RE: Thanks and a question about members swapping available units
From: Eileen McCourt (emccourtmindspring.com)
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 11:57:06 -0600 (MDT)
We try to get people to work it out together over a 7 day period, and fall
back to priority of membership date if that cannot be done.  This is a
policy - we have not had to implement it yet.

We announce when a unit is available, people have 7 days to express an
interest; if more than one household in interested, we have another week for
them to negotiate, and then a decision.  We just went through initial home
selection on the site plan, and the issue came up pretty frequently.  Most
people got the home they wanted, but we did fall back to priority in a two
or three cases.  The way it's handled by the person with the priority makes
all the difference to the tone of the transaction.

We had at least one situation that went sideways, because the person in
lesser priority felt the person with higher priority was arrogant and high
handed, and not very sensitive to their desires and disappointment.  Using
priority is pretty much of a set up for that.  I would be in favor of
placing names in a hat.  It equalizes the players and does not perpetuate
the priority thing ad infinitum.

--eileen mccourt
emccourt [at] mindspring.com

Oak Creek Commons
Cohousing in Paso Robles, CA
http://www.oakcreekcommons.org

 -----Original Message-----
From:   cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org
[mailto:cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org]  On Behalf Of S. Kashdan
Sent:   Thursday, June 14, 2001 8:33 AM
To:     Cohousing-L, Post To
Subject:        [C-L]_Thanks and a question about members swapping available 
units

Hi all,

I would like to thank everyone who has answered my cohousing questions in
the past.  I have passed the answers on to the entire Jackson Place
Cohousing community, and many people have expressed appreciation.

And just to show that the appreciation expressed by Jackson Place cohousers
wasn't merely empty politeness, I have now been asked to pose another
question--this time about cohousing members swapping units when there are
available units for sale, if 2 member households want the same unit.

I searched the archives and found information on swapping homes for
vacations, etc., renting., and things of that sort, but couldn't find much
on the specific topic we are interested in right now.  If it is there, I
don't know how to find it, except by going through every individual
message--a daunting task for which I honestly don't have the time.  If
people can tell me about specific messages or something like that, I would
appreciate it.

We  would also like to know how other cohousing groups currently handle
people changing units if 2 households want the same newly vacant unit.

One family has just decided to drop out, and their unit is now available for
sale, and two other households have expressed interest in switching to that
unit. We're having a problem formulating a way that is fair for people to
change units if 2 households want the same unit.

Right now we have a matrix on our web site, in the members-only section,
for members to sign up for which units they might want if those specific
units become available in the future.  The problem arises if a unit becomes
available and no one signed up for it, Then, when the availability is
announced, more than one member household decides they want it. We would
very much appreciate knowing how other cohousing communities handle this
kind of thing.

Sylvie Kashdan

Jackson Place Cohousing
800 Hiawatha Place S.
one block East of Rainier, at Dearborn
in the heart of urban  Seattle, Washington

www.seattlecohousing.org


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