Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: SELF DEVELOPMENT VS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPER

[Tree Bressen (tree]

Hi Linda,

> Just had a long talk with a coho developer about the pitfalls of
> self-development of a coho community. She recommended that I ask you all if
> you know of cohos which were self-developed (without a developer) and which
> came in time and on budget.

I wonder how many cohousing communities with professional developers have 
come in on time and on budget?

It seems to me that most construction projects large or small take more 
time and money than people expect.  I'm not sure why that happens so much, 
but whether it's adding a deck onto the back of a house or building a 
30-unit complex, people seem to consistently underestimate the resources 
needed.  It is certainly possible (even likely) that the record of 
self-developed coho groups is worse in this regard than professionally 
developed coho groups, but i do think it's important to keep things in 
perspective.

Best of luck sorting out what's right for your group, cheers,

--Tree



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Tree Bressen
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