Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Resales- are waiting lists worth it?

[Victoria (victoria]

Dear Lynn,

Since we all moved in here in June '98 we have had a death too, and then
love caused 3 other households to move on since that time.  This has helped
us:  keep a list of names & addresses of all who have showed interest in the
past (come to open houses etc.).  When a unit comes for sale, send a flyer
out to all of them.  This means that you don't need a waiting list per se,
which won't work that well anyway because people change their plans as they
wait.

I'm sorry to hear about the way the family of the deceased handled the sale.
Our family of the deceased has been wonderfully patient and as a result
we've gotten a community minded person in that place.  I personally think
that a realtor is not the way to sell cohousing, and in order to discourage
this our marketing team has gotten pretty proactive about helping sellers,
since they may be motivated to sell quickly at the expense of the community.

Vicky Leary
Trillium Hollow
Portland, Oregon
----- Original Message -----
From: Lynn Nadeau <welcome [at] olympus.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <cohousing-l [at] freedom2.mtn.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 1:41 PM
Subject: Resales- are waiting lists worth it?


> This is addressed to groups which have had resales, and which do not (as
> with coops) have a built-in connection with finding the new owners.
>
> As we approach selling the last of our 24 home sites, there is a debate
> about how much energy and money we should invest in continued outreach
> and advertising.
>
> Personally, I think it worth quite a bit to have a "groomed" list of
> people who already are informed about the project and have expressed
> interest in living here.
>
> We have already had one situation where an elderly member died, and her
> estranged family sold the place overnight through a real estate broker
> who had hardly any information about what it was. To a buyer who was
> looking for a cute house at a good price, and hadn't met any of us or
> come to any of our gatherings. Two years later, after some upsets, that
> owner has moved away (and nearly resold in the same fashion).
>
> Over time, inevitably others of us will die and estates will sell. Or
> even when the sellers are alive and open to getting well-matched buyers,
> they may not have the luxury of the time it takes to reach such buyers
> and cultivate them.
>
> So, even though resales generate no money for the project, there could be
> a considerable difference, long term, in the value to the group of what
> kind of buyer joins us.
>
> Or should we just relax when the last lot is sold? What is your
> experience?
>