DSCN8914The annual preview of the latest in manufactured housing opened in Louisville Jan. 21-28.

The Midwest Manufactured Housing Show in Louisville just finished its 52nd year, making it the longest running trade show at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
It also is the largest show of its kind, loaded with 60 top models of HUD and mod homes. That’s like a subdivision! Which makes it the perfect place to take a peek at the factory-built housing we will be inspecting in the years ahead.

WOW! These are not your grandma’s manufactured homes!
Some of these bathrooms could be in rtizy golf course subdivisions. And the living rooms…open floor plans…

Yet this is affordable housing – a constant need, especially in a price sensitive 2016 market.
Take a look at the latest homes and innovations, along with the latest 2015 data, just released.
Showcasing 24 manufacturers displaying those 60 fully setup homes, this is a show that would leave Jeff Foxworthy speechless, even on “Shark Tank.” This year’s show is up from the 49 homes last year, DSCN8943which seemed like a lot then. Today, it’s like a housing community under one roof in the Fairgrounds South Wing.
The mix of modular and manufactured homes was hot, hot, hot. At the entry, Clayton showed a 65-foot, 1,___ sq. ft. manufactured home. A row or two back, MSCI__ showed a ___ fott, 1,___ sq. ft. modular. Energy efficiency was a leading theme.

Footprints, floor plans, furnishings, and finishes on display showed that “one size fits all” is long gone. Mechanicals showed an increasing standardization. Same HVAC equipment, water heaters, and electric panels in home after home. Tech tweaks were everywhere, like wall-mount braces for wide screen TVs and USB ports.DSC_2330-edit

Innovations in materials, particularly vinyl flooring, were beautiful. Though they usually were options, #50 roofs with architectural shingles and a 5/12 pitch were all over the place.
Looking at bathrooms from the door, it was practically impossible to tell if the room was factory-built or site built.

DSCN8849Some of the old rules of thumb for inspectors have faded by the wayside. Many units had attic hatches, for example. Practically all had easily accessible water heaters. Until now, most manufactured homes getting inspected in Kentucky had no attic access and water heaters screwed shut in closets it was risky to access. Main water shutoffs were routine, though priced as (about $95) options.DSCN8881-edit
About 80 other exhibitors showed off products and services for installing homes and handling site or settlement problems, and for financing homes. The newest tie downs for windstorm and seismic protection were on display with either blocks or steel piers, often with combined lateral/longitudinal systems.DSCN8918-edit
Accessibility – for the handicapped, elderly, and wounded warriors – was a steady undercurrent in design and advocacy by state groups. OMHA (the Ohio Manufactured Homes Association), for example, is working with Ohio legislators to pass HB 293 there. The bill would create a $1 million program there to give $5,000 grants to help make homes more accessible. Adding accessibility features costs about $1,370 when the home is being built, but adding the same features later costs more than $5,000 in most homes. For over 5 years, PLI has urged home inspectors to get accessibility concerns up on their radar, even though neither the Ky. Bd. Of Home Inspectors or any of the SOP come to grips with the demands on a home presented by disabled, elderly, and wounded clients.DSCN8879

Although marketing was not on display, it was the second undercurrent we kept hearing. There was lots of the same puzzlement that home inspectors feel about keeping up with web or social media, building web site with optimized searches, and converting eyeballs to closed business. On site that caught some buzz was https://www.mhvillage.com/. MHVillage is a BBB Accredited showcase site for sellers and communities, ich reported about 20 million visits (not counting about 40,000 phone inquiries each month), half a million leads, and over 55,000 homes sold in 2015. Those numbers showed two things: BBB Accreditation counts. And, even more, live chat and phone pick-up are important to successfully convert the curious into customers.
The Louisville show is sponsored by the Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation, representing Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. While it is not open to the public, something like 3,000 builders, developers and retailers from throughout the midwest attended.

In 2015, there was a 10% increase in new manufactured home shipments, the group reported. That’s the beginning of a bounce back from the 2008-09 housing crisis. Retailers saw the same bounce in the smaller sample of their own markets.

For most retailers, a top concern was transportation costs – which shows a sharp focus on every dollar of the price to home buyers.

Warranties probably were as much on the minds of shoppers at the show. Champion Builders was promoting its “Champion 7″ warranty. It’s a 7-year warranty that covers the structure along with the usual DSCN8873HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems, and appliances. It also is transferable and renewable.
Kentucky was one of the top markets, with 2,110 new homes shipped through November of 2015.
About 7 million manufactured homes are occupied in the United States – or about 7% of the nation’s housing stock.

The average sale price of a manufactured home is about $65,000, according to the Manufactured Housing Institute. Industry data puts the cost of a manufactured home about 30% below the cost of conventional site-built homes.

If factory-built housing is a significant part of your service area, the next big show is the annual Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) National Congress & Expo for Manufactured & Modular Housing, May 3-5, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. www.congressandexpo.com.

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