BARRIERS FACING MANUFACTURED HOUSING AS AN ACCEPTABLE FORM OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0205917
• Project Start Date: Dec 1, 2005
• Project End Date: Dec 1, 2008
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
200 D.W. BROOKS DR
ATHENS,GA 30602-5016

Performing Department
COL OF FAMILY & CONSUMER SCI

Non Technical Summary
As the cost of housing rises, manufactured housing remains an affordable option to help more Americans realize their dream of homeownership. However, obstacles stand in the way of increasing the prevalence of manufactured housing. Negative perceptions of manufactured housing and zoning barriers prevent people from owning manufactured housing. The aim of this study is not just to learn more about the state of manufactured housing, but also to prepare a foundation for action plans to make the dream of homeownership come true for more Georgians and to help policy makers understand the issues for their community in a broader context.

Animal Health Component

90%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

90%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
804	5320	3010	40%
804	5320	3020	30%
804	5320	3060	30%

Knowledge Area
804 - Human Environmental Issues Concerning Apparel, Textiles, and Residential and Commercial Structures;

Subject Of Investigation
5320 - Houses (human residences), furniture, household equipment, non-textile furnishings;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education; 3010 - Economics; 3060 - Political science;

Keywords

manufactured housing

mobile homes

rural housing

workforce housing

pride

energy star

Goals / Objectives
This study, focusing on manufactured housing in Georgia and barriers to its acceptance, has three objectives. The first objective is to examine the perceptions of manufactured housing; in particular the level of pride future homeowners would feel in owning a manufactured home. My previous pilot study using photographs of newer homes found that when the study participants were told that some of them were manufactured housing, they were slightly less likely to rank them as the houses that would give them the highest pride as residents. A further study with a larger sample size is needed. The second objective is to assess the level of knowledge of decision makers about the advantages of manufactured housing. The third and final objective is to study the advantages of the Energy Star certification for manufactured homes and to determine if the public is aware of these benefits.

Project Methods
The approach varies for each of the three objectives of the study. (1)The goal of this part of the study is to conduct a refined experiment based on our previous experience with the older adults in Athens area. Students would be shown four photographs of homes in the Athens area. All four homes would be non-brick, single-story, detached homes from Athens, Georgia within the same price range. Two of the homes would be site-built, while the other two would be modern manufactured homes. One of the manufactured homes would have a more traditional manufactured housing exterior, while the second home would be more difficult to identify as such. The study would incorporate the Solomon four-group factorial design to measure the relative pride the participants would have if they were to live in different types of homes. (2) In partnership with a manufactured home retailer in the Athens area, we will conduct tours of a demonstration house for community leaders. The community leaders will include the local planners, elected officials, and other influential persons who participate in local government and set policies regarding zoning. The demonstration tours will take place at the retailer's company site, where the participants will walk through a modern manufactured home, learn about the features of the home, have an opportunity to ask questions, and complete a questionnaire to assess knowledge and perceptions of manufactured housing. In addition, they will receive an initial questionnaire, which we will ask them to return in the mail prior to participation in the tour. The questionnaire will serve as a pretest and, most importantly, assess their existing perceptions and knowledge of manufactured housing. This pretest questionnaire will include questions about socio-demographic characteristics, current housing tenure status (own vs. rent), and past and current housing experiences such as whether or not they have lived in a manufactured or mobile home. All tour guides will use a standard script to keep the tour experience as equal as possible. No sales force will be present for the tour, and the tours take place at the time when the business is closed. We hypothesize that the tour will enhance the participants' knowledge and result in more positive perceptions of manufactured housing, because, in part, we expect that a majority of the participants could be unfamiliar with modern manufactured housing or the Energy Star certification. (3) By partnering with retailers of manufactured homes in the area, we will distribute a survey to potential homebuyers investigating their knowledge of the cost saving benefits of an Energy Star certified home. The definition of potential homebuyers includes those who are currently renting a home. Energy Star homes provide not only lower utility bills but potentially lower mortgages interest rate.

