Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Value vs. Cost

[TomMOENCH (TomMOENCH]

This value vs cost is interesting. It is actually pretty easy to come up with
the cost per home based on calculating the square foot construction costs.
The builder can break out the common house from the rest pretty easily. The
cost of the houses (I don't live in a unit so I don 't call them units) then
is determined.  The assumption is that everyone should pay equally for a
square foot of living space

The above is not "truly equitable" because smaller homes or non-standard
footprints actually cost more per square foot than larger ones. This area is
a swamp and should be avoided unless you are really into social abuse.

The subjective assignment of value to the homes is a real treat. We at
Winslow did a bunch of that based on proximity to the street, the parking
lot, the amount of shade, the lack of a "front yard", the property line and
so on. After we moved in we found that what was valued more and what was less
were almost irrelevant, especially to anyone who wanted to move in to
cohousing period. 

My suggestion is to keep village members out of the pricing/appraising
equation, let an outside professional do it and just accept it. At least that
way there won't be any hard feelings between neighbors for lobbying for
different house values. The appraiser can be blamed and forgotten.

Good luck.

Tom
Winslow Cohousing