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Life and Death-In Some Ways We Choose Our Own Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory – Exploring Thoughts from Bootcamp for Boomers, Gen Z Concerns, AARP-AMAC-ACRU-Akalue and Joe Biden-Realities Check
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Happy Holidays! ‘Outrageous’-In Time for Christmas, New MHI Doc Reveals Apparent Threats to any Who Disagree w/Manufactured Housing Institute as MHI Declares Sweeping New Meeting-Event Powers
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August 2023 Production Data – Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) Leaders Should Embrace Responsibility for Continuing Manufactured Home Production Decline – Consolidators Fueled Crisis?! 
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Superior September 2016, How Manufactured Housing Can Do It Better

We as an industry have the superior solution, and while we’re collectively growing nicely, manufactured housing is still just a fraction of its former production levels.

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Manufactured housing peaked in 1998, and has been on a mostly sustained slide since. The rise since 2009’s low point has been good, but we are still just a shadow of our former glory. Image credit, Calculated Risk.

ICYMI (in case you missed it), that relatively low level of production is both a threat and an opportunity in disguise.

Reality Checks

Divisions have always been a part of America. From the days of the colonists – or even before them when the native tribes who traveled the great mountains, rivers and plains of Asia, crossed  the straights from what today is Russia into Alaska, and then fanned out across what would become America – divisions have existed. 

 

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Divisions have been a part of our heritage. Native American tribes were often rivals. The colonists were not all for the Revolution against England. Is it any wonder there are divisions today too? Note the tribal map is superimposed upon our modern states, which did not exist when they first roamed this vast land. Image credit – Emerson Kent.

Manufactured housing, modular and prefab systems-building is no different. Divisions exist.  It’s part of being human, we lack perfection, we find ourselves at odds with others; by choice, accident or coincidence.

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We’ve reviewed before that it is when the national associations are working together in concert with state and community associations that the most progress has been made. UImage credit – collage of Industry Association logos by MHProNews, each logo is the property of their respective 
organization, and is used here under Fair Use guidelines.

How do we make what divides us into something that nurtures and becomes our strength?

Insanity

Blind eyes won’t do it. What won’t fix divisions or help those fissures to strengthen us is to practice denial or insanity.

We’ve all heard or said that the popular definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things in the same ways, and yet expect a different result.

Let’s be honest. Yet at various times, haven’t MH Pros done just that…right?  We have all traveled that rut time and again, on issue after issue.

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Habits, processes and systems are necessary to acheive success. At the same time, a habit can also become a rut, a trap. We must routinely challenge ourselves – and each other – by asking, is this the best that we can do on issue X today? Photo credit, WikiCommons. Poster by MHProNews.

Be it your face or mine in the mirror, we ought to admit that what was once a grove has at times lead to bring stuck in a rut.  That rut has become a trap which slows our progress, or keeps us from going higher and faster. That rut may even mimic an open ended grave.

Illusions…

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As Commodore’s Bob Bender, a former Kodak executive noted in our interview with him, there are times when channels become ruts that can trap a person, firm or an industry. Montgomery Wards was once a great retailer, now they are in the dust bin of history. Ditto Eastman Kodak. Photo credit, eBay.

Being years into our industry’s recovery from the bottom of 2009 is good, but it also has its threats. For those of us who survived or now seemingly thrive in America 2016, that self-congratulatory pat on the back for surviving should not lead us to a false sense of success.

We can and must do better. There are too many threats that could still limit or even crush manufactured housing.  Don’t believe it? Just ask a coal miner, or someone who once worked for a giant operation like Kodak or Montgomery Wards.

Bad Media? Good Reporting?

There are often more than two sides to a story, so that thin edge of the coin can become an important insight.

When one fails to properly share each side of a tale, that story is lacking.  When the realities are twisted, that report then morphs into a kind of ghost story or fairy tale.

What is “Good Media?”

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In this new issue, we showcase examples of manufactured housing pros who spoke out on the record against biased or incomplete media reports. When the industry makes responding to such attacks routine and effective, we’ll see manufactured housing acceptance, respect grow and sales soar. Hundreds of mainstream media sites picked up our media release on media bias against MH. See article linked below for this topic and others like it.

Good media does more than the basics of – who, what, when, where and why – of Journalism.

Good media reveals the tensions!  Good media reflects what is real, and may hint at or spell out the possible resolutions!

Tensions. Accountability. Reality checks. Good story telling. Resolutions. Each and all are needed to advance.

Skills, insights and resources like yours and your operation are needed to complete a picture.

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Better late to the dance than to not come at all. Some in MH questioned and resisted early and often what others more recently have realized could harm our industry. What ought to be a positive for MH, has been shown by third parties as negatives about manufactured housing. The engagement of professionals with good trade media and clear-eyed association leaders is the best way to advance the industry on all the issues facing MH. The collage and response article above hit hundreds of mainstream media sights, to help set the record straight about the fact that MH already saves energy, and the options already exist for more energy savings. Image credits on the article, linked below.

