Superficially, manufactured housing is an easy to understand product, service, and industry. It costs far more to build a house on site – so-called ‘stick building’ – then it does to build one in a factory and was permanently installed on a buyers preferred home site. It costs more to build apartments than it does a manufactured home community. The …
Read More »Senator Tina Smith Urges Republican, Democratic Senators to Provide Greater Financing Access to Affordable Manufactured Homes
In a letter dated June 6, 2019 obtained by MHLivingNews, Senator Tina Smith (MN-D) wrote Senators Mike Crapo (ID-R) and Sherrod Brown (OH-D) to urge greater support for lending on affordable housing, particularly naming manufactured homes. Senator Crapo is the chairman and Senator Brown is the ranking member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Smith is …
Read More »Goodbye Trailer Houses and Mobile Homes – Happy 43rd Anniversary, HUD Code Manufactured Homes
We’ve done several serious reports in the last year or so that look deeper behind the often dark curtain to understand why manufactured homes – along with the mobile homes and trailer houses that preceded them – are so misunderstood. Today will be a bit different. 43 years ago, today is the official “birth” of HUD Code manufactured homes. …
Read More »“We as a Nation Can Solve the Affordable Housing Crisis,” Says Secretary Ben Carson, Spotlighting Manufactured Homes, Other Emerging Housing Technologies
“Let’s make sure people understand what’s available,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson about affordable housing, as he spotlighted manufactured homes as a key part of the Innovations in Housing display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. “You can get one of these manufactured houses, for instance, for 30 percent less, and they are very, very resilient. Because that …
Read More »Oklahoma Tornado Kills – Sobering, Surprising Fact Check – Mobile Homes, Manufactured Homes, Commercial Buildings, Conventional Housing, Twisters, and Death
Every year, there are hundreds of tornadoes in the United States. Several dozen people in all kinds of housing die as a result of those storms annually. There are statistical indications that more die in ‘mobile and manufactured homes.’ But is there more to that claim then meets the eye? An on-the-record statement by a National Weather Service (NWS) expert …
Read More »MarketWatch says Amazon Selling New Homes for Under $20,000, Don’t Buy One Before Reading This
First, let’s make it clear that there are all kinds of reasonable and good housing options. This publication is broad-minded about all safe, legal, and legitimate housing options. That said, Amazon has made headlines recently with some of their kit homes. What are those? Kit housing has been around for about a century that we know about, because the …
Read More »HUD Secretary Ben Carson Speech on Manufactured Homes, “Manufactured Housing…Active Ingredient…Medication…for a Stronger America.”
The text that follows has one edit, Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) Joe Stegmayer’s name was misspelled, and we’ve edited in links to other reports that we’ve published that HUD Secretary Carson’s comments confirmed. Those links have an * at the end of that hotlink. Otherwise, the text is as shown. Manufactured Home Living News (MHLivingNews) will follow this up with …
Read More »Ultimate Reporters, Researchers, Affordable Housing Advocates, or Shoppers 3’rd Party Research Reports on Mobile Homes, Manufactured Homes, and Modular Housing
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 …
Read More »Manufactured Housing – Greener Savings by Design – Earth Day Opportunities Missed?
While not all media outlets acknowledge the debate in the same way, there is a dispute about the effect on climate from so-called greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as to how much that may impact the climate in possibly harmful ways. That said, where there is strong consensus is that energy efficiency, clean air, and clean water simply makes good …
Read More »Mortgage Prison – What Australian Housing, John Oliver Can Teach Americans – Correcting Corruption, Incompetence with Classy Affordable Manufactured Homes
The executive summary of this article could read something like this. Accurate housing or other fact checks are useful. Pulling back the curtain on popular reports, to see what’s not stated, can be beneficial too. When affordable housing shoppers hear about reports like the ones posted or linked below, its wise to step back to look anew at what the …
Read More »Why is Seattle Dying? Affordable Housing, Misplaced Compassion, and Manufactured Homes
In just over three weeks, this video below entitled “Seattle is Dying” by KOMO, a local ABC TV affiliate there, has broken 2.1 million views. It is an hour-long and compelling documentary that ends with hope based upon some promising solutions. But it first lays out one troubling fact and example after another. Misplaced compassion is part of their …
Read More »Festivals of Light – Hanukkah and Advent in Manufactured Home Land – a.k.a – MHVille
In the windows of some manufactured homes and other dwellings, there will be a menorah visible tonight. In manufactured home communities from coast-to-coast, you’ll find Christmas lights on homes, which perhaps are more properly called Advent lights before December 25th, and Christmas lights on and after that date. Some places and communities will even have holiday decorations and …
Read More »Giving Thanks for Mobile Homes, Manufactured Homes, Classic “Mobile Home Parks” and Manufactured Home Communities
Americans overwhelmingly want a place that they can call “home.” The adage, “Home is where the heart is,” captures part of that deeply felt desire. The saying, “a man’s home is his castle” may sound dated to some, but is a wonderful reminder that home ownership represents security, pride, and independence. The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) has frankly mishandled several …
Read More »Manufactured Homes Could Help Solve the Affordable Housing Crisis, So, Why Aren’t More Manufactured Homes Being Sold?
People generally don’t buy something that they don’t understand, misunderstand, have concerns about, aren’t motivated to have, or are otherwise unable to buy. Until understanding, interest, desire, opportunity, need, and the means to buy all come together, no purchase is made. There are more details. But in a nutshell, those two sentences above sum up the answer to the headline …
Read More »Achieving the American Dream, with Quality, Appealing, Affordable Home Ownership
Holidays and memorials exist for many reasons. Reflection and recreation are among them. The 4th of July is known as Independence Day in the USA. Why? What does it mean to be independent? What did America’s founders want to be free from? These are worthy questions for reflection and discussion on any day, including holidays. Political, and economic freedom …
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