Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: California "Cohousing friendly" condominiums lenders?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Neil Planchon <neil [at] swansway.com>  
> wrote:

> > I am reaching out to the many wonderful contributors on our cohousing
> > listserv, on behalf of my friend and neighbor Debby, to ask you for
> > any information you can share about California "Cohousing friendly"
> > condominiums lenders.
On Apr 14, 2009, at 10:16 AM, Catya Belfer-Shevett wrote:

> Sure, I'd be happy to put that page up - would you be willing to  
> take on
> making the initial list?

There used to be a spreadsheet of banks that had lent to cohousing  
communities. I don't remember now who was keeping it but you might  
find it in the archives. I last saw it in the late 1990s.

You should include as many banks as possible when you go to the bank,  
Neil. Banks look at who else has done lending and being in California  
may not mean as much as seeing that it is being done all over the  
country. With such a list you can approach any bank.

One reason to use a developer is that they will have a track record  
with a bank (or several) and the bank will be more willing to loan  
money on the reputation of the developer. Finding a developer can also  
be done with the advice of a bank. The bank officers in charge of  
construction loans will know which developers bring projects in on  
time and under budget without law suits from residents.

it is in the bank's best interest to make good loans so they are very  
unlikely to steer you to someone who will be a problem -- although not  
all developers will want to spend the time necessary to figure out  
what a CH community wants.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org