Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Aging cohousing communities: deferred maintenance, accessibility, and financial strains

[Bonnie Fergusson (fergyb2]

    Here at Swans Market Cohousing we are certainly an aging community with 
maintenance/infrastructure issues but we have been lucky in that two of our 
founding members rode wheelchairs so disability issues were at the forefront of 
original planning and this has served us well as those of us who were 
“temporarily abled” have aged.  Also our finance committee has been adamant 
about maintaining adequate reserves and we have always done reserve studies.  
Our HOA fees have never been low. Inflation has still eaten away at our buying 
power and we have had to do the occasional special assessment.  Most recently 
$6000 per household to install solar panels on our roof to cope with rapidly 
rising energy costs here.  This was stressful but has paid off in lowering our 
bills substantially.  We were able to arrange long term payment plans with the 
several households who could not come up with the special assessment at the 
time and although it has taken several years they have all finished paying 
their share as of this year.  We are currently working out how to replace the 
remaining old roof that wasn’t under the solar panels and fixing our aging and 
misbehaving water heater which serves the whole community.  We had a major 
water intrusion/mold problem in thankfully only one of our units that was 
ultimately traced to flawed original construction and inadequate maintenance.  
The HOA paid for redoing the exterior wall and mold remediation which was 
expensive and time consuming and the home owner paid for redoing much of the 
interior.  This has been a multi year issue which is thankfully almost over 
during which time the homeowner has been essentially homeless, staying 
alternately in the community guest room and various community member's houses 
when the guest room was needed by others.  What could have been a divisive 
issue has been resolved amicably and cooperatively thanks in part to solid 
community bonds built over 25 years of living together and solving problems 
together.  It can be done.Bonnie FergussonSwans Market CohousingOakland, CA


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On Sunday, October 11, 2026, 5:13 AM, Fred-List manager <fholson [at] 
cohousing.org> wrote:

The author of the message below prefered not to be named.
It was posted by Fred of the Cohousing-L management team
<cohousing-l-owner [at] cohousing.org>

--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Seeking advice from other cohousing communities facing the consequences of
inadequate long-term financial planning, particularly as members age.

Like many communities, ours kept dues low during its early years and never
commissioned a professional reserve study. Now, decades later, major
infrastructure and appliances are deteriorating or failing, while reserves
are inadequate to cover replacement costs.

Many members, facing retirement, healthcare, or family expenses, feel
unable to afford substantial dues increases or special assessments.

Recently, a member's formal request for disability accommodation brought a
long-deferred infrastructure problem to a head. After considerable debate,
the community agreed to undertake a major replacement project, recognizing
that the infrastructure had deteriorated well beyond what was previously
understood. The expense has intensified long standing financial anxieties.

The resulting tensions have also raised difficult questions about aging and
disability in cohousing. One member has been publicly urged to move to
assisted living because of perceived demands on community resources, and
suggestions have been made that future residents with disabilities should
not be admitted.

We would particularly welcome hearing how other communities have addressed:
• Financial sustainability: How have you caught up with decades of
underfunded reserves without imposing unbearable burdens on members with
limited means?
• Aging and accessibility: How have you balanced increasing accommodation
needs with limited community resources and commitments to inclusion?
• Community cohesion: How have you restored trust and cooperation when
financial pressures and disagreements about individual versus collective
responsibilities have created serious divisions?

Have communities successfully navigated comparable crises? Have others
found themselves unable to recover?

Practical experiences, including unsuccessful approaches and lessons
learned, would be especially valuable.
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