Samuel Landy
Analyst · Boulgaris Investments
We're adding new clubhouses in approximately 8 communities this year. That is the business plan. UMH, in 2006, when we had 90% plus occupancy and we were trying to expand by buying land, getting the approvals and building communities, because that can be the most profitable, when you sell a house you pay for the cost to construct the lot and then you collect the lot rent forever. If you are able to build a community and sell houses, that is the most profitable. But when we searched the Northeast for land zoned to allow manufactured home communities, the only thing we could find was the project 18 miles south of Albany which was land zoned to allow manufactured home community. It has been 10 years; we have not obtained the final approvals to build it. That is how hard it is. So UMH recognized that when these other people are selling communities with vacancies, there is nothing to us more valuable than those vacant sites. I hear people say that UMH is 80% occupancy and 20% vacancies in negative. Not to us at all. We are buying the 80% occupancy at a seven cap. That is fantastic. We're getting the 20% vacancy virtually for nothing. It is 3,700 vacant sites that we can add 3,700 rentals to and generate 8,000 times 3,000 in additional revenue, $24 million which we expect to net at least half of that, all on the same size company. In addition to that, we own 1,100 vacant acres of land to expand, some of those expansions, take New Jersey, where we own 110 vacant acres. Those will be lots with homes for sale for well over $100,000, hopefully earning $30,000 per unit sales profit, the Coxsakie project, I'm hoping to earn more than $50,000 in unit sales project, Saratoga, New York, I'm hoping to earn $50,000 a year sales profit. So we have a lot of really good expansions and great markets pending, but doing the expansions, expansions has always been an incredibly hard thing to do where you make a lot of money, but buying these communities with deferred maintenance, adding rental units, is the easiest thing I have ever done and we are really enjoying it.