Earlier this evening, a simple premise was laid out in the report linked here which will be useful in understanding the data that follows.
Let’s sum up to set the table for what follows.
- There is an affordable housing crisis.
- Mainstream housing is far outperforming manufactured homes.
- The National Association of Realtors 2018 research plus over 2 decades of other largely useful third-party research makes it clear that manufactured homes is higher quality, safer, more durable and performs better at resale time than millions of Americans believe.
- Despite all the positive evidence and ‘good news,’ the attention paid to problematic news, often tied to “predatory behavior” by companies associated with Berkshire Hathaway brands in our industry and/or those connected to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) tends to dominate news, public perceptions, and has for years. Those links are just a sample of dozens of such reports that MHProNews could point readers to.
- So, it is no surprise that with ‘perception being reality’ for millions, interest in manufactured housing is in decline over a recent two year period per research performed by Zillow.
- Despite that data, despite 11 of 12 months of year-over-year declining new HUD Code manufactured home shipments, the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), their toadies in manufactured home trade media, have tended to paint a different picture.
- Perhaps it is a coincidence, but as MHProNews has sharpened its analysis and fact checks of MHI’s claims in 2018 and even more so in 2019, there have been a series of announced or effective departures from MHI, including their president Richard ‘Dick’ Jennison, the National Communities Council Vice President Jenny Hodge, and other vice-presidents.
- Even one of their own mouthpieces has at times contradicted the ‘party line’ of the Omaha-Knoxville-Arlington axis. The best the axis and their surrogates can seemingly do is allege that MHProNews is ‘gaslighting’ the industry. Perhaps that is a back-handed compliment coming from competitors? But it is arguably – based upon evidence – a case of the one doing the finger pointing – axis allies – being the increasingly evident guilty party.
MHProNews’ publisher has filed an antitrust, deceptive trade practices, and RICO complaints that provides specifics. To learn more, see the report linked here.
Meanwhile, MHI executives have been posturing progress – see examples linked here and here – even though the shipment data and more reveals otherwise. While they might at some point ‘cop a plea,’ it appears from recent reports and those dating back for several years, that they are largely continuing their pattern of behavior.
Clayton Homes, a Berkshire Hathaway brand, has been exposed has providing contradictory information that is relevant to their market share and other manufactured housing industry data, see the report linked here. Bear in mind that as part of a publicly traded firm, they are supposed to provide accurate information. Of further interest, Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance were specifically cited in a reference by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve this month for alleged bias in lending, based on race.
When challenged to refute, rebut, or otherwise attempt to correct the evidence record being established, none of the Berkshire brands in manufactured housing, nor MHI, or their outside attorney would comment on the growing allegations against them. It is part of the growing “Case Against Clayton Homes.”
Pressure by the axis and their allies in the manufactured home industry to attempt to arguably undermine reading at MHProNews have demonstrably failed. As the data that follows reflects, readership here is growing as our fact-checks, analysis, and related commentary has sharpened.
MHProNews has several cPanels that collect site data via Webalizer. The four top cPanels report the following totals.
Usage Statistics for manufacturedhomepronews.com
Summary Generated 22-Oct-2019 07:07 CDT (so, about 1 week to go in the month of October).
| KBytes | Visits | Pages | Files | Hits |
| 1463144168 | 4502885 | 21696430 | 30927953 | 39086035 |
- That’s over 4.5 million total visits in just under 12 months.
- That’s just shy of 21.7 million pageviews.
- That’s 4.82 pageviews per visitor.
- That is higher ratio of engagement than typical mainstream news sites, which per some sources report an average of 3.3 page views per visit.
- There are far bigger mainstream news sites than ours, but for an industry of this size, our reader engagement is unmatched.
Data rally means much unless there are comparisons made to it. In the case of manufactured housing trade media, there is only one outlet that brazenly claims to be number 1, other than MHProNews. That would be MHInsider.
https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/masthead/expose-darren-krolewski-datacomp-mhvillage-mhinsider-marketing-claims-fact-check-infographic-and-analysis/
From that report linked above, is the following data and evidence-based screen capture/infographic.
Further evidence of the accuracy of this report’s data is reflected by the third-party, on-the-record comment by Legacy Housing’s marketing guru, Casey Mack.
