Homeowner Stories

Berkshire Hathaway Cameraman Achieves Dream of Homeownership

Long time renter buys Clayton home from Warren Buffett

May 22, 2015

When Matt Mason had been working as a cameraman for the annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting in 2006, he never thought that homeownership would be something that he could obtain. Then he beheld The Munger, a special 1,800 sq. foot, Clayton-built home that was on display at that year’s show, and he realized that he, his wife and their two little daughters would finally be able to get the home of their dreams.


For years, Mason had thrown money into a rental property that was getting smaller and smaller as his family grew. He dreamt of a quality home where they could grow and make memories together in a space of their own. When Mason toured the home on display at the Clayton Homes show space, he was pleasantly surprised at the affordability of the newly built display model.


“I had never even thought about manufactured housing as an option until I saw this home in person,” says Mason. “I always thought that renting was the only option for me.”


That summer Matt expressed interest in buying the display home and was soon placing the home on top of a basement foundation on his sister’s land. He and his family officially moved in on Christmas Eve 2006 and received the ultimate holiday gift that year.


Today, Matt Mason is a co-owner to the land and his daughters are now 7 and 10. Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, still remembers when Matt bought the home and checks up on him periodically to see how he is enjoying it.


“It’s amazing how sincere and sharp Mr. Buffett is,” explained Matt Mason. “He holds onto a lot of details in his head, and that’s how he has been able to be so successful. Just the fact that he remembered me over the years and the details of my life. . . it meant a lot.”


About Clayton Homes
Clayton Homes has built homes since 1956, winning multiple awards for design and construction. Through its affiliates and family of brands, Clayton Homes builds, sells, finances, leases, and insures manufactured and modular homes, as well commercial and educational buildings. As the nation's largest home builder*, Clayton Homes is a vertically integrated Berkshire Hathaway company whose purpose is opening doors to a better life, one home at a time.


ˆAmerica's Largest Homebuilder in 2013 as of June 12, 2014, based on a comparison of the number of manufactured homes sold to the number of site-built homes sold as reported by builderonline.com and the number of manufactured homes shipped as compared to all other manufactured home manufacturers as reported by the Manufactured Home Institute.