Re: economic crisis
From: Rob Sandelin (floriferousmsn.com)
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 11:32:51 -0700 (PDT)
The biggest disadvantage to many cohousing developments is the large
mortgages involved. Mortgage defaults appear to be at the core of this
particular crisis and it would be interesting to know what the overall
percentage of mortgage default in cohousing is as compared to other condos
of a similar price range.

Clearly the community support potential within cohousing such as sharing
resources, finding jobs and other social networking aspects make cohousing
more personally secure. But hanging over many peoples heads is that huge
monthly housing payment, and I have seen in some cases people take on high
levels of monthly expenditure to live in community, in some cases higher
than they would for any other form of housing.  

At Sharingwood a small handful of people are self employed and in a couple
of cases have offered jobs to other community members.  This is based on
individuals creating jobs, not as a community endeavor.  There are
potentials for community based businesses within cohousing in some
localities but again, the income required to live in a $300,000 plus housing
unit can run substantially more than many jobs pay.

Rob Sandelin
18 year resident
Sharingwood Cohousing



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