek, that “Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people.” Philip Guedalla

End Notes

1. Read the late Bruce Savage’s The First 20 Years! Available: www.educatemhc.com
2. Read SWAN SONG, Available: www.educatemhc.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 860; Copyright 26 September 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. And various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans), and real estate mortgages constitute the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is an official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG –History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

My autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.

WRITING FOR YOU, IN THE MOMENT & IN RETROSPECT

French-born American female writer, diarist and novelist Anais Nin (1903-1977) presciently describes my life in retirement with this quote: “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” I did not realize this truth until just recently, during the SECO Conference in Atlanta, when asked to describe my present day writing projects. Here they are…

In the moment, so to speak, I continue to pen and post a weekly blog for EducateMHC. In fact, this is the 860^th blog since 2008. And we’ve covered a lot of territory during the past 17 years: wide variety of manufactured housing and land lease community matters and perspectives; a rewriting of the classic ‘Upside Down in a Mobile Home Park’, describing how chattel finance shenanigans in and around 1998 caused the MH industry to lose easy access to ‘home only loans’ – bringing about the paradigm shift of new home sales away from independent (street) MHRetailers to the onsite sale and financing of homes. Also sharing of combat experiences in Vietnam 60 years ago, and the popular post, ‘Bad Boys of Manufactured Housing’.

Another ‘in the moment’ writing focus is a passionate, ongoing interest in what I see as ‘righting a serious wrong’ in new U.S. housing statistical reporting. As you may or may not know, the U.S. Census Bureau, every month, tallies and reports online, the volume of new stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction) permits, starts, and completions. No mention whatsoever is made of HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular housing, panelized housing, or Park Model RVs (a.k.a. offsite construction & factory-built housing). Why are these forms of affordable housing not included? Maybe because that data, other than MH shipments reported by the Institute for Business Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’), and Park Model RVs by RVIA (‘Recreational Vehicle Industry of America’), are too difficult to tally, e.g. number of modular & panelized units estimated to be 2 percent of the onsite construction total. Plus, the data for offsite housing, as a rule, surfaces a month later after the U.S. Census Bureau report is published online. The grand consequence? In round numbers, the monthly total of onsite construction of new U.S. homes is approximately 90 percent of what it would be if offsite construction was added to the total!

From the retrospect perspective, I spend much time writing in two separate and distinct areas. Since the very beginning of MHInsider magazine (August 2018), I’ve penned the Allen Legacy column. My instructions there are to write interesting manufactured housing and land lease community columns – with an historic bent. There I’ve covered the gamut from RV/MH Hall of Famer pioneers and enshrines, the evolution of MH trade terminology or lingo, identity and autobiographical summaries of various prominent business founders and leaders, the five decade long partnership between MH and HUD, and community value appraisal, the Big Auction of 2005, Vietnam War veterans in MH, community rating (grading) systems, and a look back at community management 50 years ago. And soon to come, ‘MH Poems, Songs, Narratives and More!’ Perhaps someday, someone will collect and publish these dozens of columns as a supplemental history of manufactured housing and land lease communities.

Another retrospect focus has been two years of research relative to preparing a comprehensive history of the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. The late Dr. Carl Edwards, an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, authored an unpublished history covering the years 1972 through 1992. I picked up the pen, beginning with year 1993, but soon discovered much was amiss in the earlier years. SO, the project has expanded and is estimated to be completed (maybe) sometime in late 2026 or year 2027. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about the prestigious RV/MH Hall of Fame, visit their website: RV/MH Hall of Fame. And while there, consider nominating a deserving friend or relative who’s been in the MH and or RV industries for more than two decades, for induction into the Hall of Fame. Better yet, visit the RV/MH Hall of Fame and tour its’ two large exhibit halls, one dedicated to RVs and one dedicated to MH and land lease communities. You’ll be glad you did.

So, recalling writer Nin’s words, I continue to taste MH life twice; in the moment and in retrospect. Comments or recommendations are welcome via gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 859; Copyright 19  September 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction: manufactured, modular, panelized housing & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Plus, land lease communities 9a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. Various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate mortgages constitute the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is an official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.eduatemhc.com, to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG –History of land lease communities  official record of annual MH production totals since 1955

And my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrine, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.

