On the date this article about Franklin Homes (a.k.a.: Franklin Structurers) is being drafted that firm has an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau. Franklin is a member of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), and per that MHARR website on this date: “Peter James” is MHARR’s “Chairman of the Board.” James is the “Vice President Engineering/Quality/Special Projects” at “Franklin Structures.” A triple sectional home was recently featured by popular Auto Evolution built by Franklin Homes. The FranklinHomesUSA.com website proudly proclaims that they offer “Superior Quality, Exceptional Value” and are “Setting the gold standard in prefabricated home building.” Franklin Homes is located at 10655 Hwy 43, Russellville AL, 35653.  Franklin states: “our homes are sold through a network of Franklin Retailers in 14 states. A model home display center is located at the factory and includes several Franklin homes that are available to tour.” Our MHProNews analysis of the Auto Evolution and related article starts now. More facts, insights, with industry expert commentary follow in Part II.

 

Part I

The article on Auto Evolution by Elena Gorgan is arguably a series of hits and misses, starting with it problematic use of terminology (“This 74-FT Trailer-Based Home Boasts 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths, and Many Awesome Secrets”), it is nevertheless likely to still provide some useful attention to this producer of modular and HUD Code manufactured homes. How is that so? For December 2024, during the period the article about Franklin’s triple sectional appeared on their site, SimilarWeb said that they had: 12.48M visits in a month, which that said was up 5.51% over the previous month. So, perhaps both Franklin Structures and Auto Evolution each benefited from that article about that “giant” nearly 3100 square foot Franklin Homes “Cypress Lake II” model.

The video tour below was part of their report.

 

 

Per that YouTube page in about 3 weeks that video has had “109,343 views” and it was posted on December 24, 2024. The article on Auto Evolution (AE) was posted 2 days later.

Despite Gorgan’s narrative opening with the word “Trailer-Based Home,” perhaps to satisfy an editor or to increase the SEO or curiosity on her article, her articles offers positive descriptions. For example.

It offers a hair under 3,100 square feet (288 square meters) of living space, including an oversize front porch and a smaller back porch that doubles as private terrace to the master bedroom.

To call this an example of “mobile living” is another faux pas by AE’s Gorgan. But in fairness, perhaps that is to satisfy some Auto Evolution editorial box. She said the following for her article.

…the unit we’re looking at today, a massive 74-foot (22.5-meter) long, 45-foot (13.7-meter) wide home with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a home office, and a chef-style kitchen, is still a tiny/mobile home. Our U.S. readers will probably recognize it faster as a triple-wide, but to the rest of the world, it can still be a solid example of downsizing and mobile living, with the caveat that it won’t be moving as much as a standard tiny house.

Gorgan also wrote the following via Auto Evolution.

The layout is designed for family living and proper entertaining, to the point where it lives more like a standard brick-and-mortar home and less like a mobile house. To the right of the main entrance, it has an enormous L-shaped kitchen with a kitchen island slash breakfast bar and an adjacent dining area with seating for six, stainless steel LG appliances, and enough space to allow at least two cooks at once in the same space without any ruffled egos. Oh, and it also has a “secret” walk-in pantry!

Entrance is done directly into the living room, built around a stone fireplace and a sectional sofa reserved exclusively for lounging. Unlike other instances of tiny or mobile living we’ve seen over the years, there’s no need for multi-functional furniture or spaces in this house.

To the right is a flex space that can styled according to individual needs, but it’s arranged here as a home office. Barn doors offer the privacy home working often lacks.

Next to the office is the first of the four bedrooms, with its own ensuite bathroom finished in the same rich, elegant colors as the kitchen: dark blue wood cabinets, quartz counters with a veined marble finish, and black hardware.

The other two bedrooms share a bathroom, which is slightly larger and with more storage options than the first. Both have full built-in wardrobes.

