Blog # 393 Copyright 2016 COBA7® 24 April 2016; community-investor.com web site
Perspective: ‘Land-lease-lifestyle Communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities and ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing.’
This blog posting is the sole national advocacy voice, official ombudsman (press), research reporter, & online communication media for North American LLLCommunities!
To input this blog &.or affiliate with Community Owners (7 Part) Business Alliance®, a.k.a. COBA7®, use Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764
COBA7® Motto = ‘U Support US & WE Serve U!’ Goal of its’ print/online media = ‘Not only inform & opine, but transform & improve MHBusiness Model Performance!’
INTRODUCTION. I can’t think of a more action-filled (i.e. ‘Breaking MHnews!’), and truly historic blog posting than this one! Cavco Industries, on Friday 22 April, introduced REvive; on 4/26, we get our ‘best shot ever’ at restoring reasonable access to chattel capital to the MHIndustry; and, on 5/25 & 26, ‘for the first time ever’, LLLCommunity owners/operators are invited to Elkhart, IN., to learn how to effectively sell new HUD-Code homes on-site & seller-finance them as well! And then, there’s that coincidence….
I.
Breaking MHIndustry News
Cavco Industries’ Introduces REvive!
New Rental Finance Program for putting New Homes into LLLCommunities
REvive is Cavco Industries’ means of helping land-lease-lifestyle community (a.k.a. manufactured home community) owners/operators upgrade vacant, even occupied rental homesites with new Cavco, Fleetwood, Palm Harbor, Fairmont, or Chariot Eagle homes, AND facilitate community’ participation in renewed interest in rental housing within local housing markets throughout the U.S.!
The REvive three steps Business Model is simple, direct, and effective:
1. Remove ‘mobile homes’ from rental homesites, and ‘ready’ existing vacant homesites for placement of new HUD-Code manufactured homes.
2. Implement REvive, and buy new, appropriately-featured Community Series Homes (‘CSH models’) from Cavco, Fleetwood, Palm Harbor, Fairmont, or Chariot Eagle, to install on those rental homesites
3. Carefully select new ‘home renter/site renter’ tenants, keeping 100% of site rent, while using home rental income to repay Cavco for the new home!
Terms and conditions relative to REvive? Contact CountryPlace Mortgage, Inc., via (800) 288-1828 & ask for REvive Specialist, or inquire via revive@countryplacemortgage.com
Also, for new HUD-Code manufactured housing availability, contact Steve Quick, BDM, of Fleetwood Homes via (615) 202-0245 & steve.quick@fleetwoodhomes.com
II.
Three Years in the Making…
How Quiet Interpersonal Diplomacy has brought MHIndustry Aficionados, LLLCommunity Owners/operators, the Federal Housing Finance Agency & GSEs Together, in a Present Day Serious Attempt to Solve the Former’s Ongoing, since circa year 2000, Home-only Chattel Mortgage Finance Supply Hiatus. *1
The GSEs & LLLCommunities relationship began at the 23rd International Networking Roundtable in Peachtree, GA., during early Fall 2014. Representatives from Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac met with 200 LLLCommunity owners/operators from throughout the U.S., to share their programs and better understand the workings and needs of this unique, income-producing property type.
A link was forged between the two groups, GSEs & LLLCommunity folk, during a stunning panel discussion the last morning of the roundtable event. Then and there, the GSEs made it clear to these property owners, there is no set limit on the number of park-owned homes allowed in any one LLLCommunity, or even property portfolio, when considered by Fannie Mae. But rather, and here’s the ‘stunner’, each real estate – secured finance and refinance package is now evaluated, in terms of park-owned homes, ‘on its’ own merits’!
The next year, during ‘GSE Hour’ at the 24th International Networking Roundtable in San Diego, representatives from the two GSEs, along with Michael Price from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (‘FHFA’), again stunned the 200 LLLCommunity owners/operators audience. This time around, the stunning revelation had to do with the GSEs willingness to consider real estate-secured finance and refinance mortgages on ‘any size’ LLLCommunity – especially smaller ones, i.e. fewer than 100 rental homesites in size! Turns out, this has been their policy all along. It simply has not been communicated to property owners ‘in search of financing’, by their loan brokers and lenders, because mortgage processing and servicing costs associated with small LLLCommunity commercial mortgages are akin to those experienced with larger properties, even entire portfolios; hence, the former are not as cost efficient as the latter – but they’re still attractive to Fannie Mae.
Well, the budding working relationship among MHIndustry aficionados, LLLCommunity owners/operators, FHFA, and two GSEs continues to bring the parties together in attempts to solve manufactured housing’s ongoing home-only chattel mortgage finance supply and access hiatus.
During the past few months, hundreds of individuals took time to pen and send comment letters to the FHFA, regarding the agency’s Duty to Serve rulemaking proposal(s). Specifically, ‘What DTS credit-worthy measures should FHFA and the GSEs consider and implement, during the months and year ahead, in behalf of manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural markets – via increased liquidity of mortgage investments and improved distribution of investment capital?’ And drilling deeper, focus on chattel lending, manufactured home community regulatory activities, and DTS Underserved Markets Plans & Evaluations.
