Leadership Through Networking: Regional Manager , Co-creator of WAMH!, and a Quest to Empower Women in Manufactured Home Management

As a property management company, you want the best for your rental and owner portfolios; Maria is no exception. She has become an example of success within the manufactured home market and she talks about her experience with enthusiasm and expertise. Whether you are looking to pivot into managing manufactured housing, seeking new networking opportunities or establishing better relationships with tenants by a few key principles to keep in mind, this informative interview will show you how Maria’s innovative approach can put you ahead of the curve.

Who is Maria Horton?

Maria Horton is 18 years into her career at Newport Pacific Capital Company, Inc and is currently the Director of Marketing and Regional Manager. Maria has racked up quite the array of certifications (MCM, MHM, CAM, AMS, CMCA and CCRM) and can never stay still as she is a member of the City of Carson Mobile home Rental Review Board, the City of Costa Mesa Mobile home Park Advisory Board, Treasurer of the California Manufactured Housing Institute’s Foundation Board and a member of the Manufactured Housing Institute’s National Communities Council Board of Governors...to name a few.

Newport Pacific is a full service property management company with offices in Newport Beach, CA, corporate office in Texas and several additional offices throughout the US.?Newport specializes in managing manufactured home communities, apartment communities, condo associations and RV resorts. Newport Pacific has been a leader in the property management industry since 1980 and manages 140 properties throughout 12 states.

How did you get into the property management business?

“Almost 20 years ago, I had a girlfriend working in Hermosa Beach and was looking to do something completely different. I got my feet wet in various Hermosa HoA’s, apartments and manufactured housing communities. I was getting familiar with apartments, condos and traditional property management dwellings, but I saw an opportunity in the manufactured home communities. No matter how the economy was going, I realized early that there would always be a need for these communities and no one was talking about them. There I saw my opportunity and when I started my career at Newport Pacific, I knew there was no turning back. I proceeded to get certified in every aspect of the business and rose to regional manager; now representing the company at all networking events and nationwide conferences."

We speak to a lot of traditional property management and HoA’s working with apartments and condos, can you give me some insight into what is happening in the manufactured housing, RV and campground space?

The manufactured homes have been skyrocketing in sales (and prices as well). In 2022, we saw the most shipments of manufactured homes since around 2006.??This rise in popularity has caused a growing business for those that provide property management services for manufactured home owners. Maria tells us, "Property management for these homes is now a desirable option, giving people a way to enjoy the same basic comforts and amenities of traditional home living with an easier upkeep and renovations schedule due to the size and structure of these properties. Consequently, property management services for manufactured homes are becoming more plentiful than ever before and they generally cost less than that of their apartment and condo counterparts. The game changer for our company was when we decided to own and oversee the entire operation from manufacturing, constructing and managing the homes and property developments."

What was one of your most impactful accomplishments in your career over the last 18 years?

Maria starts laughing and starts explaining, “I talk to everyone, I can’t help it. When my boss took me to our first convention, he never saw me in action and looked at me with a look of disbelief, how does everyone know you.” Attending industry events were important to the nationwide growth of Newport, but Maria did not want to stop there. Like most women leaders we speak to, she saw that there was a need to create a platform to connect other like-minded females and share how they achieved success throughout each phase of business.

1.5 years ago Maria and some of her peers started WAMH?(Women Advancing Manufactured Housing). In the first year they had 350 members and services they provide scholarships for persons to learn a new career in this industry from classes on how to become a home installer, salesperson, or manager to funding work suites to make women feel better about the career they are pursuing and lift them up in their industry.

Another initiative is the WAMH Workwear for Success Program where they provide needed funding to individuals working in manufactured housing or related industry. This program is inclusive and the funds can be used on a range items, from professional workwear to raise your game in an office environment, or more rugged workwear to protect you from the elements of setting or refurbing homes. Check out how to apply for these programs?HERE.

Maria mentions that, from the bottom of her heart, "I would like to thank the countless women who have worked hard to achieve in our industries, perhaps not always being recognized for their efforts!?They have made it possible for those of us who follow and strive to achieve great success in whatever we do."

When I take a look at Newport Pacific branding, I see , “Creating Successful Communities Is Our Business”. What in your words, defines a “successful community?”

Maria dives right in with, "I think I will answer this question by telling you a story. During COVID, as we know, homeowners were cut off from their family and friends. Many could not leave their homes and were trapped within their property or at least, their community that they were living in. As a company we understood that the mental health and having our homeowners feel like they had family looking after them, someone to speak to and guide them through the unknown was going to be necessary. All of our property managers were having weekly checkins with guests to, well, listen. This was an important time for us to show how we could get creative to meet renters halfway with payments and processes when COVID began and people could not get to work. "

"Success was found by managers and tenants/owners working together to make sure the community thrived, thinking outside the box and lifting up each other when times were tough. We learned a lot about ourselves and could not be more proud of our team for acting fast and leading these communities through those unsure, confusing times.”

We thank Maria for her time and make sure to reach out to ?[email protected] if you are interested in learning more about Newport or how to get involved in WAMH! As always, if you are interested in sharing your story with our community, feel free to give Tim Jackson a shout!