Cohousing-L Mailing List: Process/Timeline for Buyers

[Nancy Willard (nancy.willard]

Hello there CoHo listserv,

I'm looking for some guidance on vetting buyers in a fast- paced market.

Our community's retrofit CoHo property just moved from all members being
cosigners on one commercial loan to being in a fractional loan structure
where each household has a more traditional loan with individual loan
terms. We also just had two units go on the market.

For many reasons, but also because of this loan structure change, our
community has become more appealing to potential buyers. In the past we've
had individual interested buyers at a time who are comfortable taking their
time getting to know us and making offers- we also had the legal control to
deny buyers if we felt it wasn't a good fit because of our loan structure.

The two units just listed and already have people ready to make offers. We
are thrilled with the interest and are also a bit unprepared for the speed
at which things are moving.

For those of you with condo zoning and traditional home loans as well as
those with fractional loans, how do you slow things down to confirm good
fit? I know we can't legally stop a sale. But what are your community
agreements for sellers about timing? Do you have a longer contingencies
period than a traditional sale? Are there other structural ways to slow
things down a notch?

In the past we have asked potential buyers to come to a biz mtg, come to a
dinner, come to another event, like a work party, and maybe interview to
get to know us. Some members think this may be too much now. The realtor
listing the units is concerned that we would slow down a buyer and that
we'd lose them. I feel like if people are interested in coho, they should
be more willing to slow down a little bit to make sure it's a good fit.

I welcome your thoughts and experiences!

Thanks!
Nancy