Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: right of first refusal, resales

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

Lynn at RoseWind, Port Townsend WA, here. 
We are of the "lot development" model. In other words, our buy-in 
included the home site, but the 24 families built according to their own 
budget, time frame, and taste, within rather broad guidelines. 

I'm the main contact point for inquiries from seekers, and also the main 
marketer of a unit that goes up for resale. A few thoughts to add to this 
idea stew:

Those who are reselling are apt to be the least motivated to find the 
perfect community-seeking buyer. Resellers can include estates (relatives 
with little interest in the community), people who have decided they do 
not enjoy the community (and thus can hardly be expected to put a 
priority on it), or people who need to move because of financial or job 
needs. In each of those cases, a quick sale is often the goal, regardless 
of the impact of the buyer on the community. Listing with a realtor is a 
strong temptation, unless the community has someone ready and waiting to 
buy. 

Keeping a waiting list in a situation like ours is difficult. When people 
want to buy, they usually have a time frame. They check out what's 
available and make a choice. A year later, they've already found another 
place, if cohousing isn't available. Even if they'd still prefer it, the 
thought of moving again is too hard. 

I keep track of those who inquire, especially those who visit and spend 
some time with us. When something becomes available, I notify, in order
a) members, for themselves or family or friends
b) recent motivated inquirers
c) other inquirers
d) this list
e) local advertising

If the seller lists with a realtor, it's rather a race to find someone, 
all the while trying to educate the realtor (if they will listen) and 
educate the potential buyers they show around (if we can intercept them). 
We try hard to find a buyer fast enough that the seller is at least 
motivated by the hope of not paying a commission. In one estate case, the 
house was padlocked for months, then sold overnight at a dropped price 
via realtors, netting a new member who was then very dissatisfied with 
the community.

As our homes are all different, the resale market is more limited than 
places with a smaller range of unit types. An 800-square-foot cottage one 
time, a 2800-square-foot three-storey house the next. Frugal, or 
luxurious. 

Right of first refusal? We do not have two or three hundred thousand 
dollars to put out for such a purpose. That would be about ten thousand 
per family, in a community where our $800/year assessments are a strain 
for some. It would only work if we could count on a very fast turnaround, 
and we can't. If we took the money from our reserves (if we even had that 
much in all our combined depreciation and contingency reserves), we'd be 
losing the interest on that much, as well as being responsible for the 
property taxes (maybe another $3000 a year), and all the volunteer effort 
to pursue and supervise the real estate transactions when we did find a 
buyer. In our case, it's not feasible. 

While not very encouraging, I hope this information contributes to the 
planning thoughts of those of you working on resale policy. The good news 
is that with diligent outreach efforts we have managed to see most of our 
resales go to community seekers.

Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com
http://www.ptforpeace.info (very active peace movement here- see our 
photo)