Affordable housing is one of the greatest challenges of our time—and offsite construction is stepping up as a powerful solution. In this second part of Corwyn J. Melette’s conversation with Brian Hurd of Cardinal Financial, the discussion dives deeper into the innovations, financing, and investment opportunities reshaping housing in America.
From modular and manufactured homes to mixed-use communities, tiny homes, and even ADUs, Brian explains how evolving construction methods and new financing options are making homeownership more attainable for families and investors alike.
🔑 Key Takeaways:
- 4:35 Why the stigma around factory-built homes needs to change
- 7:00 The surprising speed, sustainability, and quality control of modular construction
- 10:50 How large builders and developers are embracing offsite methods at scale
- 12:00 Mixed communities: manufactured, modular, and site-built homes coexisting
- 15:10 Financing options investors should know about—including Fannie & Freddie support
- 18:1) Tiny homes & ADUs: challenges, opportunities, and financing myths debunked
Connect with Brian:
- Website: www.cardinalfinancial.com/
- Email: brian.hurd@cardinalfinancial.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-hurd-a0892a83/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cardinalfinancial/
Connect with Corwyn:
- Contact Number: 843-619-3005
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmelette/
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Do you remember your grandma’s front porch? You know that spot where stories were told, kisses were stolen, and sweet tea was always being sipped. Now imagine giving your family a place to make those same memories, but in a brand new, energy-efficient, and home that was built just for you. At Country Boy Homes, we help folks just like you find that forever feeling.
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BRIAN:
I think that it’s going to continue to be done at the retail level, the way it’s always been done. That is a massive part of the way these types of homes are built. But I think that what we’re going to see as we talk a little bit about these home communities, we’re going to see a big migration, I think, of home builders. And not just your small mom and pops, but I think we’re going to start, I mean, you see even Lenar did community rights out of Austin, where I live. I was a couple hundred 3D printed homes. So I think you’re seeing larger home builders look at alternative methods for construction. So I think you’re going to see these things, if you appropriately called it niche, that’s going to change.
CORWYN:
Good morning and welcome to another episode of Exit Strategies Radio Show. I am your host, Corwyn J. Melette, broker and owner of Exit Realty Low Country Group in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. If this is your first time listening to this show, you sir or ma’am are in for a treat because our mission here is very simple. That is to empower our community through financial literacy and real estate education. We’re legacy building, that is what we do. So if you’re out there making things happen with your family, for the generations yet to come, our word teaches us to leave a legacy, to leave an inheritance for our children, our children’s children and so forth and so on. We want you to put a hashtag on that thing that says that you are legacy building because that is what you are doing. You can find us on Facebook, YouTube, AnchorFM. You can also find us on Instagram at our website, exitstrategiesradioshow.com. You can catch us in a number of different places on your favorite podcast applications. We appreciate you listening. Please share this content with your friends, your family, your co-workers, even those in your groups, your church groups, et cetera, guys, because sometimes the message and the word that we are speaking here today is for you. Sometimes it is for someone else that you know. Again, we appreciate you listening. Let’s get started.
SPEAKER 3:
In PART 1 of Corwyn’s conversation with Brian Hurd, they discussed the exciting evolution of offsite construction and why it’s challenging the stigma of traditional housing. They dove into the incredible efficiency and quality of factory built homes and why they might just be the solution to our country’s housing affordability crisis. Today in part two, we’ll continue that conversation. Brian and Corwyn will take a deeper look at the future of this space from the new financing options coming over the horizon to the surprising investment opportunities in areas like tiny homes and mixed use communities. So let’s jump right back into it. Here’s part two of Corwyn’s conversation with Brian Hurd.
CORWYN:
Brian, so man, we are blowing our time, but I’m going to tell you this. We’re going to keep going. You know why? Because this is a conversation for our listeners. Guys, y’all will pick up on this on part two. Well, Brian, let’s pop the clutch and man, let’s keep going.
BRIAN:
I do tend to get going on it.
CORWYN:
So feel free to say, hey, man, we got it. You’re speaking my language, man. It’s a refreshing conversation because people allow stigmas to hinder them. They allow what somebody else said or what somebody else’s belief is, is to hinder them from their goal or from their mission. Home ownership is challenging. We have an affordability issue in this country. We know it. Every professional you talk to in the space will tell you, but there is no way to reverse it. Let me phrase that. All the people that acknowledge it know that they do not have direct impact in reversing it. Why? We keep having people. We keep making people. People keep making people. If you keep making people, that means you need shelter for them. That is the number one. You need food, shelter, water, et cetera. So if we keep making people, then we got to keep having places for people to stay, which means that that provides us with or gives us a constant need for more housing. And that need for housing, if it’s being met, which we know that we have a shortage, millions of units short, then we’re going to continue to see this as an issue. There’s no way around it unless we stop making people.
