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

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

Ron Ingram <ingramr88 [at] gmail.com>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
without the image that Ron included of a book cover that she
mentioned. Cohousing-L does not distribute images and attachments.

The book is:
_Homewreckers_ by Aaron Glantz, Pulitzer Prize Finalist

How a Gang of Wall Street Kingpins, Hedge Fund Magnates, Crooked
Banks, and Vulture Capitalists Suckered Millions Out of Their Homes
and Demolished the American Dream

--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
Can't wait to read your post Sharon! O just started reading this
book....talks Alot about why we are where we are...the consolation prize to
reading such an infuriatingly piece is knowing that people like you exist,
Sharon.

On Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 8:16 AM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> > 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