Since 2007 when the housing recession began, the modular
housing industry has ridden the downward spiral along with all the other
builders. Tract builders began selling
off their undeveloped land only to begin buying it back at extremely low prices
years later making selling land an actual profit center for them.
A lot a small homebuilders that had gone out of business or
started doing remodeling just to keep bread on the table are now looking toward
a housing recovery. Tract builders are
gearing up for expansion once again.
What is missing from this small rebound is participation by
the modular housing industry. The NAHB’s
Building Systems Councils includes the Modular Home Building Council. The members in this council meet and conduct
business, elect officers, plan for the next meetings but discussing how to
market modular housing to new home buyers is left to other folks including the
modular factories themselves.
When times were good, the factory owners and managers didn’t
think they needed to promote their industry because everyone was building at
capacity. The companies that had several
locations throughout the country were hitting on all cylinders in each of
them. Today, those satellite factories
are mostly shuttered, many factories have closed their doors forever and the
modular industry still isn’t looking to promote the idea of modular housing to
new home buyers.
I have looked everywhere for articles about traditional
modular home marketing and all I find are the prefab, modernistic and shipping
container people marketing their homes.
Blu Homes is always looking for ways to promote their homes. There are so many articles about the Michelle
Kaufmann inspired homes that it is almost getting tedious. And let’s not forget those old metal shipping
containers that are being turned into pretty chicken coops for city dwellers.
So what is stopping the traditional modular home industry from
starting a united marketing effort? I
don’t see it happening through any of the industry organizations unless one of
them steps up and actively begins going after its members to join in a major
marketing push.
But what is really stopping the traditional modular home
industry is quite simple. None of the
owners want to contribute to any marketing effort that could possibly benefit
their competitors even if it means that the entire modular industry will begin
to regress back to the old manufactured housing days of yore.
There are no programs available for educating “new to modular”
home builders and no continuing education classes about energy, sustainability
or green building methods for builders.
Forget about factories conducting business plan or marketing seminars
because they don’t even have them for their own companies. Most of the seminars available to modular
builders piggyback off sales seminars and lectures directed to Realtors, tract
builders or the Manufactured Housing folks.
True modular home builders need more than just help on how
sell a home. Hell, I can teach my 10
year old grandson to sell a house.
Modular home builders desperately need help in running their
business and promoting modular living.
What we give them is nothing. There
used to be classes and seminars for PA modular home builders but all that is
gone now.
Is there one organization out there that can step up and
take the lead in helping our modular home builders with a national marketing
effort and help educate our builders in developing marketing and business
strategies? If anyone has news about
such an organization, drop me a line at Modcoach and I’ll promote the heck out
of it on Modular Home Builder.
I have asked, no, I’ve begged and pleaded with modular home
factories to send me pictures of their homes on the production line, being set
or finished. I get very few. Ask Nationwide Homes how many hits they get
when they send me pictures of their Open Houses and special projects and I
write an article about them. I just want new home buyers to see the great
modular homes we build.
Our industry needs all of us pulling together to get the
message out and the time is now.