BRIAN:
I don’t see that happening anytime soon, Corwyn. So no, it’s not going to change. And I think that what has to change or what can change when having conversations like this, as you mentioned it, the stigma of it, that portion has to change. We have to stop looking at it as an inferior product. And to that end, it’s not always less expensive. Sometimes it’s about the same. In a case, modular. In some cases, it might be a little bit more, but the quality, the speed to market, the fit and finish, all of that kind of stuff. And even in manufacturing, it rivals, if not better than what you’re going to see on site built. And that’s the crazy thing is we’ll go buy our cars. They get built in a factory. Your phone that gets built in a factory. Just about everything we use comes from a factory. But when we hear somebody say, oh, well, the house came from a factory. Oh, wait a minute. No, can’t have. Come on.
CORWYN:
It’s a home. And I love that you said that. That’s so interesting, Brad. I’ve never put it in that context. Never have. But you’re absolutely positively correct. We accept everything else that comes off of a truck, but getting still, we want this. And one of the things we talked about this as far as speed of delivery, like manufacturing modular, you can have on the ground in a shorter time period. You can. Obviously, everything has to work. There’s always factors. Yeah, exactly. There’s factors. But you can have this home on the ground and be in it faster than you typically can build in that same home. That provides peace of mind oftentimes to a consumer. Where am I going to stay? Where am I going to live? And how long I got to wait? And there’s always inevitably, again, you come from the custom home building world. So, you know, there’s always things that happen or can happen that will come.
BRIAN:
I mean, you go ask Lenore, they could build the same house a hundred times on the same street. Every single one of those houses will have a different issue. Whereas you go to a Clayton factory, you’ve probably been through in a few factory tours. It’s incredible. I mean, the quality control is amazing. So you’ve got the same people working on the same houses over and over and over and over again. Oh, and by the way, the waste is in 280 gallon drums. That’s mind blowing. I mean, you’re talking about sustainability and all that kind of stuff compared to the average site built home. That’s at least one or two different job boxes slash dumpsters, that sort of thing. So yeah. Why not have a house that came partially from the factory? Why not?
CORWYN:
It’s mind blowing because I literally watched a home. I mean, technically I say watch the home, but on a tour that morning, get, okay, home is here. And literally throughout the day, it moved from section to section.
BRIAN:
The whole home moves to the different section, which is interesting to know. Yeah. Usually you think the workers are going to go from one to one. No, it’s moved to a different station. It’s pretty cool. It is so cool.
CORWYN:
So impressive. Basically you build in a house and theoretically in a day. And then after then it’s time spent on QC to make sure that all the controls, quality levels and trim and all that stuff are completed and satisfactory. Then it’s prepped to travel. And I tell people, if you can pull a house down the road, it’s 78 miles an hour. You know what I’m saying?
BRIAN:
You heard this story. I’ve heard some really interesting stories.
CORWYN:
Yeah. Look here, that’s a solid one right there, man. For sure. For sure. So Brian, you know, again, this is your arena. This is your realm, you know, your universe, if you will, as relates to what you do within the industry. First of all, man, kudos, man, your commitment, your enthusiasm, your energy, man. I’m loving it. But where do you see the trend in this space going? I want to insert one other thing here for consideration because maybe a couple of two, three weeks or so ago, I mean, obviously we’ve gotten past, if you will, the spending bill. So big, beautiful bill, as Neal’s calls it. And I know that out of the Senate Banking Committee, they’re really focusing on and Fannie and Freddie are really aligning more to be able to offer or back more products that are for manufacturing modular housing. Where do you see the trend going? What do you think this industry or this section of the industry and the space is going to look like in the next three, five and 10 years?
AD:
Let’s take a short break. Do you remember your grandma’s front porch? You know, that spot where stories were told, kisses were stolen and sweet tea was always being sipped. Now imagine giving your family a place to make those same memories, but in a brand new, energy efficient and home that was built just for you. At Country Boy Homes, we help folks just like you find that forever feeling. Whether it’s your first home, your next home or your, we’re done with rent forever, like seriously home. We specialize in affordable and durable manufactured and modular homes. The kind that make room for muddy boots, big dreams and second helpings. Come see what coming home really feels like. Call 843-574-8979 today. Country Boy Homes, built to last, priced for you.
