Russell Watson

Author, YouTuber

Russ Wtson lives in a Manufactured Home Community in Fort Pierce, Florida with his wife Elizabeth and their cat, Misty. He retired in 2011 from a career in oceanography. The couple lived for many years in Mystic, Connecticut, but upon retirement they purchased and moved to a used manufactured home in Florida. This began Russ’s education in manufactured homes in Florida. He is now truly an expert in the field. He is an active advocate, educator, and consultant in Manufactured Housing. He has served The Federation of Manufactured Home Owners as a Director at Large and District 4 President. He is currently serving as Southeast Region Vice President of the National Manufactured Home Owners Association, and is a committee member on the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee Advising the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He works with several other state and national organizations, including the Florida Housing Coalition, Prosperity Now, and the Consumer Federation of America, advocating for manufactured home owners. Like many, his first community choice was solely based upon a relative living there. He wrote his first book, Retirement in Florida – Manufactured Homes & The Land-Lease Option, to provide folks with a better framework for purchasing a manufactured home.
Currently he is building an educational network covering manufactured housing and their communities in Florida, which is primarily focused on retirees coming from out of state. In that regard he creates content via a YouTube channel, a website, and other media. Russ’s links will be in our show notes.
His interests include: Advocacy related to manufactured housing, building computers, software, website development, videography, photography, FAA licensed drone pilot, writing, fishing, woodworking, cooking, cards & other games with friends in the clubhouse, and growing pineapples. He and Elizabeth recently celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary.