Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Creating Cohousing

[Diana Carroll (dianaecarroll]

Indeed.  I think the first step is to decide what kind of social structure
you want for your community -- cohousing being one model, other intentional
community models are also available.  But most importantly, since it is
just four families involved, figure out what you all want...

THEN consult with a lawyer to figure out the best legal structure to
support your community goals.  You will need a lawyer who has expertise on
real estate laws in your state, because the details are pretty hairy.  (A
friend of mine just went through the process of converting a two family
home into two condos and it was not a simple legal process!)

I don't know much about the legal structure of co-ops.  We briefly
considered and rejected that option, because it is much harder to get
financing (both for construction and purchase) for that legal structure.

Diana


On Tue, Oct 8, 2013 at 11:51 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:

>
> Just to clarify --
>
> In most states -- probably in all states right now -- correct me if I'm
> wrong, "Cohousing" is not a legal structure.  Cohousing is a social
> structure which can be organized for housing as a co-op, condo or
> fee-simple homeownership.
>
>
>