Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HOA Dues Increase

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jul 5, 2019, at 9:44 AM, Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:

> The other is our so-called “cohousing” budget. This covers expenses related 
> to community that wouldn’t be part of a typical condo budget. Things like 
> furnishings for the common house, fitness room and kitchen (and a small 
> reserve fund for replacing those), social events/parties, workshops, 
> community gardens, and so on. This is much more fungible than the condo 
> budget — if we can’t afford/don’t want to afford a new couch, we can choose 
> not to buy one.

I know Diana knows this but others may not.

It is also a choice but also affects the value of the property. The social 
events and workshops might be different — although condos also have seasonal 
social events and decorations, welcoming of new owners, etc. According to the 
Washington Post some even have coffee and pastries available in the lobby  
_every morning_  paid for out of the operating budget.

Condos also have kitchens/party rooms, roof decks, exercise rooms, office 
space, etc. Things have changed a lot. All of our CH furnishings are included 
in our reserve study— we don’t have to do them if we choose not to but the 
money is there.

The purpose of the capital replacement reserve is to preserve the value of the 
homeowners investment. If this isn’t done, people can’t sell at market price 
and buy somewhere else. Replacements are also done at the  current level of 
technology so the facilities stay updated, not just replaced. “No one replaces 
a coal stove with a coal stove.” 

The only thing we have organized volunteer funds for were large items that were 
important to some and not to others: a Universal Gym and fence on the SE 
corner. For the 10th and 15th anniversary celebrations for catering.

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