At Jacksonville, Fla.–based Triad Financial Services, the third-biggest lender to buyers of manufactured U.S. homes, CEO Don Glisson Jr. has seen many ups and downs throughout his 36 year-tenure. When home sales plummeted and his competitors fled, the company focused on borrowers with high credit scores. Now, Bloomberg’s Jeremy Hill reports that Triad may reap the benefits for its persistence as factory-made homes make a comeback.
Consolidation among producers and the exodus of lenders have left a just few businesses -- including three owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. -- to dominate a market that looks primed for growth in the face of rising prices for site-built houses and the potential for regulatory change.
The hope is that more Americans will see the factory units not only as a more-affordable alternative to a traditional single-family house, but also an appealing one, without the old trailer-park stigma. It helps that they’ve been getting fancier.
Scott Richards, a salesman for Rona Homes in Pataskala, Ohio, said that when shoppers come to his lot, he can dazzle them with customization options like hickory cabinets, rainforest showers and built-in entertainment systems coupled with electric fireplaces.
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