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

[Mac Thomson (mac]

We are a 24 unit community that moved in in 2000.  We had various  
incentives in place that I think were VERY effective.  I've copied  
our old Membership Incentives agreement below.

We had a pretty strange thing happen a year or two before move in.   
We had been getting about 1 new member every few months or so with a  
whole bunch of associate members (no commitment) waiting to make  
their decision.  For whatever reason, all of the sudden a wave of  
urgency swept through the associate members as they realized that  
there were perhaps a dozen pretty serious associate members and only  
9 member spots left.  The urgency turned to panic and the associate  
members stampeded.  That is, they all scrambled to complete their  
final membership requirements and as project manager I had to  
scramble to create guidelines to fairly queue up the stampeding  
associate members.  As it turned out we got 10 new member households  
in 10 days.  We sold out and started a waiting list.  The family that  
went on the waiting list was very disappointed, but after just a  
little while, they too got in because one of our members dropped out.

So, keep the faith.  Strange things happen.  Another lesson to be  
learned is that even after you're sold out, keep on selling.  You can  
expect maybe 20% drop out before you actually move in.

Good luck and keep after it.  It's worth it.

BTW, we required a $6000 nonrefundable deposit to become a member.

Cheers,
Mac

============================
MEMBERSHIP INCENTIVES

PHILOSOPHY
Membership Incentives are offered for a number of reasons:
To reward Members that join early for the high level of risk inherent  
in the development project during the initial phases.
To reward Members that join early for the use of their money for a  
longer period of time.  If it wasn’t paid to HC, it could be earning  
interest somewhere else.
To reward Members that join early for the extra work that they put in  
at the beginning.
To encourage Members to sign up early, especially at critical points  
in the development process.  Our Membership Threshold Goals must be  
met for us to move ahead with development.

CHOICE OF LOT
The order in which households become Members is the order in which  
they will get to choose lots.

To avoid any misunderstanding, it should be understood that lots will  
be priced differently depending on their relative market values  
(views, trees, topography, etc.).  These prices will be determined  
before lots are chosen.

EQUITY CREDITS
Equity Credits are awarded to Members based on when they join during  
the development project.  A Member household that joins before the  
following development milestones and is current in their stock  
purchase payments receives the following Equity Credit:
Site Control (under contract for land)  May 22, 1997            $5000
Land Purchase   May 22, 1998            $3000
Preliminary Plat Approval               December 21, 1998               $2000
Beginning of Construction               August 12, 1999         $1000

So a Member household that joined after May 22, 1997, but before May  
22, 1998 and is current with its payments would receive a $3000  
discount off the price of their lot.  If that Member selects a  
$54,000 lot, they would only pay $51,000 for the lot.  The credits  
are used at the time of final lot purchase.


--
Mac Thomson

Heartwood Cohousing
Southwest Colorado
http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com


"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and  
conscientious stupidity."
      - Martin Luther King, Jr.
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