We as an industry have the superior solution, and while we’re collectively growing nicely, manufactured housing is still just a fraction of its former production levels.
ICYMI (in case you missed it), that relatively low level of production is both a threat and an opportunity in disguise.
Reality Checks
Divisions have always been a part of America. From the days of the colonists – or even before them when the native tribes who traveled the great mountains, rivers and plains of Asia, crossed the straights from what today is Russia into Alaska, and then fanned out across what would become America – divisions have existed.
Manufactured housing, modular and prefab systems-building is no different. Divisions exist. It’s part of being human, we lack perfection, we find ourselves at odds with others; by choice, accident or coincidence.
organization, and is used here under Fair Use guidelines.
How do we make what divides us into something that nurtures and becomes our strength?
Insanity
Blind eyes won’t do it. What won’t fix divisions or help those fissures to strengthen us is to practice denial or insanity.
We’ve all heard or said that the popular definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things in the same ways, and yet expect a different result.
Let’s be honest. Yet at various times, haven’t MH Pros done just that…right? We have all traveled that rut time and again, on issue after issue.
Be it your face or mine in the mirror, we ought to admit that what was once a grove has at times lead to bring stuck in a rut. That rut has become a trap which slows our progress, or keeps us from going higher and faster. That rut may even mimic an open ended grave.
Illusions…
Being years into our industry’s recovery from the bottom of 2009 is good, but it also has its threats. For those of us who survived or now seemingly thrive in America 2016, that self-congratulatory pat on the back for surviving should not lead us to a false sense of success.
We can and must do better. There are too many threats that could still limit or even crush manufactured housing. Don’t believe it? Just ask a coal miner, or someone who once worked for a giant operation like Kodak or Montgomery Wards.
Bad Media? Good Reporting?
There are often more than two sides to a story, so that thin edge of the coin can become an important insight.
When one fails to properly share each side of a tale, that story is lacking. When the realities are twisted, that report then morphs into a kind of ghost story or fairy tale.
What is “Good Media?”
Good media does more than the basics of – who, what, when, where and why – of Journalism.
Good media reveals the tensions! Good media reflects what is real, and may hint at or spell out the possible resolutions!
Tensions. Accountability. Reality checks. Good story telling. Resolutions. Each and all are needed to advance.
Skills, insights and resources like yours and your operation are needed to complete a picture.
That insight then requires expertise. It requires objectively. It requires a willingness to dig in by each of those who are touched.
Until we shine the proper light on what’s right, and yet don’t avoid what’s wrong, we have not hit the right balance.
We should make you feel hopeful and good, while challenging you too. If we have never stepped on a toe, odds are you or we or both missed something.
Revealing tensions and reflecting various perspectives well is important.
The blind can only grope their way ahead.
Those blinded by habit, hubris or any of the weaknesses that divides humanity are stuck at the speed of groping.
The jet fuel that could power us ahead is to take the limiting dark and/or rose colored glasses off.
We must believe that we can do it, so a kind of positive attitude is necessary.
But we must also be real. Denying the cliffs along the roads we all travel is as bad as being paralyzed by fear.
Balance and tension alike makes for good journalism.
By being true first to each other, we can then as trade journalists better engage the mainstream media, the public, officials and policy types.
Showing reality, and then dealing with it – that is what makes us stronger.
Manufactured housing is a superior solution. Other forms of factory building each have their vital roles too.
Industry Voices, Real News, Thoughtful Interviews and Reports
We bring you Superior September 2016’s featured articles and reports, each of which includes industry voices like those you know. People like those you work with, or who are and have been walking in shoes like yours.
We can’t fix the world in a single story, issue or report. America’s story isn’t finished, neither is the story of MH.
But day by day, shining hopeful light on issues that matter – on issues which either hold us back or are moving us ahead – these are how we make manufactured and other forms of industrialized housing great in America.
We are in this industry are the future, we must believe that to be true. We must jump or navigate each hurdle, until we arrive at a point that we have the respect and the rewards which comes from doing it right.
With no further adieu, we bring you with the sincere thanks to all who make this and every issue happen, the Superior September 2016 featured articles and reports. MHProNews – “Industry News, Tips and Views Pros can Use.” ©
Another 2016 Manufactured Housing Legal Update – Where Business & Law Intersect
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Marc Lifeset, JD
McGlinchey Stafford is proud to provide the Manufactured Housing Update to the manufactured housing industry.
Comparing Mid-America Apartment Communities vs. Sun Communities, Head-to-Head Analysis
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
By Joe Dyton
CML News recently took a deep dive into a head-to-head comparison between Memphis, TN-based Mid-America Communities, Inc. (NYSE: MAA) and Southfield, MI-based Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE: SUI).
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Joe Dyton
Affordable housing options are becoming less plentiful around the country, but according to Urban Institute researchers, there are ways to sidestep what has become an outright crisis.
