Manufactured Homes and Modular Homes Blog

HR 3849 Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act

derrick — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:09:52 +0000

HR 3849 protects against the loss of some 20,000-25,000 jobs, promotes new jobs as a
modest industry rebound is underway and protects the home values of some 9-10 million
residents of 4.4 million pre-HUD Code mobile and manufactured homes. In brief,
here below are some facts and why this bill is needed.
First, this bill has bi-partisan support.
Further, Barney Frank’s office has advised the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI)
that he will not oppose changes to SAFE and Dodd-Frank, as they recognize that the
unintended consequences of the law currently will adversely impact millions of home
owners and cause about about half of all new personal property lending to vanish.
60% of all Manufactured Housing loans today are personal property (home only, or socalled
‘chattel’ loans). The cost of originating and servicing a personal property loans is
about the same for a $30,000 home loan as a $230,000 house loan. So it is clear that
the business math means that a low dollar value loans will not be economically viable
for a lender – and thus won’t be made – once Dodd-Frank is fully implemented by the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
This means current home owners with low value homes will watch their home’s value
plunge, and/or will limit their resale options should they need or desire to refinance,
move or sell.
Since every new manufactured home built represents one full time job, the failure to
pass the bill will cost 20,000 to 25,000 jobs, and will hamper manufactured housing’s
current recovery, which is creating new jobs.
Testimony before Congress has underscored these points, that perhaps half of all personal
property loans will vanish once Dodd-Frank and SAFE are fully implemented.
This means that 4.4 million mobile homes (defined here as a style of factory built homes
constructed on or before June 14, 1976 that are shipped on a permanently attached
frame) and manufactured homes (defined under federal law as factory-built homes built
to the federal HUD Code that went into effect on June 15, 1976) with a value under
$30,000 will be adversely impacted.
The vast majority of those millions of threatened home owners don’t yet know of the
looming impact, but should Congress fail to act, they will no doubt discover this reality
that hard way.
Thus the need for Congress to act as rapidly as possible to avoid the above consequences
is necessary. Thank you for your support of this bi-partisan effort.

SOURCE: Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/downloads/alerts/4.8.2012%20HR%203849%20Preserving%20Access%20to%20Manufactured%20Housing%20Act.pdf

We are looking for link exchange partners!

derrick — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:52:58 +0000

Some benefits of link exchanges:

Value: The “cost per click” on most search engines is increasing. As more and more websites vie for the traffic directed by pay-per-click website, the cost to the advertiser will raise. On the other hand reciprocal links from other website, in most instances cost you nothing except the time to submit your URL and other details.

Reliability: Reciprocal links continue to drive traffic for as long as the links exists. It’s true that you can not expect the same results as from the major search engines, but then again, there are no ongoing costs.

Search Result Enhancement: As long as there are free search engines, many of them will reward you for being “popular”. This popularity is often measured in the number of links that are directed to your website, and to a lesser extent to the number of links going out of your site, a commonly overlooked fact. Search engine results and website listing placement tends to improve dramatically for sites that implement good link exchange practices.

True Network Effect: Reciprocal links are a widely-distributed source of traffic. They are not reliant upon a single point of control, as are many other sources of traffic, like search engines. Links represent a “fail-safe” network. They are protected from the ever-changing criteria and consolidation of the free search engines, and they are sheltered from the competitive attacks that is now taking place with the pay-per-click bidding wars.

Publicity: The very act of asking for the link from another site is equivalent to an industry-specific press release, but the payoff here can be long term. You never know what will come your way from making your market aware, especially if your product is new or unique. In fact, in promoting your website you may well also be promoting your product. A legitimate request to another website to sway or exchange links is the ONLY way to properly engage in email website promotion, without “spamming”.

Branding: The more links you have, the greater the “branding” effect for your name. This broad awareness can improve the click-through-ratio for your links. At the least, it makes surfers curious as to why your site name seems to show up everywhere.

Traffic Driver: A well-structured links page can actually be used to bring people back to your site. As well as being a vehicle for website promotion it can also be a valuable resource to your visitors, and they will come back to it again and again.

Links to other sites is not a net traffic drain. This line of thinking is simply flawed, for a variety of reasons. The benefits of linking far outweigh the occasional click out of your site by people who are ready to leave. A well-designed links page opens all of the outgoing links in a new browser window, leaving your site open on the user’s machine.

