Manufactured housing has an incredible story to tell, almost unbelievable, but evidence based and true. The tale of the evolution from trailer house to mobile home to manufactured housing to modern manufactured homes is worthy of several books or screenplays. The press release below tells part of that story through the lens of the latest evidence that mobile and manufactured homes are appreciating in dozens of states more rapidly than conventional housing. How is it that this evidence-based true story isn’t being told louder and prouder by those in our profession who have deep pockets? Kevin Clayton of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) owned Clayton Homes readily admitted to Congress on behalf of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) that thousands of independent retailers were lost in the timeframe that tragically followed the entry of Berkshire directly into the manufactured housing industry. Despite antitrust, RICO, and other possibly breached laws, Tim Williams with Berkshire Hathaway owned 21st Mortgage issued an apparently paltering letter contradicted in key parts by fellow Berkshire unit leader Kevin Clayton, Chairman Warren Buffett, and other later developed evidence and facts. Like an ill wind out of season, thousands of manufactured home retailers were swiftly lost. As a result, hundreds of factories owned by dozens of brands closed. Is it any surprise that upsetting the industry’s business model wreaked with retailers that once filled vacant home sites for thousands of independently owned manufactured home communities often suffered financial losses from their norms too? Clayton pointed out to Congress that hundreds of those of employees had their jobs lost. In a different setting, Clayton frankly said on video camera that they planned to make it hard on their competition by deploying “the moat” that Buffett preached. Against that diverse yet factual backdrop, the next phase of something new in 2022 occurred at 6 AM ET via an EIN press release.
The press release via EIN is linked here.
The EIN release is related to the report linked below.
“The summer wind came blowing in from across the sea…”
…that wind apparently blew in somewhat unexpectedly, crooned old blue eyes.
Surely, Frank Sinatra knew the trade winds are always blowing? Do the winds of change and unrest portend a fact- and evidence-driven storm watch for the Omaha-Knoxville-Arlington axis and their allies?
While the layout is different in the illustrated EIN release than what follows, the main text and primary content are the same. Each has its own unique value. Each will be viewed by others, and some will doubtlessly read both.
The next segment of this report will be followed by additional MHProNews information, some related analysis and commentary, linked topical questions put to Berkshire unit leadership, MHI, their attorneys.
LendingTree “Mobile Home Values Are Rising Faster Than Single-Family” Homes-Why Manufactured Homes Appreciate/Depreciate
January 10, 2022, 11:00 GMT
Realtor’s Jeanette Settembre, and LendingTree senior economist Jacob Channel are among third-party research reports that reveal manufactured homes appreciate.
POINCIANA, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, January 10, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Millions believe mobile and manufactured homes ‘depreciate’ – true or untrue? New and previous research reveals a surprising answer. It’s both. Factory-built or manufactured housing increases or decreases in value for similar reasons as conventional single-family housing. LendingTree research by senior economic analysist Jacob Channel indicates throughout much of the U.S., mobile and manufactured housing appreciation has been at a greater pace than conventional housing. During a widely proclaimed affordable housing crisis, the findings are compelling because a new manufactured home may be roughly half the construction cost of single-family housing. Because of the federal construction and consumer safeguards built into the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA), those buying a HUD-regulated manufactured home enjoy similar or greater protection than the purchasers of more costly conventional housing.
It is not a given that a mobile or manufactured home will go up in value. For those who recall the housing and financial crisis of 2008, know it isn’t a given that conventional single-family housing, condos, or townhouses appreciate. The good news is that experience and research from multiple sources reveal the causes of appreciation or depreciation. Some factors can be influenced by homeowners.
A new report on Manufactured Home Living News (MHLivingNews.com) provides the facts and evidence for affordable housing consumers, media, public officials, and researchers to consider. Beyond those insights?
Even if depreciation occurs, it isn’t necessarily bad news. Citing a 2008 article: “In short, depreciation in manufactured homes are neither inevitable nor is it necessarily a tragedy if it does occur. What’s needed are the facts and a good plan. With the right information, you can make a housing decision or investment that will yield a host of potential benefits, from lifestyle advantages to financial ones, less stress and beyond.”
Jeanette Settembre for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said “Millennials Eye the Mobile Home Market Amid Record-High Housing Prices.” Settembre and Channel incorrectly use the term “mobile home” as if it is the same as a manufactured home, a common error, but still mistaken. Standards for older mobile homes are not the same as the manufactured homes built after June 15, 1976. The illustration shown reflects visual distinctions between trailer houses, mobile homes, and manufactured homes.
Channel’s LendingTree research included the following quoted toplines, part of the broader report linked here. Additional study information on a state-by-state basis is also provided on MHLivingNews.
Key findings
• Nationally, the median value of a mobile home is $53,300, nearly $190,000 less than the median value of a single-family home. Although they’re worth considerably less, the median value of mobile homes increased by 39% from 2014 to 2019, 6 percentage points more than the 33% increase in the median value of single-family homes in the same period.
• Mobile homes cost the least in Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio. Across these states, the median value of a mobile home is less than $25,000. To put that into perspective, the median value of a single-family home in these states is more than $150,000.
• Mobile homes cost the most in Washington, Oregon and California. Washington is the only state where the median value of a mobile home is higher than $100,000 ($125,400), though Oregon and California are also relatively pricey with median values of $93,500 and $91,400, respectively. Regardless, mobile homes in these states are still considerably less expensive than single-family homes.
