Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: membership

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

>From RoseWind Cohousing, Port Townsend WA, a built community of 24 
households. Self developed. 
>First:  What processes have people found to be most successful in 
>selecting/inviting in new members? 
As open-market real estate, all we've been able to do at RoseWind has 
been to get the word out to interested community seekers, show them 
around, answer their questions and otherwise give them information and 
experience upon which to make educated self selection. 
 
>Does your group vote (or agree by consensus) on new members? 
This is only possible in certain legal set ups, like co-op.
>... wanting to protect 
>ourselves against potentially unsavory folks who might want to join us. 
Less likely unsavory than either clueless, or absentee, or with 
expectations that don't match up, or proselytizing types, or just plain 
disinterested in community. Especially when realtors are showing a home, 
which we discourage but can't prevent, I try to get to talk to people. In 
theory I welcome all inquiries, but in truth I give an especially warm 
welcome to folks who say "what do I get to do?" vs "what do I have to 
do?" I mention that I love it, but it's a lot of work.

In our case, also, there is a limited pool of prospective buyers, unlike, 
say, a large urban area. We have never had so many seekers that we had to 
choose among them.
>Second:  Does your group have provisions for expelling members? 
No. Worst case we can place a lien against property for unpaid 
obligations. 
>
>Third: If a member leaves or is expelled, what process do you have for 
>returning equity? 
In the development stage, we had Associate Members, who had put in at 
least $10,000 towards their eventual buy in, before we had actual lots we 
could sell (they weren't replatted yet into our project's site plan). The 
contract provision was that if you wanted to leave, you couldn't get your 
money back until another Associate Member signed up with their $10,000. 
That way, the group was free to spend the money people put in. We made an 
exception once when we had enough money available, and a person was 
leaving for health reasons. 



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)