Re: Average Turn Over
From: katie-henry (katie-henryatt.net)
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 15:23:56 -0700 (PDT)
Some semi-accurate statistics for Eastern Village (56 units; formed six years 
ago, moved in four years ago).

Number of units resold by the original buyer after closing to present: 15

The reasons are divided about equally between the following: 
# Original buyer decided to not move in for health/age reasons and/or dismay at 
small size of unit when completed and/or ability to make a lot off money by 
immediately flipping unit after purchase. 
# Original buyer moved out of the area, or into assisted living.
# Original buyer just wanted a condo, or never really participated, and 
eventually moved on.
# Swapping of units between existing members.
# Original buyer decided the community/cohousing wasn't right for them or 
couldn't afford it or relationship reasons.

Number of the original 40 core members from initial formation still in 
residence: 25

Number of members who joined after the first year of formation but before 
move-in and are still in residence: 11

Number of current residents who moved in after initial move-in: 17

Many (most?) of the new members have been an improvement over their 
predecessors in level of participation, or at least in general pleasantness and 
likeability. A lot of them are friends of existing members.

There were initially a lot of older residents (65 to 85) and single people, but 
they've mostly been replaced by couples having kids (16 kids so far, and more 
in the pipeline). That may be a factor of the large increase in prices from 
initial buy-in to the present. 

Referring back to an earlier posting: I never felt that people signing up were 
making any sort of long-term commitment to the community. DC is a transient 
town. Hardly any EVC members are actually from the DC area. A few residents are 
there for life, but I'd say many (most?) members think of EVC as a nice place 
to live for a few years until a job or life takes them elsewhere. I think this 
mindset is reflected in the participation level, which is vanishingly small, at 
least for the logistical work (building maintenance and cleaning, legal, 
bookkeeping/financial management). It's pretty much all outsourced, and not 
even supervised or monitored. There's plenty of money, and no hesitation to 
spend it.

It's funny -- On one hand, the board is outsourcing more and more work, and on 
the other hand there's a task force trying to increase participation, but when 
they do find someone willing to do work, there's nothing left to be done 
because everything has already been outsourced or handed off to the management 
company! However, on the plus side, EVC is a very friendly, sociable place. 
Regular meals and lots of fun events on the calendar. It works very well for a 
lot of people.

Katie
Eastern Village Cohousing
Silver Spring, MD

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