Manufactured Housing Life

Happy Holidays from all of us at The Lifestylist Brands. May your holidays be bright and beautiful, and 2014 be a year of love, laughter and compassion.

All of us at The Lifestylist Brands would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. May it be filled with family, friends, love and great food!

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.

If you think mobile homes sit on blocks and that a mobile home park is undesirable, you haven't seen this beautiful home. The exterior is deceiving - what looks ordinary from the street is extraordinary when you walk and side and see all of the spectacular views and renovations that have been made to the home.

For more thoughts on the value of factory built housing and why it's so important to choose the right person to market your home visit our Lifestylist site. For more photos and information on purchasing the home visit celebrity Realtor Madison Hildebrand's site - The Malibu Life. The photo above is compliments of Mr. Hildebrand.

What a busy Summer! Not only are factory built homes selling as fast as the manufacturers can build them. mainstream media is finally saying positive things about our industry instead of talking about "trailer parks" and "mobile homes".  Even as Moore Oklahoma braced for some of the worst tornadoes in history, factory built housing held it's own and in some areas withstood the winds even better than the site built homes in the area did.

This Fall there are going to be lots of places to share all of this good news as well as learning about better ways to show and sell factory built homes. Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber is thrilled to have been asked to speak at the 22nd International Networking Roundtable for Land Lease Communities in Bloomingdale, Illinois September 18 - 20th and also at the Southeast Community Owners Symposium in Forsyth, GA October 8 - 10th.

Not only will these be great networking opportunities, but they will also be the places to tour new homes that are specifically designed for land lease communities, and to learn about important trends in our industry from the experts in their fields.

Click on the links above for more information, or feel free to contact us at: answers@lifestylist.com for more information.  Se you there!

I'm always amazed at the quality of life Yes! Communities offer to their residents. I was in Oklahoma City redesigning a clubhouse for them at their Timberland community, and even though it was a hot day there were a group of kids playing basketball on the sports court, people were enjoying the pool, and lots of kids playing in their front yards and enjoying the playground.  Residents were dropping in to the clubhouse asking when they could reserve the space for their personal use - the list was filling up quickly!

There are so many discussions going on about kids being parked in front of their computers and not being active -that definitely wasn't the case at Timberland. There was lots for them to do, and they were taking advantage of those opportunities.

Land lease communities offer a wonderful quality of life. Being able to live in a community with features such as pools, sports courts, beaches, mountain views and other lifestyle options means that there is always something to do!

Recently Lifestylist Design was asked to merchandise a new home for the Clayton Home Store in Desoto, Texas.

The home being featured was on of the new TruMH homes that's all about getting back to basics. These well designed homes are perfect for land lease communities and pricing is kept low by focusing on what factory built housing does best - keeping options to a minimum and taking advantage of volume pricing.

Just because a home is affordable doesn't mean that it can't have lots of style. We loved adding the Lifestylist touch to this home and showing people how much value this home has.

If you would like to find out more about how you can buy your new home at Clayton Homes Desoto, give them a call at: 972-230-8030.

My sister and her family live in Edmond, Oklahoma and are one of the lucky families that have a storm shelter. Tornadoes touched down near them last weekend but what happened to them was nothing like what happened to the residents of Moore, Oklahoma.

Last Summer they had an unbelievable experience - they packed up trunks and suitcases full of shoes, clothes, blankets, and other needed items and headed to Maisha International Orphanage - an amazing labor of love in Kisumu, Kenya. The stories and images they brought back are life changing, and it's a great reminder of how a small donation or offering can be life changing to these kids.

The beautiful souls at Maisha wanted to do something for their friends in Oklahoma City and Moore, and made this video as a way of showing their love and support. What a great reminder this Memorial Day weekend how precious life is and we all need to live ours to the fullest.

It's heartbreaking to watch the news today and see the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. My sister and her family live in Edmond, OK and I have clients that have land lease communities very close to where the tornado touched down.

