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

July 1, 2019

EARLY BLOG: 4th of July Story; Here’s E-HOP! (&) ‘New Ty’e

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 11:44 am

July 2019; Copyright; www.educatemhc.com
Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing.’

This blog posting is sole national advocate, official ombudsman, historian, research reporter, education resource & online communication media for North American land lease communities

To input this blog &/r affiliate with EducateMHC, formerly COBA7, telephone Official MHIndustry hotline; (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764. Also email: gfa7156@aol.com

Motto: ‘U Support US & WE Serve U!’ Goal: Promote HUD-Code manufactured housing & land lease communities as US source for affordable obtainable housing! Visit www.educatemhc.com

INITRODUCTION: Hang on for a reading ride! A longer a blog than intended, but all four parts are should be important to you, for significantly different reasons.

• How will you celebrate the 4th of July this week? Well, here’s how I did in 1968.
• E-HOP. You’re the first to hear about this exciting new chattel $ program for MHs.
• 5 August & 9 September. Two important days this Summer & Fall. Be there with us!
• ‘New type’ HUD-Code homes: Savior or Nemesis of manufactured housing industry?

I.

Star Spangled Fourths of July, 50 & 200 Years Ago

On the fourth of July, 1969, my combat engineer platoon worked and lived at landing zone Stud, later renamed Vandegrift forward combat base. Stud was located a few miles east of the infamous, only recently vacated Khe Sanh combat base of Vietnam lore.

The day was like any other, for a combat engineer platoon. During daylight hours we cleared roads of landmines, built command bunkers, strengthened the perimeter defense, and helped wherever needed. All hot, dirty work, but what we were there to do.

That night also began like any other. At first, all was quiet and dark, no moon. Above ground light, even candlelight, was prohibited, lest it draw sniper fire from enemy troops in the hills surrounding our position. But around 2200 hours (10PM), someone popped a bright white star cluster pyrotechnic high into the black sky.

Usually, star cluster pyros are launched from hand held devices – hollow aluminum tubes 2” diameter X 12” long, to show helicopter pilots where one’s position is in darkness, identify medical evacuation pickup points, or where to drop needed supplies.

Well, that first star cluster burst was immediately followed by a whole bunch more – of varied colors, accompanied by a host of M16 assault rifles fired on full automatic – adding combat sound effects to the cacophony, along with the distinct odor of burning cordite. Also launched skyward, a couple illumination flares, dangling from mini-parachutes, drifted high above the base, and out over suspected enemy positions. This continued for a few minutes, then stopped as abruptly as it had begun.

In military parlance, tis chain of events is known as a ‘mad moment’, usually occurring in training scenarios to familiarize Marines with the sights, sounds, and smells of combat. And ‘mad moments’ do occasionally occur in combat environs like this, to celebrate a holiday.

Yes, one might view ‘mad moments’ as a waste of ammunition and signaling resources, also compromising one’s position, but know what?

During that ‘mad moment’, on the fourth of July 1968, at LXZ Stud, I envisioned standing next to Francis Scott Key, in 1818, watching the bombardment of Ft. McHenry, and him penning the poem which would later become our nation’s hallowed anthem, ‘The Star Spangled Banner’.

And today, 200 years later, 50+ for me since 1968, nary a 4th of July holiday occurs, without fondly, sometimes tearfully – but always gratefully, recalling being right there during a very special ‘mad moment’ in my life and that of our nation. God Bless America!

George Allen, lieutenant colonel retired, USMC

II.

E-HOP = Today’s Top Story of MH Finance!

Earnings-based Home Ownership Program (‘E-HOP’) announces recent ‘closing’ of its’ first chattel loan on a new HUD-Code manufactured home sited in a land lease community!.

E-HOP is a new chattel loan program developed, during the last two years, by lenders working closely with a small, select group of land lease community owners (a.k.a. manufactured home communities) desiring to fill vacant rental homesites, to improve occupancy and upgrade their properties. E-HOP loans are guaranteed by land lease community owners and feature some important incentives.

Specifically, Park Lane Finance Solutions, LLC, of Staunton, VA., and Mountain View Estates of Rossville, GA., ‘closed’ the first E-HOP loan on a new multisection Clayton home. Community owners, David and Judy Roden, were excited to have the new homeowners/site lessees (i.e. residents) move into Mountain View Estates, based on their excellent rental history and long employment record.

Everyone benefits from the E-HOP program! It finances manufactured homes in stable, well-managed communities, and directly addresses the growing demand for affordable housing in the U.S. today. Lenders are protected by careful screening of prospective homebuyers, substantial down payments, satisfactory debt-to-income (‘DTI’) ratios, loan guarantees by participating community owners, and substantial reserve accounts designed to cover default-related costs. Home buyers benefit from terms they likely would not be able to obtain elsewhere. For additional information about this exciting, precedent-setting E-HOP program, contact Spencer Roane, MHM, Atlanta, GA: (678) 428-0212 or via spencer@roane.com

III.

Why 5 August & 9 September Rock!

In less than a month, on Monday, 5 August 2019, the crème-de-la-crème of manufactured housing, land lease communities and recreational vehicle pioneers and leaders will journey to the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN., for the annual Induction Banquet. There they’ll witness 10 RV & MH businessmen and women achieve Free Enterprise immortality, among their peers in these two industries and realty asset class, as members of the prestigious RV/MH Hall of Fame!

