Cohousing-L Mailing List: Private house expansion

[David Entin (davidentin]

I just wanted to respond to Chad Perry in Austin, Texas.   If I understood
correctly, Chad made the statement that "most" in cohousing who are able to
expand the space in their homes have done so, based on his observations.
If by "most" he means a majority, I would question that statement, though
there is the qualifier about being able,  implying there are some (many?)
who are not able to increase their private space.   In our community of 28
units, after ten years, two units have made major additions, and two or
three have finished part of their basements or attics.   This is certainly
not a majority.   People were able to decide on the size of their units
before signing a contract and decided based on their budgets and household
size and needs.  Our units range from around 800 sq ft to about 2,500 sq ft,
with the median in the middle.   We do have a requirement that those who add
to their usable space must pay for common costs to the community, based on a
complex formula.   Funds from this account have been used to pay for
community capital projects approved by community consensus.   In response to
the comments about cohousing being at or below market rate: Ten of our units
have been sold since move-in ten years ago and just about everyone sold for
fifty thousand or more above original price, including during the recession.
I have concluded that we were lucky due to several circumstances and were
originally priced below market.

David Entin, Rocky Hill Cohousing