Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Transfer fee question

[Mariana Almeida (missmgrrl]

This is interesting! What entity is the departing owner donating to? The HOA? 
Something else? We've received advise (in Calif) that an HOA may not receive 
gifts or donations. 
Thanks for any info!
Mariana
 

    On Friday, January 28, 2022, 02:03:27 PM PST, Sharon Villines via 
Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:  
 
 > On Jan 28, 2022, at 3:53 PM, David Heimann <heimann [at] theworld.com> wrote:
> 
>     At Jamaica Plain Cohousing, we are once again taking up the transfer fee 
> paid by a seller to the community when selling a unit.  Two main questions 
> have come up, and I'd like to find out how others with a transfer fee have 
> addressed them.

Over the years we have discussed this but were never able to get support for 
such a fee. The main reason for wanting one is that we have always done a lot 
of work to sell units in addition to all the value added labor of developing 
the landscape and other amenities. Then people move and walk off with great 
monetary rewards and we are still doing the weeding. 

A number of years ago the Resales and Rentals team became super organized and 
planned tours and orientation sessions several times a year and organized the 
list of people who wanted to be notified about new units. They worked with 
owners on how to set up their units for viewing and set up a schedule that goes 
something like this:  Open house on Sunday, contracts due on Wednesday, and 
final decision on Friday. It doesn’t always go that smoothly and owners don’t 
always choose to work with the team but amazingly it often does go that 
smoothly. Because the team is holding focused information sessions and 
establishing a contact for people waiting for a unit, those who are moving in 
are really ready to become active in workdays and events. Many begin attending 
workdays well before a unit is even available. It is not unusual to see 
strangers at workdays.

Then when the unit is sold, members of the team actively request a donation in 
return for all the work they have done to help the owner sell the unit. And to 
have a list of prospective buyers who are ready to buy—not just beginning to 
maybe think about it. The seller would otherwise be paying a realtor 7% of the 
sales price, have had to do all the education of prospects themselves, and 
would not have had a list of people ready to buy quickly.

This has been one of the things I can remember that stands out as a game 
changer in our first 21 years. And as a result we have a respectable capital 
improvements and special events fund of $100,000+. There were many, many years 
when we couldn’t even add a tree to replace two that were stolen or add outdoor 
play equipment or small appliances in the kitchen that would have been helpful. 

I haven’t checked to see how the donations relate to the sales price but the 
donations are in the thousands of dollars— often $10,000 and up.

Otherwise, I think the only way to implement transfer fees would be to 
grandfather in the people who were already here.

I must say, I feel much more kindly to those who have left and made a 
contribution than to those who have left and not made a contribution. Before we 
started asking for donations some people were doing it spontaneously. It was 
sort of like the parents going out for the evening and leaving great snacks, or 
bringing back presents when they have been away.

In addition to the feelings of loss, it’s a lot of work for all of us when 
there is a move out and a move in. A lag in workshare support that can be 
months long. Lots of attention required for the details of donation pickups, 
inspections, deliveries, answering questions, a dent in the elevator that will 
be there until we replace the elevator. Inspectors seem never to show up when 
they are scheduled and someone has to stand in. The inspector wants to see 
something no other inspector has ever asked to see and no one present knows 
where to find it. Stuff like that.

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




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