Re: Mini-cohousing | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Catya Belfer-Shevett (catyahomeport.org) | |
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:58:26 -0700 (PDT) |
There are a LOT of these under-one-roof small communities. We lived in
one for about 9 years - check out http://www.homeport.org and especially
http://www.homeport.org/~catya/charter.html
I have our JOA (joint operating agreement) around someplace.Here's an article I wrote talking about how we handled money and how that might work in other sorts of households:
http://polycat.org/node/7 - catya Alex Kent wrote:
Does anyone have experience with mini-cohousing?The idea here is to put together a group of, say, 3 families (with or without children), purchase either a larger house and subdivide it into individual units and common areas (e.g., kitchen, living room, workshop, etc.), OR buy a small multifamily house and create common spaces within it while preserving the discrete nature of the original individual apartments.The goals of this arrangement would be to create a small community or extended family and to reduce the often crushing economic burden associated with home ownership.Obviously, the most challenging aspect of this scheme would to put together the right mix of people, what my friend Lou calls "grown-ups." In a larger cohousing community, not everyone has to be friends with everyone else as long as people can remain civil to one another. But if everyone lives under the same roof, bonds have to be tighter and the willingness to balance individual imperatives against the needs of the group has to be more highly developed. People would really have to like each other.Then there are the financial and contractual aspects of co-ownership of a single piece of real estate. How would a lender look at group ownership of real estate?From what I can tell, the problem with what has rapidly become the norm forcohousing in the US is that it is a movement for the upper middle class. Cohousing is not cheap. It may be a more attractive and "sustainable" approach to development and housing, but it still takes a lot of money, especially for people like me. I am certainly not poor, but neither am I wealthy enough to be able to afford a house in many of the established or forming cohousing communities with much ease. And I am simply weary of being a slave to a mortgage and other dwelling-related expenses.Moreover, I like living where I live now, a college town in Western Massachusetts, a place rich in cultural, educational, and natural resources. I would be loathe to leave this area, but once again, these things do not come cheaply. Co-ownership seems like a good way to defray the costs.Thoughts? Anyone interested in continuing the conversation off-line?Alex Kent 83 North Prospect Street Amherst, MA 01002 USA 413-896-7641 www.japantrans.com_________________________________________________________________Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
-- Catya Belfer-Shevett ~ webmaster, www.cohousing.org www.catya.org ~ Cohousing in MA! www.mosaic-commons.org
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Mini-cohousing Alex Kent, July 25 2009
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Re: Mini-cohousing Sharon Villines, July 25 2009
- Re: Mini-cohousing Jacqueline Freeman, July 25 2009
- Re: Mini-cohousing Rachel, July 25 2009
- Re: Mini-cohousing Catya Belfer-Shevett, July 27 2009
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Re: Mini-cohousing Sharon Villines, July 25 2009
- Re: Mini-cohousing Fred H Olson, July 27 2009
- Mini-Cohousing Diana Leafe Christian, July 27 2009
- Re: Mini-Cohousing Fred H Olson, July 28 2009
- Re: Mini-Cohousing Fred H Olson, July 29 2009
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