Cohousing-L Mailing List: Mortgage or financing help?

[Craig Ragland (craigragland]

Hi Coho-L,

I just got off the phone with Poulina, an enthusiastic Cohousing
newbie, who would like to put some volunteer energy to help Cohousing
grow.

She and I have been trading emails and phone calls trying to figure
out the best way for her to share her talents. We first started
exploring a cohousing valuation project for Coho/US (wouldn't it be
nice if we had evidence that Cohousing is more economically valuable
than conventional condos?). As we got started, it became clear that
she has the most to offer if her volunteer work was more local.

Like many of you other folks without direct cohousing experience, she
has poured over the Cohousing Website to educate herself.

Also, like many of you, there are not many opportunities to get
involved in her immediate area.

As we discussed the possibilities, we realized that the best way she
might help is by working with a Forming or Building Group somewhere in
the NE that could use some FREE help from a mortgage professional...
someone with 15 years of experience.

As I think back about Songaia's history, we experienced some big
surprises in the 11th hour, when it was time to change from Songaia
LLC, the legal structure that owned the development project, to
private home ownership, with our various mortgages. We would have
benefited greatly if an objective, third party - that wasn't trying to
get our business - had provided some advice. Since we were pretty
cheap about spending, we never would have paid for this advice.

Anyway, if this is of interest, please contact Poulina at lovepnl [at] 
gmail.com.

DISCLAIMER: I have no direct experience working with Poulina - and
putting this out to Coho-L is not a specific recommendation of her.

Craig Ragland
Executive Director
Cohousing Association of the United States (Coho/US)
425-487-3550
http://www.cohousing.org
craig [at] cohousing.org

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