Cohousing-L Mailing List: questions about reselling homes in cohousing

[Ccarpent (Ccarpent]

I'm writing from Cambridge Cohousing, where we are about to start building
(yeah!).  Lately, we've been talking a lot about how to deal with a large
group of people who want to be on our "waiting list."  These are people who
can't or won't buy a unit now, but hope to at some point in the future.  We
don't have a waiting list now, but they seem to assume that we will have one
and that their number on it will mean something.  Do other cohousing groups
have a waiting list for future buyers?  If so, how does it work?

We will be structured legally as a condo association.  I think this means
that units will be offered for sale by their owners pretty much the way that
any other housing is, and that the highest offer will get the unit.  The only
purpose of a "waiting list" that I can see is to make it easier for sellers
to contact potential buyers.  Am I missing something here, or does this sound
about right to others who've already been there and done that?

Also, some of our members have suggested that we give priority to potential
buyers who help us maintain our diverse community.  We would also like to
offer priority to current members who want to change units within the group.
 I think that technically this would be discrimination and will be illegal
once we change from an LLP to a condo association.   Anybody know anything
about this?

Thanks for any feedback you may be able to offer,
Cindy Carpenter
ccarpent [at] aol.com