For several years in our Inside MH Road Show series of videos, MHLivingNews interviewed politicos, experts, but also homeowners of various builders of manufactured homes. Those video interviews are real people, who own actual homes and were not paid for their comments. We’ve learned over the years that manufactured homeowners gladly tell their stories, because they want to be part …

To understand the warning and/or alert noted in the headline, some background is useful.   Dave Anderson is the Executive Director of the National Association of Manufactured Homeowners Association (NMHOA). Prior to NMHOA Anderson was the executive director with the Minnesota-based All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC).  Both ‘resident’ organizations state as their mission to benefit and protect the rights …

“Credit is the lifeblood of housing.” – Eric Belsky, then with Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.   “Pay more attention to what people do than what they say.” – Marty Lavin, JD, prior finance and GSE consultant, manufactured home lending, years of experience in manufactured home retail and land lease. Lavin is a Manufactured Housing Instiute (MHI) award winner …

An article published on July 23, 2018 in Psychology Today explained the proper way to correct false or misleading information.   Start with the truth, put the problematic or deceptive claim in the middle, and end with the truth again. They said it is known as the #TruthSandwich.   Setting aside the partisan nature of their article, the balance of the …

It is important to get a balanced view of anything that involves a major decision. Here on MHLivingNews, we’ve done a mix of stories for years, spotlighting the good, the bad, and the misunderstood about all kinds of housing, including those homes built in a factory.    How do you tell the difference between a proverbial ‘white hat’ company and …

Preface: it must be kept in mind that every business and profession have good, bad, and meh examples of that occupation.  Research by third-parties suggest that millions love their pre-HUD Code mobile home or post June 15, 1976 manufactured home.  University and academic studies by nonprofits have praised manufactured homes for decades. That said, there are clear-cut examples of ‘white …

As previous and upcoming reports on MHLivingNews reflect, there is a growing interest in America by politicos spanning the left-right divide about supporting the use of more manufactured homes as part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis. It’s about time.   One of the reasons we like to spotlight the rich and famous who own a manufactured home …

Songs can often capture ideas and emotions in poetic and transformative ways. Ballads by definition are songs that tell a story. The ballad that Gretchen Peters wrote that was performed by Martina McBride blends a range of symbols that brilliantly captures the story of an abused woman, as told through the eyes of her daughter. For the next few minutes, let’s …

“Follow the Money.” – a maxim used by journalists and investigators.   “Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight.” – axiomatic expression used by numerous authors.   ‘One should separate wheat from chaff.’ – Per Dictionary, to separate wheat from chaff means sort the valuable from the worthless, as in ‘I hope we’ll get a preview of …

Kurt Kelley, JD, is the publisher of the Manufactured Housing Review (MHR), as the below reflects in his quarterly’s “Publisher’s Message.” For the 2019 Quarter 1 issue, his message read in part as follows.   “…We also [in this issue] address Senator Elizabeth Warren’s attempt to gather private information from Manufactured Home Community owners. New things surprise us each day, …

Every year, there are hundreds of tornadoes in the United States.  Several dozen people in all kinds of housing die as a result of those storms annually.  There are statistical indications that more die in ‘mobile and manufactured homes.’ But is there more to that claim then meets the eye?  An on-the-record statement by a National Weather Service (NWS) expert …

First, let’s make it clear that there are all kinds of reasonable and good housing options. This publication is broad-minded about all safe, legal, and legitimate housing options.   That said, Amazon has made headlines recently with some of their kit homes. What are those? Kit housing has been around for about a century that we know about, because the …

“There’s nothing in the middle of the road  but a yellow stripe and roadkill.” – variation of a Texas maxim.   Seeking bipartisanship can be dangerous, as the dark humor noted above reminds readers. But let’s risk finding common ground for the next few minutes.   Affordable homes ought to be a non-partisan or bi-partisan issue.  The topic of this column, properly …

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 …

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 …