First, the good news. Then, we’ll follow the good news up with what’s problematic. This will be systematic: quotes, facts, and eye-opening insights. “People live better when they have less financial stress,” Lindsey Bostick said. “They can do more of what they really want to do with their lives when they pay less for their home.” She explained that, “I …

Rent control is a hot topic in the U.S. as well as in Canada. It is an issue for those in apartments or other forms of rental housing, as well as numbers living in manufactured home land lease communities. The CBC News video below spells out the challenge in multifamily housing, north of the border. It will help tee up …

What follows below is a letter to the editor of MHLivingNews from a community resident-leader. It is worth mentioning that this person has lived and owned in conventional housing before moving into a manufactured home in a land-lease community. He loves his manufactured home, as he has said on his own blog. He enjoys the community, neighbors, and lifestyle. But …

There is no date on the article, but it appeared in a Google search on a topic that is relevant to the manufactured home industry and its current doldrums. Based upon its contents, it would appear to be less than 2 years old.   The reason that this a good look at this article is important to current owners of …

“Credit is the lifeblood of housing.” – Eric Belsky, then with Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.   “Pay more attention to what people do than what they say.” – Marty Lavin, JD, prior finance and GSE consultant, manufactured home lending, years of experience in manufactured home retail and land lease. Lavin is a Manufactured Housing Instiute (MHI) award winner …

“Follow the Money.” – a maxim used by journalists and investigators.   “Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight.” – axiomatic expression used by numerous authors.   ‘One should separate wheat from chaff.’ – Per Dictionary, to separate wheat from chaff means sort the valuable from the worthless, as in ‘I hope we’ll get a preview of …

Imagine for the new few minutes that you are a detective trying to solve a mystery. Detectives look for clues and examine evidence. Investigators ought to be objective. Like a doctor seeking the cause for an ailment, there are tests, results, facts, and reason that should to be the drivers for solving any puzzle.   Investigators ask questions, such as …

Foreward.  Susan M. Wachter, writing as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said, “Most new homes in the United States are site-built to State and local codes, but an increasing number are “manufactured homes,” designed and constructed to meet the requirements of the preemptive Federal Manufactured Home Construction and …

Preface. Mistakes happen. People can learn from them, or not. Mature adults should ideally not allow themselves to be defined by errors – because everyone has their share of mistakes and ignorance. Rather, people of all ages and backgrounds are better defined by their behavior after an error has been uncovered.   How is a mistake addressed? Is it swept …

“We as an independent manufactured home producer’s association have often worked successfully with resident groups, on issues of mutual interest. We don’t deal with community related issues directly. I believe that people of good will may agree or disagree on details, and still have mutual respect. Let me express my sincere condolences to those touched by the loss of Ed …

A recent Washington Post (WP, the Post, or WaPo) report about a recent protest made it clear that manufactured housing is an important part of the solution to the growing affordable housing crisis in the USA. Here is part of what the WP report said. “The average price of a “stick-built” home in January was $382,700, according to the Census …

Affordable housing is an issue from coast-to-coast, border to border – and in islands like the state of Hawaii too.  There are efforts under way to bring more modern manufactured homes to Hawaii, because their affordable housing crisis is so acute.   But as often happens, improper terminology and inaccurate information has crept into their discussion.  That matters in all …

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey much of the Texas coast – especially the Houston area – has seen billions of dollars in destruction. Much of the damage is from debris flying through Category 4 winds, plus the excessive flooding after the storm dropped an estimated 19 trillion gallons of water on the state. While many homes and buildings were …

A new report issued by Pew Research documents a trend that millions are all too familiar with. Namely, that renting households are up in the U.S.  What the report doesn’t do is point out the solution that’s hiding in plain sight. The solution and videos below follow a quick look at the troubling facts and trends that Pew documented. Pew …

“We recently did an audit of where we stand year over year, and we are up at a rate about double that of the industry’s growth,” said Stan Posey, sales manager at Sunshine Homes. “2016 was up about double the growth rate of the industry at large over 2015. So, the home buying market is responding positively to the residential …