THE PERCH · ISSUE 02 · JULY 3, 2026
Happy Fourth of July, everybody. Before you unplug for the long weekend — a quick note on what launched this week.
For eighteen months I said the same sentence to every builder, buyer, and reporter who asked me why the modular market is broken.
"There's no data."
And it was true. No honest number on what your land could earn. No credible source for build costs. No index a journalist would cite without hedging.
This month, that changed.
Two tools launched this week. Both free. Both sourced. Both built on real federal data, licensed so you can cite them, embed them, and use them however you need. No login. No email required to see the number.
Here's what's live, right now.
What's live today.
Enter any US ZIP. See what a modular unit could generate as short-term or long-term rental income — compared against the S&P 500, the 10-year Treasury, and a high-yield savings account. Free.
Built on real BLS, US Census, HUD, AirBnb, and Zillow data. Every number cites its source.
The first quarterly data set tracking rental yields across all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico. Built on HUD FY2025 Fair Market Rents — 9,176 SAFMR ZIPs, real federal data, no scraping, no estimates.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Cite it in your reporting. Embed the chart. Publish the ranking.
What's launching next.
The Perch — Podcast Episode 01. Monday, July 13.
"The Market Nobody Built — Why I'm Starting Over at 37 to Fix Housing." Solo. 30-ish minutes. Available Monday, July 13 on Beehiiv, Apple, and Spotify.
Sell Your Home.
The direct listing flow for individual homeowners. Verified. Free TourReady 3D tour on every listing. Founding sellers locked in ahead of public launch. Application open now.
PERCH Lot Check.
Enter an address, get a plain-English "can you build on this lot?" score in three seconds. Q4 launch.
PERCH Index — three more metrics.
Build Cost by state, ADU Permit Timeline, and Modular Market Activity Index all land October 8 with the Q4 2026 release.
Where we are.
The build in real numbers, as of this week:
235 guides live across modular, ADU, financing, zoning, container, tiny, prefab, and 52 state-specific builder finder pages
41,700 monthly visitors organically searching for honest modular information
Founding Builder cohort open — permanent seat, permanent rate lock, priority placement ahead of public launch
Agent Network Partner Plan live — first PERCH-Certified agents onboarding this month
The homepage waitlist is now buyers-only. Homeowners list directly. Builders apply directly. Real estate agents apply directly.
Every one of those numbers moves because you shared something with someone who needed it. That has always been the plan.
› THIS WEEK'S FEATURED READ · 4,949 MONTHLY READERS
The three container-home prices nobody quotes you.
The base price. The delivered price. The livable price.
Miss the difference between them and you buy a $20K box that costs you $110K to actually live in. This guide breaks the three numbers apart, quotes them honestly, and shows you what to ask before you sign anything.
GUIDES · KEEP READING
A note.
I said the market was broken because there was no data.
This month there's data. Free. Sourced. Licensed for you to use however you want.
Next month there will be more.
Every one of these tools exists because you told me — in replies to these emails, in Reddit threads, in DMs at 2 a.m. — that the industry was hiding the numbers.
Not anymore.
If you're new here and want the whole story — how I got laid off, spent 10 months unemployed, built My Tiny Home Hub from a $1 domain, watched tariffs crash it, and started PERCH: read the origin story →
Enjoy the long weekend. Happy Fourth.
— Cameron Jovan
Founder & CEO, PERCH
› EARLY ACCESS
Not on the waitlist yet?
If you're planning to buy modular, manufactured, tiny, container, or prefab in 2026 — join the buyer waitlist. First look at verified inventory. Priority builder matching. State-by-state early access as PERCH opens.
› BUILDING, LISTING, OR SELLING?
Apply to the Founding Builder cohort → — Locked rate. Priority placement. Protected before the public tier opens.
List your home on PERCH → — Verified. Free TourReady 3D tour. Founding sellers locked in ahead of public launch.
Join the Agent Network Partner program → — Get paid for the modular buyers who otherwise walk away. No MLS conflict. No exclusivity.
The Perch is written by Cameron Jovan, Founder & CEO of PERCH.
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