A Nagging Feeling about Your MH Business

Do you ever get the nagging feeling that things are going on you don't know about? I had that a lot in high school.

You can spend a few minutes with MHISC's Update magazine and feel like you know what you need to know to do business in the manufactured and modular industries in South Carolina.

What's happened with sales tax; is it really going to go up? What's the deal on these legal changes for modular homes? What new companies have come into the industry? What's this big meeting in April everybody is talking about.

Update went to the printer today. The magazine will be on the desk of every major retailer, community owner and manufaturer next week.

Here's the article line-up for the Spring Issue. Lots on information boiled down to one page stories. All written by a professional journalist who translates it all into comprehensible, concise articles.

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
Promotional: Value of New Community Designation Multiplied by Website Exposure

GOVERNMENT
PAC: Board Members Contribute $10,000 to MHISC’s Political Fund
Sales Tax: Legislators Propose Full 6% Sales Tax; MHISC Says No Thanks
Chattel Loans: Agency Wants to Apply RESPA

DEPARTMENTS
Calendar: Get the Early Bird Rate for the Convention
Statistics: 2011 Ends on a Strong Note
On the Road: A Legislator a Day

MEETINGS
Annual Meeting set for April 18-19: A Nice Little Day and a Half Meeting

MEMBERS
Grapevine: Manufacturer Reps Make a Move; Yes! Buys Seven Communities in SC
Dues: Manufacturers Supporting MHISC
Member Contributions: Members Lobby the Sales Tax Issue
New Members: Cherokee Builders, Charriette Homes, Wells Fargo
Profile: Beaufort Chapter President Julian Pangrass
Committees: MHISC Will Appoing 2012-2013 Committee Members in April

MODULAR
Sales: Law Guaranteeing Placement of Display Mods Now on the Books
Building Code: New Energy Efficiency Standards

Changes for www.MHISC.com

MHISC is re-doing our website, www.MHISC.com. We're giving it a fresh look and making it easier to find things. Pages for the media and government officials are being beefed up, as well as the popular Member Library section. We are also adding new pages including one to list communities signing up for MHISC’s Quality Manufactured Home Community™ designation.

Manufactured Housing Industry’s Take on Zoning

Beginning in 2007, South Carolina began reversing a thirty year trend of zoning out
manufactured homes. More areas of South Carolina are now including manufactured
homes by using design and compatibly standards.

Manufactured Housing: A product of the American competitive market system

• The efficiency of factory production is our economic system’s response to the critical
need for affordable housing.
• Consumers determine the type of housing which represents the best value for their
housing dollars. Home ownership is good for everybody. It gives families ties to the
community, kids do better in school and home owners take pride in where they live
• Dramatic changes in modern-day manufactured homes make it much easier to treat
home buyers fairly in the zoning process.

First MHISC Pub Crawl Booked

Planning for our MHISC Convention /Spring Meeting is coming along nicely

Here's what's in the works:

http://mhiscevents.blogspot.com/2012/01/mhiscs-next-statewide-meeting-set-for.html

2012 Members-only Password Sent to Members

MHISC has distributed a new User Name and Password for members to gain access to the Members Only Library on www.MHISC.com.

The new password went out to all members who have renewed their membership for 2012 and to all manufacturers participating in MHISC.

Members can contact Info@mhisc.com to get the password. That is, if they've paid their dues for '12

The association changes the password for each new year. The Members Only Library includes the MHISC Membership Directory and all the facts and forms companies need to do business in South Carolina.

Goofy Footnote
OK, I take full responsibility for this because I can't think of anybody else to blame:

MHISC had to issue a second User Name and Password on January 9. That’s because the original words proved to be difficult to remember and not very user-friendly. Both codes consisted of two words. The combination of upper and lower case and confusion about whether to type in a space between the words resulted in a high failure rate for members trying to access the Members-Only Library. Let's put it this way, I wasn't able to get in there about half the time!

The new User Name and Password consist of one word each and are easy to remember.

Spring Meeting

We're having fun planning MHISC's Spring Meeting April 18 - 19 in Columbia. Wednesday night there's a Pub Crawl through the Vista, the cool part of Columbia's downtown. Next morning, the Industry Breakfast followed by our Annual Meeting and Industry Golf Tournament.

New Leaders for Grand Strand Chapter

The Grand Strand Chapter elected some excellent leaders last night. Joe Esposito will serve as President, Bill King as VP and John Howard, Jr., as Secretary-Treasurer.

They have a great mix of experience in the industry. Joe is region manager for Jensen's Communities a major national company offering first-class properties for 55+ residents.

Bill King is GM for Clayton Homes' Conway display center. John Howard runs Howard Homes in Georgetown. Together they bring the perspectives of the state's largest retail chain and a second-generation independent dealer.

It's also helpful to have a chapter officer from both of the two counties, Horry and Georgetown, that make up the Grand Stand Chapter.

Grand Strand is the newest of MHISC's six chapters.