Earlier, that day, Spencer Roane, MHM, and I will be on hand, at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn, or in the boardroom or library of the RV/MH Hall of Fame, prepared to meet semi-privately with MH and LLCommunity entrepreneurs desirous to talk about ongoing and emerging trends (e.g. ongoing MHIndustry paradigm shift since year 2000, emerging H-HOP loan program), as well as any other topic(s) of interest, e.g. preserving one’s personal &/or corporate legacy via memoirs. To participate, let me know of your interest during the next week or two, via Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764 or via gfa7156@aol.com I’ll likely have copies of Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (8th edition) available for purchase. First published, as Mobile Home Park Management, in 1988, this new, updated and enlarged 22o+/- page text is a major achievement of my 40 year career serving this industry and asset class. Also available for purchase via www.educatemhc.com

And then, in just another month, on 9 September, the first day of the 28th Networking Roundtable, in Indianapolis, IN., major addresses will be delivered by U.S. Senator Todd Young (Who’s sponsoring new affordable housing legislation in the Senate, along with a dozen other senators), The GSEs (Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac) bringing everyone up to date relative to DTS programs (e.g. the former’s Choice Home program & latter’s MH Advantage program). Also major and very successful property portfolio owners/operators will be sharing their trade secrets as to success keeping rental homesite full and profitable. How can you afford not to be present at this seminal venue. For info and to register, visit www.educatemhc.com

IV.

‘New Type’, Next-Generation MHs;
Savior or Nemesis for MHIndustry?

Housing Wire, ‘The Source for Mortgage & Housing Industry News’ tells us, “Median priced homes are too expensive for 74 percent of U.S. market”.

That being the case; on one hand, traditional and upscale HUD-Code manufactured homes are sorely needed in most U.S. local housing markets! But, on the other hand, do not forget the hard and sorry lessons we learned from mistakes in mid to late 1990s, when independent (street) MHRetailers, selling ‘land & home packages’ into traditional site-built housing markets, often erred effecting HUD-Code housing installations, and contracting post-installation services and structures appurtenant. We do not want to ‘go there’ again!

So, what is it we’re now offering the home buying public? First off, believe it or not, ‘it’ does not have an official, or even quasi-official name or moniker – yet. When the concept was ‘birthed’ at a MHI manufacturers’ division meeting in Orlando, FL., during Fall 2017, ‘it’ was simply referred to as a ‘new type’ manufactured housing designed to appeal to underserved markets, like millennials. Since then name suggestions have been made (e.g. millennial housing), but none have been selected or stuck.

Now along comes Freddie Mac, with its’ Choice program, for what they refer to as Next-Generation housing. And Fannie Mae, dealing with 99 percent the same ‘new type’ manufactured housing design, has their MH Advantage program. Both programs feature new HUD-Code multisection homes headed for permanent installation on realty conveyed fee simple, but NOT for new homes going into land lease communities! Confused yet? Again, one ‘new type’ HUD-Code housing design, alternately referred to as Next-Generation housing by one GSE, millennial housing by another, and ‘Who knows what?’ by someone else.

But that’s not really ‘the rub’. Yes ‘mobile homes’ cum ‘manufactured housing’ has made its’ mark on the U.S. housing scene for 75+/- years, primarily as an inexpensive, efficient, transportable housing alternative. And now along comes a significantly more sophisticated and expensive alternative, design packages typified by:

Freddie Mac’s Choice Program
• Higher-pitched (e.g. 5/12) roof line
• Garage or carport
• Permanent foundation to include masonry (non-load bearing perimeter wall)
• Drywall throughout, including closets Energy-efficient features
• Wood cabinetry
Fannie Mae’s MH Advantage Program
• 4/12 or greater roof pitch
• Attached garage/carport, or dormer(s) & covered porch/carport, or covered porch
• Permanent foundation must include masonry (non-lad bearing perimeter wall
• Drywall (tape & texture) throughout the home, including closets; kitchen &U bath cabinets with fronts of solid or veneered wood; and, Fiberglass, solid surface, acrylic, composite, porcelain/enamel-coated steel, or tile for all showers and or tubs.
• One of three energy standards.
• Low-profile finished floor set
• Exterior siding comprised of one or more of fiber cement board, hardwood siding, engineered wood siding, masonry, stone, stucco, or vinyl siding-backed with oriented strand board.
• Eaves six inches or greater
• Paved driveway & sidewalk leading to the home

So far so good. But who is going to prepare the foundations and install these much larger,
heavier, complicated structures? The same (but far fewer) folk who’ve been selling and siting far fewer new HUD-Code homes these past 20 years? What measures are being taken now and in the near future, to ensure we don’t err, once again, and marginalize this ‘new type’ high quality home we’re foisting on the buying public? To date, I’ve heard and read nothing about training, licensing, and certification on a broad and detailed scale to this end.

That brings us back to the title of this part of this blog posting. Will indeed, this ‘new type’ manufactured housing be our long sought market SAVIOR, or will we find it to be another market NEMESIS – compromising the progress we’ve slowly made since recovering from nadir shipment year 2009, when only 49,789 new HUD-Code homes were shipped nationwide? While I sincerely hope it’s the former; unless we take steps now to be far better quality control-minded independent contractors, as well as (street) MHRetailers, we risk seeing the history of two decades ago repeat itself.

And don’t forget, these two much ballyhooed GSE programs (i.e. Choice & MH Advantage) do not apply at all to the 40 percent of manufactured housing shipments presently going directly into land lease communities nationwide. Like DTS programs for personal property (i.e. chattel capital) loans on new HUD-Code homes is what we need NOW, knot another decade down the road! Is anyone at FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac listening? Hope so!

George Allen, CPM, MHM
Educate MHC
Box # 47024 Indianapolis, IN. 46247 (317) 346-7156

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Powered by WordPress