“Yes, Virginia, there is a stocking under the tree for top manufactured housing retailers!” Place your cursor on the image to see the caption The recent national PEAK Retailer’s Summit in Chicago demonstrated that successful manufactured housing retailers are to be found in every region of the nation, …
One of the advantages of publishing an electronic trade journal like www.MHMSM.com (aka www.MHProNews.com) is that over time, you built a list of experts as go-to resources on key topics. Some experts are writing columns for us monthly or periodically. Some you can see on my LinkedIn profile, but other experts and professionals are entirely …
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Cavco Community Series Manufactured Home displayed at the International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix, AZ
Elephants in the Room and Manufactured Housing
Warning: This blog post is not for the faint of heart or for those who think they can skim and get it all. As an Industry Pro, directly or indirectly, this impacts YOU every day.
In a recent conversation with George F. Allen, I mentioned a discussion topic that Finmark’s Dick Ernst and I shared in preparation for our INdustry in Focus interview with Dick about manufactured home financing. During that conversation, Mr. Ernst used the memorable phrase, “elephants in the room.” Specifically, we spoke about the challenges that lenders and home owners face when resale time comes. “That’s the elephant in the room, Tony, that we as an industry need to deal with.” was the gist of Dick’s revealing statement.
We are seeing signs of an uptick in Industry home shipments, as reported by the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) in recent months. What is the potential of the Manufactured Housing Industry today? What are the factors holding back the sales of manufactured homes? Let us take a brief survey of this timely and important topic. …
All about Manufactured Home Financing Updates!
This will be a lengthy report, so let’s do a quick executive summary of the points to be covered:
1. FHFA Comments follow up.
2. Congressman Walter Jones review
3. MHI Summer Meeting Report on the Washington, D.C. Finance Meeting with Gov’t Officials and Industry Players
Storm Clouds Gathering over MHCC
A letter came to my attention that was circulated via email. The letter which follows my introduction here addresses the growing concern over HUD’s ‘handling’ of the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, or MHCC. The MHCC is a critical body from the Industry’s perspective. The MHCC exists to protect the interests of both the Industry and the public, while providing safeguards for all concerned. If you are in the Industry, the MHCC is important to you!
Practical Politics: Pickup the Phone!
Last week, Don Westphal sent us an Industry Voices Guest Blog post on the topic of HR 5019. The bill past the House and is now headed on to the Senate for action.
I personally picked up the phone and my watch. It took me a total of 3 minutes to call the Capitol Switchboard’s number at (202) 224-3121, get the phone number to my representative here in IL, then call his office’s number and ask for my congressman to vote for HR 5019. They took my name and address. Painless! No apathy! No fear!
The Golden Egg
Marketing is all about:
* Standing out from the crowd,
* Setting yourself apart from the rest,
* Attracting positive attention and
* Bringing a stream of good prospects to your sales professional(s).
Running the Path
We are all on a professional journey. We all have our ‘professional path’ that we run daily. There are things we do that are important, and to borrow from the Franklin-Covey method for a moment, there are things that we do that are less important. Okay, if we are honest, some of what we do is just a waste of time.
What is important for a professional in our business is to stay informed about the manufactured housing industry and our place in it. We should know some of the names, some of the ‘movers and shakers’ and the issues. If we do, we are arguably better off for it, because we can better plan our own professional efforts.
