Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: rental issue

[Mac & Sandy Thomson (ganesh]

Early on, we decided to encourage rentals (both short term and long term)
*AND* to do everything possible to make sure that our renters were active
participants in the community.

Based on the experience of other communities (namely Nyland), we wanted to
encourage renters because they bring new energy to the community and rentals
provide an opportunity for lower income folks to live here.

We require that renters (anyone actually) staying more than 3 months become
a member of the community.  (We have a membership process which I've
discussed here recently.)  We wanted to avoid people living here, whether
renters or owners or lovers or whatever, who weren't engaged in community
life -- who were perhaps only living here because it was convenient, a nice
house, etc.

We've had many very good and a few not so good renters (kind of like owners
:-).  Overall, I think the experience for the community has been very
positive.  Just this last winter, we had a delightful artist from Maine who
stayed with us for about 6 months.  We enjoyed her and I think she took away
a lot of experiences and ideas from community life that have influenced her
life back in Maine.

One perspective from Colorado,
Mac

-- 
Mac Thomson

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


"The action is best which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest
numbers."
       - Francis Hutcheson
**********************************************************
On 09/25/03 Meryl Davids wrote:
> I'm still trying to get a handle on whether it is advantageous or detrimental
> to a community for people to be renting out their units for short sprints of
> less than a year. On the one hand, that brings interesting people to the
> community and allows owners to travel while recouping some expenses. On the
> other 
> hand, people wandering in and out of the community hardly helps intimacy and
> stability, especially a concern here in South Florida where snowbirds abound
> in 
> wintertime. 
> 
> Is the Seattle rental posted on this site 6 months minimum for a reason? Is
> that the community's policy or the owners? I would love more feedback on
> whether other communities feel allowing rentals for less than a year is a good
> thing 
> or a problem?  What about a six-month minimum?
> 
> Thanks!
> Meryl Davids
> Emerald Place Cohousing, Delray Florida
> (Breaking ground in a few months) 

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