Re: Foreclosures and short sales
From: R Philip Dowds (rpdowdscomcast.net)
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 03:52:06 -0800 (PST)
This is a sad and horrifying story, especially given our (over-optimistic?) 
expectations that cohousers, on average, are somehow a more stable and 
responsible set of homeowners than the general public.  25% forced sales is 
very high, much higher than the national average.

So I say again … There is no reason for any member or buyer to expect cohousing 
to be “cheaper" than other housing.  Way different, Yes; cheaper, No.  It 
sounds like you had a lot of members who were unrealistic about housing costs, 
and who moved into your community with no financial margin of error.  This 
leads me to think that household financial planning, especially for first-time 
buyers, is another essential professional service that would benefit groups 
seeking to develop their own cohousing project.

RPD

> On Feb 10, 2015, at 8:04 PM, Thea Hensel <theahensel [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Since the real estate downturn we have had at lease 7 short sales or
> foreclosures out of 29 units - 25% and one potential spec purchase.
> 
> It has not been a pleasant experience.  The banks and real estate handlers
> don't care or understand what co housing is but want to make a sale.  No
> matter how we have tried to get information to the agent and ultimate
> buyers most newcomers have moved in without facts, orientation or concept.
> We are in catch up mode and have had some rocky patches.
> 
> This has also had a devastating effect on our property values since the
> comps are so low and will take longer than surrounding condos to catch up
> to market rate.  Needless to say it is heartbreaking for the original
> buyers to see their property values drop so low and be saddled with large
> mortgage payments while newcomers have similar units for a song and have
> disposable income to remodel and fix up their units.
> 
> We are carrying on and my only suggestion is to keep trying to communicate
> with realtor's although our experience has been that they too are kept in
> the dark by bankers as to the status of transactions.
> -- 
> Regards,
> 
> Thea Hensel
> Yulupa Cohousing
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