BRIAN:
I love that question because I think it’s, it’s really exciting, the trends. And fortunately, I don’t know if you’ve had the opportunity to listen to Scott Turner speak, but the new HUD secretary, but he’s shown a huge amount of passion and support behind the manufactured home industry. Like, I think that it’s going to continue to be done at the retail level, the way it’s always been done. That is a massive part of the way these types of homes are built. But I think that what we’re going to see is we talked a little bit about these home communities. We’re going to see a big migration, I think, of home builders and not just your small mom and pops, but I think we’re going to start, I mean, you see even Lenar did community rights out of Austin where I live. I was a couple hundred 3D printed homes. So I think you’re seeing larger home builders look at alternative methods for construction. So I think you’re going to see these things and you appropriately called it niche. That’s going to change. I think you’re going to see all forms of offsite construction, modular, manufactured and everywhere in between. I think you’re going to see that done at scale. And you’re going to see developers look at it and go, I can turn a profit much quicker with a product that I can get three or four turns a year versus your site built stuff that’s frequently nine to 11 months. You only get one turn a year. So I think that’s going to be a big shift. And I think you’re seeing, again, even traditional home builders. There is a community Harvest Meadows outside of Knoxville in Tennessee. You haven’t seen it. Look it up. It’s absolutely beautiful what that community is. It’s all CrossMod, 100% of that is Clayton’s CrossMod products. You cannot tell the difference. I think it’s going to be 200 and some odd units. They’re already well underway. And the cool thing is, is as they were selling these homes, the appraised value was coming in substantially higher than what the actual contract cost was because their price per square foot was below what was typical for the marketplace. So I think you’re going to continue to see a lot of that. There’s a project in Colorado. That one’s really interesting. It’s 8,500 units. That’s going to be a combination of manufactured, modular and traditional site, but all coexisting in the same space. That’s going to be really fun to see. Because if I’m a builder developer, if I’ve got 300 lots and I want to sell 150 and I sell it to a manufactured home company, well, I’m going to be a little afraid about selling the other 150 to a site builder because the site builder is going to come in and say, I don’t want to be next to that. Well, you’ve got some cool pioneers out there that are actually saying, hey, wait a minute. These are homes. They look the same. They feel the same. Again, I think that’s a long way of saying, I think we’re going to see the product when you walk into a subdivision, even master plans communities, that product is going to start to be where it’s assembled. You’re going to see a lot more of that assembled offsite.
CORWYN:
So you just hit on something that hasn’t went as far in my thought process of intertwining a mixing in site build, but a mixed community of modular and manufacturer creating an ecosystem. Even you can build townhouses and condos with modulars. Matter of fact, there is a duplex manufactured product. I’ve seen the pictures and image and all that stuff in a tour of one, but it’s a duplex. And with FHA and oh, and I’m sorry, I get all excited about this, but with FHA, you can have a buyer buy and live in one side and rent out the other. Yes. Yes.
BRIAN:
That’s a really good point. Duplexes and whatnot. And I think I’m glad you mentioned that because I think we’re going to see a lot more of that. And, or in some cases you’ll have manufactured where as long as the property line goes right down the marriage wall, you can sell both sides to individual owners. Then you’re really talking pretty darn affordable homes. Then as we’re looking at, as the legislation currently being proposed to remove the frame, once frames are no longer required, frames aren’t required on modules. They are in manufacture. Once that frame gets removed, that’s where we’re going to start seeing vertical. But you’re right. Modular builders are spectacular. I mean, I think Impressa Modular is one that comes to mind that does a beautiful product nationally. I think they’ve got a presence in the Carolinas. I mean, these are everything from Craftsman to Cape Cod. I think people think modular is like, it’s a box. It’s a box.
CORWYN:
They do. They do. Beautiful homes. Exactly. So the Genesis product, you know, through challenging hard, man. Yeah. I mean, you know it, but trying to get that across. So what I’m hearing is you expect for this space to further evolve because there is more emphasis and focus on it. So you did kind of get me somewhere and I’ve been trying to avoid asking this question, but let me bring it around because economy to scale. Yes. Developers. Okay. That’s one thing. What does this look like to someone who let’s say they may want to invest? What does this look like? Or what do you think this space is going to look like to them? Maybe an investor that says, well, Hey, look, I like to maybe put together a small mobile home part. What financing options do you expect to come over the horizon? Yeah. Like that.
