Re: Exterior Maintenance in Condo Coho
From: Diana Carroll (dianaecarrollgmail.com)
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 05:47:10 -0800 (PST)
Our challenge here at Mosaic Commons is how to handle exterior changes. The
HOA is responsible for porches and balconies. Some of our members have
discussed wanting to build large decks and balconies on their homes, at
their own expense.  We are nominally okay with that - in fact our condo
docs say that this is allowed with approval, and the owner takes
responsibility for upkeep.  But in reality, how will this work?  For all
the reasons Sharon discussed, it is very complicated to have individual
owners responsible for exterior elements in a shared building.

We haven't actually had to deal with this yet,  we've only approved a
single exterior mod, which was a wheelchair ramp, and it was just a few
months ago, so it has not yet required any maintenance. It's sort of our
test case.  I'd be interested in hearing how other communities deal with
these things.

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015, R Philip Dowds <rpdowds [at] comcast.net> wrote:

>
> Cornerstone Cohousing (Cambridge, MA) is a condo association under Mass
> law.  But the important point is that we’re built high density:  23
> apartments in two buildings, plus conjoined townhouses and duplexes.  In
> general, everybody’s roof and siding belongs to everyone else.  Design,
> remodelings (e.g., a roof window) and paint colors are all controlled by
> the community.  So the community (the Association) owes everybody a sound
> roof, tight siding, and fresh paint.
>
> The cost of keeping the place up is divided among the 32 households
> according to “percentage interest”, which is pretty much the same as
> percentage of private habitable square feet. The challenge is getting
> everyone to agree on quality and frequency of maintenance:  Some people
> want to paint every eight years, some, every fifteen or twenty, or maybe
> not often at all (“Gee, it doesn’t really look all *that* bad …”).  When
> the roof leaks, do you patch it?  Again?  When is it time to bite the
> bullet and get a new roof — and, do you upgrade the shingles or not?  But
> these conversations are typical for all condominiums, not just cohousing.
>
> However, I have seen cohos that are mostly single family homes, each
> designed to suit a specific household — sometimes within an overall design
> style, sometimes entirely at the preference of the occupant.  In such
> cases, exterior maintenance may be more the duty of the owner than the
> community — but I don’t know this for sure.
>
> R Philip Dowds
> 175 Harvey Street, Unit 5
> Cambridge, MA 02140
>
> land:     617.354.6094
> mobile: 617.460.4549
> email:   rpdowds [at] comcast.net <javascript:;>
>
> > On Feb 4, 2015, at 1:27 PM, Susan Adams <sadams430 [at] gmail.com
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> >
> > We are a forming Cohousing Community in Floyd, Virginia.  Our town
> requires
> > that we be a Condominium Association, and we are currently working on the
> > necessary documents.
> >
> >
> > If your community is a condo association we are interested in how you
> have
> > handled maintenance of the exterior of the individual homes
> >
> > .
> >
> > (Most of ours will be attached to 1,2, or 3 others.)  I have found a
> great
> > deal of information about Limited Common Elements such as decks,
> balconies,
> > and patios, but our question at this time is simply regarding the
> > maintenance of the exterior.
> >
> >
> > Have you found it better to make exteriors the responsibility of the
> > individual homeowner,  or of the HOA.   If of the HOA how do you
> determine
> > the assessment of fees.
> >
> >
> > What successes have you had in this matter, and what failures?
> >
> > We want to be diligent, but we also prefer simplicity.
> >
> >
> > Thanks for any help you can give us.
> >
> >
> > Susan
> >
> > --
> > *www.jubileecoho.com <http://www.jubileecoho.com>*
> > A great place to grow a family!
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> >
> >
>
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