Minimal Oversight: Unlike pay-per-click search engines and banner ads, links take only limited management time once they are in place. This is the opposite of pay-per-click, because when you are spending money for each click, you need to constantly stay on top of both your bids and your volume. That is a hidden but very real cost of pay-per-click banners and ads. To assist you in managing your links, our site offers GI Link Manager, free for the downloading.

Asset Value: Reciprocal links are assets of the business. Like the bricks of a house, a few don’t amount to much, but pile them up, and you have a rock-solid foundation and structure. They can also greatly enhance the equity value of a website.

Interested in becoming a link exchange partner with us? Contact me for more information: derrick@manufacturedhomesource.com

Why Build a Factory-Built Home?

derrick — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:54:02 +0000

The factory system combines engineering know-how and factory production methods to design and build efficiently and with greater quality control. When done properly, the efficiency results in lower costs and the quality control results in a better product.

Building a factory-built home will normally save you time compared with building a conventional site-built house. Saving time on construction not only saves money, it also reduces the stress involved in home building. The faster you build your home, the sooner you will be able to enjoy it and dispense with the worries and preoccupations of construction.

Manufacturers of prefab homes are usually able to build new house plans more affordably than custom stick builders, for the same kinds of reasons that automobile manufacturers are able to build a new car for far less than a mechanic could build the same car in his garage. They include:

*Volume purchases of materials, which allows modular manufacturers to secure significant discounts.

*Lower labor costs: Experienced factory workers are well paid, with good benefits, but they do not command the wages paid to professional carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and painters.

*Assembly-line efficiencies: Organizing the construction process with inventory controls, power tools and equipment, and quality-control systems enables the factory crews to produce a home with greater efficiency than a handful of construction workers building in the field.

*Less material loss: Inclement weather does not damage the materials.

*Less pilferage and vandalism: Factories are easier to secure than building sites.

*Less waste: By working with standardized dimensions, modular manufacturers are better able to make optimal use of materials and avoid waste.

When a manufacturer is building without a backlog, it can deliver a house five weeks after the customer has finalized the plans and obtained a building permit and financing. The general contractor begins the site work and completes the foundation while the manufacturer is building the house. If the house is small, uncomplicated, requires little on-site construction, and the GC is not too busy, it will be completed in about three weeks. Adding these two time frames together, a prospective homeowner can plan to move into the house eight weeks after finalizing the preliminary steps.

These are just some of the advantages enjoyed by factory-built home owners. Check back with us, as we will blog about other advantages in the future.

ADVANTAGES OF MANUFACTURED HOUSING

derrick — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:32:47 +0000

In the face of today’s challenging economy, the need for quality, affordable housing has never been greater. Today’s manufactured homes can deliver outstanding quality and performance at prices ranging from 10 to 35 percent less per square foot than conventional site-built homes. These savings allow more and more americans to own their own home, even in the face of an ever-widening housing affordability gap.

The affordability of manufactured housing can be attributed directly to the efficiencies emanating from the factory-building process. The controlled construction environment and assembly-line techniques remove many of the problems encountered during traditional home construction, such as poor weather, theft, vandalism, damage to building products and materials, and unskilled labor. factory employees are trained and managed more effectively and efficiently than the system of contracted labor employed by the site-built home construction industry.

Much like other assembly-line operations, manufactured homes benefit from the economies of scale resulting from purchasing large quantities of materials, products and appliances. manufactured home builders are able to negotiate substantial savings on many components used in building a home, with these savings passed on directly to the homebuyer.

Today’s manufactured homes have experienced a major evolution in the types and quality of homes being offered to buyers. Technological advances are allowing manufactured home builders to offer a much wider variety of architectural styles and exterior finishes that will suit most any buyer’s dreams, all the while allowing the home to blend in seamlessly into most any neighborhood. Two-story and single-family attached homes are but two of the new styles being generated by factory-built innovation. as a result, today’s manufactured homes are offering real housing options for the neglected suburban and urban buyers.

At the same time, greater flexibility in the construction process allows for each home to be customized to meet a buyer’s lifestyle and needs. Interior features now include such features as vaulted ceilings and working fireplaces to state-of-the-art kitchens and baths, giving the homebuyer all the features found in traditional, site-built homes. enhanced energy efficiency in manufactured homes, achieved with upgraded levels of insulation and more efficient heating and cooling systems, provide another source of savings for homeowners, especially in this era of rising energy costs. smart buyers are turning to EnergyStar-labeled manufactured homes for substantial savings in many aspects of owning and operating home.

Technological advances, evolutionary designs, and a focus on delivering quality homes that families can afford are the driving forces within the manufactured housing industry. That’s why more people are turning to manufactured housing to deliver homes that fit their needs and wants, at prices they can afford!

