Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Affordability -- a new leaf

[Hune Margulies (hm64]

The bank will most likely rely on appreisers to determine current and 
future market value. Appreisers rely on previous market conditions for 
your type of housing. Without a clear precedent, appreisers may turn 
negative. 

On Sat, 27 Aug 1994 mtracy [at] netcom.com wrote:

> Rob Sandelin writes (about banks):
> >Banks don't care too much about anything other than resaleability, 
> >that is if they have to assume a property, they want to be sure they can 
> >sell it quickly.
> 
> Munn Heydorn writes (about banks):
> >There is concern for design and other matters to the extent that they
> >affect marketability.
> 
> Pablo Halpern writes:
> >If you want banks to loan money for solar collectors ... I don't think this 
> >forum is the best place to address these issues.  ... 
> 
> <Pablo, your list of social problems cohousing is expected to solve is a gem.
> It would be great if you sent it to <cohousing magazine> or took it to the 
> upcoming conference in Boulder.>
> 
> I agree that the bank's concern is largely about their ability to make a 
> quick sale if the mortgage is defaulted.  That seems fair to me.  But this 
> suggests that the bank has a great deal to say about design.
> 
> The business of the Uniform Building Code, and all those inspectors who visit 
> during construction, is to make sure that the house is safe.  They don't care 
> at all if it is marketable.  The business of the bank is to make sure it's 
> marketable.  Some examples.
> 
> 1. Your house is built, but the drywalls aren't up.  You are going to put 
> them up yourself.  The inspector hands you a certificate of occupancy so you 
> can live there, but the bank refuses to convert the loan from construction to 
> mortgage until the walls are up.
> 
> 2. You want to put in passive solar collectors.  The bank doesn't like the 
> idea of blocking windows with brick walls.  Will you get the loan?
> 
> 3. You want to get an experimental permit and build your house from straw.  
> Will the bank agree?
> 
> 4. You want to cluster homes in one corner of the property.  You want to make 
> them a little smaller than the average home in the area.  The bank has never 
> heard of cohousing.  Will you get the loan?
> 
> Maybe you can shop around and find an amenable bank.  Maybe you can educate 
> your bank.  Note that the question is not whether the bank will loan you 
> money for solar collectors, but whether the bank will loan you money for a 
> house designed to be used with solar collectors (no matter who pays for 
> them).
> 
> Anyway, I am talking about affordability, and <not> affordable housing.  To 
> make this clearer...
> 
> I am <not> talking about qualifying for a loan, federal grants, subsidies, 
> outright gifts, being a burden, winning the lottery.
> 
> I <am> talking about fiscal responsibility, social responsibility, frugality, 
> sharing, and living lightly on the earth.  (I am not talking about poverty.)
> 
> I am talking about the role cohousing has to play in this, and how we might 
> arrive at this goal.
> 
> <To be continued>
> --
> Martin Tracy          mtracy [at] netcom.com          Los Angeles, CA
> 
> 
>