Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How many pre-sales can we expect?

[Mac & Sandy Thomson (ganesh]

On 02/22/03, Bruce Hecht wrote:
> We need to project how many buyers we can deliver to the project at various
> stages of development. Historically, what percentage of buyers commits after
> a site has been locked in? What percentage after a conceptual design has
> been developed? The list archives say you can't get buyers until you have
> something physical to show them, but we can't move forward until we can show
> our partner that we can bring them buyers. Any thoughts?

=======================
Bruce,

Having enough committed members at various key points in your development
can make or break your project.  If you find the perfect land, but only have
20% of your members or if you're ready to begin construction, but only have
45% of your members, it's unlikely that you'd be able to go forward.

Besides community building work (process, intimacy, trust, etc.), there's
nothing that I can think of that's more important for an aspiring cohousing
group to work on than building membership.  With plenty of committed members
on board, it will allow you to do the community building work, have homes
designed by the folks who will actually live in them, and save a HUGE amount
of money.

And be aware that members will come and go while you're developing your
community (which can be pretty disruptive) so the greater the level of
commitment, the better.  Emotional commitment can't be quantified, but I'd
recommend at least a nonrefundable financial commitment of $5000.  Create an
associate member status for folks not ready for that level of commitment.

I'd recommend achieving the following membership thresholds.  These will be
hard to achieve, but if you do, you'll be on solid ground.

1)  Form Core Group - 15%

2)  Enter Purchase Contract on Land - 35%

3)  Purchase Land - 50%

3)  Program Architectural Design - 75%

4)  Begin Construction - 100%

(The 'Cohousing Handbook' by Chris ScottHanson may have some specific
recommendations, but our community's copy is checked out right now so I
can't put my hands on it.  It's a great resource for any new forming
groups.)

While it is helpful to have something physical (land & buildings) to show
people to attract them to your project, it's not at all necessary.  The
magic of cohousing is the personal connection.  People can get that from
your group.  They can also understand what life in your neighborhood will be
like based on well designed marketing materials, various existing cohousing
resources (books, etc), and visits to existing communities.

Don't expect new members to just show up at various stages of development.
Attracting members can take a huge amount of work and perseverance.  But it
can and does happen!  Look at all the successful groups out there.  :-)

Good luck,
Mac


-- 
Mac Thomson

Heartwood Cohousing
Southwest Colorado
http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com


"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
        - T. S. Eliot
**********************************************************


_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L