Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: still happening...........

[Bob Morrison (rhmorrison]

 R. Philip Dowds wrote:  If you can’t explain [cohousing] to the professionals, 
how are you 
going to explain it to the average homebuyer? 
  We are talking about two very different groups of people here. Potential 
buyers of cohousing homes are a very special group. Most already know about 
cohousing, so we we don't need to explain what cohousing is, we only need to 
explain what's specific to this community. IMO mortgage bankers in general 
can't think outside the box. You are trying to explain to them a concept that 
is very foreign to them. I am not surprised that many mortgage companies decide 
that offering a mortgage for a coho unit is too risky, even though they are 
willing to issue mortgages for regular condos. 
  However, I don't think hiding from mortgage companies the fact that the 
subject home is in a cohousing community until they have issued the mortgage 
(and can't cancel it) is going to work. I agree that buyers should soft-pedal 
the fact that it's cohousing, but a diligent loan officer will probably find 
out somehow. For example, they might find out by reading a coho's public web 
pages, and I wouldn't want a coho to hide all mention of their being a coho 
from their public web pages. 
  The original-sale units in Mosaic Commons are a special case. The above is 
about resales, and about original sales in cohos where the members and the coho 
itself aren't at serious risk of financial disaster. 

Bob Morrison
Mosaic Commons Cohousing
Berlin, MA