Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Two homes for sale at Westwood Cohousing in Asheville, North Carolina -- update about links.

[S. Kashdan (s_kashdan]

Hi all,

Here in Seattle, Washington, cohousing apartments and townhomes sell or rent
at market prices, basically the same or close to the same prices as
apartments or townhomes in non-cohousing condominiums or other developments 
in the neighborhoods where they are located. They
aren't really smaller or more expensive than equivalent-sized non-cohousing
apartments or townhomes. Some people feel that they may not actually be
worth as much because the non-cohousing apartments and townhomes may come
with access to extras like swimming pools or full gyms, and other frills
which we don't have. But, we do have common spaces for sharing meals, for
children's play, etc., and we have regular community meetings where everyone
meets, as well as smaller meetings of particular teams or committees for
specific areas of concern, and the ability to determine how things are run
on a day-to-day basis that non-cohousing developments do not have. And, even
with the conflicts that do arise, we don't have the conflictual relationship
problems between owners and condo boards of directors, because we
are all the board and so we are the people who negotiate the rules and 
guidelines, as well as the budget and owner dues each year.

It is true that the Seattle housing market is now very expensive, much more 
than it was fifteen or twenty years ago, and that has impacted cohousing 
prices too. And it is true that cohousing is not generally as inexpensive as 
many of us would like,
but, some of our residents rent rather than buy apartments or townhomes, and
that generally makes it somewhat more affordable. Some renters here have 
been able to save enough to purchase the homes they were previously renting.

Probably the majority of owners here at Jackson Place Cohousing have incomes 
around or above $70,000 per year. But not all of us. Some of the owners had 
owned homes  they had purchased when prices were lower, going back ten or 
more years, and they were able to partly or fully pay for their cohousing 
units by selling those homes at the higher market values. My partner and I 
were able to purchase a unit in a small condominium at the beginning of the 
1990s here in Washington State because of a state-run program for first time 
homebuyers who were within certain income ranges. We were then able to sell 
that home in 2001 to help pay for our apartment at Jackson Place, even 
though our joint income was and is considerably below $70,000.

Sylvie Kashdan
Jackson Place Cohousing
800 Hiawatha Place South
Seattle, WA 98144
www.seattlecohousing.org
info [at] jacksonplacecohousing.org