The Developer Role
From: John Major (themajorsmail.sisna.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 16:25:42 -0500
Hi, folks -

All of us building our own development had to have a person or a group
of people playing the role of the developer. This role includes dealing
with finances, construction, political problems, people issues and
design. It's quite a hat to wear! We are wondering how other groups have
handled this. Of course, some of you had a real live Developer person
doing that work for you, possibly taking on much of the financial risk,
and getting compensated for it, too. 

On the opposite extreme, some have used a committee of volunteer folks
covering all this ground in their spare time. Presumably, these folks
were at least compensated by ecstatic gratitude from the members that
weren't able to haul that heavy load   -   right?    ;-)

We see the biggest challenges from here out as:

- arranging the financing
- construction oversight
- setting up the financial mechanisms to turn over the houses on
completion

Are we missing something? Please point it out, if so!

So, to the questions:

- Of those that didn't use a professional developer, how many hours
would you estimate did all this take over the post-design/construction
period? (include arranging the financing...)

- How did you compensate this small group of "heavy lifters" for all the
hours they put in?

- Did any of you do everything through the end of design yourself, then
bring in a pro to help get the $$ and building to happen? How did that
work out?

- Did you hit any disasters during this period? How well did you
"amateurs" deal with them?

Thanks for the advice -

John Major
Wasatch Cohousing - where we are sensing the enormity of the task ahead,
and looking around for help on deck!


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