Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Coop financing more attractive now?

[Kay Wilson Fisk (caseyjackets]

When we developed our cohousing community, we were considering making
it a coop. However our banker advised us that in order to convince his
Board to approve our construction loan, we should make it a
condominium because the bank had made lots of condo loans but had no
experience with coops and therefore would be highly unlikely to
finance one. Even though we took his advice, the bank was still
uncomfortable about us because they had no experience with cohousing. 

He also advised that we not use the term "cohousing" in our legal
papers for the same reason. It was only that our local banker knew us
personally that he was able to convince the bank to approve our loan.
So it would be wise to talk to your bank before you decide which route
to take.

Kay Wilson
Meadow Wood (Cohousing)
www.mwcondo.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Fred H Olson [mailto:fholson [at] cohousing.org] 
Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2011 4:31 AM
To: Cohousing-L mailing list
Subject: [C-L]_ Coop financing more attractive now?


This article argues that coop organization / financing has gained
advantages.  The article is not specifically about cohousing but may
be relevant.

An excerpt:

 In Portland, Oregon, an architect and a developer devise a lower-risk
strategy to give aging baby boomers more control in developing and
operating cooperative housing.

 Difficult market and financial conditions demand that developers
think  creatively to limit development risk. At the same time, many in
the  burgeoning population of aging baby boomers seek alternatives to
traditional models of housing for seniors, assisted living, and
continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). The independent
cooperative housing model offers buyers more control than do those
traditional models and more services than do condominiums, while at
the same time sharply reducing risks for developers.

>From the article:
Independent Housing Cooperatives
by Will Macht
August 23, 2011
in Urban Land, the magazine for members of the Urban Land Institute:

http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2011/July/MachtCoOps

--
Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north Mpls)
     Email:        fholson at cohousing.org      612-588-9532
My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org         My org:
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