by George F. Allen

Earliest memory of Mother had as much to do with my Father as it did her.

Concerned about my romance with a high school classmate, Dad admonished me to take a good look at her Mother - and decide if I’d love this girl 30 years later, if she wound up looking like her Mother did at that time. I didn’t take the matter very seriously, as we ‘broke up’ shortly before I graduated from high school.

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by George F.  Allen

The feature article, 'How Many Landlease Communities Are There in the U.S.?' attracted much reader attention when it appeared late last year in MHI's National Communities Council ('NCC') division's Community Connections newsletter.  It's since been republished as a reprint, and Appendix V in the 22nd annual ALLEN REPORT.*

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by Chad Carr

One of my strong beliefs is that almost any retailer or community operator can rise above the challenges this industry faces to become extremely successful.  Yes, we have had a lot of hurdles placed in front of us, but I believe our biggest problems are self-imposed – we have failed to adapt to the changing behaviors and desires of our customers and the changing realities of our marketplace.

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by Nadeen Green

Let’s assume for a moment that one of the residents in your community is not-so-fond of one of the neighbors (not as if that would ever be the case!).  That resident comes to you to complain about their neighbor’s behavior – the screaming children, the barking dog, the cooking odors (the list could go on and on).  They want you to fix the problem now and the issue might actually be a violation of your community rules and regulations.  What do you do now?

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by Edward "Eddie" Hicks

As the Chattel Mortgage industry thins, the demand for manufactured homes slims with it. Although there are new lending programs creeping into the market place for manufactured home purchasing, most are targeted at the better credit quality borrower, which is decreasing the numbers of potential manufactured home buyers.

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by Mark Hunter

Recently I spoke at a large conference on the subject of how to maintain your price and avoid discounting.  After the presentation, a businessperson approached me and asked what my strategy would be if his company needed to discount price to create cash flow.  This is not an easy question to answer.

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by Chrissy Jackson

Animals.  Will the Community allow animals?  If so, will the admission standards be predicated upon size in height (at the shoulder), weight, or breed (certain breeds are better suited to confined living spaces)?  Will the animals be permitted outside?  Alone to run?  On a hand&ndashheld leash?  Tied to a tree?  In a doghouse?  In a kennel?  Outside only for a limited number of hours per day?  Never outside unless with a Resident?

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by L. A. 'Tony' Kovach

Manufactured home community living offers an incredible opportunity for an attractive lifestyle.  Homeowners and community management all have a stake in making a community as appealing as possible.

It pays to have a full community!

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by Ken Rishel

A major new enemy has focused their considerable armament on the soft underbelly of the manufactured housing industry in the form of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Given the public and semi-private statements made by Liz Warren and Peggy Twohig, the whole industry should be girding their loins for the attack, but, for the most part that is not happening.  It is not uncommon to hear, "That agency has bigger fish to go after than manufactured housing - we'll be alright."  Of course, that was before the CFPB added the following high ranking people to their staff:

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by Joanne Stevens

The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) held its annual National Communities Council Forum on Tuesday, April 26, 2010 in conjunction with the annual Congress and Expo. It was well worth the modest price and was a jam packed day of speakers and presentations.  From the conference it appears that more manufactured home community and park owners are renting community owned homes.  Perhaps owners wish to avoid the Dodd-Frank regulations for selling homes in a community.  Quite a few owners stated that the demand at their parks and communities is up drastically from a year ago for both community financed homes and rental homes.  For samples of rental home forms, a home safety checklist, home inspection form, or manufactured home lease form from the forum, go to my website, www.JoanneMStevens.com.

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by Zig Ziglar

Which Prime Minister would you want as a friend?

Two of the greatest prime ministers in the history of the British Empire were Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone.  They served Queen Victoria – great men with different personalities and different approaches to life.

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by Don Westphal

In our last installment, we discussed how the homes in the project would be replaced.  While this was going on, the process of finding a new site for the relocation was going on.  Not a lot of vacant land was available in Milford, but a vacant industrial site was located and the process of getting entitlements for the relocated community was soon underway.  The community was behind the project and the Planning Commission and Council were supportive of the relocation, partially because the affordable residential project would assist them in achieving the state prescribed affordable residential component.  In addition, many of the Ryder residents had been involved in the City as residents and participants for years.

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by George Porter

A long time ago, in another life I think, I went into the US Army to learn to be a helicopter pilot. These were complicated contraptions that were constantly trying to go their own way, at least during the first part of my flight training. At that time the Army had many civilian flight instructors and mine was a guy named B.D. Gallion. I never understood how come all the instructors there were overweight, grumpy, smoked a lot and seemed to be recovering from some sort of malady until about noon. When I became an instructor pilot a few years later, I figured it out: it's because the crazy students are always trying to kill you.

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by Dave Shanklin

Our industry's major lender out of San Diego is marketing its adjustable rate mortgage product for MH's in communities with a very low start rate of 4.5%.  Subject home must be 1991 and newer, and buyers will need Fico scores in the stratosphere to qualify for this low rate.

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by Paul Bradley

In the span of three days last week, three community owners and two brokers called with ‘for sale' properties.  This first stage call volume and a closing on an 85-site community today in Massachusetts make this a good start to the summer.

What a difference from 2010!  (And, 2009, for that matter!)

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