Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Marketing Cohousing Effectively

[Dahako (Dahako]

Hi all-

I generally agree with Rob on marketing to families once you have a site set. 
Now in my second cohousing adventure, I've developed a slightly different 
view on marketing to families. Location matters a lot.  Market matters a lot.  
Education options matter a lot.  Just like regular real estate.  

One of the reasons the Eastern Village decision was easy for us (a family 
with one teenager and one elementary school-ager) was that it is in a good 
public 
school district (elementary, middle, high, and community college) close to 
lots of interesting cultural stuff.  The neighborhood is very urban, but 
active, 
safe and near groceries, drugstore, and lots of public transit.  
Redevelopment into a residential neighborhood is happening all around us. Lots 
of people 
in this market, including families, are looking for housing closer in so they 
can reduce commuting time.  The location and unit sizes played right into a 
sizable niche in the existing market -- so we can play the cohousing aspects up 
in our marketing and let potential buyers sort themselves out.

On another note - if you already have a family or two in your group, I think 
it helps to have them "front" as much of your marketing as you can. 

-Jessie Handforth Kome
Eastern Village Cohousing
Silver Spring, MD
"Where we just moved in and are planning a Swap Meet brunch to get furniture 
for the common spaces and swap around all our junk (whoops - unneeded 
treasures!)."