Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Western Queens Coho study group

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jan 24, 2005, at 10:09 AM, Elke wrote:

>    At our last meeting we recognized that at this point we don't have
> the drive to be
> forming a community.  We decided to continue meeting monthly as a
> discussion/study group. We will start by reading "Creating a Life
> Together" by Diana Christian.

I think this is a good decision for a group to make -- to realize your 
position at this time.

It not  only takes drive it takes expertise. A very hard job for a 
beginner is can be very easy for an expert. Other jobs are very hard 
for experts and impossible for beginners.

Ways to get expertise:

1. Keep meeting and reading so you educate yourselves. Reading about 
community may give you the impetus to keep learning, but you also need 
to read about real estate development in NYC. How do people do it? What 
legal hoops do you have to jump?

2. Attract knowledgeable people to your group. Find members who have 
experience with real estate and construction. New York is a unique 
place because it is so complicated. Buying and renovating a building in 
Queens will not be the same as in another city.

3. Start understanding real estate financing so you can figure out how 
to get grants, loans, etc to hire professionals. One advantage of 
developing in a city is that the city always has buildings that it 
wants renovated and often has the funds as well. You just have to 
qualify and do the paperwork.

When we built in DC there were programs that allowed people who did not 
currently own property in DC to buy their units with no downpayment or 
with very low interest. In addition, several households qualified for 
5-year property tax waivers.

Good luck,
Sharon
---
Sharon Villines, Editor and Publisher
Building Community: A Newsletter on Coops, Condos, Cohousing, and Other 
New Neighborhoods