Progress 12/01/05 to 12/01/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: First, we completed the analysis for our study, titled "Assessing the pride of owning modern manufactured housing among young adults," which used the online experiment data collected earlier. After completing the draft of the manuscript, we submitted it to a refereed journal. It is currently under review. Second, we have one forthcoming refereed journal publication that explored the trend in characteristics of manufactured housing residents in Georgia. After it was rejected by Housing Studies, we revised the manuscript based on the reviewers' comments and submitted it to Housing and Society. It has been accepted for publication and will be published in 2009. Third, we successfully completed the funded research project on manufactured housing in Georgia, "Sweaney, A.L., Rodgers, T., & Tinsley, K. "Manufactured Housing: Expanding Housing Options for Georgian's Families" University of Georgia Office of Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Poverty and the Economy grant program 2007 - $16,754 (Jan. 2007 - May 2008)." Fourth, I continued to serve as the Director of the Housing and Demographics Research Center (HDRC). Our outreach activity Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) program is in its fourth year. This is a three-year housing education and technical assistance program for cities in Georgia. GICH is helping 15 communities to fashion solutions to their community's housing needs. The centerpiece of the Initiative is a series of facilitated retreats, in which community housing teams gather for work sessions and targeted assistance. The GICH program has 11 alumni communities and increased networking opportunities through the GICH listserv, which has 270 subscribers. The Initiative is primarily supported through voluntary time contributions of individuals from the three partnering organizations: The Georgia Municipal Association, The Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the HDRC. Financial support is provided by The Georgia Power Company, a USDA Rural Community Development Initiative grant, The Wachovia Foundation. The GICH program won a national award, National Council State Housing Agencies Special Achievement. This award recognizes a Housing Finance Agency (Georgia Department of Community Affairs) program that responds in an outstanding manner to an important state need; has a significant impact on a population, geographic area, or economy; and cuts across traditional program lines. Lastly, on October 17, I represented the University of Georgia at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Affordable Communities Initiative: National Call to Action Symposium, Washington, DC to speak at a roundtable. PARTICIPANTS: Yoko Mimura, University of Georgia; Tom Rodgers, University of Georgia; Karen Tinsley, University of Georgia; Housing and Demographics Research Center, University of Georgia; The Georgia Department of Community Affairs; The Georgia Power Company; USDA Rural Community Development Initiative grant; The Wachovia Foundation TARGET AUDIENCES: Policymakers and consumers PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: none

Impacts
My research and outreach mission has been on workforce housing. The AES provided me with the resources that helped us to extend this mission. In particular, manufactured housing remains an affordable option for many individuals and families in Georgia. To influence government officials and other related entities, it is important to decode perceptions toward manufactured housing and understand who lives in manufactured homes. This year, as mentioned earlier, I was given an opportunity to speak about the future of affordable housing in the U.S. at a symposium in Washington, DC. The purpose of the experimental study was to assess if and how knowledge of housing structure type affects the relative pride of owning manufactured and site-built houses among young adults. The convenience sample came from college students at the University of Georgia. The respondents reported they would feel less proud of owning manufactured homes than site-built houses, controlling for the gender and area the respondent grew up, regardless of whether of not the respondent knew which houses were of which type. It also appeared that those who grew up in rural areas and women displayed lower pride levels than the others. The resources from the AES funding were used to make the experiment possible. The other study about the trend in characteristics of mobile home residents in Georgia used the U.S. Census data to perform a comparative assessment of socio-demographic profiles between residents of mobile or manufactured homes and resident of site-built homes. We also provided a comparison between the two types of residents for the time period 1980 and 2000 in the state of Georgia. Results suggest that increasingly lower-income households, including Hispanic households, were living in mobile and manufactured homes as opposed to comparable single-family site-built homes. In addition, an increasing number of larger households, households headed by African Americans, and households headed by older individuals were living in mobile and manufactured homes instead of multifamily site-built homes such as apartments and condominiums. The resources from the AES funding were used to complete the study. For the Poverty and the Economy grant study funded by the University of Georgia Office of Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, we used secondary data and interviews to understand and compile the issues and challenges facing the industry in Georgia and to document best practices. Our report includes a set of best practices for local officials, housing professionals and community organizations to consider adopting or replicating in their city and includes suggestions for lease-lot communities, manufactured housing subdivisions, installation and landscaping, disposal and recycling, and model codes. Plans for disseminating best practices will be explored with the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. The results from this research have been shared with the members of the Moultrie Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) team.