Cost-Effective:
Depending on the region of the country, construction cost per square foot for a new manufactured home averages 10 to 35 percent less than costs for a comparable site-built home.

Independent appraisal studies confirm that manufactured homes can appreciate in value just like other forms of housing.

Built for Quality:

All aspects of the construction process are controlled.

The weather does not interfere with construction and cause delays.

All technicians, craftsmen and assemblers work as a team and are professionally supervised.

Inventory is better controlled and materials are protected from theft and weather-related damage.

All construction materials, as well as interior finishes and appliances, are purchased in volume for additional savings.

Cost of interim construction financing is significantly reduced or eliminated.

All aspects of construction are continually inspected by aprofessionally trained third-party inspector.

Amenities:

Floor plans are available that range from basic to elaborate. These include vaulted or tray ceilings, fully-equipped kitchens, walk-in closets, and bathrooms with recessed tubs and whirlpools.

A variety of exterior siding is available, including metallic, vinyl, wood, or hardboard. In some cases, homebuyers can also opt for stucco exteriors.

Homes have pitched roofs with shingles and gabled ends.

Design features such as bay windows are available.

Awnings, patio covers, decks, site-built garages and permanent foundations often are available as upgrades.

The home can be customized to meet the needs of the consumer.

Safety:

The building materials in today’s manufactured home are the same as those used in site-built homes.

The homes are engineered for wind safety and energy efficiency based on the geographic region in which they are sold.

Manufactured homes are among the safest housing choices available today due to federal laws requiring smoke detectors, escape windows, and limited combustible materials around furnaces, water heaters and kitchen ranges.

Properly installed homes can withstand 120-130 mph 3-second gust winds in areas prone to hurricanes.

This information is courtesy of the Manufactured Housing Institute Quick Facts 2011

The Changing World of Online Lead Generation

derrick — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:18:46 +0000

This is the first installment in a new series from guest blogger Rick Winfield talking about the importance utilizing Social Media to expand your client base.

Back in the “good old days” (like, 2002), online lead generation was pretty straight forward. First you built a good, attractive website and a good landing/contact us page. You made sure they gave vistors just enough information about who you were to assure them that you might have what they are looking for so that they would choose to contact you. Then you sent traffic to them by buying pay per click ads on search engines like Google and Yahoo, sending out emails to targeted lists of potential customers, and attempting to get links from related sites that might attract vistors that would be interested in you. If you were really lucky with your linking and you did a little on page SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you might even start getting the highly coveted “organic” traffic (ie, free traffic) from the search engines as they “learned” that you had a high valued site.

In addition, you could join lead generation directories, sites that aggregated information about an industry that attracting highly targeted traffic and then pass visitors on to you. The secret was “casting a wide net,” making sure your company could be found anywhere that potential customers were looking.

However, companies quickly started learning this “secret” formula and the competition increased. In addition, the web has continued to evolve, new services have grown, and new ways of promoting yourself have poped up all over the place. Now, in 2012, it can be very confusing and overwhelming to develop a lead generation strategy. The good news is, the basics are still the same, you still want to “cast a wide net.” First, you need a good web site and good, attractive landing pages. Second, search engines are still a great source of traffic, even if there is more competition for that traffic these days. However, in addition, it’s time to start tackling “Social Media.” The big difference between the “old” way of doing things and social media is that social media is a 2 way interaction, it’s a conversation. A blog is a good place to start, as is a setting up a profile for yourself on Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn (and linking them all to your website). Contribute content to these regularly and you’ll be surprised how quickly the conversation picks up. Answer questions and post useful content that comes out of these conversations on your website.

In future posts in this series, we’ll explore more details about the various ways to use social media to support your lead generation efforts. If this all still seems daunting, the good news is there are experts out there waiting to help you. Working with a team like ManufacturedHomeSource.com (disclosure, I am an early investor in MHS) gives you access to a team that has spent years concentrating on lead generation in the Manufactured Housing Industry. Utilizing their experience and expertise you can quickly jump start your lead generation efforts!

Best of Luck!

Rick

Rick Winfield (www.rickwinfield.com/blog/) is an
accomplished Entrepreneur, Technologist, and Adventure Skier. He has been working with Internet start-ups since 1995 and founded several successful internet lead generation companies, including a lead generation incubator that helped start ManufacturedHomeSource.com. In addition, Rick has skied deep powder, steep couloirs, and/or big volcanoes on all seven continents.