Examples of select articles on MHProNews performance, from one of numerous cPanels (note: for non-techies, several possible referrer paths can exist to the same article, creating a higher total, so this should be seen as a subtotal from one cPanel).
Rank | Hits | Referrer Path
| # | Hits | Referrer |
Rephrased, we have individual articles that have more hits than shameless posturing MHInsider self-reports pageviews all month.
After their media kit brags about a circulation of 31,500, deep within that same source is a less obvious statement that they only get 6500 pageviews a month. Some of MHInsider’s articles – per their own article ‘views’ also shown in the infographic further above – are only in the dozens or several hundred. By contrast, numbers of our articles will get more than that in the first hour or two of being online, and will totally dwarf self-proclaimed MHI “partner” MHInsider’s totals in a month.
But to us, it is no surprise, because the visual evidence below from that and other industry trade shows has told that same tale for 2 years. Their packaging is slick – just as numbers of items from Clayton or MHI are slick too. But a cool look isn’t always the same as reality, is it?
Now, compare that from MHInsider to the data from MHProNews above and below. Note that some of the articles above were published earlier in the month, and thus have more views than those published later in the month.
No one is more transparent with data than MHProNews in MHVille trade media.
No one is more evidence-based in manufactured housing focused trade media than MHProNews and MHLivingNews are. Note the later – MHLivingNews – has several articles every month that dwarf the totals shown above from MHProNews.
Because MHProNews cross-links information, provides documents, and downloads, researchers can cull through our reports until they too have an ‘aha’ light of ‘epiphany.’ Federal researchers are routinely on our websites, as the report linked immediately below reflects.
What Are Federal Officials Researching About Manufactured Housing?
While our primary audiences on MHProNews are professionals and investors, thousands of hits from federal officials or nonprofits, are among other visitors that occur monthly. See the Sept 2019 data from a single cPanel on MHProNews shown below. Keep in mind that we have numerous cPanels that don’t ‘see’ an individual reader – like you – but do detect the source of a visitor as being a .org, .gov, .com, or some other extension. So, month after month, year after year, public officials are scouring MHProNews and our sister site for information. We know from direct contacts with public officials that not only feds, but state and local officials visit our trade media sites too.
Rank | Hits | Extension (source)
| 9 | 5427 | Non-Profit (org) | |||||
| 18 | 3440 | US Government (gov) |
Readers like you have made us the runaway #1. The trend-lines are steadily rising, as this collage of screen captured data below reflects.
Bear in mind that there are only an estimated 75,000 working full time in manufactured housing, per Cavco Industries’ IR page shown below. Many of those full time employees are doing the important work of building homes, service, maintenance, grounds keeping, and so on. This platform is geared toward industry professionals, managers, business owners, decision makers, and investors. As other evidence herein demonstrates, that is our core audience. Based upon known data, our market penetration is unmatched. No rival even comes close.
So, as we’ve completed 10 years of serving manufactured housing, we now turn to year 11 as the leading, most-trusted source for “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory built housing” where “We Provide, You Decide.” ©
We challenge the powers that be in manufactured housing in a fashion that no one else in trade media has done before.
The two most common words we see and hear in messages and calls are “thank you.” But we couldn’t do this without the support of others who provide tips, insights, information, comments, and support.
So tonight, we thank God, you, and all those who make this adventure possible.
Oh! Almost forgot to mention this. Our email sign ups have been at record levels too. Thank you. Have your team sign up in seconds. Because Warren Buffett is arguably correct about the importance and value of reading.
Day by day, step by step, we fight for ethical professionals, homeowners, honest vs. predatory investors, and those that want to be owners of affordable quality housing. The recipe seems to be paying off. That must break the hearts of a few who jeer, while so many cheer the research and clarity provided here. That’s your almost-midnight installment of manufactured housing industry “News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use,” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)
Soheyla is a managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn here and and here.
Related Reports:
Click the image/text box below to access relevant, related information.
“We Seem to Have Lost Common Sense,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson – Homeless, Affordable Housing Crisis
Long-Time HUD Attorney’s Formal Statement on Manufactured Housing Enhanced Preemption
