One ought to wonder why the headline quote attributed by the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) to Warren Buffett is only found in some 6 Google searches? Why was it used in a Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) PowerPoint document presented to the National Rural Housing Conference, but apparently isn’t found on Clayton Homes, or MHI’s own website? Why is this quotation limited to a few sources that offer the MHI PowerPoint, two posts on MHProNews, and two on Mobile and Manufactured Home Living News (MHLivingNews)?

Part I – Related Facts, Insights, Analysis and Commentary 

Without the comma, “The government wants high quality low cost housing and manufactured housing provides that product.” – Warren Buffett – here is what Bing AI said on that search inquiry.

Warren Buffet is known for his investment in manufactured housing. In fact, he has said that “the government wants high quality low cost housing and manufactured housing provides that product.”¹² However, there are some criticisms of his investment in this industry. According to Forbes, Warren Buffett’s company Clayton Homes, the biggest mobile home manufacturer in the U.S., has continued to profit from high interest rate loans. The Oracle of Omaha has sold low-income Americans the dream of ownership for nearly 20 years, and his investment company Berkshire Hathaway makes money on the loans, since they own the company that Clayton urges its buyers to go through. Many of the people buying these homes are minorities and have helped to fuel Clayton’s $13.7 billion mortgage portfolio.¹

1. forbes.com 2. manufacturedhomepronews.com 3. housingwire.com 4. manufacturedhomepronews.com

At a minimum, MHI ought to have cited its source for that Buffett remark, shown below with another Buffett quotation, which were found in the presentation linked below.

 

 

https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ViaSlideshared2manufacturedhousing-jasonboehlert-mhi-121214135140-phpapp02.pdf

 

You can click the link above to download or open in a full-sized image.  Or you can use the SlideShare embed below to page their the MHI pitch at the time.

 

 

Flashback and Fast-Forward

Flashbacks are routinely necessary and useful. For example. Look at some of their statements from years gone by then compare them to more recent remarks. The MHI PowerPoint is entitled “Manufactured Housing: An Industry Overview.” It is fascinating in several respects. Esther Sullivan’s “Manufactured Insecurity” indicates that document was also presented to: “National Association of Counties Rural Housing Forum” – Western Interstate Region Conference, Santa Fe, NM on May 16, 2012.

Among the statements made in that presentation by then MHI Vice President Jason Boehlert? On page 21 are these points.

• 2,000 home sales centers
• 50,000 land‐lease communities

But note that MHI member Cavco Industries has claimed that there are about 4,000 retailers, see that further below. One difference between those data points may be that numbers of land-lease communities became sellers of manufactured homes. But neither MHI, nor Cavco Industries (CVCO) has responded to inquiries that seek to clarify that point.  One might think that is a “material” issue, especially since manufactured housing production has dropped sharply in 2023.

 

Analyst to Cavco-‘Why is Manufactured Home Industry Production So Weak?’ Paradox Develops-‘Lower Expectations’ ‘More Singles’ in Q1-2023 Cavco Industries Quarterly Facts, Trends+MHVille Analysis

 

Recall that MHI leaders have declined saying how many “street retail” sales centers there are in the U.S., as distinct from sales based in manufactured home communities (MHCs). A source with ties to MHI has verbally stated the number is about 1,000 (plus/minus) but they have declined to put that in writing, much less provide evidence to support that remark.

Why is the number of street retail centers not being stated openly and accurately? Could it be because there has been between 10,ooo to 20,000 manufactured housing retail centers lost since the late 1990s into the early 21st century?

 

Ken Corbin “the 10,000 Drop,” points to Industry Woe, Causes of Manufactured Housing’s 10 & 20 Year Collapse?

 

Some can, and arguably should, dispute the causes behind that 10,000 (+/-) location loss. But what absolutely should be known is how many such locations were lost? Was it over, 7,500 (but less than 10,000), as Kevin Clayton told Congress? Was Ken Corbin correct in saying it was 10,000? Was it more like 20,000 (+/-) lost retail sales centers, as has been asserted by others?

 

Why is it that MHI said then that the number of manufactured home communities (MHCs) was about 50,000, but in more recent years MHI have claimed it is about 43,000 MHCs?

Note: to expand this image to a larger or full size, see the instructions
below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

 

 

Why the Community Count and Number of Street Retail vs. Community Based Sales Centers Matters

When someone – perhaps investors, as an example – tries to determine what the potential of manufactured housing might be, the number of distribution centers obviously matters.  The two primary ‘channels’ for manufactured home sales are via street retails and land-lease communities. If the number of distribution centers is low, then that alone can be a cause for sales constraints.