Are your prospective homebuyers finding you on the Internet?

derrick — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:35:07 +0000

As I travel around the country educating organizations on how to fill their pipeline with prospective homebuyers and implementing a sound business process to make sure they take those prospective homebuyers through their home buying journey, it amazes me how many companies don’t have a comprehensive, targeted Internet marketing strategy to make sure their prospective homebuyers are finding them on the Internet. The objective of any marketing campaign is to attract qualified potential buyers to your company. A key component of this is to be where the qualified potential buyer is looking. With 87% of home buyers using the Internet in their home buying process (National Association of Realtors’ 2008 “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers”), it is imperative you have a comprehensive, targeted Internet marketing strategy to make sure you are where people are looking. While most of these organizations have websites, their websites are often lost in all the noise of the World Wide Web. I hear it all the time, “We have a website, we have the Internet covered”, and my very next question to them is, “where does your website come up on major search terms for our industry that will bring you prospective homebuyers in your market?” In most cases, the reality is they are not placed very high, prospective homebuyers are not finding them, and they are not reaching their entire market. In fact, they are losing sales to competitors who are and have a comprehensive, targeted Internet strategy. This article will first discuss how prospective homebuyers find you on the Internet and then discuss what your best and most economical strategy is to make sure you are capturing as much of your home buying market as possible.

So how do people find you on the Internet? Search engines, and there are many available for people to choose from. Google and Yahoo are the two biggest with Google comprising of 70% of the market and Yahoo 15%. Together they make up 85% of all searches done on the Internet. Once a prospective homebuyer enters a search engine such as Google, they are prompted to do a ‘keyword combination’ search for what they are looking for, for example “Manufactured Home Dealers”. When the search is entered, the search engines return any websites they identify as relevant for the keyword combination. Your goal is to come up as high on the search engine results as possible, ideally #1 and at the very least, front page exposure for any term that will attract a prospective homebuyer in your market. While in theory this seems easy, it can get complicated when you are a manufactured home dealer in Hammond, LA and a keyword combination search such as “Manufactured Home Dealers” can capture the interest of the prospective homebuyer who is interested in purchasing a home in Monroe, MI just as easily as the prospective homebuyer who is interested in purchasing a home in Hammond, LA. On top of that, when the keyword combination search “Manufactured Home Dealers” is conducted on Google, Google identifies over 340 million websites relevant to that keyword combination. Having your organization stand out over the 340 million other websites can be daunting, expensive, difficult, and time-consuming. In addition, there are no guarantees you will see results with any of your efforts as there are 340 million other websites trying to accomplish the same thing you are. It simply doesn’t make sense to spend the time, money, and effort to get to the top of searches that encompass your prospective homebuyer market yet expand way beyond it.

What is your best strategy to make sure you are capturing as much of your home buying market as possible? The most economical and useful way to fully market your organization on the Internet is to have your own website cover specific terms to your home buying market such as “Manufactured Home Dealers in Hammond, LA” or “Oak Creek Homes in Hammond, LA” and use an Internet listing service like ManufacturedHomeSource.com that already has an established presence on all the major search engines for factory-built housing terms including many of the broader terms like “Manufactured Home Dealers” or “Manufactured Home Communities”. This two pronged approach really allows you to spread as wide of a marketing net as possible while making the most of your marketing dollars. This is especially true when your only cost to use an Internet listing service such as ManufacturedHomeSource.com is when a prospective homebuyer contacts you that is interested in your homes/community.

Having a website is great, but if you don’t have a comprehensive, targeted Internet marketing strategy to make sure your prospective homebuyers are finding you on the Internet you are losing out on sales. By strategically optimizing your website to improve the way a search engine ranks your website in specific searches such as “Manufactured Home Dealers in Hammond, LA” or “Oak Creek Homes in Hammond, LA” and by using an Internet listing service that already has an established presence on all the major search engines for factory-built housing terms for the terms that include but expand beyond your prospective home buying market, your organization can capture as much of your prospective home buying market as possible while significantly improving the quality and quantity of your Internet leads.

Manufactured Home Source can help you make the most out of the Internet. Let’s talk…

What is a manufactured home?

derrick — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:38:39 +0000

Manufactured Homes are built entirely in a factory under the federal building code administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These homes are constructed to meet the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard Act of June 15, 1976. The federal standards regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code also sets performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. HUD is the only federally-regulated national building code. Each home or segment of a home is labeled with a red tag that is the manufacturer’s guarantee the home was built to conform to the HUD code. On-site additions, such as garages, decks and porches, often add to the attractiveness of manufactured homes and must be built to local, state or regional building codes.