People always think that "trailer parks" or "mobile home parks" are the worst places to be during a disaster like this, but that just isn't true. I was glad to hear that the Yes! Communities in this area only sustained hail and wind damage and no one was hurt. Their on-site managers made sure that everyone got to where they needed to be and are now busy helping them get emergency supplies and repairs. That's one of the advantages of living in a well run land lease community - there's always someone there to help.

If you would like to help the people of Moore that were affected by the storm, I encourage you to donate to the Salvation Army. They truly do the most good with every dollar that is donated.

Congratulations to Wolfe and Associates for having their beautiful Battle Creek Michigan community - Rolling Hills - being named  the best Midwest Land Lease Community of the Year by The Manufactured Housing Institute.

This community is a great example of great management and quality of life, and residents are raving about the renovated clubhouse that Lifestylist Design completed this Summer.

Happy Mothers Day! I was reminded today as to why I became a Lifestylist® - my mother is the perfect example of who to live your life with style. We celebrated with homemade cinnamon buns and a cruise around their lake - how did you celebrate with your Mom?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Land Lease Communities are such a misunderstood and undervalued type of community. As in every form of housing there are the good and the bad, but after touring some of the yes! communities in Oklahoma and Texas there is no doubt in my mind that this will be the housing of the future.

SE Homes of Texas has recognized for years how important it is to offer the right home for community living and I've really enjoyed working with them on this. Getting to see the finished homes and the people who live in them is such a delight - it's rewarding beyond belief to this Lifestylist® to know you can help these families live in the home of their dreams. With SE Homes of TX being a part of the Clayton Homes family - the largest housing builder in the country- they have the resources to build and design homes that no other company can match.

What is a land lease community? This is where instead of having the burden of owning and taking care of the land your home sits on you lease it from the community owner who then is also responsible for keeping up the streets, common areas, paying the property taxes and making sure that the community is well maintained.  Communities can have a little or a lot of community areas, and most offer on-site management so there is someone there every day making sure the community is run properly. Many of them are in prime locations and can offer swimming pools, sports courts, walking paths, community gardens, and clubhouses. Leasing instead of owning the land your home is on it can save you thousands in property taxes and insurance which you can then invest into your home. You are responsible for your home, but the community owner pays  for everything else.

The advantage of this type of housing over apartments is that you can own your own home, plus you aren't sharing walls or hallways with your neighbors. Each home is on it's own lot giving you room to garden or enjoy outdoor living.

I have been visiting communities from coast to coast because I've become so interested in this, and the quality of living that the yes! communities provided was above and beyond the others in their areas. Every detail from how the landscaping was maintained to the signage into and around the community is taken into consideration, and even though it is still winter up here everything was spotless! Not a blowing piece of paper or unpainted fence to be found.

What really set the yes! communities apart though was the people behind the name and the residents that live in these communities. Saying (and meaning) yes is the approach this company and it's people take and the difference this makes is seen throughout. Residents and staff are happy and are excited to be there because yes! has provided a wonderful quality of live for everyone involved.

What's in a name? Everything when you are talking about a YES! community.

 

You would think that finding a contractor or designer to do work on your home would be easy, but take it from this Domestic Lifestylist® it's not. When I decided to add a test kitchen to The Home Idea Factory I started thinking about having people in my home, and trust became even more important than the cost. Fortunately for me, I found Mike Clark and his team, and my test kitchen is closer than ever to being a reality.

Here's some tips for hiring a contractor.

t's looking like this Lifestylist® is going to be spending a lot more time in the kitchen this year, and we couldn't be more excited! Our test kitchen is coming along really well, and we have a lot of kitchens we are designing for clients which is always lots of fun.

January is going to be a month spent on the road. Besides working with all of our clients we have been invited to the beautiful Thermador flagship design center to see what's new as well as work on new appliances for the future.

The International Builders Show will be taking place in Las Vegas, and it is always a great source of trends in home design.

We'll have lots to talk about and share, and we are also anxious to know what you think about the new trend to brighter, whiter kitchens. Susan Serra, one of the premiere kitchen designers just did an article for Cultivate on Kitchen Predictions for 2013 that has lots of great information so we wanted to share. What do you think will be the top kitchen trend in 2013?