Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Resale

[Kay Argyle (argyle]

> How does this compare with similar non-coho projects in your region?

Put it this way -- half our community is appealing our property tax
assessments in the wake of a now ex-resident accepting 25% below what the
unit cost.  The local real estate market isn't depressed enough to account
for that.

> You might want to look at whether sellers are effectively marketing the
> elements that distinguish it from a pure "housing" purchase... community
> and other benefits. Have sellers tried marketing outside the region as
> well?

One resident got told by the SL Tribune that he wasn't permitted to say
"child friendly community" in his ad.  Our best cold contacts have come
through an ad in an alternative weekly.  The flyers that sellers have posted
emphasize the community aspects.

I'd say more sales/rentals come about by networking than any other way --
the person happens to know somebody who lives here.

We recently picked up a household from a defunct cohousing group in southern
Utah, but otherwise marketing "outside the region" would have to be out of
state, Colorado or California -- most of Utah would find cohousing even more
peculiar than Salt Lake does (see the discussion below).

Our community doesn't (IMHO) take marketing seriously enough.  In a recent
discussion of what community work was "essential, important, nice, not
community work," marketing didn't make the cut.  It's "the seller's
responsibility."  To me, that isn't in the community's best interest.

> I'd be interested to see whether you've concluded that community is not a
> rare commodity in your area, for cultural or other reasons. > Raines

It's no coincidence that in a city that is 64% LDS (Mormon), our community
is anything but (I think at present we may have one active Mormon).

For a lot of LDS people, the Church is their community.  They attend church
more regularly than a lot of religions.  There are three separate meetings
on Sundays.  The Church sponsors Boy Scout troups.  LDS wards (that is,
congregations) do campouts, dinners, basketball games, choir, etc.  Every
family or household in the ward has two two-person teams assigned to them,
the "Visiting Teachers" (men) and the "Relief Society teachers" (women),
both of whom are supposed to visit every month, give a short gospel lesson,
and find out if the family needs anything.

Utah has the highest birth rate in the U.S.  Families dedicate Monday night
to "Family Home Evening" -- a lesson, games, singing, and once a month an
activity night, roller skating or a movie.  The Church encourages everyone
to do genealogy and to keep personal histories.  Young people try to find
jobs locally instead of moving out of state.

It's a very close-knit, cliquish culture.  People of other religions
frequently feel shut out -- some LDS families don't even want to associate
with anyone who isn't LDS, to the point of telling their kids not to play
with neighbor kids who aren't.

Kay
Wasatch Commons
argyle [at] mines.utah.edu
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*

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