SECO & I’m HOME Network’s Menu of Policies

What happened when 350 manufactured housing aficionados and 100+ ROC homeowners/site lessees socialized and met together in Atlanta, GA during 8-11 September 2025? Well, they talked and learned together about their common interests, living in HUD-Code manufactured homes and residency in land lease communities. Specifically, this was a ‘first time ever’ coming together of the annual SECO Conference and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s I’m HOME Network.

Many I’m HOME Network attendees participated in an evening reception, and visiting five new HUD-Code homes on display in the Renaissance Hotel’s outdoor parking area. The next day, several SECO folk sat in on I’m HOME Network’s Menu of Policies panel presentation and lively discussions. What follows here is a potpourri of observations and extracts from selected writings I reviewed during the sessions.

Trade Terminology. This was an important topic among the I’m HOME folk. While panelists made a concerted effort to take the high road in this area, there still were errant references to ‘parks’ and ‘park-communities’, but not many. One handout, ‘Words Matter: How Terminology Shapes Policy for Manufactured Home Communities (‘MHCs’)’ went into detail recommending use of ‘manufactured home’, not ‘mobile home’ or ‘trailer’, and why ‘manufactured home community’ is favored over ‘park’. Since the majority of I’m HOME attendees appeared to be from ROCs (‘resident-owned communities’), they preferred ‘landowner’, ‘ business owner’ or ‘stakeholder’ rather than ‘park owner’, even ‘community owner’. I suggested, during discussion, a few more clarifying terms, e.g. resident, not tenant; rental homesites, not lots, spaces or stalls; and ‘independent (street) MHRetailers’ – or simply MHRetailers, not ‘dealers’.

Yet another interesting handout was the preview copy of Lincoln Institute’s ‘State Policy Handbook’ for manufactured housing, a.k.a. Playbook & Menu of Policies – September 2025.

Goal 1. Expanding the Market and Creating Affordable Housing Supply via reforming of zoning and land use policies for manufactured homes; replacement of substandard housing with new, efficient units; and, provide financing and other support for new home development using manufactured homes.

Goal 2. Improving Home Financing Options via allowing broader access to mortgages by making it easier to title manufactured homes as real estate; and, supporting manufactured housing through state first-time homebuyer programs.

Goal 3. Preserving Existing Affordable Housing via ensuring manufactured home community (‘MHC’) residents have the opportunity to purchase their community when it is for sale; supporting the preservation of MHCs, including new ROCs, through state financing and grand programs; Improving public data collection and disclosure on manufactured home communities; including MHCs in state and local affordable housing analyses and planning processes; and, strengthening minimum lease protections in communities.

Within each of the three stated goals, Lincoln Institute writers provided researched and learned details as to how to accomplish said goals. The fact that these matters are being articulated in a quasi-academic fashion suggests, to me anyway, that continued refinement of this State Policy Handbook for Manufactured Housing will garner deeper and serious interest on the part of government agencies, NGOs (non-government organizations), even the manufactured housing business industry itself. (Is anyone at MHI & MHARR paying attention to this cooperative effort?)

So, what else happened at this SECO/I’m HOME Network forum? More than I can tell you here. But I did suggest a couple measures to consider in promoting the above goals:

1. I’m HOME Network should make its’ presence and work better known throughout the manufactured housing industry, as well as local and national government offices, by dint of regular, professionally-penned PRESS RELEASES. At present, few know the I’m HOME Network exists, let alone what it is doing now and in the future.
2. Research and publish the first formal glossary or directory of MH trade terminology. Invite the manufactured housing industry (e.g. MHI, MHARR, & MHInsider magazine) to participate in such a project.

What will you do to help further this blooming cooperation between the manufactured housing industry – including land lease communities, and the SECO team, as well as folk at I’m HOME Network at the Lincoln Institute? Your input is always welcome: gfa7156@aol.com

George Allen

Blog Posting # 858; Copyright 12 September 2025. EducateMHC

Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction; the other three being modular & panelized housing, & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Plus, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. Various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate mortgages constitute the post-production segment of MH.

EducateMHC is an official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG –History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.

And my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.

George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, RV/MH Hall of Fae enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.

TOTAL U.S. HOUSING COMPLETIONS DURING JULY 2025

EducateMHC’s Economic Report: Total new onsite & offsite homes completed!

