Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Transfer fee when a unit turns over

[Patricia Lautner (lautnerp]

Thanks very much for this information.

Some of us were worried that if it was voluntary, people wouldn’t make the
payment. But at Takoma Village, that’s not really the case is it? Sometimes
our sellers do use a realtor but we have a deal with two local realtors who
work in conjunction with the community on open houses etc., and only charge
the seller 3% because members do a lot of the work. If that were the case
at your community, do you think your sellers would still make a
contribution?

On Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 6:40 PM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> > On Mar 30, 2021, at 9:56 PM, Patricia Lautner <lautnerp [at] gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Do any of the communities on this list have either a transfer fee written
> > into your condo docs where a seller is obligated to pay back to
> > the community a percentage of the sale price when they leave the
> community,
> > or have a gifting culture where a large gift gets made when a cohousing
> > unit sells?
>
> Our resales and rental pod organized themselves in 2013-14 when it became
> clear that a number of units would be turning over in the next year or so.
> They designed a schedule of tours and orientations so we have a list of
> waiting people who have been oriented at a basic level.
>
> As part of that process, they explain to the owners that the work they do
> would cost them 7% of the sales price if they had to hire a real estate
> agent. since that amount on selling units would be in range
> $28,000-$38,000. As a result everyone (I think maybe one didn’t) has given
> several thousand dollars to the special projects fund $5,000-$15,000.
>
> Over the last 6 years that has added up to $100,000+, so we actually have
> a capital improvements and special projects fund.
>
> The donation is very nice and helps with the feelings of loss when people
> leave — we feel appreciated not just abandoned. And it is a recognition
> that the amount they received in exchange for their unit resulted from the
> work of all of us. The improvements we have made and the financial
> stability of the community is the work of everyone. And integrating new
> owners is a lot of work that is left for us to do.
>
> We were not able to even get a discussion on establishing Transfer Fee
> Policy of 1% or 2%.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
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