Featured Articles and Reports for Vol. 3, No. 6, 2012
Alphabetically by Category
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
• Oh, Poo(l)
by Nadeen Green
I know that many of you in the manufactured housing industry do not have swimming pool in your land lease community, but for those of you who have taken that plunge, here is a quick head's up so that you can keep your head above water in the deep end of that swimming pool. And swimming pools are exactly the topic for this post. How does this relate to legal and fair housing? Read on, you'll see.
• Content Area of Guidelines for Living: Termination of Residency to Weather Shelters, and Creating Win-Wins
by Chrissy Jackson
In our last column, we covered Manufactured Home Community “Guidelines for Living” topics ranging from Security and Protection through Storage. This month, we cover topics from Termination of Residency to Weather Shelters, and creating win-wins, so let's get started!
• Replacing Roundtables
For over twenty years, the Roundtables have informed and made networking and deal making a reality. It is no secret that their founder is retiring. So the questions are many, like what's next? What direction(s) should MHC aficionados of the Roundtables go? Who will provide the community focused meeting and organizing service?
FINANCING
• What is the latest on SAFE ACT, DODD-FRANK, CFPB (Consumer Finance Protection Bureau) and as an MHC owner, should I care?
It has been over three years now since the passage of the SAFE Act federally which mandated that states pass similar legislation meeting the minimum standards outlined by the federal legislation. States were given one year to draft and pass their legislation. All states did pass legislation but several were notified by HUD (Housing and Urban Development) that their legislation did not meet the minimum standards or provided more latitude or exemptions than were provided in the federal law and as a result the states had to amend or change their laws accordingly. It is extremely important to note that the federal law established the minimum standards and a few states incorporated more stringent standards such as requiring lenders to have a physical presence in their states. Lenders and state regulators are still sorting out these issues.
• Major MH Lender Offering Refinancing For Its Own Customers Without Appraisal Requirement: A Sweet Deal
The “R” word. Refinancing. Something you don’t hear discussed very often in MH finance circles for many reasons.
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
• Open Office or Not?
by Joe Geller
IT/WebTech for MHProNews.com
Having software on your desktop that allows you to prepare documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and optionally work with databases, is considered fundamental to achieve your goals in many areas of office, sales, marketing and advertising work.
• Really?!? You did That?!? Top 10 Dumb Management Ideas for Manufactured Home Retailers
by Kurt Kelly, JD
For those who can't make it to the Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa, this article will hit some highlights from one or the two live presentation I will be doing there on this business protecting theme.
• The Kodak Moment Fades
Some of us held or used a Brownie or Kodak Instamatic camera. We remember that used to be high tech. Some today have a Kodak digital camera; but the adaptation of Kodak to the economic, competitive and regulatory landscape came too late. The Kodak moment has faded.
MARKETING
• The Battle Against Stereotypes is won one fight at a time: Be a Warrior!
by Chris Nicely
We have all encountered the problem of negative perceptual issues related to manufactured housing, let's look at the situation and a solution.
• Glowing Rectangles
by Jeff Templeton
My wife likes to say that I'm addicted to glowing rectangles. When I'm working, I'm staring at my computer screen, researching companies, sending emails, reading MHProNews; at home, I'm on my tablet checking email, reading the news, searching the web, or buying stuff online. When we're out I'm on my smartphone doing more of the same. Maybe she's right. Maybe I am addicted to glowing rectangles.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION
• Life’s Vital Ingredients
by Tim Connor, CSP
Think about it – what’s really important in life to feel content, peaceful, fulfilled and valued?
• The Change Order
Some construction terms that are familiar to us as builders include words like site plan, foundation detail, utility drops, load points, lighting and ventilation calculations, etc. There is also one process during construction that must be carefully administered – the “Change Order.” During construction, it is common that a client will want to integrate a design feature that was not originally considered during the planning process. This change is handled through a Change Order which documents the details of the change and identifies any cost considerations.
• ZigOn Overcoming The Odds
His name is Gabriel Hjertstedt (YERT-stet) and he participated in the 1998 Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. His route to the Masters was one no Hollywood writer could have created. It's not that he's not a good golfer, because he won last year's B.C. Open, but what makes his story so unusual is that he's had difficulties very few people would be able to overcome.
SALES
• Successful selling – isn’t telling – but asking
by Tim Connor, CSP
Why is it that few salespeople get it? That effective selling isn’t about spewing out a plethora of information, personal opinions and prejudices and telling people what they need to buy and why and when and even how – from beginning to end.
• Successfully Advancing Manufactured Housing Sales: Systems, Discipline and the KYPs
Successfully advancing results in any profession involves systems and discipline. Success is rarely an accident, it comes from having proven systems that are adapted over time and the discipline to follow them. There are systems for building a car, a computer or a cell phone.
post by
L. A. “Tony” Kovach, MHM
www.MHProNews.com
www.MHMarketingSalesManagement.com or www.MHMSM.com
Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals
Office – 815-270-0500
latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
