Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: 1 Bedroom unit at Cornerstone

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> We are pleased to announce that the lovely one-bedroom apartment at 
> Cornerstone Village Cohousing is on the market at a lower price: $555,000. 
> This 575-square foot apartment is on the first floor.

No reflection on Cornerstone at all, but this is an example of why I chose 
“Sustainable Cohousing” as the name for the effort to focus on the development 
of low-cost cohousing. 

These prices are not sustainable for at least half of the kinds of people we 
attracted to cohousing 10-20 years ago.

I am working on a blog post now on income levels in the US. _Half_ the 
population earns _less_ than an average income of $30,000 per person annually. 
That is derived from indirect figures which I will explain, but even if these 
figures are off a few thousand on the low side, cohousing as we know it is not 
sustainable. 

This price is $965 per square foot. To purchase this apartment would require an 
annual income of $1,397,000 using the guideline of 2.5 x the price of the house 
to qualify for a mortgage. Or someone has to have a lot of money just sitting 
around. And probably rich parents. If my calculations are off—very 
possible—please let me know.

A $30,000 income would qualify for a $75,000 mortgage.

Since utilities and services are paid with additional monthly condo fees, 
adjusting the price to give credit for cohousing extras is not very relevant.

This is expensive. Yes, it is Boston. These are Manhattan prices — though 
Cornerstone is much nicer than this apartment for $555,000 in Manhattan would 
be.

Think about it.

Sharon
——
Sharon Villines, Washington DC
SustainableCohousing.org