"It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees." – Zapata

“As the industry winds down, cornfields which became MHCs, will revert to cornfields. I predicted that years ago. How hard is it to understand that if one goes from 350,000 shipments to 50,000 annual shipments, rampant vacancy will be the MHC normal condition, making many communities unneeded and unprofitable.”

“Tie in theobsolesce of the many MHCs built during the heyday of Trailerville, 1969-1975, and the death of the 2.5 million homes delivered during that era, being scrapped, and what other result can occur but a long term slide in the numbers of MHC. It is as inevitable as the sun rising daily. Sad, but true.” – MARTIN V. (Marty) LAVIN, JD

Before diving into my commentary on Marty Lavin's statement above, published with Marty's expressed permission, based upon his past statements, its fair to say that he'd state that our industry's biggest players and others will survive and can even thrive. Let me also say Marty's owned MHCs for years, and is a respected expert in the realms of MH financing. Think of Marty's message as a klaxon, an alarm, a call to act instead of waiting for the train to hit you.

Routine readers here know that we don't raise problems without offering potential solutions or calls to action! It is never about crying 'doom and gloom' at MHProNews or here on the Masthead blog. Contrast Marty's comments with UMH CEO Sam Landy's upbeat statements, later below.

Solutions, there are some.

Bridge over Troubled Waters

Denying reality is like running into a brick wall and hoping it doesn't hurt you. Bad move.

Denying the waters are rising is like that humoursly insightful story of the man who is waiting for God to rescue him, but the man turns away the police, the rescue boat and the helicopter pilot, all of whom could have saved him before he drowned.

Bad move.

Personally, my hope is that industry pros like you and your peers make the decision and take the steps to reverse the trends of challenges, in common sense ways.

Stating the Obvious brings clarity to an issue

Bridges are liberating! Bridges free people on both sides of the banks of the waters they cross, saving time and fueling more commerce and money.

Okay, the Director Richard Cordray and the CFPB have blown it for us, we are not alone, we need to press on many fronts.

• Some is legislative, HR 1779 and S 1828.
• Some may involve legal actions, perhaps like is outlined in the very popular read, Writ of Mandaums.
• All that is fine, we support those or any other common sense efforts that bring sound financing to the market place, or to anything that breaks the shackles of regulatory chains that are harming manufactured home ownes, potential consumers and industry businesses alike.
• That said, We must Escape Up!

We believe manufactured homes – properly installed and celebrated – are a key to making the dream of home ownership true for millions more than the 20-22 million souls living in our homes today.

With 20 million new homes needed by 2030, we believe we can return to shipment levels beyond the 250,000 trendline for about the last 20 years. We could hit double that number annually or more. We should not abandon the entry level market, but we should escape up and capture more of the credit worthy buyers and those who can pay cash for our homes.

We've prepared for years for this day. The bridge over troubled waters  solutions will be outlined in a powerful free seminar at the Louisville Show on Wednesday January 22^nd at 11:10 AM. Many agree that the Industry must learn to reach up to the prospects with better credit or who can pay cash.

The national average credit score is 692, per the information supplied by Experian credit rating service shown in the chart above. But when I talk to retailers and communities – many tell me they usually see clients in the 500's to low 600 range, or even less.

> 58% of Americans have a credit score above 700.

> About 15% of Americans have a credit score under 550

The credit challenged customers just come our way. That requires no work. Learning how to attract and sell those customers with cash or good credit is what the system we will introduce at Louisville is all about.

By the way, I started using CRM about 15 years ago. We believe in it, but we don't offer CRM services, still we DO recommend that as one of the tools for selling more customers. Scott Stroud with Builder Radio and Jason Brady with ManufacturedHomes.com will give a 25 minute overview into the latest tools and trends in CRM use to enhance your sales and improve your marketing ROI.

1) There are 'free,' low cost and solid ROI ways to attract and close more home sales from cash or credit worthy customers. We will outline those opportunities that are working TODAY for operations much like yours during my 50 minute show-sanctioned-session at the KEC Louisville.

2) Most of our industry top MH Lenders will be present to showcase their products and services available TODAY. All of these are must attend sessions, see link above.

3) If you are an MHC, you will also want to tap into the MHC Lessons Learned panel discussion. See this article by Rick Rand for more details. FYI, our A Cup of Coffee with…Rick Rand is a red-hot read this month. Please do check it and share it with others if you haven't already.

The truth is that we have to stop being the 'best kept secret' in affordable housing. We must learn to reach up and attract more credit worthy buyers. We are doing it with others, successfully, today. You can too.

Or you can wait and see what happens as loans that were made last year don't get made this year. Ouch.

Please, be proactive for the sake of your future and that of our industry. Some will make it, perhaps many will! But we must make positive changes for that to happen. No change, no progress. In fact, no change will mean going backwards.

Unlike Zapata, there is no gun in my hands, but don't let that fool you! We are part of a steadily growing movement that is on our feet, geared to change manufactured housing for good. That's what 2.2 million visits and 18.66 million page views – from an industry of some 100,000 pros – did here in 2013 on MHProNews.com. The facts, per Webilize on traffic trends on our site.

So we aren't talking theories. We walk the walk daily! We aren't just thinkers, we are DOERs like you.

Speaking of change, please do check out the new features on our MHProNews.com home page. Your feedback is appreciated.

Yes, there is a bridge over troubled waters, and it involves a 5 letter word. "Change!"

Sam Landy at UMH is a forward thinker with big goals on their corporate radar. His operation is one of those who are not letting regulatory, image or other challenges stop them! They've doubled in size since 2009. Sam gave us his written okay to share some quotes from a training session that we provided for his team last September.

“Tony,
Great job!
My father says when sales double, occupancy hits 95 percent and the stock triples the world will say we got lucky!
As you know it will be hard work not luck that does it.”

– Sam Landy

Sam Landy with a fine straw hat in hand leading the Open Spaces Parade in Freehold, NJ

“Tony
I am in the airport on my way to MHI, I appreciate your training session with our team I have heard so many positive comments about your presentation I love the way you stay so positive and stay so excited about what you do it is contagious you have my team motivated. I heard about your visit to our model home that was such a great success we educated people to our industry that had never seen our homes…Thanks again for a great presentation.”

– Chris Lindsey

“In addition, I wanted to thank Tony for all the articles and marketing ideas on his web site. They are extremely insightful and full of great ideas. Thanks Tony!”

– Bob VanSchuyver

You too can be motivated to achieve more, do more, sell more and profit more in 2014. In spite of the troubled waters, there are owners, executives and pros who are bound and determined to make 2014 an even better year than 2013! You can too.

We hope to see many of you in person at the Louisville Show. We will be at booth #115, please stop by and get a free handout that can connect you with tips and tools to drive more business. ##

L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com | MHProNews.com |
Business and Public Marketing & Ads: B2B | B2C
Websites, Contract Marketing & Sales Training, Consulting, Speaking:

MHC-MD.com | LATonyKovach.com | Office 863-213-4090

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