Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Guest room fees

[Eris Weaver (eris]

We don't charge for guest room use.

Reason #1: If the common house is an extension of our home...so are the
guest rooms. Do you charge your mother or sister or friend to stay in your
guest room in your house? Of course not! We all shared the cost of building
the guest rooms, we share the cost of maintenance etc., whoever uses it
cleans up afterward. It's family, it's hospitality, not commerce!

Reason #2: Financial/legal considerations. At least here in California, any
income to an HOA that is NOT dues, is taxable. Plus we don't want to be
misinterpreted as running a B&B or hotel (we are right downtown in a small
town and highly visible).

Reason #3: General pain-in-the-butt-ness of collecting and tracking. 

I confess I do not understand the reasoning of those of you who DO charge.
The amount most cohos charge seems to be low, does it really offset costs?
Or is it mostly symbolic?

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Eris Weaver, Graphic Facilitator & Group Process Consultant
Founding Member, FrogSong cohousing in Cotati, CA
eris [at] erisweaver.info . 707-338-8589 . http://www.erisweaver.info