Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: drop out rate at earnest money time?

[Dahako (Dahako]

Hi -
 
Robert is right - like tends to attract like, at least to look at your  
community.  If you don't have families in your core group, then get some of  
your 
friends or family with kids to come hang around events where  prospective 
members are likely to be.  
 
And Sharon is also right, get the community location and facilities  right.  
If you are in a decent school district or in an urban area with  lots of parks 
and libraries, talk that up.
 
Look really hard at young first-time homebuyers.  They may have  time on 
their hands during development and may bring children  into the community after 
move-in, if not sooner.  These folks will be  looking for a two-bedroom or 
larger unit but won't usually be able to spend  much. 
 
Because it is a condition of my job that I not get involved in selling  
actual real estate, I always talked to people about community and left  selling 
the 
land and homes to the developers or other members.  I talked as  candidly as 
I could about aspects that are difficult, and aspects that are  a gift from 
the heavens. 
 
If you are near an established community, get kids raised in cohousing to  
come talk to your members and to prospective members about what it is like  for 
kids.  My two are brutally frank about the occasional foolishness of  adults, 
but overall definitely positive about cohousing for kids. They also show  a 
lot of the characteristics we were hoping for when we decided to raise them in  
community - they are comfortable and polite with people of all ages, aware of  
their effects on others and the world around them, secure inside because they 
 have been able to explore safely in their community environment, and  they 
can advocate for their positions and negotiate conflict fairly expertly  
(sometimes too well -  hence their "jailhouse lawyers" nickname).
 
Jessie Handforth Kome
Eastern Village Cohousing
"Where I hung out at the water table in the courtyard this morning with  Miss 
E, who is about to be 1. Then my kids went to the pool with her and her  mom, 
leaving me free to chat with you all."