BRIAN:
I love that. And look at Cardinal Financial. We focus on land home only. So we don’t do chattel like a lot of the other. So let’s keep it land home. Let’s say wants to build some houses one at a time. Let’s go. Let’s see. I love you brought this up though, because a lot of people think, okay, if I want to do a traditional community, I have to use chattel. Well, in some cases, yes, but Fannie may- Fannie and Freddie, both will allow traditional mortgages on land lease communities. Now there’s more steps involved. You have to make sure there’s a lot of things you have to go through, but if you’ve got a hundred unit community, as long as it’s set up properly, you can do a 30 year fixed mortgage on a, we can do that at Cardinal. We can do a 30 year fixed mortgage on the home only, even though it’s on in a land lease community, then the requirements are fairly basic. The lease has to be five years longer than the term of the mortgage. You can raise the rent too. You can raise the rent on an annual basis, as long as it’s based off of an index like CPI or whatnot. But yes, I think we’re going to see a lot more, which is really cool because you can tell a client, well, hey, you’re going to get the same rate as if you went and bought a traditional built home, same 30 year fixed rate, and you’re going to get the ability to get the appreciation on that particular house. So you can tell your clients that from a mortgage perspective, just as easy, but you still get that monthly mailbox money by collecting the lease like you would in a traditional. So it’s a win-win situation that kind of marries both of those worlds together, because otherwise what you had to do is say, hey, we can only do a chattel loan, which is kind of, I don’t want to be disparaged. What chattel loans are very meaningful and very useful, but they’re higher cost, higher rates. I mean, they’re basically a personal property loan, but with Fannie and Freddie’s support, you can do a traditional community, finance it traditionally and still make the set. You make your money off of the sale of the home itself to the buyer, and you make the monthly rent. That’s where I think there’s a lot of opportunity if you’re talking at scale, but even we’re seeing a huge amount of people in the short-term rental market and investment property market, that sort of thing, where why not manufacture? Because a lot of times places people want to go are not right down the street, flush with a ton of trades and supply networks. They might be out in the middle of nowhere, a lot easier when most of the house is already built, and then you just have to figure out the site work. So again, I think it’s a really attractive option for investors that want to utilize this product, and it’s beautiful. Big market for manufactured modular container homes have become really popular. Barn dominiums are very popular in the South. So yeah, it’s just, I think you’re going to see these alternative construction methods become much more than just alternative.
CORWYN:
Man, look here, that is awesome. So I’m going to take you on one other tangent here real quick. Tiny homes. You guys, because nobody knows how to do these, how to finance these dollar loan things. So you guys have your products cover, because I mean, a lot of manufacturers now do these small tiny homes, if you will.
BRIAN:
Tiny homes, ADUs, all the above. Yes. Now, there’s always requirements and restrictions, and you know, I mean, you want it to be greater than 400 square feet and that sort of thing, and they need to be permanently affixed to foundations and whatnot. But yeah, I mean, the amount of tiny home companies that we’ve been speaking to over the last several months has increased pretty dramatically. I spoke to a really cool one called Cozy Homes recently. Your neighbors to the South, they build an absolutely beautiful tiny home. They’re elevated though. And there’s a broad spectrum. I mean, you’ve got your base stuff, but a lot of these, especially for investors, they’re looking for vacation properties or investment or second home. I mean, these things are like small, any finish you would see in a $300, $400 square foot house, you’re seeing in these much smaller homes. Community Trillith in Georgia, outside of Atlanta, did it beautifully. They had a nice little mixture of modular tiny homes and regular and all that. And it’s educating these dealers. Manufacturers and even the buyers, you don’t have to use these short-term car loans to finance these things. That’s where most of the market has failed because that’s what the impression is. I either have to pay cash or they might be for the enthusiast or the hobby investor or whatever. It doesn’t have to be that way. Now, what I would always recommend if you’re selling the product, talk to your lender. I mean, talk to us about it. We’re happy to walk you through. Here are the guidelines that allow a whole nother line of financing than you probably thought exists. If I were to tell a client that was going to buy a manufactured home, it’s virtually identical and easy from their perspective as it would be to walk in and buy an existing home. Wow.
CORWYN:
So Brian, look, we’ve gotten here real quick, man. How can people get in contact with you, man? How can people reach you?
BRIAN:
cardinalfinancial.com is a great resource. In fact, I think we have some resources for affordable and attainable housing, manufactured, whatnot. brianhurd@cardinalfinancial.com. Reach out on social media, LinkedIn, what not. Look, as you can probably tell, I love this stuff. And I can talk about it all day. And I know we’ve gone way over, but whether you’re a developer, a retailer, you’re a mortgage finance professional or a realtor, whatnot, let’s talk about this kind of stuff because it’s such an important part of the marketplace. And I love that it’s a passion of yours. And I hope we get to talk about it more.
CORWYN:
Well, look here. I am most certainly and definitely looking forward to the conversation for sure. So Brian, I want to thank you again for taking time out to be on with me today to drop these jewels and nuggets on our list. And I really appreciate it, my man. So for our listeners, guys, let me recap and give you that thing that I heard Brian say to all of us. His advice for all of our listeners, and that is the legacy starts with access. When more families enter into homeownership, we don’t just build houses. We build futures that last for generations. That is what legacy really is. So again, Brian, I really thank you for your time today for making the commitment, but most importantly, for bringing the heat today. Listen, y’all got it. Y’all got it. Y’all got it. And y’all better do something with it.
BRIAN:
Absolute pleasure, Corwyn. I appreciate it.
CORWYN:
So for our listeners, guys, one more time. Y’all know how I feel. Y’all know what I say. I think today I demonstrated it as well, which is where I tell you that I show you that I love you. I love you. I love you. And we’re going to see you guys out there in those streets.