Publications

• James, R.N., III & Sweaney, A.L. (2008). REITs and the residential satisfaction of private rental sector tenants on an internet ratings site [abstract]. In Shrinking Cities, Sprawling Suburbs, Changing Countrysides: European Network of Housing Researchers 2008 International Conference, July 6-9, Book of Abstracts (p. 230), Dublin (Belfield), Ireland: University College Dublin.
• James, R.N., III, Carswell, A.T., & Robb, C.A. (2008, February). Estimating the outlays of renting and owning: The risks of hidden ownership costs. Proceedings of the Eastern Family Economics and Resource Management Association 2008 Conference (pp. 36-38). Savannah, GA.
• Robinson, Katie. (2008). Housing, Residential satisfaction of military personnel living in privatized and non-privatized housing. Unpublished master's thesis. University of Georgia: Athens, GA. (Sweaney served on her committee).
• Sweaney, A.L., Roskey, C.M., Peek, G.G. (2008). Housing. In G.A. Gorham (Ed.), Encyclopedia of rural America: The land and people: Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). (pp. 494 - 497). Millerton, NY: Grey House Publishing, Inc.
• Sweaney, A.L., Tinsley, K., & Rodgers, T. (2008). Manufactured Housing: Expanding Housing Options for Georgia's Families. University of Georgia Office of Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Poverty and the Economy Faculty Research Grants Program Abstract. (REPORT)
• Tinsley, K., Cude, B. J., Rodgers, T., & Sweaney, A. L. (2008). Partnering with local employers to meet housing needs [Electronic Version]. Journal of Extension, 46 (6), from http://www.joe.org/joe/2008december/rb8.shtml
• Anglyn, A.L., Mimura, Y. & Sweaney, A.L. (2008). Changes in the home modifications among older adults in the United States. [Abstract] In Yust, B.L. (Ed.). Proceedings of the 2008 Annual Conference of the Housing Education and Research Association. Housing Education and Research Association: Indianapolis, IN. Pp. 141-145.

Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: My research team continued working with the data preparation and analyses for the online experiment that assesses the relative level of pride when living in manufactured housing that was conducted in 2006. The draft of a manuscript titled "Assessing the pride of owning modern manufactured housing among young adults" based on the online experiment on housing pride is nearly complete for submission to the _Housing and Society_, a peer-reviewed journal. The funded project, "Sweaney, A.L., Rodgers, T., Tinsley, K. Manufactured Housing: Expanding Housing Options for Georgian's Families - Office of Vice President for Public Service and Outreach - 2007 Poverty and the Economy UGARF grant program. 01/07 - 05/08. $16,754" was implemented. Three of the accomplishments are as follows: first we made contacts and gained support from the industry for the project. Second, we met and interviewed several manufactured housing industry leaders and sales dealers. Third, to begin documenting best practices, we visited two manufactured housing residential communities: subdivision in Bluffton, SC and a lease-lot park in Augusta, GA. We secured a fund, "Sweaney, A.L., Rodgers, T., Tinsley, K. Co-sponsorship agreement in support of the Housing for All Georgian's: A Call to Action symposium U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Atlanta Regional Office. 05/07 - 09/07. $1,000." This fund made it possible to host a symposium titled "Housing for All Georgians: A Call to Action" in September, with 221 in attendance. As Mr. Applegate, HUD Senior Counsel and America's Affordable Communities Initiative Director, remarked, "the number of conference attendees alone is a sign of tremendous success, since the first obstacle in the effort to removing regulatory barriers is engaging communities and increasing awareness." PARTICIPANTS: Yoko Mimura, University of Georgia; Tom Rodgers, University of Georgia; Karen Tinsley, University of Georgia; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Hugh Burke, Ranch Park Homes President (Milledgeville); Tom Collins, Flamingo Homes (Athens); Charlotte Gattis, Georgia Manufactured Housing Association (GMHA) President; Dudley Horton, Horton Homes President (Eatonton); and Pat Long, Wymberly (Augusta); Fleetwood, Horton (Russ Hicks, VP); & Clayton (Fred Townsend, VP) TARGET AUDIENCES: Policymakers and consumers PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: none

Impacts
Manufactured housing remains an affordable option for workforce individuals and families in Georgia. Therefore, decoding perceptions of manufactured housing through pride and other measurements is important. The research findings from both the online experiment and the expanding housing options will lead to some solutions for improving the social acceptance of affordable housing by impacting the government officials and other related entities.