Because this is a mansion-like prefab, it has not one but two laundry rooms – and we’re talking about actual “rooms,” too, not just a nook with a washer. The first laundry room features a washer and a dryer, but also hanging rods, cabinets, and shelving. Also here is a massive freezer, the 50-gallon (189-liter) water heater, the furnace, and the breaker box.

The second laundry room is inside the walk-in wardrobe attached to the master bedroom, accessible through the ensuite bathroom. The comparison to a mansion springs to mind again when viewing this space: double vanities, a gorgeous walk-in shower with a seat, a freestanding tub, and a walk-in closet larger than most bedrooms in tiny city apartments.

Standard features include LVP (luxury vinyl plank) flooring with no merge lines, insulation throughout, vinyl thermopane windows with Low-E glass, safety alarms, and 200 amp service. Everything else, from the color and texture of the finishes to the arrangement of the kitchen, is customizable per request.

She said the home being described retails for $121 per square foot. While that is higher than many manufactured homes, it is potentially lower than what Champion recently said the price of one of their CrossMod ^® homes might sell for, so, this would be a “high end” investment that might be competing against conventional housing that might sell for $200 per square foot (+/-). So, for significantly less than the national average conventional ‘site built’ house, Franklin is offering a “luxury” model that offers high end features.

Because this MHProNews article is not promotional, it is rather an analysis of what Auto Evolution said and failed to say, it was not the goal of this article to discern if the house is indeed a modular home or a HUD Code manufactured home. Typically, a manufacturer like Franklin that offers both kinds of construction can build a floorplan to either construction standard. That said, some producers ship a modular home on a trailer (removable or not, depending on the producer). So, when incorrect or questionable terminology is being used, questions arise and remain.

Gorgan closed her article: “with prices varying depending on options, location, and the dealer. It’s a huge mobile home, and it comes with a price matching its outrageous dimensions.” Again, the terminology used by Auto Evolution is clearly errant, it is neither a mobile home, and not a big ‘tiny house.’ It is either a modular or HUD Code manufactured home.

 

 

 

 

Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary 

1) Snowstorms and events such as the preparations for memorial in Washington, D.C. of the late President Jimmy Carter have delayed access to the MHARR office and thus delayed their traditional monthly manufactured housing production report. That said, it is expected that before the close of this week, MHARR’s report will be posted, which per sources deemed reliable reflect a drop in month-over-month, but an increase in year over year production of HUD Code manufactured homes. Details will be posted on MHProNews soon after MHARR has published them with their blessings.

2) That said, MHI is a production and post-production trade group, an “umbrella” association, that has staff and contractors in various parts of the U.S. that aren’t impacted by D.C. traffic and weather.

 

 

Despite MHI’s continuing, and arguably false claims that the represent “all segments” of the industry and will help their members:

There is no “information” in the news segment provided to the public that might cause a visitor to show up, look around, and think to themselves ‘I want to keep returning to learn more.’ The evidence for that is their high bounce rate and low pages visited rate. MHI can say whatever it wants, but the evidence often undermines their own stated claims. How can they claim to help their independent members grow when they either ignore or don’t know how to promote their own website engagement by fulfilling their promised “we help you keep abreast of what’s happening in every aspect of the industry.” Empty words or evidence that fail to convey alignment with words cause visitors to bounce out at a higher rate.

Per Similar Web this morning.

 

When MHProNews spotlights MHI, or anyone else for that matter, it is not usual to see their traffic rise. Curious minds want to know. They may go and see for themselves. From the article linked below was the following last month. So, visits rose for MHI last month, but their time on site and pages per visit fell sharply.

…According to SimilarWeb (see graphic below) MHI earned only 1.83 page views per visit in November 2024. MHI only had 7,556, reportedly down (-22.88%) from October. The math on that reveals: 1.83 x 7,556 = 13827.48. So, MHI generated a total of 13827.48 page views total last month. By comparison, per Webalizer, which generates data directly from the server for accurate results, MHProNews generated 1,532,753 page views from a total of 288,073 visits. That means that in November 2024 MHProNews has 110.848325219 times more page views than MHI. That ought to be an embarrassment for them, but it is a testament to that important word: content. We provide facts, evidence and analysis that MHI can’t, won’t or doesn’t. …

For MHI to proclaim that their “educational” wing or “experts” available to meet with during a trade show, is laughable, based on the industry’s trends.

