Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: touring visitors

[Susan L. Hedgpeth (hedgpeth]

Hi, Here's some info about how we handle tours.

At Pleasant Hill Cohousing we have a monthly tour on the first Sunday of 
every month.  I do the tour unless I am out of town in which case I find 
another member to do it.  I'm also the contact person for our community 
which works out well because when someone contacts us, by email or phone, I 
can move them along smoothly to the next step in finding out about us which 
is to come for a tour.

This seems to be the least disruptive way for new people to check us 
out.  We discourage people from just dropping by and walking around.   We 
have a sign on the front door of the Common House that tells folks about 
the tours and gives them a contact number and our website for more 
information.  We feel it's awkward as well as unfair to expect a community 
member to stop what they are doing and answer questions from a casual 
visitor.

The monthly tours have been working well for us and we've been doing them 
since we moved in almost 3 years ago.  Usually I know ahead of time who is 
coming, but not always.  Most months there are a few people, sometimes a 
lot (10-15), occasionally none.

I encourage people to come to the monthly tour but if they absolutely can't 
make it (maybe they are visiting from out of town), then I ask for another 
community member to host them and they arrange a mutually convenient 
time.  If no one volunteers, then it doesn't happen.  Usually someone 
volunteers but not always.  It helps if the visitor can be flexible and is 
available for more than one afternoon!

We do not ask for a donation.   I look at the tours as a combination of 
marketing our community in particular and educating people about cohousing 
in general, plus just satisfying the curiosity of people who might have 
seen us on TV or in the newspaper or wondered what those mango-colored 
buildings with the swimming pool were all about!

The tour takes about an hour.  I give them a packet of information that 
includes a fact sheet about our community, the FAQs from the Cohousing 
Association site, and how to join this listserv, cohousing-L.  I take them 
around the Common House, and walk around the site, show them the garden, 
and take them into 2 or 3 homes which have been graciously volunteered by 
their owners.  I find that after an hour of looking at everything, and 
hearing me talk and answer questions, they have enough information for the 
moment.  I encourage them to come back if they want to learn more, and I 
invite them to come to a business meeting or call me for follow-up 
questions.  Not many people do this though, probably because they have 
learned as much as they need for the moment.

I keep a list of interested people who have come on a tour.  We also have a 
List of Prospective Buyers which a seller can, at their option, use if they 
are looking for a buyer.  We have 5 steps to get on that list, designed to 
help us get to know them and them get to know us.  They are:  come on a 
tour, attend a business meeting, come to a common meal or other social 
event, fill out a questionnaire about themselves, and attend an orientation 
session with a member where they get more details about our community and 
can ask more questions.  As you can imagine, not many people want to go 
through all that if there is no unit available so we don't have many people 
who have done all 5 steps but that's ok.

We are also on the Cohousing Assn Northern California bus tour that happens 
about 4 times a year, so that's another opportunity for people to see our 
community.

To my knowledge we've never had a developer come on a tour.  We have had a 
couple of groups of urban planners from Japan and a couple of 
architects.  The only difference is that they ask slightly different 
questions.  I don't try to know everything (!) and if I can't answer a 
question, I suggest that they put it in an email and I'll send it out to 
our members and someone will have an answer or a next step.

That's probably more than you wanted to know!  I guess I got carried 
away.  I really like doing the tours -- to see people's reactions and be 
reminded how proud I am of what we've created and how much I enjoy living 
here.

Susan Hedgpeth
Pleasant Hill Cohousing
Pleasant Hill, California, USA
http://members.aol.com/dancerbarb/

At 09:53 AM 4/29/2004 -0700, you wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I live at Milagro Cohousing in Tucson, Arizona.
> We are a newly opened community, the last family moved in last November. I 
> am coordinating tour requests from the public - including those interested 
> in cohousing in general and Milagro in particular. My question is about 
> what policies and practices other co housing communities have for tours. 
> Specifically, do you ask for donations? Is the request based on who is 
> requesting the tour, eg. a developer, a family that wants to purchase or 
> rent or a likeminded community?  I would be
> very interested in getting some guidance on this - we are getting a lot of 
> requests for tours. Since we are fully occupied, we are not marketing our 
> homes but are always pleased and proud to show people around.  You are 
> welcome to come visit!
>
> Libby Kelley Dingeldein
> Milagro Community
> www.milagrocohousing.org<http://www.milagrocohousing.org/>
> _________________________________________________________________
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