Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Getting New Members to Make a Commitment

[Stuart Joseph (stuart]

Fred,
You make a good point about folks being unwilling to commit if the 
project falls through. The policy for Caer Coburn is they get their 
money back from the owner of the property if the project fails (we are 
disbursing money to pay for the costs like permits, surveying,  legal 
fees, etc.) or from the group if they pull out before they take 
possession of their property.

<skype:greatscotmagic?add>


Fred H Olson wrote:
> Judy at Pacific Gardens Cohousing Nanaimo, BC Canada wrote:
>
>   
> > Everyone seems to want to wait until we're actually building to sign on
> > so  we find ourselves in a Catch-22 situation. We can't get financing
> > until we have more owners and we can't seem to get more owners until
> > we're building.
> >     
>
> A part of this dynamic seems to be people want to be assured that the
> project will succeed before they are willing to commit.  That's
> understandable.  In addition to having incentives, might it be possible to
> offer people a contingent commitment.  Suppose you have 10 commited
> members and need 17 to get financing which is your biggest remaining
> hurdle. Could you persuade people to commit if 6 )or 7 or 8) other
> households commit? That way they are only committed if enough other people
> are committed to be assured of financing.
>
> Fred
>
>   

--
Stuart Joseph, 802-463-1954
Project Director
Caer Coburn, a traditional village based upon  and intentional communities
Rockingham, Vermont, USA
http://www.caercoburn.org