Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Retrofit Cohousing group forming in SF Bay Area

[Lia Olson (liajo]

Ruth,

This sounds SO interesting.  I have been wanting to live in Co-housing for such 
a long time, but have never been able to afford Bay Area prices.  I'm 61, a 
teacher, eclectically spiritual (Eckhart Tolle, Krishnamurti, Buddhism, Byron 
Katie are my biggest influences), communally and cooperatively inclined, 
progressive, etc.

Here's my problem tho.  No down payment whatsoever.  Stable income, but that's 
all.  Rentals in Co-housing are so rare, and I've thought that I'd have to 
relocate to find one.  IF, you go with incorporating a rental in this project, 
I would be very interested being involved.  

Lia


--- On Thu, 9/11/08, ruthpoet [at] aol.com <ruthpoet [at] aol.com> wrote:

> From: ruthpoet [at] aol.com <ruthpoet [at] aol.com>
> Subject: [C-L]_ Retrofit Cohousing group forming in SF Bay Area
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 1:37 AM
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I just posted the ad below on Craigslist tonight, and would
> love to be in touch with other folks who might want to
> create a small retrofit cohousing set-up in Berkeley,
> Oakland or Alameda in the near future. Thanks for any leads
> you can offer!
> 
> In the spirit,
> Ruth
> (ruthpoet [at] aol.com)
> 
> $125000 Co-housing opportunity in North Berkeley! (or
> elsewhere) (berkeley north / hills)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear
> here [?]
> 
> Date: 2008-09-11,  1:23AM PDT
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm looking for one or more partner(s) to jointly buy a
> building and
> create our own version of a cohousing community together.
> There are
> some GREAT-looking multi-family properties for sale right
> now at
> amazing prices - for instance, a 4-unit building on Evelyn
> Ave. in N.
> Berkeley for only $499K! Also some other great buys near
> Ashby BART in
> Berkeley, near Lake Merritt in Oakland, and in Alameda.
> Lots of
> choices, in other words, with individual units able to sell
> for
> $125-$175K depending on exact size and location. It's
> easier than it's
> been for many, many years to create "retrofit"
> (i.e., using existing
> buildings) co-housing in the Bay Area. Let's seize the
> moment!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VISION:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Co-housing means sharing resources and community to
> whatever degree
> we mutually agree on. I'd like to (possibly) share my
> car, have at
> least one meal a week together, share tools, do some group
> projects
> together... but also have our own separate lives. I would
> seek to build
> this kind of community with other folks who, like me, are
> mature,
> responsible, queer-friendly, open to diversity of various
> kinds,
> creative, politically progressive, ideally
> spiritually-oriented
> (Buddhist or other meditation practices), etc.- and who
> genuinely want
> to build community (rather than just seek a cheap way to
> buy real
> estate.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOGISTICS:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have enough for a 10% down payment ($50-70K) on a
> property in
> this price range, but most lenders want 20% these days. If
> I find three
> other partners with five percent down each, we'd be
> fine... OR if I
> find one other partner with 10% down available, we could do
> a
> partly-owned, partly-rented affordable cohousing community,
> which would
> be great too. (From what I've seen, rentals in
> cohousing communities
> are usually priced way above market rents - but with these
> prices,
> these units could be market rate rentals.) Legally we would
> purchase as
> tenants in common (TIC) which is common these days - we
> could define
> whatever ownership interests made sense according to how
> much down we
> each put in, plus other factors (like unit size, sweat
> equity, etc.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Interested in talking further? Please email me a little
> about
> yourself, including whether you're familiar with
> cohousing, what
> appeals to you about this kind of situation, what kind of
> down payment
> funds you have available, and anything else you'd like
> me to know - and
> if it sounds like we have some potential compatibility,
> I'll promptly
> email back, or call you if you give me a phone number.
> Thanks for
> visioning!
> 
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