UMH Properties, Inc.

Good morning and welcome to UMH Properties' fourth quarter and year-end 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Craig Koster, Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Thank you, Mr. Koster. You may begin.

Thank you very much, operator. In addition to the 10K that we filed with the SEC yesterday, we have filed an unaudited fourth quarter and year-end supplemental information presentation. This supplemental information presentation, along with our 10-K, are available on the company's website at umh.reit. We would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during this conference call, which are not historical facts, may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on our current expectations and involve various risks and uncertainties. Although the company believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, the company can provide no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations are detailed in the company's fourth quarter and year-end 2024 earnings release and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any obligation to update its forward-looking statements. In addition, during today's call, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial metrics. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial metrics to the comparable GAAP financial metrics, as well as the explanatory and cautioning language, are included in our earnings release, our supplemental information, and our historical SEC filings. Having said that, I would like to introduce management with us today. Eugene Landy, Founder and Chairman, Samuel Landy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Anna Chu, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Brett Taft, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Jim Likens, Vice President of Capital Markets, and Daniel Landy, Executive Vice President. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to UMH's President and Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Landy.

Thank you very much, Craig. UMH is pleased to deliver another quarter and year of increased FFO per share double-digit community NOI growth, and a new all-time high sales record. Normalized FFO for the quarter was $0.24 per share as compared to $0.23 per share last year, representing an increase of 4%. Normalized FFO for the year was $0.93 per share as compared to $0.86 last year, representing an increase of 8%. We are very proud of these results and we look forward to delivering another great year on all fronts in 2025 and beyond. We have opportunistically raised equity at prices at or near our 52-week high. This capital will be invested accretively into our platform. UMH has a long-term value-add business plan. Our past work generates our current income and FFO does not fully reflect the tremendous effort we are putting into our future results. Our approximately 2,400 acres of vacant land, 3,300 vacant sites, 500 new homes and inventory in various stages of setup with an additional 200 on the way are all part of our efforts to generate future income and ensure that we have sites available to continue our income and earnings growth. We are balancing growth with earnings accretion and have been successfully delivering on both fronts. At any given time, UMH has $100 million or more invested that is not yet producing accretive returns. Our results are strong, but we continue to work to achieve even better results. Additionally, we have opportunistically tapped the equity market through our common ATM and raised a substantial amount of capital that has not yet been invested. As the capital raised is invested in new acquisitions, rental homes, and expansions, our earnings per share should continue to grow. Our same property operating results continue to grow. Our value-add strategy allows us to drive substantial improvements in occupancy, revenue, and value over time. Not only are our operating results strong, but our business plan accomplishes an important social mission of upgrading and adding to the current supply of affordable housing. In the fourth quarter, same property income increased by 8% and same property NOI increased by 8%. Same property income for the year increased by 9% and same property NOI increased by $11.5 million, resulting in an increase of 10%. These increases were driven by an increase in occupancy of 216 units, resulting in an increase of 70 basis points. In 2025, we anticipate similar, if not improved, same property operating results. We anticipate further occupancy growth as we rent and sell our in-place inventory and more aggressively procure homes throughout the year. Additionally, we anticipate continuing to achieve our 5% rent increases throughout the portfolio. Our rental home program had another good year. We added 565 homes to our portfolio. We now own 10,300 rental homes of which 94% are currently occupied. Our annual rental home turnover is only approximately 20%. Our repairs and maintenance expenses per home were approximately $400 per home per year. We anticipate adding another 800 homes or more in 2025. We are proud that our sales division broke our all-time sales record for the third consecutive year. Gross sales this year were $33.5 million as compared to $31.2 million last year, representing an increase of 8%. We sold 258 used homes at an average price of $50,000 and 136 new homes at an average price of $151,000. Our gross sales margin for the year was 35%. We financed approximately 59% of our home sales. We now have $89.2M in loans at an average rate of 7%. Our sales division has the opportunity to grow further as we have several high-end expansions that opened in the second half of 2024 or are scheduled to open in the first half of 2025. Also, we are hopeful that the new administration will revise the financing laws so that we can get more potential buyers approved for financing. This could convert existing renters that have a strong payment history to homeowners. That development could create a meaningful increase in our home sales. We are optimistic that we will be active in the acquisition market in 2025. We anticipate that this prolonged high interest rate environment may result in communities being available at more reasonable prices in 2025. We are well positioned to execute on these opportunities when they arise. Our acquisition pipeline has grown. We now have four communities under contract, which contain 457 sites of which approximately 90% are occupied. The purchase price of these communities is $39.1 million or $85,000 per site. The pipeline contains 191 sites in Maryland, which we anticipate closing in early 2025, and 266 sites in New Jersey. The blended cap rate on these communities is approximately 5.5%. We are optimistic that compelling acquisitions are becoming available. In 2024, we completed 190 expansion sites. As I mentioned above, these sites should allow us to further grow our sales results in 2025 and beyond. We anticipate obtaining approvals for 500 or more sites in 2025 and building 300 to 400 sites. Additionally, we expect to open Honey Ridge, a joint venture property, which is a 113-site greenfield development community in Honeybrook, Pennsylvania, in the second quarter of 2025. Greenfield developments and expansions take time to build and generate returns, but greatly add to the long-term value of the company. UMH has a 56-year history in the manufactured housing industry. Our asset class is highly coveted, and our portfolio of communities is irreplaceable and valuable. Over the past 1, 5, and 10 years, UMH is the top performing manufactured housing REIT. Our total shareholder return in 2024 was approximately 30%. Over five years, it's 51%. And over 10 years, it is 234%. We have a proven track record of executing our business plan. Since 2020, UMH has increased the dividend by approximately 19%. Our business plan has positioned us with 3,300 vacant sites and 2,400 acres of vacant land to continue our organic growth. This organic growth should allow us to generate similar earnings growth and operating results for the years to come. Additionally, with our strong balance sheet, we are prepared to execute on compelling acquisitions as they become available. And now, Anna will provide you with greater detail on our results for the quarter.