MHI 2018 Member Company of the Year Awards

---

These companies and their representatives work to improve and advance the industry and dedicate significant volunteer hours helping MHI advocate in Washington, D.C. These members attend MHI business meetings, serve on task forces and committees, participate on conference calls and willingly share their expertise to help raise the bar for the entire industry.

Community Operator of the Year (a tie): YES! Communities and UMH Properties
YES! Communities
YES! Communities is turning 10 this year. Created during the industry downturn in 2008 YES! Communities is now thriving. In just a few years, YES! grew to become one of the largest privately held manufactured housing community operators in the United States. 

YES! Communities operates 188 manufactured housing communities in 17 states.  They’ve purchased 1,000 new homes each year since 2013 to upgrade and fill their communities.

The YES! Communities website boasted over 1 million visitors last year and their commitment to resident service is evidenced by their excellent ratings on social media. Senior leadership at YES! is active in both state associations and MHI, and the company has contributed more than $100,000 to local communities through their YES! We Care program.

UMH Properties
UMH is committed to helping to solve America’s affordable housing crisis. Their vision statement notes “manufactured homes are highly competitive in quality and value and are the most cost-effective way to satisfy this affordable housing need.” 

While many community operators are moving away from rental homes, UMH has fully embraced them, even building a 100% rental community. Gaining lender acceptance of the rental product substantially increases the value of manufactured housing communities and opens up additional income streams for all community operators.

UMH has built its portfolio by acquiring 1- and 2-star communities with poor reputations and turning them into 3-, 4- and 5-star communities with waiting lists. They are embracing smart home technology by ordering Nest Thermostats with their homes, helping residents maximize energy savings provided by automatically managing temperatures. Homes are also equipped with video doorbells to provide residents with additional security.

Manufacturer of the Year with Three or More Plants: Clayton Home Building Group
The Clayton Home Building Group continued to push the industry forward by creating new and exciting products, launching a national marketing campaign designed to elevate the industry and creating a new atmosphere for their team members. Across its 40 facilities, they built more than 46,000 homes in 2017. 

The manufacturing facilities in Athens, Texas, and Wakarusa, Indiana, were designed to incorporate the best working environment in the industry with the latest technology in home construction. 

Clayton’s national “Have it Made” advertising campaign that launched last fall gave Clayton and the entire industry a voice encouraging homebuyers to consider homes built in off-site, climate-controlled environments.

Manufacturer of the Year with Two Plants or Less: Adventure Homes
Adventure Homes’ goal is to be innovative in its design of homes for today’s competitive housing market. They offer a wide-range of homes that include affordable HUD-Code homes, perfect for updating older manufactured home communities and modular homes designed for the everyday home buyer.

The company is committed to the idea that “custom building” a home can be affordable so that their homes meet the needs and wants of customers. Fifteen percent of the homes built last year were custom floor plans given to the company by its retailers.

Adventure Homes is tackling the industry’s transportation shortage by working with the Indiana state legislature to pass a law allowing for disposable modular carriers.  This law will allow retailers to display modular homes without the need for a temporary foundation and to later recycle the chassis, tires and axles.

Supplier of the Year award: Style Crest
For almost 50 years, Style Crest has been committed to providing the manufactured housing industry with extensive product offerings and a dedicated service platform that customers count on to support the success of their business. Style Crest prides themselves on being the supplier who partners with their customers to deliver the products and services to help grow their business.

In 2017, Style Crest launched the Mason’s Collection of new foundation covers. It is uniquely designed to save the contractor time in the field and enhance the curb appeal of a manufactured home at an affordable price. They’ve also just launched the Titan Xterior Elite, an insulated foundation cover.

Style Crest has been an MHI member since 1980 and currently belongs to 32 state associations. They also are ongoing supporters of the RV/MH Hall of Fame.

National Lender of the Year and Floorplan Lender of the Year: 21^st Mortgage Corporation
21st Mortgage Corporation serves the manufactured housing industry through relationships with independent retailers, community operators and mortgage brokers. Homebuyers are offered a full range of lending programs, including home-only loans, pre-owned home loans, bi-weekly payment plans, and land/home loans. The company originates and services loans in 48 states.

Through 21st Mortgage’s in-depth industry experience and commitment to their customers, the company reached a record loan volume with more than $1.3 billion in loans last year.  By offering a full range of programs, 21st Mortgage can fulfill many needs in the industry.

As the industry’s largest floorplan lender, 21st Mortgage now serves over 600 retailers, while flooring more than 1,300 homes each month. This lender’s mission is to work closely with retailers and manufacturers to recognize their specific needs. By knowing their businesses, 21^st Mortgage is well suited to provide fast and flexible support to their customers.

Last year, with rising consumer demand and associated inventory needs, 21st Mortgage responded by adding more than 80 new independent retailers and increasing credit lines for existing retailers by more than 25%. Additionally, when devastating storms hit the coasts of Texas, Florida and Louisiana, 21st Mortgage was there with financial accommodations necessary to rebuild their inventories and businesses.

Regional Lender of the Year: Cascade Financial Services
In 2017, Cascade Financial Services changed its company mission statement to “Serving the American Dream through Affordable Home Ownership,” which is what Cascade has been focused on since 1999. 

Team members at Cascade are proud that their mission is to serve affordable housing consumers ensuring underserved consumers have the best possible loan products and service level as they pursue their American Dream. Team members have embraced this mission statement more than ever before, and each goes through a manufacturing facility to learn about the building process, followed by a tour of a sales center to see finished homes. 

For the past two decades, 100% of Cascade’s retail loan production has been manufactured housing.  They are active members of MHI, the Mortgage Bankers Association and each manufactured housing state association where they are licensed.

Manufactured Home Community Lender Award (a tie): Wells Fargo Bank and Yale Realty & Capital Advisors 
Wells Fargo Bank
Since 2000, Wells Fargo has provided over $11 billion in financing for manufactured housing communities nationwide. In 2017, they originated over $800 million in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, including four Fannie Mae credit facilities on 65 communities throughout the United States.

Wells Fargo takes pride in listening to its customers to understand their needs.  For example, Wells Fargo developed a balance sheet program to allow for a larger percentage of park owned rental homes, and successfully lobbied Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase the standard from 5% to 25%.

The Wells Fargo team is highly adept at identifying and analyzing the attributes of any property to determine the lending program that will be the best fit for that borrower.

Yale Realty & Capital Advisors
Yale Realty & Capital Advisors was founded in 2012 with the goal of providing a fresh and modern approach to brokerage and financing services in the manufactured housing community industry.

Over the past six years, their financing division has provided financing during an era of change and progress. Recognizing that historically low interest rates were out of their control, Yale focused on educating lenders on industry trends which allowed them to tailor loans to the developing needs of the manufactured housing industry.

In order to move our industry in the right direction, Yale Realty and Capital Advisors believe it is extremely important to collaborate with the leaders of all areas of our industry.  They are proud supporters of several state associations and MHI.

Manufactured Home Community Broker of the Year: ARA Newmark’s Manufactured Housing Group
ARA Newmark’s Manufactured Housing Group views itself as an advisor to community owners across the country. Their primary service to the industry is to advise owners on market conditions and to help them best position their communities for sale.

However, their advisory role extends beyond community owners. ARA Newmark interacts regularly with appraisers, lenders, equity groups, servicers and more believing that these small efforts, compounded over time, will lead to better outcomes for our industry.

ARA is the industry leader in multifamily brokerage nationwide.  As a result, their manufactured housing team has formidable resources available to them from around the country.