Information sharing in the manufactured housing industry is getting better all the time.  With the use of the Internet and email we can now distribute information with the click of a mouse.  One of the newsletters I receive is Marty Lavin’s “Marty’s News & Notes”.  Click here to read July's newsletter.  Marty does a great job telling it like he sees it.  In the latest issue (Volume 6 Issue 7) Marty talks about customer satisfaction, FEMA, shipments, the MHI summer meeting and more.  I strongly suggest you email Marty and become a regular recipient.  It’s informative and it’s free.
 
SHIPMENTS.  MHI is reporting in their latest Economic Report, comparing June 2005 with 2006 that June shipments were up in 11 states, down in 31 states and flat in 7 states year-over-year.  Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas and Montana lead the up states.  In the Pacific Northwest Idaho was up 12.3%, Washington up 12.2%, Oregon was essentially unchanged.  Rhode Island, Colorado, New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas and Florida lead the down states.  Utah is down 25%, Nevada is down 17%, California is down 16% and Arizona is down 10%.  Year-to-date shipments are up 1.7% compared to the same period last year when you include FEMA shipments.  Over that period, single-section homes are up 22.6% and multi-section homes are down 4.7%.  If you exclude FEMA orders from these year-to-date numbers most agree that shipments are approximately 4% below 2005.
 
The post-Katrina rebuilding and recovery continues to result in increased shipments of HUD-coded homes in the affected areas.  Outside of this area there were a few positive results in the West and in a handful of other areas throughout the nation, but shipment declines’ in major HUD-Code states like California and Florida continue to reduce national shipments totals.  In June, site-built single-family housing starts declined 14% from the same month in 2005.  The largest drop-off in activity occurred in the Northeast where starts were down 38%, year-over-year.  Sales of new and existing homes also were down sharply in June as inventories became bloated. 
 
NEWS AND COMMENTARY.  As new manufactured home shipments continue to decline talk of a sweeping industry makeover is gaining momentum.  It seems like I have been in several meetings lately where the talk turns to customer satisfaction and the holes in our antiquated marketing, advertising, sales, financing, and delivery and distribution process.  Think about it --- we tell consumers that we’ve never built a better product and it’s “just like or better than stick built, only less expensive” but few retailers offer the consumer a truly turn-key finished home.  How many MH retailers can you walk into with a pocket full of money and in-turn get a home, land and improvements, completely finished and ready for move-in with little effort beyond choosing your décor preferences and some customization (windows, fixtures, appliances etc.).  Not very many.  For that matter, how many retailers are also land developers and regularly own a supply of land they’re in the process of developing for their future home buyers?  Can you imagine how few homes Centex, DR Horton, Pulte or others would sell if, before they built you a home you, the buyer, had to go find the land, clear the land, improve the land, obtain permits, draw up plans, coordinate installation of the utilities, prepare everything for the delivery of the home and in some cases arrange for financing?   And then once the home was “built” you had to deal with various other subcontractors in getting the place finished?  Could we possibly make it any harder for someone to buy a manufactured home and end up satisfied with their buying decision?  However, I can provide specific examples where MH land-lease community owners are placing new, completely finished and landscaped NEW manufactured homes in their communities in Oregon or Washington and getting quick sales at top-dollar.  It’s what the consumer wants!
 
Look for your leaders in the Pacific Northwest to lead the need for change.  Real, meaningful change.

MANUFACTURED HOUSING COMMUNITY NEWS.  Today, August 14, the City of Lynnwood, Washington will consider an amendment to their Comprehensive Plan to provide a new designation for a Mobile Home Park Zone, which if passed could result in existing parks being involuntarily rezoned to this new mobile home park zone that prohibits the owner from redeveloping the property and using the property for anything other than a mobile home park.  Many community owners have written letters objecting to this amendment and several will be on hand to testify.  In Portland, communities continue to close to make way for new development.  Tonight a public meeting is being held to discuss the closing of three communities in the upscale Portland suburb of Beaverton, Oregon.  These communities are directly across the street from the Nike World Headquarters campus.  Click here to read in part the article in a local newspaper.

POLITICALLY SPEAKING, many members of the trade association Manufactured Housing Communities of Oregon were stunned to learn that one of their own board members and a former MHCO President decided to run against Oregon House Speaker Karen Minnis --- a friend of the manufactured home industry in Oregon and someone community owners have tirelessly supported through their MHCO-Political Action Committee.  Representative Minnis is one of the most powerful people at the Capitol and many MHCO members have volunteered to help her canvas her district or have hosted fundraisers for her re-election.  The Oregon Manufactured Housing Association has also been a strong advocate of Speaker Minnis.  Not only is she an experienced leader but she understands our issues and knows our business.  Nevertheless, the linked article was published in The Oregonian Newspaper last week.

If you are a community owner, operator, lender or property manager you shouldn’t miss George Allen’s 15th Annual International Networking Roundtable, held during National Land-lease Community Week on September 13-15 at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.  This meeting attracts the “who’s who” of manufactured home land-lease communities and the agenda is packed with interactive workshops and fantastic discussions filled with useful information.  Meet and network with the most influential people in your industry and make valuable contacts.  I attended my first INR last year and met people from all over the country that I now correspond with regularly.  I won’t miss another International Networking Roundtable.  For more information contact George Allen at 877-MFD-HSNG (633-4764) or email gallenh@manufactured-housing.net.  His mailing address is GFA Management, PO Box 47024, Indianapolis, IN 46247.

Make plans to join your colleagues for the 70th MHI Annual Meeting in Tucson, October 29-31, 2006, at the Marriott Starr Pass. With the meeting just around the corner, you’ll want to begin planning for your participation right away. This meeting includes a National Community Council Issues Forum.  Visit the MHI Web site for meeting information and online registration. If you have questions, contact Megan O’Kane at 703-558-0663 or mokane@mfghome.org.  Make your hotel reservations at the JW Marriott Starr Pass and take advantage of the reserved block of rooms for all MHI attendees. The cut off date for these rooms at the special MHI rate of $179 per night + tax is September 29, 2006. Reservations can be made online through the MHI Web site or by calling 888-527-8989. Be sure to mention the MHI Annual Meeting when making your reservations. When making online reservations, the special MHI group code (mhimhia) will automatically appear in the Special Rates section. If you select another promotion or discount option, the MHI code will disappear and you will need to re-enter the code to receive the special MHI rate.

Greg Harmon - President
Commonwealth Real Estate Services
E-mail: greg@cwres.com
Telephone 503.244.2300 Ext. 101