Manufactured homes generally come in single or two-section units and their dimensions range from 8 feet or more wide and 40 feet or more long. Manufactured homes can be placed on a basement and include multiwides and expandable manufactured homes. Excluded are travel trailers, motor homes, and modular housing.

What are the top Manufactured and Mobile Home Manufacturers?

derrick — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:56:08 +0000

Manufactured Homes are built by a variety of manufacturers ranging from small, independent producers of highly customized modular homes to large publicly-traded manufactured home manufacturers.

Some of the largest manufactured home builders include:

•Champion Homes
•Fleetwood Manufactured Homes
•Clayton Homes
•Cavalier Homes
•Skyline Homes
•Palm Harbor Homes
•American Homestar
•Fairmont Homes
•Patriot Homes
•Horton Homes
•Southern Energy Homes
•Liberty Homes
•Cavco Homes
•Jacobsen Homes
•Manufactured Housing Enterprises

In addition there are many smaller manufacturers of homes ranging from compact park model homes to multi-story modular homes that would be at home in any neighborhood in the country. The list of manufactured home manufacturers is in flux as the industry goes through a period of consolidation; to find the home manufacturer that is right for you, take your time and research the wide variety of options available. Start by searching on Google and Yahoo! but also plan on visiting manufactured home retailers and factories and walking through a number of different models to find the factory-built home that is perfect for you!

What is a modular home? What is the difference between manufactured homes and a modular homes?

derrick — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:19:06 +0000

Modular homes are homes that are built in two or more sections in a controlled factory setting that are then transported and assembled at the building site. Modular homes are built to either local or state building codes as opposed to manufactured homes (sometimes still erroneously referred to as mobile homes) which are also built in a factory but are governed by a federal building code.

Modular homes can be completely customized to meet the home-buyers needs and tastes as well as to meet local building and zoning codes and to better withstand local issues such as hurricanes, earthquakes or snowload. Modern modular homes are built with the highest quality materials and construction. The benefits of building homes in a factory are similar to the benefits of building automobiles in a factory and can include:

•High degree of quality control
•Lack of exposure to the elements during construction
•Better control of inventory of materials including protection from theft and the effect of rain and snow
•Volume purchasing discount as well as more efficient use of materials
•Shorter time to move-in

The greater efficiency of building homes in a factory environment, rather than on-site, means that you, the home-buyer, can move into the home of your dreams at a significant savings and with a higher level of quality than you would if you were to choose a site-built home rather than a modular home.

Since they are built to local building codes, modular homes are treated the same as site-built homes with respect to zoning, financing, appraisal, and value appreciation.

What are the benefits of living in a manufactured home community?

derrick — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:52:16 +0000

There are many benefits to living in a modern manufactured home community ranging from lifestyle and social benefits to financial and tax benefits.

A major benefit of living in a modern manufactured home community comes from living in a modern manufactured home. Today’s manufactured homes offer the best value for the highest quality home on the market. Manufactured homes are durable, state-of-the art housing with custom features and options at prices you can afford. Modern manufactured homes are constructed from the same materials as most site-built homes but they are built in a quality-controlled, factory environment where the materials are never exposed to the elements. Sizes of homes can range from about 1000 square feet up to 3000 or more square feet. Today’s manufactured homes offer features once only available in more expensive homes such as stainless steel kitchens, woodburning fireplaces, spacious family rooms and studies, whirlpool baths, energystar-certification and universal design features for aging in place. Manufactured homes can offer all of the amenities and comforts found in a site-built home but often cost 20 to 35% less per square foot.

Additionally, manufactured home communities are well-planned, attractive and secure communities that are managed by professional community managers who keep them well-maintained, attractive and secure. Manufactured home communities provide a secure living situation; many have their own security services and neighborhood watch programs. There are a wide array of services and amenities available in manufactured home communities ranging from lawn maintenance, trash and snow removal to amenities like pools, clubhouses and playgrounds! There is a wide range of communities to choose from across the country. They can be found near shopping, schools and employment centers or near beach, lake and mountain resorts. Also active adult communities offer organized social activities, walking trails, fitness centers and even golf courses.

There are many financial and tax benefits to living in a land-lease manufactured home community. The homebuyer purchases the home only which makes initial out of pocket investment much lower. Lower monthly payments leave more money in your budget for other things. And, just like with site-built homes, the interest on a manufactured home loan is tax deductible in most cases.

With all of these benefits and more, manufactured home communities offer greater value for your dollar than you can find elsewhere.