Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Private amenities vs common resources

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

One issue to be mindful of is that the less "Normal" your house is, the
harder it might be to sell later. Some communities have had enormous trouble
finding new members to accept and live with the very non-standard decisions
the previous members-owners made. Your resale market is already narrow, and
so decisions you make that further narrow the market may not end up in your
favor. And if several homes in your community are hard to sell, it causes
everybody problems, not just those selling. So be mindful of the tradeoff
between private and common resources to what would appeal to a marginally
interested cohousing buyer. The first generation of community creators tends
to be much more savvy and invested in cohousing than say the 3rd generation
of buyers, although like anything, not always and everywhere is this true.

We are undergoing just such a situation at Sharingwood, where people have
built some very nice, custom, and expensive homes, and want to sell them for
a profit. As these homes continue to remain unsold, it makes lenders, and
potential buyers of other, less expensive homes wary of investing in this
odd notion of community, because a big issue for buyers is, if this does not
work out, can I sell and get my investment back? It could very well be the
case, that we end up a very different community in the future, because of
choices made, in some cases, more than a decade ago. This summer we will
have probably 4 houses for sale, two of which will have asking prices over
$400,000. It is my belief, and I might be wrong, that there is no cohousing
market for houses at that price, thus IF they sell, the people who buy them
will not be very much interested in community. (I am hoping I am wrong about
this).

Rob Sandelin
Sky Valley Environments  <http://www.nonprofitpages.com/nica/SVE.htm>
Field skills training for student naturalists
Floriferous [at] msn.com


-----Original Message-----
From: cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org
[mailto:cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org]On Behalf Of PattyMara Gourley
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 6:40 AM
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: Re: [C-L]_Private amenities vs common resources




On Fri, 21 Mar 2003 22:15:00 -0700 manya [at] shaw.ca writes:
>After all, for the twice yearly need to
> roast a 20lb turkey we can use the common kitchen.

I'm trying to imagine the sign up list for reserving the common house
ovens for individuals to cook their turkeys.  Let's see, 27 families,
each needing about 3 or 4 hours of oven time, about a hundred hours to
schedule.  What would the list look like?  And how do you decide who has
the 2 am - 6 am shift?  I get the giggles imagining my neighbors in their
jammies and bathrobes carrying the roaster pan with bird, to the common
house in the dead of night.  Or maybe the turkeys are all cooked by
Lynn's "magic elves"?

Around those turkey holidays, it's more feasible to arrange for a shared
meal.  At Tierra Nueva, we've celebrated over a decade of shared
Thanksgivings (and Givingthanks on the following Saturday).  The common
house ovens, and barbeque, cook two or three turkeys for the households
participating.  Some families do choose to celebrate privately, and use
their own ovens.  Many travel to be with family and friends elsewhere.

These days, my family tends to want to celebrate holidays alone,
especially since the kids became teens, then college/grad students.  The
time we have together is precious, and I savor the "table time" when we
eat together at home.  Our latest practice is to do holiday meals  at
home, then saunter over to the common house feast, carrying a pie, and
have dessert with our community.

I use my standard-size oven all the time, for holidays and for normal
days. Some of my neighbors hardly ever cook or bake,  Kitchen design
depends so much on lifestyles, which can change over the years, as ours
has.   Offer a range of amenities to suit many choices.

PattyMara, Tierra Nueva, central CA coast

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com
_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L

---
Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.332 / Virus Database: 186 - Release Date: 3/6/02

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.332 / Virus Database: 186 - Release Date: 3/6/02

_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L