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On June 26, 2016, Suzanne Felber, posted via LinkedIn this statement. “One of the biggest issues that manufactured housing has always had to overcome was image. Now that their homes have been built to federal HUD specifications for over 40 years, the days of “trailers” and “mobile homes” are long gone.” Felber had a valid point. But Felber, who has reportedly financially benefited from contract work for the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and some MHI member brands, added that “The Manufactured Housing Institute has launched an informal image campaign using social media…” She went on to brag how 100,000 likes had been achieved. In a nation of some 330 million people, are we supposed to be impressed with a mere 100,000 likes in lieu of an actual image campaign?
Earlier today, the following was posted as a comment on Felber’s LinkedIn post.
“Over a decade has passed since Kevin Clayton, CEO of Clayton Homes, told Robert Miles in a video interview that “the industry” was ready to do a formal image campaign. The example was the recreational vehicle industry’s GoRVing campaign.
In 2008 the West Virginia Housing Institute (WVHI), an affiliate of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) “urged the National Retailers Council of the Manufactured Housing Institute of Arlington, VA, to endorse the next step toward a nationwide advertising campaign to promote the industry.”
But nothing of the sort actually occurred. When Suzanne Felber, has a point. But the MHI social media effort clearly has not filled the bill that Kevin Clayton, WVHI, or others involved in MHI or beyond wanted. Total manufactured home sales in 2021 were under 30 percent of the manufactured housing sales achieved in 1998.”
Felber says she is an MHI award winner. Given her cheerleading for the trade group, why should that be doubted?
While official numbers have not yet been released for 2021, it is expected that the number of homeless in our nation will top 600,000 people. Imagine, in the apparently richest nation on earth in terms of total wealth, with a higher per capita income that most anywhere on planet earth, and yet over 3 dozen nations have a higher rate of home ownership than the U.S. does.
Affordable housing is not just a nice idea. It is a basic requirement for every society. When Wikipedia and other sources say that dozens of nations have a higher rate of home ownership that the U.S., something has apparently gone wrong in America – but what specifically explains it? MHLivingNews, citing figures developed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, documented how the most proven form of affordable housing creation and preservation are modern manufactured homes.
Americans have questions and doubts about manufactured homes, as pro-MHI mouthpiece Felber admits. So, why hasn’t MHI actually engaged in an authentic educational effort?
More to the point, why is it that several of MHI’s own members behave in ways that routinely stir up troubling headlines, lawsuits, federal investigations, and calls for new laws to stop predatory manufactured housing brands?
During the month of March 2022, these were the 3o top accessed (read) articles on MHLivingNews. A few posts that were essentially sponsored content are omitted from the listing for proprietary reasons, but the ranking of those are reflected in the list below. Note that the number 2 article on Clayton Homes has long been the most read month after month since it was first published here. These are indications of what real Americans, not some front-group or mouthpiece for corporate giants, want to know more about.
- Note that several of the above are related to tornadoes, hurricanes and windstorm safety.
- Several articles are related to the financing on manufactured homes.
- Numbers of the articles are about MHI members brands that are engaged in so-called predatory tactics against residents and customers.
- The role that billionaires play in the manufactured housing industry are explored in the above listing of the top 30 articles.
- How to shop for a manufactured home in a way that helps you avoid problematic brands is among the most popular articles for the month.
- Several reports are about the rich and famous who selected a manufactured home as their own residence.
- Various research reports and infographics are among the top read articles for March 2022.
In short, our articles put meat on the bone.
- There are websites that have flashy content that are little more than ads.
- Some have retro looks at older mobile homes, remodeling, etc., which are at times little more than click bait for ads.
Nowhere else is there a mix of content like here on MHLivingNews that deals with the good news about manufactured homes, but also pulls back the curtain on troubling issues that those considering buying a manufactured home should consider. Well, there is one exception, and that would be our professional sister site, MHProNews.com. MHLivingNews and MHProNews each get millions of visits annually, with high levels of engagement from readers, per third-party Webalizer data.
As an example, in March of 2022, the average visitor on MHLivingNews accessed 5.20788305925 (5.21) pages (articles) per visit. That is higher reader engagement than a normal news site enjoys per visit. That is an apparent vote of confidence by readers who find not just pretty pictures, videos or ‘3D tours,’ but also facts, figures, evidence and answers to the real questions that the general public and public officials ought to be asking. Our thanks to God, sponsors, clients, tipsters, sources, and readers who make that statement possible. ##
We lay out the facts and insights that others can’t or won’t do. That’s what makes our sister site and this location the runaway leaders for authentic information about affordable housing in general, the politics behind the problems, and manufactured homes specifically. That’s a wrap on this installment of “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Recent and Related Reports:
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