Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cost of living after move in

[Lisa Lackey (lisa]

I am a member of a cohousing community forming in Grass Valley.  I have
never actually lived in cohousing, but hope to when this one is built a
couple years from now.  In this market, we are struggling to find people who
want to commit to being members, although there are quite a few that express
interest.  One of the most frequent feedback I get is that they cannot
afford it (even though we are priced at market rate for this area).

 

It seems to me that figuring out what you can afford in cohousing is more
than just the price of your unit.  Have there been any studies or
documentation of household costs going down after moving into cohousing?  

 

It seems like many costs could go down once in cohousing,  for instance: 

Food:

     common meals, 

     buying food in bulk with other households, 

Utilities:

      energy bills decreasing because of unit clustering & sharing heat
bills, 

     sharing internet & other communication bills

Car expenses

     easier to carpool, 

     easier to carshare

Don't need to buy as much

     sharing resources, so you don't have to buy everything yourself,  

Entertainment

     not needing/wanting to eat out or go out as much, because of the meals
and events in the commonhouse,

I imagine there could be many more.

 

Is it true that expenses go down after you move into cohousing, making life
"more affordable" (outside of the original price of the home)?   

 

Thanks,

Lisa