“Home is where your story begins.” – Annie Danielson said.
“A home is a home,” Next Step’s President and CEO, Stacey Epperson states. “To call it anything else, is simply wrong.”
“Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.”
– Henry David Thoreau.
Thoreau was spot on. The home for you, may not be the same one for me. From those adults 18 to their 80s or beyond, housing is a necessity, just as is food, hydration, clothing or transportation.
It should be obvious that when you save in one part of your life, the money saved can be used for something else you need, want or enjoy.
I’ve seen residents in “three star” manufactured home communities with BMWs, Lexus, Jaguars, Mercedes, Lincolns, Cadillacs or other luxury cars in their driveways. These are households whose residents intuitively know what Thoreau was saying is true.
Award Winning model, which is this week’s
featured home, courtesy of MHI.
How to End the Quality Affordable Housing Crisis
City planners, government officials, educators, the media and a wider array of the public ought to come together to respect and accept homes made indoors vs. only those which are built outside. Imagine if the only cars, trucks or SUVs we’d accept would be those built in a driveway. Our transportation costs would skyrocket!
Along those lines, the Introduction to Modern Manufactured Housing video linked here may be of interest.
Under the same hurricane wind conditions, the conventionally built house on the left
has its roof blow off and suffer extensive damage. The manufactured home on
the right was the least expensive in that market and
has only minor damage and survives, see link to video.
NBC’s Today Show did millions a huge service by sharing a dramatic video demonstrating that the lowest
cost manufactured home in a market stood up better to an independent wind storm test than a conventionally
built house many times the cost of the single section home.
While CBS News’ Sunday show used some improper terminology in a video report, they deserve our appreciation
for demonstrating that modern manufactured homes rival conventional building and are considered ‘trendy’ even by millionaires who snap them up on 5 star locations overlooking the Pacific Ocean in
Malibu.
When people shop for clothing, if the one on the store’s display hanger has a problem, you just don’t pick it up, right? Do you condemn all clothing because one is stained, or has a thread pulled, etc.? Of course not. You judge it by the clothing “done right.”
When more public officials, media, investors – and above all – the home shopping public take a fresh look at modern manufactured homes “done right,” they will have a chance to apply the wisdom of the American philosopher, Thoreau. He’d be the first to say, home is where your story begins. ##