Manufactured Housing Land Lease Community1 . . .
Investment, Financing, Development, Marketing, Operations, Real Estate Brokerage & Consulting Services
Resources
National Organizations:
Manufactured Housing Institute, the industries primary Federal legislative support organization located in the Washington DC ares.
Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform: Danny Ghorbani (no e-mail address). Publishes articles on a regular basis in several trade publications.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/danny-ghorbani/8/369/b47
Trade Publications:
The Journal of Manufactured Housing. A publication for m/h professionals with monthly columns by experts in all areas of community development, marketing and operations plus information from many suppliers.
Manufactured Housing Sales Management. A timely on-line magazine which is dedicated to serving the many marketing aspects of manufactured housing
Mobile Home Global Network. One of the oldest and most diverse on-line publications of m/h and community management issues.
Financing Programs-Chattel Mortgages
FHA Title I chattel home financing program for HUD Code homes installed into land lease communities or in limited land-home packages. Note the official HUD website does not reflect the increases in loan limits which went into effect in July 2010 as the result of modifications passed as a part of the 2008 HERA.
Financing Programs-Communities
FHA 207m guaranteed loans for private financing of existing and new m/h land lease communities through HUD loan guarantees. TAP or MAP processing may be used at the discretion of the local HUD office.
HUD's website on the FHA Multi Family 207m loan guarantee program for refinancing and rehabilitating existing communities for for building new communities.
HUD's Approved MAP Lender's list. Note: not all MAP lenders will process FHA 207m guaranteed loans but most will work with developer/sponsors on FHA 221(d)4 loan guarantee for large enough projects. The 221(d)4 program (new apartment projects) may also be used for m/h rental home community development with new homes only on m/h zone, approved sites.
http://www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?/offices/hsg/mfh/map/aprvlend.pdf
Modular vs HUD Code Homes
As defined by various states (Maine and Florida), which will generally apply to many other states. Note: if zoning and land use regulations will allow it, homes built to the HUD codes with the same features as modulars, may cost from 10% to 15% less, and should be considered as a part of a development project.
http://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/manufactured_housing/pdf/MHBMobileVsModular.pdf
http://www.dca.state.fl.us/fbc/Manufactured_Buildings/Mobile_vs_Modular_Homes_rev.pdf
Myths1
Depreciation In LL Communities
While homes built previous to June 1976 have seen some depreciation in the past when sited in LLCommunities, homes built to the new HUD Codes implemented as the result of the Federal Housing Act of 1974, when the Federal Housing Codes (HUD Codes) were introduced preempting state and local building codes for manufactured housing, depreciation has largely been a factor of the availability of viable resale financing, And in most 55+ age restricted communities and higher quality non-age restricted family communities, with available viable home refinancing options, homes have been to appreciate in value at or faster than area site built homes. The operative concept here is: viable chattel mortgage re-financing. As of July 2008, with the revisions to the FHA Title I home financing program, HUD code homes in land lease communities may be re-financed for up to 20 years at interest rates and down payments which make them affordable. There is adequate evidence that building a new m/h community near a site built housing area, doesn't depreciate home values at all. In fact, from studies made in the 80's in California, it shows increased values for site built homes near high quality m/h land lease communities
Lesser Construction Quality
Homes built after June 1976 to the Federal Housing Codes (HUD Codes) meet national electrical and plumbing codes. And although these codes allow for homes to be built to a few lesser standards such as ceiling height, minimum room sizes, etc., they are as safe to live in as any other legal dwelling unit. Homes are often built to a higher minimum than is allowed by the HUD Code minimums, and often can be built in every aspect to be the equivalent of Modular homes, at savings of from 10% to 15% or more.
Vulnerability to high winds and fires
There is no credible evidence to support the fact that a properly installed HUD Code home is any more vulnerable to high winds than do their site built counterparts. Of course they are often built in communities with higher densities, which allows for more homes to be exposed to high winds, than site built homes, and in the past, communities were only approved in locations which were inherently more vulnerable to higher winds. There also can be an illusion of greater destruction due to the wider use of light weight skirting/underpinning, storage sheds, and metallic awnings in communities.
Types of residents
Drive through a 55+ age restricted seniors community sometime and note the number of expensive cars in the driveways. Most seniors choose m/h for reasons of lifestyle, lower taxes, and more compact living space. Leaving their homes unoccupied for long periods of time while traveling or living in another climate for a part of the year, is attractive to many. This is especially true in resort markets such as Florida, Arizona, South Texas and the Carolinas. Those living in non-age restricted communities are also often better residents than their nearby apartment tenants due in part to the requirement for more financial resources which are required to purchase their homes. Screening of prospective residents at the time of leasing a home site usually "weeds out" most undesireable elements. This type of screening is not effective in single family detached site built sub-divisions, often leading to areas of high crime.
Tax Revenues
In many parts of the country, m/h are taxed as chattels and may pay only a small yearly license fee. Or in some areas, a minimal "excise" tax or school tax may apply to homes. Other areas tax them at real property rates, but only on the home, unless in a land-home configuration.
Revenues from land lease communities on an area basis which are paid by the land lord may be higher than for a site built subdivision because of the much higher densities. And, in many areas, there is a sales tax or use tax applied to the resale of used homes. When new, in most areas, a sales tax is levied on the entire price of the home, not just on the building materials as they are on site built homes. And in many areas, m/h communities require less support for roads, streets, and utility maintenance,
There have been documented reductions in personal attacks, and requirements for police and fire protection in many LLCommunities. In many communities, an internal park and recreation area is provided for the residents and their guests, obviating a requirement for burdening local parks and recreation facilities. Each market area requires a detailed analysis to see the overall tax collection and impact on community services from m/h communities.
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1Myths die slowly and all too often, there is strong objection to new community developments from badly uninformed area residents who are known to show up in substantial numbers at zoning or land use hearings for m/h communities. Without a carefully planned pre-meeting strategy, it is all but impossible to overcome their prejudices based on misinformation.