Publications

• 1. Anglyn, A. L. (2007) Incidence of Home Modifications among Younger Old Adults and Older Old Adults Using Longitudinal Analysis. Unpublished master's thesis. University of Georgia, Athens. (Sweaney served as a major professor).
• 2. Colson, M. (2007) Affordable Housing Barriers in Georgia according to local Homebuilder Association Members. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Georgia, Athens. (Sweaney served as a major professor).
• 3. Mimura, Y., Eaves, C.P., & Sweaney, A.L. (2007). Assessing the pride of owning manufactured housing among young adults [Abstract]. In Laquatra, J. (Ed.). 2007 Annual Housing Education and Research Association Conference Proceedings. Pp. 144-148.
• 4. Sweaney, A., Dorfman, J., Atiles, J., Kriesel, W., Rodgers, T., & Tinsley, K. (2007, October 23-26). The Economic Impact of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in Georgia. [Poster Presentation]. Proceedings of the 2007 Annual Conference of the Housing Education and Research Association. Housing Education and Research Association (HERA) Annual Conference. Charlotte, NC.
• 5. Turner, P., Tinsley, K., Cude, B., & Sweaney, A. An Analysis of Workforce Housing in Rural Georgia. Consumer Interests Annual Volume 53. The proceedings of the 53rd annual conference. St. Louis, MO. April 18-21, 2007.
• 6. Vanderford, S., Mimura, Y., Sweaney, A., & Carswell, A. (2007). An analysis of tenure and house structure type by household composition. Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal 36(2), 93-109.

Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06

Outputs
My research team began preparing for a new experiment to assess the relative level of pride when living in a manufactured housing was conducted using internet with the sample of about 400 undergraduates students enrolled in the University of Georgia. In November, the data were collected. The data are currently cleaned and are waiting to be analyzed. The grant proposal, 'Sweaney, A., Rodgers, T. & Tinsley, K. Manufactured Housing: Expanding Housing Options for Georgia's Families, The University of Georgia, Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, Poverty and the Economy Faculty Research Grants Program, 01/01/2007 ' 12/31/2007, $16,754' was funded to expand my study on manufactured housing as an affordable housing option. The study is currently taking place.

Impacts
Manufactured housing remains an affordable option for workforce individuals and families in Georgia. Therefore, decoding perceptions of manufactured housing through pride and other measurements is important. The research findings will lead to some solutions for improving the social acceptance of manufactured housing by impacting the government officials and other related entities.

Publications

• Carswell A.T. & Sweaney, A.L. (2006). The housing industry. In J.L. Merrill, S.R. Crull, K. R. Tremblay, Jr., L.L. Tyler, & A.T. Carswell (Eds.), Introduction to housing (pp. 87-112). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
• Carswell A.T., Merrill, J.L., Sweaney, A.L. & Tremblay, Jr. K.R. (2006). Housing challenges for the twenty-first century. In J.L. Merrill (Ed.), Introduction to housing (pp. 327-335). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
• Colson, M., Cude, B., Rodgers, T., Sweaney, A. & Tinsley, K (2006, February). Collaborating with community leaders, policy makers, and consumers: The establishment of a viable housing center for research and outreach. Eastern Family Economics Resource Management Association Annual Conference, Knoxville, TN. Abstract available from: http://mrupured.myweb.uga.edu/conf/13.pdf
• Opoku, A., Mauldin, T., Sweaney, A., Bachtel, D.C., Atiles, J., & Eaves, C. (2006). Predisposing, enabling, and need predictors of community versus institutional long-term care. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 20(1/2) 133-154.
• Sweaney, A. L., Mimura, Y., Vanderford, S. E., & Reeves, J. (2006). Assessing the pride of housing ownership options among older adults in Georgia, Housing and Society. 33-41.
• Syal, M., Hastak, M., Mullens, M., & Sweaney, A.L. (2006). U.S.- India Collaborative Research Directions in Urban Housing and Supporting Infrastructure. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 12(4), 167-167.
• Vanderford, Stephanie. (May 2006). Family Homelessness in a Southern City: An Event History Analysis. Unpublished dissertation. Athens, GA: University of Georgia. (Dissertation committee chair).