Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Financing Consultant [was Unaffordable Housing: What it costs to rent a 2 Br Apt

[Dick Margulis (dick]

On 6/29/2018 12:43 PM, Sharon Villines wrote:
> I didn’t mean that to be disparaging or the single factor but when I toured the 
> property I was told that with his expertise in putting together various grant and subsidy 
> programs, you were able to move forward after a long period of feeling stuck — as all 
> groups get for one reason or another.

No disparagement perceived. It was absolutely the critical factor.


> What I was most impressed with and wanted everyone to know about is that people 
> like this exist independently from agencies, banks, etc. Most of us, I think, 
> are unaware of this. We rely on bank officers and government officials to give 
> us the correct and full information. As anyone who has called the IRS knows, 
> that is not always the case. Even after you master the lingo.

Exactly.

We had a speaker one month who was (still is) an expert is supportive 
housing. She had not heard of cohousing before, and what she presented 
wasn't really relevant to what we were trying to do. But she listened to 
us, and she said, "You know what you people need? You need a housing 
consultant." That was a term we didn't know. But she wrote down three 
names (and followed up by email with contact information). She told us 
to interview those three people and hire one. And that's what we did. 
And that's what I recommend to others who ask.