Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: 6 reasons group fail

[Mac Thomson (ganesh]

Dear Rob,

Awhile back you posted your ³6 Reasons Groups Fail² and I¹ve been 
pondering reason number 2 since then.  It stated:

> 2. Trying to find a site without help. Groups often fail at finding a
> site, and then don't ever bother to get help with this task for some
> weird reason. There are a great number of professional brokers who, for
> a fee, will locate property on your spec. I am amazed that cohousers do
> not use these services more often. Take a developer to lunch and pick
> their brains on how THEY find sites.

We have sought some professional help, but to only a limited extent.  We 
decided not to enter into a Buyer-Broker agreement with a real estate 
agent because we expected that there was a good chance that we would 
find land through some other source and we didn¹t want to pay the agent 
~5% if he/she wasn¹t involved at all in the purchase.  We have contacted 
numerous agents, told them what we want, and agreed to pay their 
commission (if seller didn¹t offer one) if they found us a piece of 
land.

We¹ve also called all the developers in the Yellow Pages and sent them 
letters telling them what we¹re looking for and offering to talk about 
partnering with them.

What we haven¹t done is to contract with one professional to go out and 
find us a piece of land for a hefty fee.  We feel that our Site 
Selection Committee has been effective at identifying all available 
pieces if they¹re listed or advertised in any way and we even turn up a 
fair number of unlisted pieces through personal contacts and through 
sending letters of inquiry directly to land owners based on tax records.

Unfortunately, we¹re in a very difficult market (like so many, I guess) 
in that Durango was ³discovered³ about 5 years ago and prices have 
zoomed and county planners have become more restrictive.  We¹ve been 
looking for about 15 months.

So I don¹t know.  Are we going about this wrong?  Do you think that we 
should engage some professional in a different manner, and if so, what 
kind of professional?

Thanks,

-- 
           Mac Thomson                   San Juan Cohousing
           ganesh [at] rmi.net                Durango, Colorado

"Have the gumption to live differently AND the sense to let everyone 
else live differently."