Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Unit pricing differential: request for info

[Willie Schreurs (willie]

On Sat, 27 Jul 1996, Harriet Talan wrote:

> We would like to know if any other projects have had differential pricing 
> for units based on individual unit location  or other factors.  Of 
> course, the base price will be determined  by square footage and 
> materials, etc.
> 
> Assuming base costs are identical, but some units are located in what is
> considered usually a more desirable location offering a "better 
> view" of a canyon or are farther away from street and parking traffic, how 
> might pricing be handled?
> 
> Any experience, advice or suggestions are most warmly solicited.

        At Greyrock we did use lot premiums as a way of making some of the
places a little more affordable.  We did this prior to lot selection and
attempted to get more "cohoesque" criteria than a standard developer might
use.  To determine the relative ranking of all the units we surveyed all
of the then-current community members for their lot preferences (most
desirable and least desirable, and why).  We decided how large a 
financial "pool" to use, set our premium range (we settled on -$2400 to 
+$4800).  All the data were boiled down and the premiums were applied to 
the lots.  We ended up with four lots with a negative premium and $80,000 
to go to the project kitty.  The net result of all this was that if you 
paid a lot premium more than about $2600 ($80,000/30 units) you 
"subsidized" those with a lot premium less than that amount.  But then, 
you should also have gotten a more desirable place.


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