Re: Sweat Equity | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Pablo Halpern (phalpern![]() |
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Date: Wed, 20 Jul 94 11:33 CDT |
> From: debbeh [at] Auto-trol.COM (Deborah Behrens) > > Highline Crossing is beginning to wrestle seriously with the issues aroun > sweat equity. How have your groups handled this? First of all, unless you have a lot of skill already within your group, keep your ambitions in check. A friend of mine lives in a coop where SE was required. Ultimately, it cost them more than they saved. Improperly performed work had to be re-done at higher cost than if it had been done professionally to begin with. Also, it caused a general delay in the development, which cost them in financing costs. I have heard similar horror stories in other places. I recomend that you keep your SE to a small percentage of the development. I believe Dorit Fromm has a good treatment of the subject in her book, _Collaborative Communities_. One way to avoid construction delays is to have the contractor leave certain things unfinished, for you to complete rather than having you work side-by-side. However, the bank will require that the buildings have a certificate of occupancy before giving you a mortgage, so this requires a minimum completion level. The common house does not require a certificate of occupancy, so it might be a good place to concentrate your efforts. On a personal note, I have seen do-it-yourself jobs that I thought were abismal and others that I thought were a cut above most "professional" work. One disadvantage of using a lot of SE in the common house is that everybody has to live with the results. Individual houses, on the other hand allow for individual choice as to what to have professionally completed. > > a Requiring X hours of SE by housing unit or by individual adults This has to be done very carefully or it can become discriminatory. People vary as to their ability to do heavy work and a large minimum requirement can be a strain for many people. The friend I mentioned above uses a wheelchair and was unable to participate in the construction. She was given humiliating make-work for her sweat-equity. The fact that she was one of the founders and did a disproportionate amount of the organization was not credited to her SE. > > b Some form of remuneration for SE work This could work well, allowing people to trade off money for time, depending on their situation. A minimum required sweat equity combined with renumeration for anything above the minimum could work well. Obviously, the renumeration must be well below the market professional rate in order for any savings to materialize. > > c Alternatives for those who can't (or won't) perform SE Some combination of waivers for disability or age with a money-for-time arrangement can be crafted. Also, make sure your definition of SE is broad enough to include, e.g., accounting or planning, so that those without strong physical abilities can be included. > > d What sorts of work are appropriately performed as SE I don't know. As mentioned, it should be include non-construction work. > e How your solution has been influenced by specific talents in your grou > > f What about all the years of work put in in the early days of your grou > being treated differently from the later physical labor, and committee > work in general > > g Pitfalls of using SE instead of expensive but skilled sub contractors > > h any other SE issues I haven't thought of???? > Good luck - Pablo ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pablo Halpern (508) 435-5274 phalpern [at] world.std.com New View Neighborhood Development, Acton, MA ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: Sweat Equity Deborah Behrens, July 13 1994
- Re: Sweat Equity Rob Sandelin, July 14 1994
- Re: Sweat Equity David Thomasson, July 14 1994
- Re: Sweat Equity Pablo Halpern, July 20 1994
- sweat equity fassnach, August 3 1994
- Re: sweat equity David Thomasson, August 3 1994
- Re: sweat equity School of Mathematics, U of MN, August 3 1994
- Re: sweat equity Judy, August 3 1994
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