Videos and Special Reports

America woke up today to division. But perhaps 75 percent (+/-) of the nation’s people could come together on a plan that demonstrably could do the following. Increase the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by some $2 Trillion Annually, without new federal spending. Provide proven, new affordable home ownership opportunities that left and right agree could boost the personal wealth …

In communities and homes across the U.S. and Canada, millions of manufactured home residents enjoy the benefits of affordable home ownership.   At Christmastime, the holiday classic “It’s A Wonderful Life” ought to be a reminder of just how important home ownership is.  Millions praise the movie as one of the best of all time, and it is still viewed …

The first step to solving a problem, said the late Zig Ziglar, is to admit that a problem exists.   Manufactured homes are widely misunderstood. But why? The facts – when carefully examined – speak well about today’s manufactured homes, as a few video interviews on this page from experts and actual homeowners alike suggests. So why is there such …

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 …

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 …

The headline is missing two words from the original that was provided to MHLivingNews by Lending Tree (LT), via a news media release. Those missing two words? “In Miami.” While that was accurate, it is equally accurate for the vast majority of the U.S. today, thus our edit of those two words. Let’s see what Lending Tree had to say …

In all 50 states, affordable housing is an issue today. In all 50 states, it is difficult for renters to afford rental housing, based upon a wage of $15 an hour.     According to the National Association of Realtors, the typical renter could own a manufactured home for less than the cost of their rent.     According to …

Affordable quality housing is one of the most critical issues of our time.  So too is affordable home ownership, which should be the ideal goal over rental housing. A challenge is zoning and land use, which is highly politicized, and thus is often misunderstood.  What follows is adapted from the comments letter addressed as shown below.  This features a video …

“Best vote ever,” said one manufactured home resident as he took a sandwich, water and thanked President Donald J. Trump.   “I knew right from the beginning,” said another resident in the Naples, Florida manufactured home community as he shook the president’s hand, and thanked him.   First Lady Melania Trump was in the serving line too. Reflector sun glasses, …

If you scratch deeply enough, people of good will can find some common ground with others of good will.  There will be disagreements between people.  It has been so, since ‘the fall,’ and is expected to continue that way until time comes to an end. With that principle in mind, we will look in this column at a Cautionary Tale …

A “Happy Days” sitcom actress died in 2017, after she moved to an Indiana manufactured home community. Morin was looking for a place to regroup and start over. She had played the role of Joanie Cunningham in the then popular 1970s TV show.     Every year, there are thousands of Americans who are looking for second, third, or fourth …

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 …

We’ve begun to explore on MHLivingNews the connections between past and present U.S. Presidents and mobile and manufactured homes. A prior article on the topic is linked below. Note these are fact-and-evidence based reports, not partisan ones. Affordable living ought to be a nonpartisan issue, because everyone needs a good place to call home.   U.S. Presidents Carter, Nixon, and …

There are Americans alive today who have lived in a true mobile home for over 50 years. The production of mobile homes in the U.S. ended on June 15,1976. Starting that day, mandatory federal construction, energy, durability, and safety standards went into effect. Those standards, by law, were administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). America’s most …

“The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions.” – maxim origin, Bernard of Clairvaux.   Improving manufactured home resale values is an important topic for everyone involved in the housing industry.  We learned from the National Association of Realtors (TM) Certified Business Economist (CBE) Scholastica ‘Gay’ Cororaton that manufactured homes can and do rise in value.     Barry …