An old stereotype holds that manufactured homes are more vulnerable to storm and disaster damage than traditionally built homes. It’s possible that this idea comes from Hollywood or local news footage of tornadoes ripping through trailer parks, leaving piles of rubble in their wake.

It's time this myth was debunked. First off, a manufactured home is not a trailer – it's a complete structure erected with the best building materials on the market. Plus, due to recent advances in construction and materials, manufactured homes are as sturdy and disaster-resistant as traditional homes.

Beyond this, more stringent standards set in the 1990s by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) require every manufactured home to be built with the capability to withstand wind speeds common in its region. Thanks to these standards, manufactured houses are no more dangerous than traditional houses in the case of tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, or other natural disasters.

A manufactured home owner has only to take the same basic precautions against storms and disasters as anyone else. For example, in cold weather, wrap your pipes in heat tape or allow hot water to drip from faucets to keep pipes from bursting, and remove excess snow and ice from your roof and overhangs.

If you are in the market for a manufactured home, make sure you buy one that has a permanent foundation and that strictly follows HUD regulations. For those in tornado-prone areas, you'll want a home that has a basement. Otherwise, as long as your home meets all the government-mandated standards, it will be as safe for you and your family in times of disaster as a traditional home would be.

As the United States shakes off the last vestiges of a recession that has affected every area of the country, and the Federal Reserve has hiked its key interest rate for the first time in many years, everyone is watching to see what’s going to happen with the job market. 

A more pertinent question would be: What’s going to happen with the current housing market?

Right now, in cities across America, the middle class is quickly being priced out of homes. A recent article in Yahoo! Finance reports that “from 2010 to 2013, home prices were 56 percent higher than construction costs, an increase from the 1990s when home prices were 33 percent higher than construction costs . . . .” Unfortunately, cities on both the East and West coasts are seeing average home prices close to, or even topping, one million dollars—far out of the reach of most city dwellers.

City planning commissions are also choosing not to build high-density (and more affordable) construction by choosing not to change zoning laws that would allow it. Decisions like these are preventing middle- and low-income groups from owning a home.

Middle- and Low-Income Lending Problems

Since the housing crisis started in 2008, and lending regulations were tightened, middle- and low-income would-be homeowners found that they could no longer use private lenders to obtain a mortgage. Instead, in many cases, they were forced to rent homes at a much higher rental cost than would have had just five years ago. Instead of becoming homeowners, many had to continue to rent. Then, as rents increased around the country, people were being priced out of certain cities where just 10 years before, they could have easily met their mortgage payments.

Opportunities in the Current Housing Market

Even as certain areas of the country are pricing hopeful homeowners out of the market, affordable housing options near large and small city areas remain. Manufactured home communities are located in every state, and they offer:

• Large, spacious homes. Many manufactured home communities offer three-bedroom and two-bathroom homes that are as large as 1,500 square feet. They feature beautifully designed kitchens with space for islands, breakfast bars or nooks, plus counter space and cabinetry. Master bedrooms open into master baths, and walk-in closets may be available too.
• Great locations. If you’d like to live in a desirable area but you find that you’re being priced out of the traditional home market, a manufactured home community allows you to live where you desire. You can be close to cities, in a rural area, or right in the suburbs, and close to shopping, dining, entertainment, and recreation.   
• Personal service for owners and renters. With professional, 24-hours-a-day on-property management available, plus timely maintenance service, community residents always have someone to depend on. Many manufactured home communities also have playgrounds, basketball courts, outdoor pools, and clubhouses that residents are free to use year-round.

UMH properties owns 98 manufactured home communities in seven states throughout seven states in the United States. Our affordable homes allow you to live where you want. Call or contact us today to learn more about our modern, spacious homes.

Approximately 2-3 million households in the United States live in manufactured housing communities, according to the 2013 American Housing Survey. As the standards of manufactured housing have increased, so have the number of Americans considering manufactured housing as a high-quality, affordable option.

The question is, who lives in the modern manufactured home community these days, and what benefits do they enjoy from their living situation?

Who Lives In Manufactured Home Communities?

An extensive report by Foremost compiled a profile of people living in manufactured homes based on more than 26,000 interviews. Here are their findings.

Manufactured Housing Residents Are Younger Than You Think

Despite the pervasiveness of 55+ communities in the manufactured housing space, the largest age group reported in their surveys was actually aged 18-29, coming in at 23% of residents. This shows that many first-time homebuyers turn to manufactured homes when they’re finally ready to break free from the cycle of renting.

Most Manufactured Housing Residents Own Their Home

68% of survey respondents reported that they own the home they live in, as opposed to 24% who were renting and the remainder who reported living with relatives.

What’s more, almost half of the residents who reported owning their home said they were there to stay. 40% didn’t anticipate ever selling it.

The Number of Manufactured Home Residents Living in Communities is Rising.

In 2012, 39% of respondents living in manufactured homes reported living in a community, compared to 35% in 2002.

What Do They Get From Manufactured Home Communities?