This total U.S. Housing Completion Report for July 2025 combines online data from the U.S. Census Bureau (i.e. their annual estimated onsite construction completion total divided by 12 months; then adding offsite construction completions comprised of 1) HUD-code manufactured housing production data from the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’), 2) modular & panelized housing units estimated to be 2% of onsite construction completion total, and 3) RV Industry of America (‘RVIA’) website report of monthly production of Park Model RVs – a type of accessory dwelling unit (‘ADU’).

A disturbing albeit historic fact! The U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Completion Report today, cites only  estimated onsite construction completion totals (i.e. stick-built homes), totally ignoring four types of offsite construction, a.k.a. factory-built housing; specifically, HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular & panelized housing, and Park Model RVs. Result? Under estimation of total U.S. housing completions month after month after month. If you agree the time has come to broaden the data reporting scope of the U.S. Census Bureau, read on…

The real U.S. Housing Completion total for July 2025. Rather than there being just 117,917 new onsite construction homes completed during this time frame, the all-encompassing estimated total (i.e. including 10,973 offsite construction units) is 128,890 new onsite & offsite construction homes – a difference of 10,973 and an underestimated total for all of 2025 of 131,676 new homes.

What are the ‘numbers’ that make up these totals?

U.S. Census Bureau, for the month of July 2025, reports 117,917 single-family, site-built, privately-owned onsite housing completions (i.e. this is 1/12^th of the published annual total of 1,415,000 completions). Meanwhile, the monthly grand total, inclusive of four types of offsite construction (Again, 10,973 HUD-Code housing + modular & panelized homes + Park Model RVs) totals 128,890 total U.S. housing completions during July 2025.

So why does the U.S. Census Bureau continue to research and report ‘half a loaf’ where onsite and offsite housing completions is concerned? Your guess is as good as mine, though I sense  conventional housing builders are not interested in any recognition of the factory-produced housing used on privately-owned, scattered building sites, and within land lease communities. Anyone care to prove me wrong?

As we’ve said before, this ‘Total U.S. Housing Completion Report’ is indeed a work in progress. Let us know what you think of this interplay between onsite and offsite housing statistics: gfa7156@aol.com

‘LET’S TALK’

Will you be at the annual SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA., 8-10 September? Well, I will be and I’d like to propose a new interpersonal protocol for regional and national meetings attended by manufactured housing aficionados and owner/operators of land lease communities. And this year’s SECO Conference is a good place to begin.

Heretofore, interpersonal protocol has been described as informal networking among peers. Nothing wrong with that. I’d just like to take the matter a formal step forward. Here’s how. We already know we can’t count on the organizers and hosts of regional and national trade meetings to arrange for scheduled, stimulating conversations focused on business issues at the time.

Here are three topics I’m making myself available to discuss during the SECO Conference.

This very topic of Total U.S. Housing Completions. Whether the U.S. Census Bureau should continue underreporting housing completions month after month after month. Or, bring offsite construction into the fold to join with onsite construction reporting – and how to bring this about. Your opportunity to comment upon and discuss a national MH issue.

Have you visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame museum and library in Elkhart, IN.? If not, you really should. It’s a very large collection of vintage RVs and manufactured homes, all under one huge roof. It’s the veritable preserver of our two industries’ history and legacy. I’m in the midst of researching and authoring a comprehensive history of the Hall of Fame, and if you have stories to tell, please talk to me about them. This is your opportunity to input!

And finally. As one approaches the end of a business career, it behooves one to think about the legacy they’ll be leaving for colleagues, friends, family, and employees. Do you know the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? Simply, a memoir is a short story; an autobiography is a collection of those short stories – whether personal, familial, or career-related. Stop and talk to me about starting to pen your memoirs and possibly an autobiography in the future. Who else in the MH industry is willing to help you learn this process?

If you’re not attending the SECO Conference, talk to me anyway; via gfa7156@aol.com

Parting thought. Why isn’t this sort of interpersonal protocol part of every regional and national – even state association gathering? It boggles my mind to think of the many and varied topics now begging open discussion-leading-to-action. For example: national brand marketing of manufactured housing, greater emphasis on professional property management of land lease communities nationwide, and broader use of lease option methodology when marketing manufactured homes onsite.

See you in Atlants!

George Allen