Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/657319
APRIL 2016 19 THE JOURNAL tive ornamental white PVC cap. Then put a nice, new aluminum sign in between them, with white letters on a green or brown background, cut into an attractive shape. Fastsigns can build these cheap, and they last forever. New signage throughout Replace every old, rusted metal pole that holds up a speed limit or other sign with a 4" x 4" wooden post sleeved in white PVC with a white PVC ornamental cap. Then get out a drill and affix your new aluminum sign to that post. Im- provement in appearance: 1000%. Cost out of pocket: not that much. Put a standardized number plate on each home Instead of a hodgepodge of non-matching numbers – including spray painted ones – that identify each home lot, a much better solution is to buy pre-made numbers on aluminum plates. The best ones are even reflective. Figure on around $10 per unit installed – a huge bargain for the impact. A new attractive name for the community Here's a freebie that most community owners overlook: simply change the name of your prop- erty. Unless your community has a great image and name that has taken decades to build on, you should think about changing it. Old-fashioned and undesirable names like "Roll-A-Home" and "Critter Village" should be tossed. But what to re- name it? Use your top sales pitch in the name. Is the community located in a great school district like "Green Gables School District"? Then it's going to be "Green Gables Estates". Does it have giant trees that look great? Then "Big Oak Es- tates". We always attach the word "Estates" to all of our new names – it sounds classy and makes the property sound impressive. Shutters on homes All manufactured homes look best with shut- ters. They were designed to have them. They give the home some color and professionalism. They are really cheap (around $20 per set). Put them back on every home. Ask the resident their per- mission and just do it. Awnings on homes Same as shutters. Supply companies such as Lane McDuff offer the original-styled awnings for most every older home. It completes the original design, just like your eyebrows help your face. Repetitive features Some communities are devoid of any aesthet- ics. No trees. Older homes. Sometimes you can create this aesthetic using "repetitive features". Coach lights are a classic, but they are really ex- pensive to wire. However, you can now get around that using solar coach lights. Check out the solar options. Gamma Sonic is a good vendor of these, and most cost around $100 or less. We've tested them and they work well. Throw a few of these around your property and it looks much better. White vinyl fence One of our favorites. This looks great down the frontage in front of your entrance, as well as splashed throughout the park on major corners. Your handyman can install it, or you can hire a professional fence company – either way it's very affordable. We love it because it fits well with our product, is self-cleaning when it rains and you can clean graffiti off with a solvent. A great website Do you realize that half the earth vets your property with the internet today? If you don't have a good website – or any website at all – you're scaring off potential customers. You can either pay a few hundred dollars or pay your teenage neigh- bor $10 and hour. Potential return on investment is huge. Swap the skirting from the back to the front Do your residents have gaps in their skirting on the front or sides – highly visible from the street? Replace those gaps by taking sections of skirting off the back of the homes, which nobody ever sees except the meter reader. Total cost: $0. Net ef- fect: infinite when the inspector, appraiser and potential customers drive through. Window treatments Replace all aluminum foil, beach towels and similar window treatments with white mini-blinds. They cost $5 each. They will make your property look 500% better. A whole bunch of paint Henry Ford had a standard business concept that everything in life worked better when it had a fresh coat of paint. He would constantly repaint his factories because he found that it improved at- titudes and outlooks on very little cost. That the- ory is still true a hundred years later. Anything in your property that is looking weathered and raggedy can be cured with paint. Front doors, en- tire homes, old fences and gates, meter boxes – paint virtually cures all ills. It's cheap and it's ex- tremely effective. Conclusion If your property does not look its best, then try the 21 steps shown above. You can take any prop- erty to the next level on a shoestring budget. There's an old song that says "little things mean a lot". It's true. Frank Rolfe has been a manufactured home community owner for almost two decades, and currently ranks as part of the 6th largest community owner in the United States, with more than 17,000 lots in 23 states in the Great Plains and Midwest. His books and courses on commu- nity acquisitions and management are the top-selling ones in the industry. To learn more about Frank's views on the manufactured home community industry visit www.MobileHomeUniversity.com. / CMP COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE \ 11 T J NEW PRODUCTS Does your company have a new product? The May Issue is our "New Products Edition". Send your new product photo along with a description and we will feature it in the issue at no cost to you. It's FREE! Photos should be 300 dpi and sent in a separate file. Send your new product information to news@journalmfdhousing.com. Advertising discounts available for this issue. Call for more information 706-655-2333