Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Private House Size Survey

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Oct 13, 2015, at 1:46 PM, Chad Perry <pchadperry [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> We are trying to determine the size of our private houses.  In their book,
> Katie and Chuck report that most co-housers learn they don't need as much
> space in their private house as they initially thought

Like work, things multiply to fill all available space. The more you build the 
more you will need to build. 

What I see that people truly need that we don’t have room for is equipment, 
especially for children. We didn't considering how much space would be needed 
for strollers, bicycles, sports equipment, etc. The stuff people put in their 
garages. By eliminating garages, we eliminated storage. And dogs. People who 
have dogs want a place for them to run.

I think the “less personal space because you have more common space” is only 
true in the same sense that it is “cheaper to live in cohousing.” It isn’t 
cheaper but it’s richer. You have more space — guestrooms, workshops, 
playrooms, large kitchens, etc., but you also pay for it.

How much can you afford when the cost of private space is added to the cost of 
common space?

Our building is 51,000 SF including the 4,800 SF of CH. Each unit pays an 
average of 10% more per SF to pay for the SF of the CH.

Our annual budget for common costs is ~$325,000. That is $68 a year for each SF 
of personal space since these costs are apportioned roughly on the basis of SF 
of private unit space. To this add your personal mortgage, utilities, 
insurance, technology, etc.

My monthly HOA fee, my share of common costs, is 46 cents for each SF of 
private space. 

I just did an analysis of 11 condos for sale in DC on Zillow that were in the 
same price range as Takoma Village for the same SF. The range of fees is from 
20 to 82 cents a SF. The higher fees include all utilities including HVAC and 
24/7 staff. Newer buildings also include party rooms and exercise rooms. The 
listing of amenities may be exaggerated but since they are trying to sell the 
units, they don’t miss anything. Zillow doesn’t restrict listings under Condos 
to actual Condos. You have to click on each entry to find out if they have a 
HOA fee listed to know. A lot of clicks. But its a good snapshot and the only 
place I know to get such data.

The average condo fee per SF in this small sample is 41 cents; the median, 42 
cents.

In cohousing we usually have more common space, but no services except those we 
provide which any condo with no services does. We even change our own 
lightbulbs in the hallways. We still have high average condo fees. I know my 
good friend Ann Z says we don’t but I see no evidence that we pay lower fees. 

This is a long way around to giving some basis on which to determine how large 
your units might be. The cost of a larger unit has to be added to the common 
costs.

Our units are market rate, plus we pay higher condo fees and have work 
requirements. This is also why I say if you want to include or be low income 
housing, it has to be designed from the start with that objective. 






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