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The New York Times has a nice piece about people living in very small homes.  Some of the homes are built from kits. Its not really factory-built housing, but then again, its not developer built onsite housing, either.  And as the picture shows, they are mobile.

This keeps with its recent tradition of praising developments that narrowly skirt the world of manufactured housing, while still avoiding the actual industry itself.  Here’s one about sheds — ones that meet some kind of artsy kitchsy standard.  This one features a “pre-built” home.  It is my favorite picture, because the tiny home looks completely adrift on the endless expanse of otherwise empty land where it is sited.

I think this is a good example of how just about anything can become popular.  I mean, really, all things being equal, who wants to live in a small house?  Can you buy a small television and a small bookshelf to go in it?  If it takes a good twelve square feet to sleep, and another 20 square feet for a submarine size bathroom, then what is left?

Sure, some small houses are highly desireable, but that might be influenced by their location.  A small house on Central Park West, for example, is awfully “desireable.”

A small house amid 400 acres in West Texas, well, that just feels small.

But anything can become popular, so it seems, and catching that momentum to reach the zeitgeist is exactly the kind of grasping at air goal that ought to bedevil any advocate, anywhere.  For people who want to spread the value of manufactured housing, pay attention!

This week the government stepped in to back up the debts at Fannie and Freddie.  There is a lot of uncertainty among the public about this decision.

I want to know how it will play in HUD-ville, as one observer calls the manufactured housing industry.

Initial reactions in the market suggest that the benefits of this action could spread all the way to manufactured housing.  On Monday, Champion was one of the top gainers in the entire market.  Today, Thor Industries is up over 5 percent and its only 2 in the afternoon.  What’s going on?

The last time that Fannie explained its relationship to manufactured housing was in its guidance in June 2007. At that point, Fannie pretty much said that they would only buy manufactured housing loans that met some high tests.  All loans had to be for real property.  The owner of the unit had to be the same as the owner of the land.  There were rules on installation standards.  The homes all needed real property title insurance.

I am not expecting the newly managed GSEs to pick manufactured housing as their new project for expanding the American dream of homeownership.  That said, I lament that the residents of these manufactured homes, who make up almost one in twelve households in America, will be on the hook for the costs of folly that they largely never took part in.

The GSEs have been a non-factor in manufactured housing.  It creates a self-reinforcing stigma.  People say manufactured homes do not appreciate in value.  Is the lack of a secondary market independent of that problem?  No doubt about it.

In 2005, damage from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina felled a substantial number of dwellings in the Southeastern United States.

The response for immediate replacement housing was met by FEMA, through contracts with travel trailer and mobile home suppliers.  Clayton Homes booked a substantial amount of revenue from government contracts, although they were hardly alone.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of problems with how those contracts were fulfilled.  It has become fairly well known that levels of formaldehyde in trailers exceeded acceptable limits.  When the health of so many people was put at risk by a government intended to otherwise help them, it made the factory built housing industry look very bad.

In 2008, how will recent history influence the events surrounding this year’s disaster response?  In 2006 and 2007, the hurricane season was mild.  There was no dramatic event.  Already, though, Gustav has roared through with high winds.  Ike may be far worse, in particular if it goes through Miami and up along the East Coast.  The damage could depend more upon the path of Ike then upon the relative ferocity of the winds.

If a lot of homes are damaged, it might be an opportunity for huge sales in manufactured housing.  If only because no other product can adequately house so many people in such a short amount of time.

But any opportunity will be thwarted by memories of how things went just three years ago.

Ty Pennington is now on board with the movement to integrate sustainable building practices within the modular housing industry.

This weekend, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition featured the Usea family of New Orleans (Westwego). Pennington and the rest of the ABC crew spent five days building a three part home for their family. They used a unique design to integrate the three families into one structure, with each household having its own section.

The two-hour segment used a Deltec home to counter the very forces that destroyed so many homes in New Orleans three years ago – high winds. The Deltec homes are designed to withstand winds of up to 140 miles per hour. In part, that is due to its shape. The home is round, so there are fewer points where wind can place stress on the structure.

The Useas home was built to meet Leed Platinum standards. It is the first of its kind in the state of Louisiana.

In a bit of irony, the show was broadcast just as Gustav was making its way toward New Orleans. Presumably, the Useas had to vacate their home along with everyone else in the area. It will be interesting to see how their wind-resistant home performed relative to other homes in their neighborhood.