When investment and consolidation accelerates and interest in our industry rises, as we've reported in recent days, you can bet they are for sound business reasons that should make manufactured housing professionals smile. When MH Pros sound off to an Ivy League institution, asking them to update their flawed online definition of manufactured homes, you can bet that is a sign of manufactured housing's professional pride rising too.
Let's touch quickly on the Princeton/WordNet issue, #1 below, before moving on in #2 to some hot news, trends and developments in our segment of modern factory built housing.
1) The "Ivy League" name is generally applied to eight prestigious universities – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale – listed in alphabetical order. MHProNews discovered recently that Princeton's WordNet is often the top definition that appears on Google, as shown below.
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Let me say that we wrote wordnet@princeton.edu about this and got no reply. Then when we brought this arguably flawed and prejudicial "definition" to the Industry's attention. It sparked a series of emails to Princeton's WordNet, all calling for corrections. We are told other efforts are taking place on this subject off the grid.
Please see the Industry Voices blog for 5 published examples of emails sent to wordnet@princeton.edu – then take a minute and add your voice to that of the others until their error is corrected! The link above will give you a wide variety of ideas you can borrow from or write your own. When you write wordnet@princeton.edu please CC me in your message, latonyk@gmail.com, thank you.
We are also published a compilation of these fine letters on our public-focused MHLivingNews.com site, entitled Princeton's WordNet Insults 23 Million Americans. Let me encourage you to share that link with anyone that is not in our industry, or with home owners and customers. As often noted, we strive to keep the professional audience here on MHProNews.com separated from the 'public' audience at MHLivingNews.com, your help in that is valued.
We will keep you posted on developments on this wordnet@princeton.edu topic.
2) Anyone who is truly familiar with our industry knows that we have tens of thousands of owners, executives, managers plus rank and file professionals who don't quit.
We've weathered some amazing storms, in part because we offer what UMH CEO Sam Landy has correctly said:
"People need quality housing at a reasonable price. We provide that. We provide a better product than apartments, townhouses, condo’s and single family homes for our customers. Apartment rents have been increasing. Single family home buyers now need down payments once again.
Given these changes…our sales will be far higher than today’s paltry 50,000 units and may even exceed the old records of three or four hundred thousand shipments per year." (The full, exclusive Sam Landy interview is linked here.)
There are a variety of dynamics in play that are benefiting our Industry and can fuel the kind of growth Mr. Landy expressed. No surprise that Sam Landy's interview is drawing MHPros by the thousands along with numerous investors eyes too, with record pace readership currently indicated on MHProNews.
Many market forces and dynamic factors lead on Thursday April 11 to UMH experiencing:
An opening of their stock at 10.83, hit 11.24 before closing at 11.20, a gain of +2.94% which put it at the top of our Daily Business News tracked stocks for manufactured housing industry gains. Volume in shares traded Thursday was 182,649, well above the three months average of 41,743. Earnings growth last year was -21.43%, versus earnings growth this year of +218.18%. Revenue last year was $50.9 million. P/E ratio of 101.8; Market Cap of $190.7 million; and a dividend yield of 6.43%.
In a word, impressive.
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But so to is our industry, and clearly more investors are beginning to see that reality!
More examples of heated recent activity in our industry include, but aren't limited to:
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The resident owned communities world is getting a push in MA from the Ford Foundation, and perhaps no coincidence, ROC USA closed on another property too.
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In another scoop, the turn-out at MHI's annual Congress and Expo is headed toward recent record territory, as a source close to MHI tells us that the shakeup in the speaker's line up and overall good industry news are factors contributing to the increase attendance expected next week at the Paris Hotel's convention center in Las Vegas.
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All of these above follows on the heels of increased attendance and performance at the recent Louisville Manufactured Housing Show and the Tunica Manufactured Housing Show. The momentum and optimism in those those two trade shows can't be understated in their impact on the 'rising tide' of manufactured housing.
MH Communities and Manufacturing
The big moves in the MH Communities world are going to have an impact on the manufacturing side.
When Yes!, NorthStar, UMH and others are investing in numerous acquisitions of MHCommunities, it is a safe bet that orders for new manufactured homes to fill vacant sites in land lease communities they purchased can't be far behind. We are also getting improving reports from MH Retailers in many parts of the country.
The above ought not to be taken a mere cheer leading or euphoria. No one here is saying that our industry isn't without challenges, we report on those routinely too.
But there is a growing realization that the future for our industry looks brighter than it has in years. A look at our last 5 Industry in Focus Reports module spells out many reasons why we can and should continue to grow in the years ahead.
Improving Results at Your Location(s)
Let me close by saying that our industry can turn the corner at the local level, at your location. You can do what some others are beginning to do, which is tie into an image building effort we launched – that you can access free – at your retail center or community. See this link for details.
Finally for this weekend, on a different but related topic, if you are going to MHI's Congress and Expo, I hope you will join dozens of other Industry pros who will be getting a first hand look at my presentation, Attracting More Customers with Cash or Good Credit, ver 2.1. You can see the feedback we received on that subject from recent attendees at the link above. I'm told some movers and shakers plan to be at the presentation, but none will be more important than YOU being there! Please come, say hi and tell me what you think.
Let's touch base mid week, when I'll likely have a BRIEF report from Las Vegas, as my dance card next week is pretty booked! Until next time, All the Best. #
PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for April and see the
other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.
L. A. "Tony" Kovach
MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle
MHProNews.com = MHMSM.com = Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use
Services:B2BandB2CAds, Proven MH Marketing & Sales Systems, Websites other Industry Solutions.
Office –815-270-0500
latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach= connect with me on Linkedin.
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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. – Henry Ford
