Manufactured Housing News

When I trademarked the term Lifestylist® over 10 years ago I had no idea what I was in for. I thought by registering the name and going through the proper channels I'd be protected - unfortunately it wasn't that easy. You have to constantly monitor all of the media that is out there and be the  intellectual property cop which can be very time consuming, but the only way to protect what you have built. I've found that some people honestly didn't know that Lifestylist is a trademarked term and will remove their usage of it, but there are others who insist on getting lawyers involved.
Through all of this I've become increasingly more aware that there are some really stellar, ethical bloggers out there that really know their stuff and share great information and then well... there are others. Today I noticed a tweet from someone I follow and respect - Courtney Price of Courtney Price Design and sure enough it was full of great information that every blogger needs to be aware of.
Her article on Copyright Issues for Bloggers shows how to do the right thing - she contacted Susan and William from the House of Brinson about an online class they gave on copyrights,  got quotes and permission to use their photography and credited them in the article. Blogging should be about celebrating all of us - not just your own domain.
We teamed up at the beginning of our Lifestylist journey with Lisa Stewart of Lisa Stewart Photography so we would have the photos we need to tell our story with. I have a photography page at the top of my blog that credits her and states all photos are copyrighted.
Words to the wise: if you don't own the rights to a photo, got permission in writing to use it or took it yourself, don't use it. This is becoming an issue that more photographers and writers are taking seriously and winning in the battles that make it to court.
If you don't know if a term or service is trademarked you can go to the USPTO website, do a trademark search and anything that has been filed will be shown as well as who the owner is.
If you haven't discovered them already, be sure to visit The House of Brinson and Courtney Price Design to see examples of how to share ideas and make a house a home beautifully.

It's amazing how many myths are out there about modular and factory built homes - especially that they aren't built well or will "blow away" in a storm.
Clayton Homes has been getting a lot of press about their new modular homes and even traditional builders are starting to take notice. As a Lifestylist® I have spent a lot of time in both and would be happy to live in either. They have done a great job in their Blog dispelling some of the rumors about this very efficient form of housing.

It's hard to believe that's it's been 10 years since Katrina set her eye on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. So much of the media was focused on New Orleans, but the entire Gulf Coast especially in Mississippi has yet to fully recover from her wrath.
When it became obvious that here was going to be extensive loss of housing , the Manufactured Housing Institute and the manufactured housing community sprung into action to make sure that people would have a place to live that was safe.
A few years after the storm MHI's magazine: Modern Homes had an article written by Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber with photography by Lisa Stewart Photography that shared what progress had been made, and what an important part of the rebuilding process manufactured housing played.
You can read a copy of the article here.

It's been an interesting week as far as media regarding factory built homes - The NY Times published a very controversial article yesterday: "The Cold Hard Lessons of Mobile Home U". In it people who make a very good living in this industry make very disparaging remarks about "trailer parks" and the people that live in them. Fortunately industry veteran Bruce Savage set the record straight on the American Housing Advocates page.
True, there are these types of communities out there that have no community amenities and provide a bare bones quality of life, but what they neglected to talk about is the communities that are all about lifestyle and community.
It is possible to to to have lifestyle and value all in the same place? Absolutely! Fortunately there are many land lease communities across the country that offer a great quality of life to their residents at a very fair price. The new American Housing Advocates group is committed to getting the word out about what a great value Factory built housing can be, and we are looking forward to learning more from this group in the future.

We are so proud to announce that at the recent MHI Congress and Expo The Lifestylst Brands was awarded the Best Model Home award for a retail center. This home was built by SE Homes of Texas, and was owned by R & R Mobile Homes in DeRidder, LA.
This is a great honor and we love having the opportunity to help these great clients sell homes.

As a Lifestylist®, I love to decorate for the holidays. It doesn't have to big a huge expense or time challenge - just bringing out the things you love and creating new memories makes that special day one to remember.
This is a home that we LifeStyled for Patriot Homes back in 2002 - where has the time gone! It was at the Tunica show, and I love that Patriot always let me merchandise our homes to show lifestyle, including holidays and special events.
The home was their least expensive model, but we reminded people that every home is a place where the new owners can create their own special memories.
Happy Easter from all of us at The Lifestylist Brands and American Housing Advocates.

There is a reason Texas is so strong in factory built home  sales - they have a great organization that makes sure that the facts get out to their members and consumers. We got this press release today:
TMHA is pleased to announce our newest member resource with today’s launching of our Owner-Finance Resource webpage.
We have long known a portion of our membership has engaged in some form of individual lending.  Typically this is referred to as “owner-financing.”  Admittedly lending operations were never simple, but the complexity and education needed in the new regulatory environment has had an exponential impact on the demands of any would be lender, especially smaller owner-finance lenders.
The cry for help, education, resources, and direction is a common request we hear these days.  The high turnout at TMHA’s Dodd-Frank Implementation Workshop further demonstrated the demand in our industry for more help and more education.
Today we are launching a new, completely dedicated resource page focused on owner-finance lending.  In conjunction with the webpage launch we are publishing three new articles below in what we expect to be the first three installments of an on-going series of articles dedicated to this area.

For more information about the Texas Manufactured Housing Association you can visit their website or email them at: info@texasmha.com