Cohousing-L Mailing List: Seeking potential co-owners

[Marty Maskall (mmaskall]

I think Joani has a great idea.  We at Orangevale Cohousing have lots of people 
who are interested but who are concerned about our high California prices.  We 
would like the prices to be lower, but we are constrained by costs of the land, 
construction, and so forth.   Some of the interested people have mentioned the 
idea of sharing to me.  If we can facilitate that, it helps us all.  So Joani 
-- what's the next step?

-- Marty Maskall, Orangevale Cohousing, near Sacramento, California 
(www.OrangevaleCohousing.org) 

Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008   From: Joani Blank <joani [at] swansway.com>
Subject: [C-L]_ Owning units in cohousing communities as tenants in
common.

As the person who responds to voicemail calls made to the Cohousing 
Association, as often as once or twice a month I hear from an 
individual or a couple who really wants to live in cohousing, but 
simply cannot afford to purchase a unit in any community (and at the 
same time has too many resources to qualify for one of the few very 
subsidized units available).

So I'm wondering if anyone has purchased a 2, 3 or more-bedroom unit 
in a cohousing community and owns it with another individual or 
couple as tenants in common. I know that some owners have renting 
housemates, and that there are shared rentals, but my inquiry is 
about a situation where two or more households....most likely to be 
two single people are sharing ownership of a unit in this way.

If it appears that this is not happening or not happening much, I'm 
wondering if I should suggest that that Cohousing Association's 
website's Market Place Classified make available an ad category 
called something like.  "Seeking potential Co-owners" to help folks 
find others who might like to purchase a unit with them as Tenants in Common.

Does this seem feasible or am I overlooking some obvious reason why 
it's not a good idea?

Joani

Joani Blank
Swan's Market Cohousing, Oakland CA
land line : 510-834-7399 (preferred)
cell: 510-387-1315