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

[Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-L]

It's unclear to me what cohousing has to do with it, and it is unclear to me
why the buyer even used the word "cohousing" when approaching a lender, when
it only seems to hinder, not help, the process. Putting forward anything
unusual in today's lending market raises red flags; the whole point of the
cohousing approach is to fit in and leverage the system to work with the
opportunities out there.
Is this a borrower with income, assets, credit score, or other challenges
that no longer make it over the recently-raised bars set by the bank? Are
the banks red-lining downtown Oakland again, scared by foreclosures in the
neighborhood and declines in value elsewhere around town? Or was it some
particular aspect of cohousing that was a challenge to them? Or the fact
that the unit was converted to 1BR and therefore not appraised as highly as
2BR?

The one piece where the fact that it happens to be a cohousing neighborhood
can enter the lending process is in selecting an appraiser that gives fair
value for the common amenities, which far exceed a typical condo; some don't
give reasonable credit in that regard. Perhaps over time we can accumulate
enough data to demonstrate that cohousing has higher resale values and lower
foreclosure rates, as well as lower turnover than the market at large, but
our sample size is still rather small.

A key reason cohousing has a relationship with the financial system not
found in other forms of communities is that by structuring as condos, we fit
their standard model, and qualify for the best rates and terms, the largest
quantity discounts, lowest downpayments, etc. If that has changed, that's
something we should know about.
As a former neighbor who sold a unit at Swan's a few years ago, I know the
documents don't even include the word "cohousing"; the California Department
of Real Estate (DRE), which regulates Common Interest Developments (CIDs)
including condos, wouldn't let us (the presumed-evil developers) promise the
poor downtrodden buyers (also us) anything intangible like "community" as
part of a real-estate transaction.

Building up a database of construction/acquisition lenders on projects and
mortgage lenders on units in cohousing would be a valuable Coho/US research
project, despite the regional specialization/focus of most lenders; who
would join me in making an earmarked donation to Coho/US for the development
of that? However, I wonder whether the fact that an institution that was a
ready lender a decade or two, or even a year ago, would tell you anything
useful about their ability and willingness to lend on the same unit today,
given the dramatic changes in the market.

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach http://www.CohousingCoach.com/
Planning for Sustainable Communities
at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing
 where Sunday featured not just an Easter brunch out on the lawn, but a
5th-night Passover seder filling the sunporch. The perfect complements to
the Full Moon ceremony marking Mohammed's birthday that we got to attend at
a Waldorf-inspired Muslim school in the area where we spoke about cohousing
the evening before, and found enthusiastic parents looking to recreate here
the sense of community they had in their Afghan villages.

Regional Organizer, East Bay Cohousing http://www.ebcoho.org/
Doing a cohousing and communities table at Oakland's Earth Expo tomorrow
(Wed.), 10:30-2: join us!

Co-Author, Audacious Aging
celebrating the book launch with a reception at the East Bay Cohousing
clubhouse in downtown Berkeley on Wed., April 29

Boardmember, Bay Area Community Land Trust (BACLT)
Get your ticket now for our affordable-housing senior coops/cohousing bus
tour from Berkeley to Davis May 2.

Boardmember, Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC)
suggesting that you save the evening for the world premiere of Visions of
Utopia, part 2, a video featuring cohousing, on Tuesday, evening, May 5,
with FIC Executive Secretary Laird Schaub live in person

On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Neil Planchon <neil [at] swansway.com> wrote:
>
> Debby has found a highly qualified buyer to purchase her home and
> every phase of the transaction is complete with the exception of
> finding a lender.  Debby has stepped in to assist the buyers and I to
> support Debby.  Community in action...
>
> So, I thought I would start by asking.... If you live in a Cohousing
> community in California and have a mortgage, Debby would like to know
> who your lender is.  Or, if you have any experience and information
> about a lender who is presently making loans to California "Cohousing
> friendly" condominiums buyers (say that five times quickly!!), she
> would love to hear about those lenders too.
>