 

3) MHProNews has been exposing MHI via not only this site and our MHLivingNews sister site, but also via our deepening relationship with the mainstream news site, The Patch. As this writer for MHProNews has shed light on MHI and some of their member’s behavior, it is no surprise that their traffic might bump up but also witness the kind of slide in pages per visit (which were already low).

 

 

 

 

 

a) At least at this time, MHI has not publicly posted remarks on their news landing page portion of their website about the developing story about the CFPB hitting perhaps the highest profile MHI member, Clayton Homes via their captive lender Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF).

 

 

b) Nor has MHI responded to the inquiries and revelations related to the stark contrast between their Orwellian “memory hole” and “unperson” methods vs. that of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), MHARR, or others involving in industry advocacy. Despite whatever claims or posturing their site or leadership may make, MHI is demonstrably not accountable or transparent in recent years. Who says? See below.

 

 

4) One of many topics MHI is lacking detail or “news” on that is found on MHProNews is shown below.

 

 

5) Among the takeaways from this survey? A good company like Franklin, or any independent or MHI member that isn’t a giant that wants to be promoted properly, ought to consider collaborating with others like themselves by establishing a new post-production trade group that takes P.E.P. seriously. MHARR has asked for that for years.  2025 may prove to be little different than 2021-2024 (or 2017-2020) unless new and improved behaviors occur.

 

There is an evidence-based argument to be made that if several organic growth minded independents had organized what MHARR advocated in 2017, the industry today might be producing 500,000 new homes a year vs. perhaps around 100,000 new homes this year at the current pace. The MHARR study is still relevant.  It is never too late to start what should have been done years ago. https://manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org/mharr-releases-study-recommending-independent-collective-representation-for-post-production-sector/

 

6) It is also apparent that platforms like MHI members MHVillage/ManufacturedHomes are arguably failing their respective clients, because they are busy cozying up to the powers that be at MHI, which are consolidation focused rather than organic growth focused. MHVillage, perhaps particularly so, as they are owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS).

 

 

 

When MHI ‘awards’ ManufacturedHomes.com and indicates their special relationship with MHInsider, that is about all the evidence that is needed that those platforms will not go against the MHI party line.

 

 

7) While there are periodic complaints made public by MHI members about their lack of performance, for the most part, there is silence save from MHARR, MHProNews, and MHLivingNews. No one else in MHVille consistently and persistently shines the light of accountability on MHI and its dominating members like those three organizations. Others may make periodic noise, but none of them have consistently and persistently called for the establishment of a new post-production trade organization. If some person or organization keeps doing the same things they should expect to keep getting the same kinds of results.  If someone doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude and cojones to expose the consolidators that dominate MHI for what they are by doing fact-packed and common sense analysis as MHProNews/MHLivingNews do, they should not be surprised if they keep getting the same hands dealt to them.

 

 

 

 

8) MHProNews programming notices.

• a) MHARR has informed MHProNews that two items are expected from them this week. Unlike NAR or MHARR and others, MHI demonstrably has ducked responses and accountability for years.
• b) Some special reports will be found on the Patch about manufactured housing in the weeks ahead. Expect 2025 to be a year for increased attention and accountability efforts to push MHI to do what they claim they will do, or to potentially face the appropriate lawful consequences.

 

Stay tuned to the runaway number one source for manufactured home “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use” ^© where “We Provide, You Decide.” ^©

PS: for a flashback to Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy and his ties to MHVille, see the report below. No one covers the manufactured home industry like MHProNews. No one. Thanks to all who have helped to make and keep that statement true.  Some examples of historically timely plus current events articles follow.