Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: VACANCY RATE POLL - Is Cohousing Overbuilt? How many vacancies at your community?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> If you're willing to share, I'd love to know how many communities
> still have unoccupied units for sale, how long they have been on the
> market, and whether any communities have seen what they would
> perceive to be an overbuilding of cohousing units in their
> particular demand area.

In the DC area, oversupply is definitely not the case.

Land values are high which makes new construction of small projects  
difficult to impossible. The only new construction in the city of  
which I am aware is on small parcels of land only large enough for a  
single family home or of tall buildings of multiple dwellings.

Sales in Takoma Village have been brisk, delays of more than 3-4  
months from first listing to closing, in my opinion, were caused by  
the idiosyncrasies or personal circumstances of the seller -- listed  
with a broker or weren't really ready to sell.

The record is still 5 hours, listing at 5:00 with a verbal commitment  
at 10:00. And that was because the person couldn't get in to see the  
unit until 10:00. It was even a "stranger" buyer. Not someone who had  
been on our waiting list or a friend of the seller or the community.

Our location is also ideal for an urban community, on the Metro and in  
an area with a liberal political and "artsy" reputation.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org