To illustrate the point, a question about how many conventional builders yields numerous possible sources and answers. “How many businesses are there in the Home Builders industry in the US in 2023? There are 378,036 Home Builders businesses in the US as of 2023, an increase of 0.6% from 2022,” said IBISWorld on 1.10.2023.

In a matter of moments, a Google inquiry on the number of RV sales centers turned up the following information.

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 Economic Census, the nation’s 2,667 RV Dealers (NAICS 44121) generated $25.9 billion in sales in 2017 (the latest data available), up 81.5% from the $14.2 billion in sales in 2012.” That’s per a post on September 29, 2020. 

But this search inquiry – “how many manufactured home sales centers are there in the U.S.” – provided zero results to a parallel inquiry. Why is that so?

 

Note: to expand this image to a larger or full size, see the instructions
below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

 

Looking at the manufactured home community count question, that number should no longer be a matter of serious debate. If the feds did an actual and proper count, shouldn’t that settle it?

George “Mac” McCarthy, President and CEO of the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, made it plain that Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) research stated that there are some 50,393 land lease manufactured home communities (MHCs) in the U.S. That report linked below was posted on March 13, 2023.

 

McCarthy: ‘Missions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Help Preserve Affordable Housing-They’re Doing Exactly the Opposite’–Updated 2023 MH Communities Total, New Manufactured Housing Infographics

 

If researchers stumbled upon that MHI then-VP Jason Boehlert document, as occurred for MHProNews, and they compared the data then with the data now, might they have the same type of questions and concerns that MHProNews/MHLivingNews have raised? Namely, why has MHI been claiming that there are about 43,000 communities, instead of 50,000+? Or more specifically, citing FEMA and the Lincoln Institute’s McCarthy: “Yes, based on new FEMA data, there are 50,393 MHCs in the US.”

For that matter, based on the Bing AI and Google search above, it would appear that others in manufactured housing trade media haven’t mentioned this data point anomaly. Why not?

That noted, a document filed with the SEC indicates that Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) suggests that they were aware of that roughly 50,000 community count.

Here is the inquiry put to Bing AI by MHProNews.

“Did Equity LifeStyle Properties say in an SEC Filing that there are about 50,000 manufactured home communities in the U.S.?”

Yes, they did. According to their SEC Filing on August 3, 2023, they stated that “The manufactured housing industry consists of approximately 50,000 communities containing an estimated 8.6 million sites in the United States.”¹² You can find more information about their company and their properties on their website².

 

Patrick Waite is ELS Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Executive Vice President (EVP). Waite is currently the secretary on MHI Executive Committee.  ELS owns MHVillage, which in turn owns MHInsider. One might think that an accurate community count would be ‘material’ information from an SEC perspective.

 

Did the Late Sam Zell Overpay? Fresh Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), Manufactured Housing Institute New Document Insights – The Truth Hiding in Plain Sight, plus MHVille Stocks, REITs Update

 

But again, MHI is also apparently being used to spread misinformation.  It is odd how MHI in the Berkshire era appears to have often failed in giving reasonably accurate information about the industry that they claim to represent consistently. See the report linked below for specific examples.

 

Manufactured Housing Apology, Multi-Billion Manufactured Housing Institute Correction by MHI, Industry Reality Checks -What’s Hot Among MHVille Pros; plus MHMarkets Update

 

‘Broad-Based Housing Shortage Caused Rising Home Costs Including Manufactured Homes’ MMI ‘National Report on Manufactured Home Communities’ 2023 Facts-Analysis-Views -Contraction or Growth Ahead?

 

So, it isn’t just MHVillage, or MHInsider, but also MHI that are providing their trusting readers with inaccurate and/or inconsistent information. When MHI makes a correction, it apparently does so quietly and without alerting their readers of the change.

Because MHI puts a significant number of remarks and claims out via email, but then fails to post it on their own website. So, for a researcher looking into manufactured housing, if they were diligent enough, they may have to come to MHProNews to find out what MHI said on a subject on date X and what they have said since. In the case of the community count, this article has illustrated how there are several different claims made on that topic in the course of roughly a decade or so.

