Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: rental policy in these economic times

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 20 Jan 2012, at 2:21 PM, drmaryanngroups [at] mac.com wrote:

> Our larger problem has been folks buying units as "vacation" property and 
> thus not being full-time members of the community. Sometime those units are 
> rented during the "off-season." Our current marketing committee discourages 
> folks who don't want to be active members of the community from purchasing 
> units.

One option we have discussed but not implemented is charging a workshare fee to 
owners who are not in residence and owners who are renting because in each case 
it puts a burden on the rest of the community. Someone has to be aware of the 
conditions in the empty unit as well as cover workshare tasks.

Even when the renters participate fully in the community, there is the issue of 
orienting new people which takes a long time. The longer we have been moved in, 
the longer it seems to take because there are more things to know. And the more 
they participate the more they need to know.

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