Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: COHOUSING-L digest 399

[David L. Mandel (75407.2361]

this whole subject of cost apportionment and unit pricing has to be seen in 
the context of future relationships.  it's so important not to attach value to
particular units by virtue of anything other than their size when some people 
are unable to afford those units.  we designed each one of our units in 
southside sacramento with advantages and disadvantages.  nobady has a view of 
the rockies, the sierras or even the sutter buttes.  11 of the 25 units are on
city streets with porches but no back yards and the other 14 are interior 
units, 11 of which have little back yards.  we resisted our architect's plan 
to stick a bunch of units together and only 4 units were "sandwiched."  we 
compromised between the purists (myself included) who wanted to stick to the 
unit size pricing method we had started with and the more capitalistically 
inclined (my partner included) who wanted to price units according to "market 
value" as determined by appraisers who were bonded to a standardized formula 
in which co-housing simply did not figure.  we ended up adding a few thousand 
to the price of units with backyards because that's what the appraisers were 
doing and subtracting a few thousand for the sandwich units.  (the sandwiches 
with the backyards got neutralized.)  we (even the capitalistic types) all 
felt strongly that the units of the "low and moderate income" members (the 
ones who qualified for the loans from the City) should be no different from 
the "market rate" units.  when our budget bit the dust half way through 
construction (thanks to practically doubled lumber costs and some other 
unexpected expenses) and we had to lop off fireplaces, hardwood floors, decks 
and other amenities, david (mandel) found funding from the northern cal 
community loan fund to bridge the gap and make it possible to build the same 
house for everyone, regardless of the source of his or her funding.  of 
course, now every time an investment opportunity arises (hot tub, computer, 
printer, etc.), the issue rears its ugly head again, but i do think that the 
equal footing we established with our unit pricing is making it all alot 
easier and better.