Re: investment -- who says it has to be equal? | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David L. Mandel (75407.2361compuserve.com) | |
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 95 03:02 CST |
In reply to the many who've been debating what formula to use for determining the investment everyone's required to make and particularly Rob's comment that the seriousness of a group should be judged by the number of people who have invested $5,000 or more.... Here's a very different mind-set from Southside Park Cohousing in Sacramento: We set out from the start as a very mixed-income group. It was what we wanted, what the city wanted for the very low-income, downtown neighborhood our site is in, and especially, it was the reality of who we were. At the point we got serious and had to raise significant funds, we set as goals that members who could should invest 10 percent of their projected unit costs or 5 percent for low-income members. Anything over those amounts got preferred return at a higher rate (much higher, it turns out, since there's not enough left in the pot to pay more than a pittance of a return on the 10 or 5 percent). But it was made very clear from the start that this was voluntary, set by people's comfort levels and most of all by their resources. So we had a couple members who before construction was far along invested far more than the suggested amount and a few people who invested far less. And that was perfectly OK for us. In the end, low-income buyers were able to get loans with only 3 percent down and for some, even that was partly borrowed (don't tell the bank). Whatever folks had in the pot was credited toward down payment and closing costs, and when the last units sold (the last one closed last week, finally; Yaayy!!) everyone got principal back and some return. We also sought and raised more than $100,000 from outsiders, mostly parents and friends, and with help from the city, we were able to leverage a very conservative construction loan made when no one was making construction loans. Lots of crises and some rip-offs along the way -- but that's another story. For this posting, we managed to raise enough and get it built without imposing minimum amounts, and a few of our members who had virtually no money proved just as committed and hard-working as those who invested lots. Anyone who wants more details about how we did some of these things, please feel free to contact me directly.
- (no other messages in thread)
Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.