Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Rental Percentage? Participation Levels?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Mar 20, 2016, at 12:44 PM, Susan McFee <susan.mcfee2020 [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:

> How are your participation levels in comparison to that amount?

Participation of people who lease whole units is very good. One reason I would 
recommend having limited time leases is because people lease, they want to 
stay, and they are fully integrated into the community. Since the homeowner is 
making  money by leasing, they have little interest in selling. Why sell when 
you are making $1,000 a month?

That leaves everyone in limbo. Nothing permanent to commit to.

> Our community had a discussion when we were close to 10% full suite rentals

In terms of total units, banks will look askance if you go above this. It will 
affect sales and refinancing — even if the community has not problem with it. 

This is our policy:

http://www.takomavillage.org/governance-documents/policies/leasing-units/

We limit it to X years within a period of X years. We haven’t had the problem 
of having to many units rented, but we also make it clear that leasing can only 
be done when it is clear that the owner intends to return. We relaxed this 
during the recession when owners had to move for employment and couldn’t sell 
their units. It was in our best interests to have the units leased as well.

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