Management Group Increases Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS)
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Frank Griffin
Schroder Investment Management Group acquired an additional $2,017,000 worth of Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) shares for the quarter ending July 30th, 2016.
Read more…
Say No Socialist Driven Economy, Praise for Revolution PreFab Homes
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Jay Hamilton
Tony, I have no plans to vote for a Socialism Driven Economy.
Carlyle Group (CG) Urged To Invest Multi-Billion$ In “Dry Powder,” says Bloomberg’s Tan
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
The Carlyle Group (CG) is reportedly one of the top 100 largest manufactured home community operators in the U.S.. Its big hedge fund business is said to be heading for the exit, according to SeekingAlpha and Bidness.
UMH Properties Closes on 2 Manufactured Home Communities, more Closings Pending
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
Freehold NJ based UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE: UMH) announced that it has closed on the acquisition of two communities located in Ohio for a total purchase price of $2,954,000.
Man Shot in “Trailer Park” (sic) says ABC TV’s Marla Carter, MH Pros React
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
Tragedy and violence occurs in neighborhoods across America.
MHC Pro/Owner – “Highly Conflicted” over Manufactured Home Community Closures
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Marty Lavin, JD
Tony, I am highly conflicted by the closing and eviction of the El Portal MH community.
MH Community Owner’s Reaction to Baytown, TX “trashy mobile home park” story
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Richard Nodel
I become incensed when I see examples of the absolute worse type of landlord.
Zoning, Opening up Urban Infill and Making Sure Citizens who want Manufactured Homes are Heard
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Ed Schafer
For the last three or four years, the South Carolina association’s focus is to move beyond killing bad zoning proposals and working to reopen areas that have been closed to manufactured homes for many years.
Discrimination, Zoning and Disparate Impact on Manufactured Homes, Owners, Prospects
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
by Mark Weiss
The discriminatory exclusion of manufactured homes by local governments is a major problem for the industry and consumers.
Business Impact – Left, Right Agree – President Obama’s mark is on powerful U.S. Appeals Courts
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
Elizabeth Wydra is the president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, which Wikipedia describes as a conservative judicial group.
Cavco’s Joe Stegmayer, Directors Insider Trades – & CVCO Portfolio Holder Updates
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
Cavco Industries director Jack Hanna has filed a Form 4, according to a report byStreetInsider, see that as a download, linked here.
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by L. A. “Tony” Kovach
Controversy about the proposed U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) standards for manufactured housing has followed the flurry of commentary from various special-interest and non-profit groups, covered by recent news media reports.
Demand for Manufactured Homes in Louisiana Flood Zone Rising, Factories Gear Up for FEMA, Residents
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach
For two days, rain tortured the heart of bayou country, dumping 24 inches in less than 48 hours on southern Louisiana, says a report in the DigitalJournal.
Discrimination, Injustice against manufactured housing – a Call for Action by Industry Professionals
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by Todd Lamb
Tony, I agree with the Daily Business News article and the comments from other manufactured home industry professionals regarding Councilman David McCartney in Baytown.
HUD Code Manufactured Housing, “The Discrimination Code”
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by Marty Lavin, JD
Tony, you are so right on the HUD Code has become a deadly “discrimination code,” especially as it applies to manufactured home financing.
A Cup of Coffee with… Otis Orsburn, Hybrid Prefab Homes
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
1) Who, What and Where: (Your name and your formal title at Hybrid Prefab Homes and where your organization is based).
My name is Otis Orsburn, President of Hybrid Prefab Homes based in Santa Rosa, California.
A Cup of Coffee with…Mark Weiss, President & CEO of MHARR (Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform)
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
1) Who, What and Where: (Your name and your formal title at Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) and where your organization is based).
Mark Weiss, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR).
Responding to Negative News About a trashy Baytown “Mobile Home Park”
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by Karl Radde
Stories like this are the kind of thing that generally helps cast such a negative light on our industry.
The Importance and Value of Independent MH Trade Publications
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
by Tim Williams
MHProNews.com and MHLivingNews.com are both good communications resources for the Manufactured Housing Industry.
Building A Good Reputation Is Hard!
by Wayne Coakley
Well, maybe not so hard. Surprisingly, building a good reputation is pretty easy if you built your business around trust from the get-go.
AMHA Announces 3 New Videos Designed to Promote Manufactured Housing, Dispel Myths
by J. D. Harper
The Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association (AMHA) has completed a series of short videos aimed at addressing and dispelling myths, misconceptions and stereotypes about today’s manufactured housing.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION
by Tim Connor, CSP
I am sure you have heard, or maybe even used the term, SH _ T Happens: well how about – Happiness Happens?
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION
by Zig Ziglar
The typical American believes that those men and women who fill the pulpits in the churches work a few hours on the weekend and probably spend some time visiting, preparing and counseling during the week. In short, they have it pretty easy.
