Cohousing-L Mailing List: Encouraging resale data

[Virginia Moreland (vmoreland]

Evening,

>From time to time I know there has been discussion on the list about
whether or not cohousing units retain their value for resale, or
appreciate, etc. So with permission, I'm passing on some data on two
resales that have just happened in Atlanta's first cohousing community.
(I'm in the second.)

>Two units at the Lake Claire cohousing community on Dekalb Ave. have
>recently resold. The first unit w/1500 square feet was purchased last April
>for $115,000 and sold a couple months ago for $159,000. The second unit
>with 1,000 square feet, was bought for $99,000 at the same time and has
just >sold for $145,000. I believe these very high returns say a lot about
the >uniqueness and desirability of intentional community.
 
Now don't hurt yourself lunging for those calculators. It comes out to an
increase of roughly 38% to 46% over about sixteen months. The most recent
seller found potential buyers who really fit in well with the community,
and got her asking price without even putting the unit on the market. 

It's true that Atlanta real estate values have been zooming in general, and
this community is in a VERY HOT intown neighborhood. But we're still pretty
pleased to see that the boom is not by-passing the cohousing category. 

And it's not, to be sure, that any of us are looking to sell and make a
killing in a couple of years. But it does help calm the fears of some
prospective buyers who are uncertain about this relatively untested (in our
area) housing type. What's very different for East Lake Commons, however,
is that our home prices are starting out significantly higher than those of
the surrounding neighborhoods, while Lake Claire's probably started out a
little lower.  

Ginny Moreland
East Lake Commons
Decatur/Atlanta, Georgia
vmoreland [at] mindspring.com

Where some foundation walls have been poured, the Common House is in rapid
redesign mode, and the first phase of buyers are wrestling with complicated
cost tradeoffs on standard vs. more sustainable building materials,
conventional vs. geothermal HVAC, etc. and getting very close to knowing
their final prices. The pond is filling up and we've seen our first
visiting herons and egrets.