• The difference in price between a mobile and single-family home is the largest in California, Massachusetts and Colorado. In these three states, median-priced mobile homes cost $477,100, $343,300 and $337,800 less than median-priced single-family homes. On the other end of the spectrum, the differences in median prices in Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia and Oklahoma are less than $90,000.
• The median value of mobile homes rose most significantly over the five years in Nevada, Oregon and California. In these states, median mobile home values increased by an average of 96% from 2014 to 2019. This increase is almost twice as much as the average appreciation of 50% seen in the median value of single-family homes in the same three states.
• Though the median value of mobile homes increased from 2014 to 2019 in nearly every state, it fell in Delaware and Kansas. Respectively, median mobile home values fell by 11% and 7% in each state, while single-family home values increased by 14% and 24%.
One of several eye-opening revelations could stun millions. Channel’s research, while the most up-to-date, isn’t ‘new.’ Several 21st century studies documented manufactured housing appreciation. That includes research cited by HUD, FHFA, the Urban Institute, other nonprofits, and universities. Several are cited and linked from the MHLivingNews article.
Why hasn’t the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) published or promoted LendingTree’s research? During an affordable housing crisis, isn’t it commonsense for MHI to make such facts widely known?
A controversial member of MHI – one accused by his residents of “predatory” behavior, Frank Rolfe – has previously ripped the trade group for failing to tell good news as well as missing the opportunities to properly address problematic reporting.
“Negative articles on the industry are met with “no comment” [by MHI],” said Rolfe. Positive news opportunities are met with “no comment.” I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Tim Williams, former MHI Chairman and the current president and CEO of 21st Mortgage Corporation said: “there are good arguments that we [MHI] should respond to every story, refute every [problematic] statistic, and make our case to the public.” That reasonable statement was to MHProNews. That same message from Williams announced MHI would hire a public relations professional. But years later, Rolfe’s comments appear as valid now as previously.
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) and two former MHI affiliates called for a new post-production trade group because of what Neal Haney called “a lack of effective representation at the national level.” MHARR and MHI have both said that the MHIA provides “enhanced preemption” for manufactured housing over local zoning. Controversies are explored and linked. ##
Contact
L. A. “Tony” Kovach
MHProNews.com/MHLivingNews.com
+1 832-689-1729
email us here
More From This Source
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In 1000 words, plus illustrations, captions, headlines and related, MHProNews/MHLivingNews has provided a snapshot of manufactured housing reality via an EIN media release and posts on our own websites. MHI reportedly has millions in reserve. They spend millions of dollars every year. MHI has a website. Why hasn’t MHI embarked on a robust campaign to educate the media, millions of affordable housing seekers, advocates, public officials and others as MHProNews/MHLivingNews is doing?
What is MHI’s media relations person and their other key staff members doing with their time and budgets?
A range of questions were posed to MHI leaders recently, see that and related in the report linked below.
Additional Information, More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
The system is rigged. There is no aspect of manufactured housing that hasn’t been disturbed by the moat-builders in manufactured housing. Transporters, installers, suppliers, attorneys and other professional services, employees of all types have in various forms and fashions had their lives impacted. Many if not most may not have understood what was occurring. Numbers are not doubt still confused by competing talk.
Consumers have been impacted too. since it has been demonstrated time and again that manufactured homes can and are appreciating, isn’t it apparent that the rate of appreciation could be higher if more and better lending was made available?
That’s not mere speculation. It’s housing economics 101. The Urban Institute, with clear years of clear ties to lifetime trustee Warren Buffett has said as much.
The Moat of Truth, Justice, and the American Way
If Berkshire Hathaway’s Buffett and his henchmen boast of their arguably illicit if not illegal “moat,” perhaps it is time for everyday Americans to ponder what their lawful moat might be?
An attorney in Tennessee exposed to the evidence linked here about now former MHI chairman and Clayton Homes General Counsel Tom Hodges said in part: “Mr. Kovach: In response to your question” … “this matter appears to be…appropriately addressed by elected officials and/or the U.S. Department of Justice.”
That same attorney said that the “Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9 Section 32.9 allows the Board of Professional Responsibility to report evidence of a crime to law enforcement.”
What happens next there is yet to be determined. Failure for those formally advised to act might appear to be cronyism or worse with arguably its own legal risks. Meanwhile, acting would doubtlessly stir up a legal firestorm involving manufactured housing. The choice faced by attorneys exposed to the truth is not an easy one.
Be it sooner or later, there are winds of change blowing in the U.S. Millions are reportedly being aroused by the failures of the system. They are seeking accountability and positive changes. Who says?
The Association for Mature American Citizens (AMAC) published a new report that claims an epic realignment is underway. “2021: The Year the “Great Realignment” Became a Death Spiral for…” That report named the party, facts and evidence in support of their headline’s bold claim. Note, AMAC reportedly has some 2 million members. Their agenda is member-driven, states their leadership.
It’s regrettable that the system skews in favor of the financial elite who routinely have good connections with public officials and regulators. But Justice has finally come to another prior – if fleeting – paper billionaire. Several of the powerful have fallen in the 21st century.
Facts. Evidence. Reasonable analysis based on facts, evidence, and the law. Persistence. Prayer. Prudential political engagement. These are the possible paths to breaching the moat-builders man eating amphibians’ treacherous waters. ##
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need to wait years for legislation that in the past has often led to little or no discernable benefit. https://www.wnd.com/2021/05/solution-big-tech-oligarchs/
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By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
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