Re: communities that handle property buys and sells internally?
From: Ann Zabaldo (zabaldoearthlink.net)
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:41:06 -0700 (PDT)
Hello Katie and all — I really appreciated hearing different experiences in 
home sales in cohousing.  I bet we could write a book about cohouser sellers 
and buyers.  I certainly have some tales.

Here at Takoma Village our Resale and Rental POD (team) has facilitated 14 home 
sales in the last four years resulting in over $100,000 in donations to the 
community because we save the seller 6% on the transaction.   We aren’t in “the 
middle” per se.  Sellers don’t have to use our team.  Some sellers use the 
resources of our team and do not donate.  This weekend we have an Open House 
for our 15th and 16th resale.

Whether you use a real estate agent in the traditional manner, use them to help 
you get to closing, or just handle the process yourself … it all depends on 
your comfort level.  If you’re going to be up all night  every night during the 
sale period … it’s not worth it.

For me personally, the advent of our R&R team was to help prospective buyers 
understand what they are buying into as much as possible.  We give 4 tours a 
year.  During Open Houses we also give tours.  It’s during the tours that we 
emphasize not only the social, sexy things everyone loves about cohousing but 
also the responsibilities:  serving on a team, attending meetings, showing up 
for Work Days, keeping up w/ proposals, etc.  Through this process we have 
helped people identify themselves as candidates for cohousing.  And we have 
seen several people take themselves out of the process “we don’t want to spend 
our time in meetings.”

Having said all of the above … R&R provides so much support to the seller in 
selling their home that I do not see what is to be gained by hiring a real 
estate agent especially once you have a contract but even before that.  Our 
resales have gone flawlessly and we’ve saved people a bunch of money.

Lest you think I don’t like Real Estate agents … Not true!   Every once in a 
while we have a stinker of a sale and an agent has saved the day. Agents are 
also excellent at finding developable sites for new cohousing communities 
altho’ in DC that’s a difficult task.

My 2 cents …

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Member, Board of Directors
Mid Atlantic Cohousing
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church, VA
202.546.4654

"Handle every situation like a dog. 
If you can’t eat it or play with it, 
Just pee on it and walk away.” –Author Unknown


> On Oct 18, 2019, at 6:59 PM, Kathryn McCamant <kmccamant [at] 
> cohousing-solutions.com> wrote:
> 
> Home sales are regulated differently in every state. Some require an 
> attorney, or closing attorney, and others don't.  In my community, Nevada 
> City Cohousing in Nor Cal, we have seen homes sales in a variety of formats, 
> but never with the community in the middle. I just closed on a new home in my 
> community without either a real estate agent or an attorney. It was a sale 
> between two original members, so we worked out a contract and took it over to 
> the title company for the closing...all went very smoothly even as we worked 
> thru a rent back. 
> 
> We have also found a couple of local relators that will facilitate the 
> contract and closing for a reduced fee of 1/2 - 1 % (instead of the typical 
> 6% split between the seller and buyer agents), but that is only if seller and 
> buyer have already fully agreed on price and terms and are ready to go into 
> contract, with no complications.  
> 
> And then I have neighbors that decided it was worthwhile to have their own 
> realtor representing their interest, with the buyer having their own realtor 
> like a more tradition sale. 
> 
> If you talk with realtors and loan brokers that have worked with cohousers, 
> they generally say we are pain-in-the-butt clients: asking tons of questions, 
> wanting to look at every possible option in detail, and then expecting 
> discounts on standard fees. Buyers have often complained that trying to work 
> with a cohousing seller without a realtor nearly killed the deal (and who 
> knows how many it did kill). 
> 
> Katie 
> -- 
> Kathryn McCamant, President
> CoHousing Solutions
> Nevada City, CA 95959
> T.530.478.1970  C.916.798.4755
> www.cohousing-solutions.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 10/18/19, 3:41 PM, "Cohousing-L on behalf of Alan O'Hashi via 
> Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l-bounces+kmccamant=cohousing-solutions.com [at] 
> cohousing.org on behalf of cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
>    ann - some communities handle the real estate transactions and ‘collect’ 
> reduced commissions that would otherwise be paid to real estate agents. is 
> this common, and / or can sellers use their own agents?
> 
> 
>    Alan O'Hashi - Cyber Office
>    Views from Behind the Lens
>    www.alanohashi.com
>    Colorado..303-910-5782
>    Wyoming.307-274-1910
>    Nebraska.402-327-1652
> 
>> On Oct 18, 2019, at 3:31 PM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Alan — I’m wondering if I understand the question correctly — are you 
>> talking about For Sale By Owner (FSBO) model home sales?  Using this model 
>> you eliminate the need for an agent thereby saving 6% commission on the sale 
>> of the home.   If so, what would be the purpose of retaining a Real Estate 
>> agent?  You would just be incurring an agent’s fee as an expense.  Is it to 
>> feel safe accepting a contract?  You can have a lawyer review the contract 
>> for under $250 instead of committing thousands to an agent.  If a seller is 
>> worried about getting all the paper work together in time for the closing … 
>> a closing agent does all that — either a real estate lawyer or a title 
>> company.  In a FSBO the seller has to handle relatively few pieces of paper. 
>>  Almost everything will be pulled by the condominium management in the case 
>> of a condo sale or as I said … the settlement entity will handle the paper.
>> 
>> Best --
>> 
>> Ann Zabaldo
>> Takoma Village Cohousing
>> Washington, DC
>> Member, Board of Directors
>> Mid Atlantic Cohousing
>> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
>> Falls Church, VA
>> 202.546.4654
>> 
>> "Handle every situation like a dog. 
>> If you can’t eat it or play with it, 
>> Just pee on it and walk away.” –Author Unknown
>> 
>> 
>>> On Oct 18, 2019, at 4:39 PM, Alan O'Hashi via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
>>> cohousing.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Greetings - I'm wondering if communities that handle their real estate 
>>> transactions for buyers and sellers internally allow owners to have an 
>>> agent represent themselves. How are transactions handled?
>>> Thx
>>> Alan O
>>> *******************************************
>>> Alan O'Hashi - ECOS
>>> EnviroCultural Organization Systems
>>> http://www.alanohashi.com/ecos
>>> Colorado 303-910-5782
>>> Wyoming 307-274-1910
>>> Nebraska 402-327-1652
>>> ******************************************* 
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>> 
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