Boehlert said that community count was 50,000 to the rural housing conference attendees. Those remarks were used in that presentation with the Housing Assistance Council National Rural Housing Conference, Washington, DC on December 6, 2012. Put differently, MHI had a reasonably accurate number about a decade ago. How could they have erred so badly since then and for so long?

These are issues that raise legitimate legal concerns.

 

White Collar Crimes-Legal Tips, Research-National Manufactured Housing Federation–1000s of Retailers, Communities Lost–Roadmap to Solve MHIndustry Consumer, Independent Business Woes? MHMarkets Update

 

Certainly, the competence and/or sincerity of MHI should be called into question when MHI’s current CEO, Lesli Gooch, is compared to MHI’s prior female President and CEO, Gail Cardwell.

 

‘Floorplan Crisis’- Manufactured Housing Chattel Finance Battles – Barry McCabe Plug – Manufactured Housing Institute 21st Century Female President and CEO – Gail Cardwell – Industry Update on Financing; plus MHVille Stocks Update

 

When Skyline Champion (SKY) makes the move to invest well over $100 million dollars in a deal that will give them a captive finance operation, it should be one more cautionary flag, if not a red flag, for others in MHVille.

 

‘May Chill MH Market’ ‘Possible Danger’ in Finance per MHI Linked Sources – Skyline Champion-ECN Capital Announce Strategic Triad Deal – Facts and Analysis beyond PR; plus MHVille Markets Update

 

What this report illustrates is this. Several publicly traded MHI member firms have cited MHI ‘data’ in their remarks and documents to investors, as well as to industry stakeholders.  Given that MHI’s data is often either questionable and/or clearly contradicted by a range of presumably credible sources, that’s a concern. Some of those contradictions are provided, as the above reflects, from prior MHI documents.  Is this incompetence? Part of a strategy? What is this lack of consistently correct information to be attributed to is a reasonable question.

Additionally, like Warren Buffett or not, why has a potentially powerful quotable remark missing from MHI’s website today? Doesn’t anyone in authority at MHI understand marketing 101?

But it isn’t just MHI that needs to do some explaining. Why is manufactured housing significantly lower today in production than it was the year that Buffett-led Berkshire began to directly invest in manufactured housing? Why is Berkshire notably investing in conventional housing?

 

Warren Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway ’Fat Finger’ Other Exits and Buys Included Conventional Builders – Truth Hiding in Plain Sight Facts-Analysis, What to Know; plus MHVille Stock Updates

 

MHProNews asked:

Searching for: jason boehlert manufactured housing institute power point county

See the linked reports to learn more. ##

 

 

Part II. Daily Business News on MHProNews Markets and Headline News Segment

 

Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business – from the evening of 8.17.2023

• Drug price shakeup
• Blue Shield California ditches CVS for less expensive pharmacy options from Amazon and Mark Cuban
• Danny Meyer closes two restaurants in a New York hotel that was converted into a migrant shelter
• First on CNN: Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour could break $2 billion in North American ticket sales alone
• Hawaiian Electric stock plummets as lawsuits mount and talk of restructuring grows
• America’s richest 10% are responsible for 40% of its planet-heating pollution, new report finds
• Two brands suspend advertising on X after their ads appeared next to pro-Nazi content
• Mortgage rates soar to their highest level in 21 years
• Fears of predatory land grabs mount in the ashes of Maui, opening old wounds
• Pro-Wagner accounts keep showing up on Facebook and Instagram after Meta’s ban on the mercenary group, report shows
• This Vietnamese automaker is worth more than Ford and GM. But it hasn’t sold many cars
• Starbucks must pay another $2.7 million to employee who said she was fired for being White
• Aldi is buying 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets
• Trader Joe’s says it’s not adding self-checkout lines to its stores
• As gas prices hit 10-month highs, Citi warns major hurricanes could ‘massively’ disrupt supplies
• Walmart is up. Target is down. Here’s why
• Time is running out to file claims for Facebook’s $725 million data privacy settlement
• How China’s economic turmoil could hurt your portfolio
• Burger King follows McDonald’s in cutting tomatoes from its India menu
• Intel calls off $5.4 billion chip deal after failing to get regulatory approval
• The average 401(k) balance is up 39% in the past decade, Fidelity says
• Tesla cuts Model S and X prices by over 6% in China
• More than 1.5 million dehumidifiers recalled for fire and burn hazards
• Publisher of raided Kansas newspaper ‘vindicated’ by prosecutor’s decision to return seized items after backlash