Where are matters today? During the week ahead, on 26 April, nearly two dozen trade association executives, HUD-Code home manufacturing executives, financial consultants, bankers, and credit union representatives will caucus in Washington, DC., in search of answers and practical ways to address aforesaid matters. Why is this so important? Because this heterogeneous gathering of private enterprise, trade association and government agency folk is a ‘first time ever event’ – especially for the manufactured housing industry and land-lease-lifestyle community asset class. And it likely would not have happened but for nearly three years of patient conversation, education, and networking.
Results? You’re read about them soon. Just stay blog-focused here, as well as in the pages of The Journal, and COBA7®s Allen Letter professional journal.
End Notes:
1. LLLCommunity = land-lease-lifestyle community: GSEs = Government Sponsored Enterprises = Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, for the purposes of this blog posting.
III.
Two Days of Plant Tours & Home Sales Seminars
‘Who’s Being Visited & Who’s Presenting?’
This exciting inaugural event is only a month away! Are you registered yet? If not, don’t wait any longer. The RV/MH Hall of Fame cannot handle more than 200 participants in the amphitheater we’ve reserved for this unique educational and plant tour event. Registrations received on or after 18 May will be charged $295/person, up from the $195/person listed on the event brochure.
So, what plants are being visited during the two days? Adventure Homes in Garrett, IN.; Cavco Industries, Inc.= Fairmont & Harmony Homes in Nappanee; Champion Homes in Topeka, IN; Clayton Homes factories in Middlebury & Wakarusa, IN; and, The Commodore Corporation in Goshen, IN. And get this! Most, if not all of these firms, will be offering new HUD-Code homes at deep discount prices, if a ‘commitment to buy’ is made during one’s tour of their factory!
Meanwhile, what’s going on ‘back at the ranch (i.e. RV/MH Hall of Fame)’? As you know from the special tripartite brochure used to facilitate registration, there’re four major simultaneous seminar presentations – each session given twice, once on the 25th and once on the 26th. And here, for the first time, we’re identifying the LLLCommunity owners/operators leading each educational session:
GETTING READY! (property, sales center, staff, homebuyer profiles) Adriane DeRose, MHM® & Pamela Ziemer, MHM® from Carefree Homes, Inc. in Indianapolis, IN.
BUYING HOMES! (from the factory) James (‘Jamie’) Dougherty, MHM®, of Community Management Group in Farmington Hills, MI.
SELLING HOMES! (on-site) Kenneth Lipschutz & Danya Mallada of HomeFirst Certified Communities in Birmingham, MI.
FINANCING HOMES! (seller-financing options) Spencer Roane, MHM®, owner of Pentagon Properties in Atlanta, GA.
Can you imagine a more capable, experienced, motivated team of instructors? I can’t.
Oh, and there is one additional 45 minute session that leads off each morning and afternoon session: Welcome & Introductions! Besides being an icebreaker opportunity, we plan to ‘set the stage’ for what follows by sharing an abbreviated ‘Official State of the MHIndustry & LLLCommunity Asset Class!’ overview. That way, each of the four specialty session instructors can ‘get right into’ their subject material for an hour, ending with discussion, questions & answers. Also expect special handouts: ‘The Six Right Ps of (New Home) Marketing’, & the popular ‘Ah Ha! & Uh Oh! Worksheet’ for calculating new and resale housing price points using the Annual Median Income (‘AMI’) of a local housing market(s) and/or Annual Gross Income (‘AGI’) – an individual or household’s gross annual income
This exciting two day program is for novice and experienced home sales operations alike. Already selling but struggling? Attend all sessions to learn where you might have to make changes to improve performance! Not yet selling? Attend all sessions to learn HOW TO set up an on-site home sales operation.
There’s also a gala networking reception being planned the evening of 5/25 at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, from 6 – 8 PM.
To register, use the attachments to the BEBA (Blast Email Blog Alert) introducing this week’s blog posting, email me via gfa7156@aol.com, or simply phone (317) 346-7156.
An IMPORTANT REMINDER. When you register, don’t just send in the names, address, and payment information, but also the ‘schedule’ on the other side of the brochure. We need to know what plants you plan to visit and when you plan to sit for various classes – to let the factories and instructors know ‘how many’ to plan for each day. Also plan to visit the RV/MH Hall of Fame and museum while in Elkhart, IN.
IV.
COINCIDENCE
26 April 2016 = Open House exhibit of six new HUD-Code Community Series Homes ‘for sale & financing’ at Evergreen Village LLLCommunity in Emerson, GA (724 GA-293). RSVP Mario@roane.com Public Welcome!
&
26 April 2016 = FHFA’s Duty to Serve rulemaking meeting in Washington, DC.
The first instance is evidence of the ongoing ‘15 year paradigm shift’ throughout the manufactured housing industry, i.e. marketing and sale of new HUD-Code homes, not by independent (street) MHRetailers, but by on-site owners/operators of LLLCommunities.
In the second instance, the first national public discussion of measures sorely needed to routinely replenish the MHIndustry’s supply of chattel capital for home-only mortgages on new and resale homes sited in LLLCommunities.
***