That insight then requires expertise. It requires objectively.  It requires a willingness to dig in by each of those who are touched.

Until we shine the proper light on what’s right, and yet don’t avoid what’s wrong, we have not hit the right balance.

We should make you feel hopeful and good, while challenging you too. If we have never stepped on a toe, odds are you or we or both missed something.

Revealing tensions and reflecting various perspectives well is important.

The blind can only grope their way ahead.

Those blinded by habit, hubris or any of the weaknesses that divides humanity are stuck at the speed of groping.

The jet fuel that could power us ahead is to take the limiting dark and/or rose colored glasses off.

We must believe that we can do it, so a kind of positive attitude is necessary.

But we must also be real. Denying the cliffs along the roads we all travel is as bad as being paralyzed by fear.

Balance and tension alike makes for good journalism.

By being true first to each other, we can then as trade journalists better engage the mainstream media, the public, officials and policy types.

Showing reality, and then dealing with it – that is what makes us stronger.

Manufactured housing is a superior solution. Other forms of factory building each have their vital roles too.

Industry Voices, Real News, Thoughtful Interviews and Reports

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Industry pros like Lamb, association and other leaders are among those who have boldly spoken out on issues that impact manufactured housing nationally. We will only advance to the extent that we tackle the issues that hold our industry back.  For the article that drew Lamb’s comment, scroll down to the Featured Articles for Superior Septemember.

We bring you Superior September 2016’s featured articles and reports, each of which includes industry voices like those you know. People like those you work with, or who are and have been walking in shoes like yours.

We can’t fix the world in a single story, issue or report. America’s story isn’t finished, neither is the story of MH.

But day by day, shining hopeful light on issues that matter – on issues which either hold us back or are moving us ahead – these are how we make manufactured and other forms of industrialized housing great in America.

We are in this industry are the future, we must believe that to be true. We must jump or navigate each hurdle, until we arrive at a point that we have the respect and the rewards which comes from doing it right.

With no further adieu, we bring you with the sincere thanks to all who make this and every issue happen, the Superior September 2016 featured articles and reports. MHProNews – “Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use.” ©
Another 2016 Manufactured Housing Legal Update – Where Business & Law Intersect

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

MarcLifesetJDMcGlincheyStaffordmanufacturedhousinglaw-postedManufacturedHousingIndustryMHProNews-50x50by Marc Lifeset, JD
McGlinchey Stafford is proud to provide the Manufactured Housing Update to the manufactured housing industry. 

Read more…

 

Comparing Mid-America Apartment Communities vs. Sun Communities, Head-to-Head Analysis

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

By Joe Dyton

Joe_Dyton_DailyBusinessNews-MHProNews55x55CML News recently took a deep dive into a head-to-head comparison between Memphis, TN-based Mid-America Communities, Inc. (NYSE: MAA) and Southfield, MI-based Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE: SUI).

Read more…

 

Two Faces of Manufactured Home Community Closures – Urban Institute’s Preservation Approach Vs. Little Farm Trailer Park Outcome

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by Joe Dyton
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Affordable housing options are becoming less plentiful around the country, but according to Urban Institute researchers, there are ways to sidestep what has become an outright crisis.

Read more…

 

Management Group Increases Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS)

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by Frank Griffin

FrankGriffinDailyBusinessNewDBNwriterMHProNewsManufacturedHousingIndustryNews55x55Schroder Investment Management Group acquired an additional $2,017,000 worth of Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) shares for the quarter ending July 30th, 2016.
Read more…

 

Say No Socialist Driven Economy, Praise for Revolution PreFab Homes

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by Jay Hamilton

jay-hamiltonTony, I have no plans to vote for a Socialism Driven Economy.

Read more…

 

Carlyle Group (CG) Urged To Invest Multi-Billion$ In “Dry Powder,” says Bloomberg’s Tan

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
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The Carlyle Group (CG) is reportedly one of the top 100 largest manufactured home community operators in the U.S..  Its big hedge fund business is said to be heading for the exit, according to SeekingAlpha and Bidness.

Read more…

 

UMH Properties Closes on 2 Manufactured Home Communities, more Closings Pending

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
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Freehold NJ based UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE: UMH) announced that it has closed on the acquisition of two communities located in Ohio for a total purchase price of $2,954,000.

Read more…

 

Man Shot in “Trailer Park” (sic) says ABC TV’s Marla Carter, MH Pros React

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
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Tragedy and violence occurs in neighborhoods across America.

Read more…

 

MHC Pro/Owner – “Highly Conflicted” over Manufactured Home Community Closures

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by Marty Lavin, JD
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Tony, I am highly conflicted by the closing and eviction of the El Portal MH community.

Read more…

 

MH Community Owner’s Reaction to Baytown, TX “trashy mobile home park” story

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

by Richard Nodel
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I become incensed when I see examples of the absolute worse type of landlord.

