Re: unit prices and budget questions | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Toni Elliott (tonialianigmail.com) | |
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2020 12:11:39 -0800 (PST) |
> Wow Sharon! Thank you for all of your insight! I’ve been able to do some > calculations with your equation. There are definitely so many things to think > of at every stage of the planning and building. I’m going to add “talk to > maintenance person” to my list. I’ll be going through your email several > times as a reference! Thanks again! Toni Elliott-Steinke Puyallup CoHousing > > > ------------------------Message: 3 > Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2020 17:00:39 -0500 > From: Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> > To: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> > Subject: [C-L]_ 30% of Income Cohousing [was Unit price and budget > questions > Message-ID: <897A2FD2-E2EE-4989-AE24-D0DF8EF30FE6 [at] sharonvillines.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > >> On Nov 18, 2020, at 8:35 PM, Toni Elliott <tonialiani [at] gmail.com> wrote: >> >> I'm involved in a very young, just-trying-to-get-off-the-ground community >> in Washington State, Puyallup CoHousing. > > Congratulations on getting as far as this and for finding Cohousing-L so you > can get information from a lot of experienced cohousers, including other > start-ups. > >> The first set of data we are looking for are regarding new or >> in-construction communities. We are trying to get some sort of idea on how >> affordable we can make our community (we want to make it available for as >> many people as possible). > > Affordable is what I?ve been thinking about lately. I started a website where > I am collecting information, just renamed: https://affordablecohousing.org > > The About page has an explanation of why I changed from ?sustainable? to > ?affordable? and took on the war to make ?affordable? mean something. > > https://affordablecohousing.com/about-affordable-cohousing/ > > ?Affordable" is applied to housing at all market prices. A $1 million house > is affordable in a neighborhood of $10 million houses. In an area with an > average home price of $400,000, affordable using HUD standards is $320,000. > > This is not what most people think of when they think ?affordable.? The > standard that financial managers use for affordable is 30% of income for all > housing costs, whether it is mortgage payments or rent. I?ve posted > calculations of income to housing in the past but you can figure it out > yourself. 30% of income for everything housing related, including utilities > and maintenance. If a household can pay that, they are considered > housing-stable. Lower income households often pay more but over 50% of income > would be bordering on housing-insecure. > > So a good guide for your area would be 30% of the median area income as a > starting point. Then move down to the incomes of the people in your group or > in the population that you want to target. > > One reason this is not easy is that banks won?t finance housing lower than > their own standards of what they consider desirable. And town planning boards > restrict multi-household communities, houses below a minimum size (-1,200 > SF), and lots smaller than a minimum size. And they enforce them. > > This is beginning to change but it is taking lawsuits and community activism > to change it. It will likely be done one city at a time. So you have to look > at zoning requirements and construction requirements. > > The things that raise the price of houses are the typical things that middle > and middle-upper households expect, particularly if they are building the > homes themselves. > > 1. Bathrooms and kitchens are the most expensive per SF initially, but total > SF will be expensive from day to day for heating and cooling and maintenance. > A three-bedroom house has more roof than a one-bedroom house. More walls, > more light fixtures, more sprinkler heads, etc. Down the line the larger > total space is more expensive. > > 2. Minimum requirements for a kitchen may be the ability to cook and store > food, running water, and waste disposal. But dishwashers, large > refrigerators, stone sinks and countertops, etc., are often considered the > minimum in a new or rehabbed house. A stainless steel sink can be had for > $100 and a quartz, marble, granite, or slate kitchen sink for $1000+. > Multiply the difference for a 30 unit cohousing community and the range might > be from $300 to 3,000+. Composites are less expensive but have a shorter life. > > 3. Flooring in bathrooms is usually ceramic tile because it tolerates water > best. Ceramic tile can be from 20-40 cents a SF for plain white. Traffic > master tan, 50 cents to $5.00+ for more decorative tiles. A 5 x 10SF floor, > just for tiles, Might cost $15 to $250. For 30 bathrooms, $450 to $7500. And > if larger units have 2 baths or 1 1/2 baths, it costs that much more. > > 4. Wall board, electrical wiring and outlets, duct work, number of windows, > flooring, sprinkler heads, stairways, closet doors ? all these things > increase with size. And with quality. Small unit may have 5-7 sprinkler heads > for a 2-bedroom and, 21-27 for a 3 bedroom with a den and a basement. Those > all have to be inspected and replaced from time to time. An ongoing cost that > is much greater for large units. > > It?s very hard to keep costs low enough for a household income of $50,000, > approx. the median wage in the US. Half earn less than that. A household > earning $10 an hour will have $6240 for housing costs using the accepted > formula for being housing-secure. > > It?s very hard for people who have higher incomes to hold the line so lower > income people can afford units. I question how large the range of SF costs > can be. The average cost per SF is 154 SF but that is an average many parts > of the US are higher than that. The average size of newly constructed homes > is 2,776 SF and costs $427,893 to build. Condominiums average 1200 SF, or > 20?x30?. > > Homeowners who want the amenities and finishes that are normally expected in > the $500,000 house market, how can other units be kept to prices that > low-income households can afford. > > Customization is very expensive. If you have watched a multi-unit residential > building being built, you see construction workers, electricians, plumbers, > etc., all running around at the same time trying to remember if this is the > unit that gets green tile and 2 sinks or the one with a bidet and red tile. > The building is still a wood plank structure with no numbers when some > workers have to begin their work. Which space is the kitchen and where is the > bathroom? > > If all the floor tiles are the same and all the sinks the same size, the job > can be done much more quickly, with less supervision, and fewer mistakes that > have to be corrected. I once moved into an apartment in a complex of 7 > buildings. Our building was the only one finished. The other apartments were > for the construction workers who travelled all over the country to build for > this contractor. In the evenings they invited us in to hang with them. The > stories they told were horrendous. Of all the mistakes they had made and why. > And how many more construction days it took to correct them. That?s why only > our building had been finished ? we had signed a lease a year before. They > were a bit behind. > > For budget for operating the building, I recommend finding a building manager > in the area who manages a building the size of yours and ask what maintenance > costs are. Even if they don?t give you figures, they will be able to advise > you on which systems are hardest to maintain, etc. There are professional > managers associations, condo management companies, etc. One may not be > willing to talk to you but another one will. People who like their work love > to talk about it. That?s the person you need to find. > > Many a day I?ve wished we had had a maintenance person look at our > construction plans and tell us how much harder this or that would be. Like > fixtures on a 2 story ceiling that need new light bulbs. Interior surfaces > that are unreachable. They look wonderful unless you are on the maintenance > team. > > Thinking in terms of 30% of income, might be the best target to ensure > building income diversity in the community. I think it would be easier to > limit the top cost to the average income or it will be too hard to keep the > costs down. > > Sharon > ---- > Sharon Villines > Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC > http://www.takomavillage.org >
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