Re: Any Small Places for Rent
From: Marganne Meyer (margannemacnexus.org)
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:16:58 -0700 (PDT)
At 11:09 AM -0400 8/11/08, 713Training wrote:
I have never lived in cohousing so I would like to rent
a small space and give it a try before purchasing a
home. Does anyone know of any small places (500-600
square feet) - a 1-bedroom log cabin would be wonderful
for a single lady.

Most of the cohousing communities I have found are huge
homes that cost $300,000 or more. Are there any
communities out there with rustic log cabins where
people live more simplistic? A $300,000 home to me would
be like living like the "Rich and Famous."

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dear Victoria,

I, too, think your idea of renting is a good one. I've scanned the Cohousing.org marketplace off and on looking for trends of prices and availability. I did find one studio for rent in an Oregon I might have joined. Unfortunately, no pets were allowed -- like indoor cats. Trying to keep the rental allergy-free.

There have been many discussions on this list about how people who either can't afford $300,000 or choose to live in smaller dwellings so their time and money can be 'spent' elsewhere. I'd encourage you to do a keyword search of the archives, especially around April, May and June of this year.

As a result of the conversation held at that time, an offshoot mailing list has formed. I invited people from this list and the Small House Society mailing list to come together and see if a 'marriage' could be arranged where cohousing could include homes less than 1,000 square feet for less than $50,000.

There was quite a lively discussion, both here and on the Low Cost Community Housing (LCCH) list. One of the conclusions discovered here was that people consider their house as an investment. Having a smaller house (perhaps a Katrina Cottage) near their larger home might reduce the value of their investment.

There are many, many options for small houses that are extremely comfortable and liveable. It's sometimes difficult to convince 'large' home dwellers that small homes are anything but rental property for the low income. I've posted lists of links to examples of the many manufacturers of these homes to this list. Check my signature for more links.

Although I feel small and large homes can be combined in one project, I haven't found a community that had done this successfully. A discussion about building an all-small-house project was held. Zoning restrictions appeared to be the biggest obstacle. For example, some cities prohibit building houses less than 1,200 square feet!

There is an all-rental cohousing project being formed in Sebastopol, CA called Petaluma Avenue Homes. It is aimed at the low-income population. For more information, write to Caitlin at CFischer [at] ahainc.org. Perhaps someone here will have the web site link for this project.

Good luck and hope we can share more ideas.
--
Cheers!
Marganne

The cohousing, small house movement
http://cohousingsmallhomes.blogspot.com/

Low Cost Community Housing
http://groups.google.com/group/low-cost-community-housing

The Small House Society
http://www.resourcesforlife.com/groups/smallhousesociety/resources.htm

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