Read more…

 

Zoning, Opening up Urban Infill and Making Sure Citizens who want Manufactured Homes are Heard

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

EdSchaferGovtAffairsManufacturedHousingInstituteSouthCarolina-postedIndustryVoices-MHProNews-65x65by Ed Schafer
For the last three or four years, the South Carolina association’s focus is to move beyond killing bad zoning proposals and working to reopen areas that have been closed to manufactured homes for many years.

Read more…

 

Discrimination, Zoning and Disparate Impact on Manufactured Homes, Owners, Prospects

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)

M-MarkWeiss-MHARRPresident-ManufacturedHousingAssociationRegulatoryReform-posted-MHProNews-com-50x50-by Mark Weiss
The discriminatory exclusion of manufactured homes by local governments is a major problem for the industry and consumers.

Read more…

 

Business Impact – Left, Right Agree – President Obama’s mark is on powerful U.S. Appeals Courts

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

tony- kovachby L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
Elizabeth Wydra is the president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, which Wikipedia describes as a conservative judicial group.

Read more…

 

Cavco’s Joe Stegmayer, Directors Insider Trades – & CVCO Portfolio Holder Updates

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

   by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
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Cavco Industries director Jack Hanna has filed a Form 4, according to a report byStreetInsider, see that as a download, linked here.

Read more…

 

Controversial Analysis – NRDC, ACEEE and proposed DOE Manufactured Home Energy Standards for Manufactured Homes – Helpful or Harmful?

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

by L. A. “Tony” Kovach
tony- kovach
Controversy about the proposed U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) standards for manufactured housing has followed the flurry of commentary from various special-interest and non-profit groups, covered by recent news media reports.

Read more…

 

Demand for Manufactured Homes in Louisiana Flood Zone Rising, Factories Gear Up for FEMA, Residents

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

tony- kovachby L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
For two days, rain tortured the heart of bayou country, dumping 24 inches in less than 48 hours on southern Louisiana, says a report in the DigitalJournal.

Read more…

 

Discrimination, Injustice against manufactured housing – a Call for Action by Industry Professionals

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

by Todd Lamb
ToddGLambLambInvestments1postedIndustryVoices_ManufacturedHomeCommunities-MHIndustry-MHProNews-55x55
Tony, I agree with the Daily Business News article and the comments from other manufactured home industry professionals regarding Councilman David McCartney in Baytown.

Read more…

 

HUD Code Manufactured Housing, “The Discrimination Code”

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

marty-lavin-jd-manufacturedhomefinanceexpert-DailyBusinessNews-mhpronewsby Marty Lavin, JD
Tony, you are so right on the HUD Code has become a deadly “discrimination code,” especially as it applies to manufactured home financing.

Read more…

 

A Cup of Coffee with… Otis Orsburn, Hybrid Prefab Homes

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

a-cup-mhmsm-com1) Who, What and Where: (Your name and your formal title at Hybrid Prefab Homes and where your organization is based).

My name is Otis Orsburn, President of Hybrid Prefab Homes based in Santa Rosa, California.

Read more…

A Cup of Coffee with…Mark Weiss, President & CEO of MHARR (Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform)

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

a-cup-mhmsm-com1) Who, What and Where: (Your name and your formal title at Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) and where your organization is based).

Mark Weiss, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR).

Read more

Responding to Negative News About a trashy Baytown “Mobile Home Park”

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

KarleRaddeSouthernComfortHomesBryanTX-postedDailyBusinessNewsMHProNews-60x63by Karl Radde
Stories like this are the kind of thing that generally helps cast such a negative light on our industry.

Read more…

 

The Importance and Value of Independent MH Trade Publications

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

tim-williams-CEO-President-21st-mortgage-corporation-daily-business-news-manufactured-housing-mhpronews-by Tim Williams
MHProNews.com and MHLivingNews.com are both good communications resources for the Manufactured Housing Industry.

Read more…

 

Building A Good Reputation Is Hard!

MARKETING

by Wayne Coakley
WayneCoakleyGrenadeMarketingGroupReputationMarketing-ManufacturedHousing-55x62 headshot_MHProNews-com-
Well, maybe not so hard. Surprisingly, building a good reputation is pretty easy if you built your business around trust from the get-go.

Read more…

 

AMHA Announces 3 New Videos Designed to Promote Manufactured Housing, Dispel Myths

MARKETING

by J. D. Harper

JDHarpercreditLinkedIn-postedMastheadMHProNews-

The Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association (AMHA) has completed a series of short videos aimed at addressing and dispelling myths, misconceptions and stereotypes about today’s manufactured housing.

Read more…

 

Happiness Happens

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION

by Tim Connor, CSP
tim-connor-mhmsm-com
I am sure you have heard, or maybe even used the term, SH _ T Happens: well how about – Happiness Happens?

Read more…

 

ZigOn Preachers

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION

by Zig Ziglar
zig-ziglar
The typical American believes that those men and women who fill the pulpits in the churches work a few hours on the weekend and probably spend some time visiting, preparing and counseling during the week. In short, they have it pretty easy.

Read more…

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