Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: House Pricing in House Selection Process

[RAYGASSER (RAYGASSER]

We at Ecovillage at Ithaca are just in the process of making site
selection decisions, and I think we are about to make the price/site 
differential decision this way: We have 4 basic house types, based on size,
B,C-flat, C, and D from smallest to largest. The only group which is having a 
conflict is the "D" group; there are 4 D houses and 3 families have 
house #23 as first choice. The group will probably decide
to have our architects assign "premiums" to each house based on their
ideas of real estate valuation, value of a view, etc. to be used as a 
guideline. Each group (B/C/D) can then accept flat pricing with 
no differential, use the architect's guidelines, or make up
their own differential. In this way, families who need a D, but can 
barely afford it can be accommodated by the D group, and we can in some
small way "reward" those willing to give up their first choice with 
a slightly (or even greatly, at our discretion) 
lower house cost.

When we look at it, the actual house site is really of minimal importance.
None of us are willing to have the site selection process undermine
our personal relationships, so we're all quite willing to discuss & work
things out. After all, we got into this group because of the group and the idea 
of co-housing, long before there was land or a house site.

Ray & Maria Gasser, Ecovillage at Ithaca, NY
raygasser [at] delphi.com