In any profession, successful people do what the unsuccessful can’t, didn’t or won’t do. The successful see opportunities which those with more limited vision or who lack a given expertise might miss.
To inform and inspire, let’s look at a snapshot provided by the infographic that follows, and share some analysis.
The National Association of Realtors ® (NAR) graphic above could be broken down like this:
1) The median price for Existing Home Sales (EHS) is about three times that of what the U.S. Census Bureau says is the median price of a new manufactured home was in February 2015, $68,300. Even factoring in land cost, a manufactured home will come in at about half the cost. This dovetails with federal statistics and what former HUD Code manufactured housing program director, Bill Matchneer, said in this video interview linked here (Note: this is an updated version of this video).
2) The median price of a Condo (EHS figure, above) is roughly 4x the cost of a single section manufactured home. Note there are 600,000 condos being sold a year, based upon the timeframe of the NAR infographic. This points to a powerful market segment that savvy marketers of MH can and should tap into. Think about what this award winning, successful MH Retailer said on that subject, in the video linked here.
3) When you add in the million new single/multi-family housing starts reflected in the graphic above, plus the other facts found on more infographics linked here, you can see that manufactured housing has the potential for doing many times the sales levels we are currently experiencing.
MHI President and CEO Dick Jennison stated publically last January that the industry ought to be setting a goal of half a million shipments a year. We concur. That’s clearly attainable. It is equally clear that we have a long way to go. How can we get there? Is this a pipe dream?
There are retailers and communities which are experiencing the best results they’ve had in years, by following what ought to be common sense, proven steps. Please see that report linked here.
Our State of the Manufactured Housing Industry – news and reports – Summer 2015 (which can be accessed via the link here), are still be accessed in large numbers by industry pros, investors and those researching MH. Clearly, the facts linked above are drawing keen interest by tens of thousands.
All of these facts collectively should be a wake up call. MH can do better, which means that locations like those of a retailer or community near you can be much stronger too.
Trending MH News
The looming Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) mandated Appraisal Rule news is drawing tens of thousands of hits on the various articles on MHProNews. The rule is geared toward lenders, but because retailers and manufactured home communities will be dealing with customers getting these appraisals, it’s very important that front line pros understand these rules! Higher Price Mortgage Loans (HPML) are the ones impacted. Check out the articles by experts on our home page in the Featured Articles center module.
As a heads up, we expect 2 more expert articles on this topic in the next few days. Please watch for those, because the rule’s impact is only 8 days away! Its time to book up. Knowledge and preperation will quell the fears, as the expert articles coming soon should demonstrate.
Don’t let all of these federal rules get you down. It’s a pain, its not fun, and many argue it’s an unnecessary federal over-reach. Whatever, its here…we must deal with it.
For those willing to do what the success-minded do, there are opportunities all around us. Do what’s needed, target that broader market and the opportunities will flow.
There’s a lot going on. So please catch up again here in the middle of next week. ##
