Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: peer to peer lending club for Cohousing?

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

There was (is) a time when the (homeowner) residential construction and 
purchase market was financed chiefly by savings and loan associations.  These 
were (are) “small” local banks, locally controlled, focused on making local 
real estate loans.  The theory was that both lenders and borrowers lived in the 
same area, knew each other, and knew their neighborhoods, the lay of the land.  
Thus S&L transactions operated at lower risk, and lower interest rates 
(especially important in the context of 15 to 30 yr mortgages).  This was a 
pretty good business model, and it worked pretty well until it got wrecked by 
the federal Garn / St Germaine Act in the 1980s.  Which is when the developer 
bandits made off with all the equity, and the taxpayers made up the loss.

So the thing that might concern me about “peer to peer” lending is, Do these 
peers actually know each other, and what the borrowers are doing, and where 
they’re doing it?  Really?  Is that still important in this day and age?  (A 
central premise of the cohousing lifestyle is, Yes, that’s still important …)

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Sep 25, 2015, at 8:04 AM, S. Kashdan <s_kashdan [at] hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> This is Sylvie Kashdan of Jackson Place Cohousing in Seattle, Washington.
> 
> I am wondering if there is any current news of people working on developing
> some sort of peer to peer lending or other kind of financing organization
> specifically devoted to cohousing?
> 
> I recently read two articles in Consumer Reports on the topic of peer to
> peer
> lending and investing, and it seemed to me that it might be something worth
> thinking about for cohousing financing, if there were some people with
> banking knowledge and abilities who could organize it. What do others think?
> 
> What you need to know about Lending Club and Prosper
> These new meeting places for borrowers and investors are giving traditional
> banks a run for their money
> This article appeared in the February 2015 issue of Consumer Reports
> magazine.
> 
> and
> 
> Investing in Lending Club and Prosper
> Peer-to-peer lending can boost your income
> This article appeared in the August 2014 issue of Consumer Reports Money
> Adviser.
> 
> 
> Cohousingly,
> Sylvie
> 
> Sylvie Kashdan
> Community Outreach Liaison
> Jackson Place Cohousing
> 800 Hiawatha Place South
> Seattle, WA 98144
> www.seattlecohousing.org
> info [at] jacksonplacecohousing.org