Cohousing-L Mailing List: request for coho stuff

[Dan Suchman (71756.2661]

I thought the following messages might be of interest to the readers of
Cohousing-L:

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From:   INTERNET:NBROX [at] aol.com, INTERNET:NBROX [at] aol.com
TO:     Dan Suchman, 71756,2661
DATE:   3/17/95 7:42 AM

RE:     request for coho stuff

Dan,

Thanks for offering to share your MPC letter of intent and spreadsheet.  I
belong to a CoHousing group in Ann Arbor.  We are close to putting a down
payment on some land and are discussing development options.  I would love to
see your info.  It would be great if you could fax it, but if you've been
swamped with such requests, and would rather I send a self addressed, stamped
envelope, just let me know.  My fax # is: 810-229-9710.  Phone: 810-229-9550

I have another question.  We are about to hire a real estate lawyer to draft
up an option agreement for some land.  Someone recommended a lawyer that
lives far from our building district.  We were thinking it would be better to
hire a local person that might have some political influence in the township,
as it looks like it might be tough to sell 'em on the idea.  Since we don't
know anyone locally, do you have any advice for us while we're looking?

Thanks much,
Nancy Broxholm

REPLY:
To:     Nancy Broxholm
From:   Dan Suchman
Date:   March 17, 1995

Nancy, 

I'd be happy to share these materials with you.  I have received a lot of
requests and would like to limit (or at least spread around) the distribution
costs.  I would appreciate your sending a SASE, unless you really need it in a
hurry.  If so, I can fax it to you or mail it to you (if you email your address
to me).  Let me know your needs/preference.

My advice on hiring a lawyer:  real estate development involves several broad
and diverse areas of law. 
In the case of the typical cohousing development, these areas will probably
include the following: (1) land use & zoning, (2) purchase, sale and financing
transactions (my specialty),
(3) condominium / association documentation, and (4) construction and/or
development agreements between the cohousing group, the developer (if
applicable) and the contractor(s). To do the job right will probably require
more than one lawyer.  MCP met with a large Miami law firm that had many lawyers
covering many areas of specialty.  This may sound expensive, but in fact there
was the potential for economy.  The firm liked having the reputation of working
on "cutting edge" and "community" matters.  Cohousing offered them an
opportunity to promote this image.  MCP traded on this fact to bargain for a
fixed fee arrangement that was probably less than the cost would have been to
hire separate firms or to train an inexperienced general practicioner (or even a
general real estate lawyer).

In answer to your question about the geographic location of the firm you hire:
Location of the firm and its political influence or reputation are probably only
relevant to the land use & zoning issues.  This area is governed largely by
local (city, township or county) laws and requires knowledge of local laws and
sensitivity to, and an ability to work with, the local special interest groups,
administrators (planners) and law makers.  The other three areas or specialty
mentioned above are governed primarily by state law (with some local variations
in custom) and do not usually require local expertise.  At a bare minimum, all
lawyers that you hire should be licensed to practice in the state in which the
development will be located and have extensive experience with real estate
development.

Don't forget that cohousing is new.  Most lawyers have never even heard of it,
let alone worked with it.  I suggest that you provide to whoever you intend to
hire a copy of the cohousing video (containing newsclips) compiled by The
Cohousing Company in order to convey the overall picture of what you are trying
to create.

Best of luck to you,

Dan