MHLivingNews has previously reported that the upward pressure monthly fees on homesites needs an influx of new homesites to mitigate that lack of supply. This publication has also reported that more competitive financing would make a difference for numbers of current and potential affordable housing seekers and manufactured home owners. The following is based on what is found on the …

“Superficiality is the curse of the modern world.” – Matthew Kelly, author and business consultant, per Quote Fancy.   Per some informed sources, the COVID19 pandemic is going to accelerate the need for more affordable housing. Thus, this topic may be timelier than ever before. But before diving into it, Matthew Kelly has an apt point. If someone skips the details, …

  “In general, the figures suggest that manufactured homes have seen price [appreciation] trends broadly similar to those of other homes.” – August 23, 2018 news release by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), page 24 of the federal document linked further below as a free download.    “I will never make a disparaging remark about a manufactured home. It …

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln.   Preface before addressing the headline issues: Steve McDonald reminds us in the intriguing lyrics from the title song of Sons of Somerled that there’s been times when the sword is mightier than pen. Today, sometimes money seems to outweigh pen and sword, although …

The following are the comments as prepared for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) virtual listening session scheduled for Wednesday 12.11.2019.    — FHFA Listening Session Comments by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, Publisher of MHLivingNews.com, MHProNews.com, Award-Winning Manufactured Home Industry Expert and Consultant (LATonyKovach.com and http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach)   Speakers addressed the Washington, D.C. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Duty to Serve …

Preface. This article will first outline a five-point plan for affordable housing and manufactured home living recovery. Then, it will give some specific examples of why this plan makes more sense than others that are being discussed. Interlaced with that will be facts, evidence and specific examples of how the battle for affordable housing has been weaponized by some powerful …

Complex problems cited in the headline can be simplified by making this specific point. Affordable housing and income or wealth inequality are in several ways related issues. Home ownership is the most common form of wealth building in America. There are already good laws ‘on the books’ that make more affordable housing available. There are also good laws that make …

Dave Ramsey is a successful fellow with a radio audience, financial freedom education, wrapped in a sort of Christian mantle. That statement will either bewilder, chill, or thrill his fans. Let’s concede that Ramsey makes several intelligent, useful, and common-sense financial advice points that have benefited numbers of devotees. He’s achieved success due in good measure through dedication and hard …

“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 …

In a letter dated June 6, 2019 obtained by MHLivingNews, Senator Tina Smith (MN-D) wrote Senators Mike Crapo (ID-R) and Sherrod Brown (OH-D) to urge greater support for lending on affordable housing, particularly naming manufactured homes.   Senator Crapo is the chairman and Senator Brown is the ranking member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Smith is …

Imagine for the new few minutes that you are a detective trying to solve a mystery. Detectives look for clues and examine evidence. Investigators ought to be objective. Like a doctor seeking the cause for an ailment, there are tests, results, facts, and reason that should to be the drivers for solving any puzzle.   Investigators ask questions, such as …

“During my time at MHI, I was often asked the same question, “What must happen for business to return – for manufactured housing to begin growing again? ” My stock answer would usually start with ‘financing’ and end with a general comment about the need to bring ‘value’ to our customers.” The person making that comment was Chris Stinebert. It …

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 …

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 …

Affordable housing is an issue from coast-to-coast, border to border – and in islands like the state of Hawaii too.  There are efforts under way to bring more modern manufactured homes to Hawaii, because their affordable housing crisis is so acute.   But as often happens, improper terminology and inaccurate information has crept into their discussion.  That matters in all …