When I speak before a group of people about manufactured housing, someone inevitably asks the same question sooner or later.  Usually, it is the first or second question, actually.

The question is — “What is the difference between modular housing and manufactured housing?”

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Listening to a conference call from UMH Properties (formerly United Mobile Homes) in Sept. 2007 is uncanny. “Next year at this time, affordable housing is going to be the number one political issue in this country,” says UMH founder and President Eugene Landy. “People are not going to be able to get mortgages, they are not going to be able to buy homes. They are going to have to buy housing that they can afford.

Landy believes that manufactured housing stands to gain from these changes.  People still need housing, due to the expanding population.

“It is going to be a trend for our industry,” he says. “The Federal Reserve numbers are that people are (more…)

A new survey suggests that California voters want to put restrictions on the use of eminent domain in their state, but they are not interested in simultaneously eliminating rent control.  The poll, conducted this spring by the Public Policy  Institute of California, hints that Proposition 99 will emerge as the preferred Amendment in the June 4th voter referendum in (more…)

Legislation has passed unanimously in the California House that would allow mobile homes left on highways to be removed under the authority of the Vehicle Abatement Act. The bill was proposed by Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley).

AB 1069, as it is known, now goes on to the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.

This bill will serve a genuine need. What is remarkable is the depth of support demonstrated for an issue that rarely generates much public perception. This is a bread-and-butter good governance bill, and not something that is rooted in the politics of symbolic action.

This picture shows two abandoned mobile homes left by the side of the road in Riverside County, California.

It is not absolutely clear if your home is in a neighborhood scheduled for redlining by Fannie Mae.

Still, GMAC has posted a page for their mortgage underwriters that indicates how they are estimating the same question. Just follow the link and enter your zip code. It is important to note that this is not Fannie’s list. It is just a shadow (more…)