Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Getting started guide / FAQ?

[Muriel Kranowski (murielk]

We did the lot-development model at Shadowlake Village. The trajectory
(done as amateurs, with only a little bit of paid advice from
professionals) was, approximately:
  -2.5 years to discuss and build a group before buying undeveloped
property;
  -6 months to go through (a hotly contested) rezoning;
  -a year of creating infrastructure - grading, roads, water/sewer, etc -
before beginning to build houses;
  -about 4 years of living in a construction zone as lots were sold and
houses built and people moved in.
 We had sold enough lots to be able to start building the Common House
about a year into the moving-in process (there are 33 lots).
  Over half the homes were either pre-sold or sold early in the building
process, so after about a year we had a solid initial community in
residence. Selling the last ten or so lots was a lot slower. Over all, I
think we were fortunate. The last houses were finished about 3 years before
the Great Recession hit.

  The lot development model has its advantages & the opposite, naturally.
We did well with it, but it could happen that the last n lots take forever
to sell... you'd keep putting off expensive work (like paving) that should
happen at the very end, you'd be in perpetual marketing mode, and it could
be demoralizing, not to mention expensive with the carrying costs for the
borrowed money, plus you'd lose any economies of scale that you can get by
keeping your builder busy on your project. However, on the bright side, the
interpersonal bonding that accompanies this phase would just keep going and
going!
     Muriel