Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Limits on rentals with or without absentee landlords

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jul 2, 2023, at 5:35 PM, Sophie Rubin <yophiest [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> To address the issue that Sharon brought up about people getting attached
> and renters having to leave: are there communities that have some owned and
> some rental units? Like via an LLC associated with the community that owns
> the rentals, not individual landlords? Then the rentals could be structured
> to favor long-term renters without them risking displacement. More
> stability for the community and for the renters themselves. And more
> economic diversity for the community.

One of the problems with this kind of financing is that cohousing is new and 
still considered a long shot in many areas. The people who want to live in a 
cohousing community are the ones who have to organize, finance, and build it. 
They are most often barely able to finance their own unit, much less a rental 
unit, and in the process of getting built many are even priced out.

After 40 years, things are easier because developers and contractors have 
become more familiar with successful, award-winning cohousing developments. But 
unless you have a developer or investor who can upfront the money, it still 
requires 70-75% of the units to be under contract before you can get a 
construction loan.

And cohousers are suspicious of investors, who are rumored to have money as 
their primary interest.

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