By choosing to live in a manufactured home community, residents receive benefits that they otherwise wouldn’t by living on private land or in other multi-family housing, like apartments or condominiums.

Because the land is leased to the resident but owned by the community, first and foremost this means that a resident can enjoy the perks of homeownership – like living in privacy without wall-sharing neighbors, or being able to paint and remodel at your leisure – without having to maintain the land and utilities.

Many UMH manufactured home communities have perks that go above and beyond, including community pools, playgrounds, fitness centers, on-site maintenance, clubhouses and regular events for residents to mix and mingle with their neighbors.

Take a look at our community finder to find a UMH manufactured home community in your area.

Is Manufactured Housing Right For Me?

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Manufactured homes built in 2018 are sturdy, dependable, often energy-efficient and offer a wonderful opportunity for potential homebuyers looking for quality, affordable homes. They allow you to build equity through homeownership, without a lot of the stress, risks and hassle that comes with buying older, stick-built houses.

UMH is proud to have 20,000 homesites that 60,000 residents call home. If you want to learn more and find out why so many of our residents love living in our communities, check out https://www.umhsalescenter.com and get started today!

Regardless of price point, factory-built homes are the cost effective way to create quality housing. Based on factory built housing's indisputable cost advantage, factory built homes should increase market share compared to other forms of housing.

The increase in manufactured home shipments occurred every decade but the last one. The billions lost in conventional home mortgages the last ten years was a direct result of government policies that encouraged the purchase of houses without regard to affordability. As rational standards are again applied to obtaining housing, manufactured home shipments will likely increase.

Manufactured home community owners who have embraced rentals are having no problem finding customers for those rental units. The lack of barriers to entry into rental homes encourage increased occupancy of rentals.

Rental units solve the down payment issue that so many working families otherwise cannot overcome. Imagine how difficult it is for a young family of four to save $6,000 on a family income of $50,000 to $70,000 per year. This challenge prevents countless young families from purchasing homes.

Down payment is just one hurdle to home ownership. The second hurdle is credit score. Many people have scarred credit as the result of making bad housing choices in the past.

But a person with bad credit who moves from a $300,000 house to an $80,000 house should have no problems making the payment if their monthly income is unchanged.

Current rules and regulations may prevent financing that buyer. Renting provides that person with a manufactured home they can easily afford while they repair their credit.

Our cost advantage as an industry over conventional housing is substantial. Apartment construction averages $200 per square foot, depending on the market. We can buy communities for $40,000 per site and add a $40,000 house creating almost 1,000 sq. ft. of brand new housing for $80 per sq. ft.

If an apartment owner needs rent of $14 per sq. ft. we can operate with rent of only $7 per sq. ft. That means where they charge $1,400 per month, while we can charge $700 per month. Clearly we benefit the customer and society. UMH's 92 percent – and steadily increasing – rental occupancy demonstrates that when the regulatory barriers and down payment barriers are removed the consumer accepts our product.

The customer appreciates and accepts our appealing home product based on their cost benefit analysis, the enhanced privacy and other factors.

The issue becomes what will bring more buyers back to factory built homes? One answer is a stronger economy. When wage earners feel more secure in their jobs, more will buy homes. When wage earners earn more money they will have the down payment for our homes. When demand increases prices for pre-owned manufactured homes, repossessed homes and new homes will all rise.

As occupancy in properties increases and waiting lists for residency return, don't be surprised when people who bought during the last ten years make money on their homes. That's the law of supply and demand. People talk, so word will get out that manufactured homes are a good investment. As prices of all housing rises, it will become more and more obvious how cost competitive factory built housing is. Sales will increase.

The Other Big MH Issue…

In order for UMH to minimize the time required to fill our 2,000 vacant sites, we would like to see an industry-wide marketing and public relations campaign. UMH believes all legislative problems affecting our industry are due in part to our industry not marketing the benefits of our industry.

How can anyone be against increasing the quality of housing for families with children, the elderly, those with mobility issues, and all people who need housing?

We as industry professionals know the benefits of our product, just as Steve Jobs knew the benefits of personal computing. We need to sell America on the benefits of factory built housing. Steve Jobs sold America on the benefits of Apple products by employing a major national advertising firm.

One of the people at that firm was Ken Segall. I am looking forward to introducing Ken Segall, author of Insanely Simple, and the person who put the “i” in iMac, at the MHI national convention.

Great products do sell themselves. I know that because of our success with rental homes.

But we still need to sell regulators, bankers, zoning officers, and people who otherwise will never see our product on the beauty and benefits of manufactured homes.

Yes it’s as simple as getting people to visit our product. But we need to know how to do that. Our mission is complicated by the fact that most of us have never seen a picture that really does the factory-built home justice. Our house is a home.

When the potential customer brings their family into our home, it becomes easier for them to visual as their home, and we end up with more leases and sales.

But we need to bring that customer from their current residence into our sales center for that to happen. I’m looking forward to the MHI Congress and Expo in Las Vegas in April, and hearing from Ken how we can simply create the best marketing.

by Sam Landy