Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Transfer fee when a unit turns over

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

I told you she was convincing. And she isn’t the one who keeps the list. 
Imagine how convincing she is!

Sharon

> On Apr 1, 2021, at 12:44 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> Hello all —
> 
> As Sharon has pointed out Takoma Village Cohousing in Washington, DC has a 
> very robust Resale program.  
> 
> I’ve presented on our program at two maybe three CohoUS conferences and via 
> zoom for one Northeast Cohousing regional conference.  There’s no way I can 
> describe in an email our comprehensive Resale program.  It has grown over the 
> last five years due mostly to one of our team members who is absolutely 
> amazing at details.  She has created a list for every single step in the 
> process.  The more we learn about resales the more targeted the lists become 
> and sometimes more numerous if needed.  The important thing is to get the 
> right info to the right person at the right time.  My neighbor has a well 
> documented time line for when info needs to get to people to reduce feelings 
> of overwhelm.
> 
> In cohousing communities, there are always three entities that have an 
> interest in a resale:  the Seller, the Buyer and the Community.
> 
> Our first and primary objective is to identify potential buyers who are 
> educated and informed about cohousing.
> 
> Our second objective is to affirm the community has an interest in resales 
> because the new buyer will be buying into our community not just buying a 
> house.  Plus the #1 reason people buy into Takoma Village is for community 
> not a house.  Since “community” is clearly the reason people want to live at 
> TVC that “selling point” should be acknowledged w/ a share of the proceeds 
> from the sale.  Our homes often sell well above asking,  many are all cash no 
> contingency sales, homes have multiple contracts, many sell in 3 days or 
> fewer (less? I’m having a grammar meltdown…)
> 
> Here are the skeletal details:
> 
> We meet w/ the Sellers/Homeowners as soon as possible to go over the resale 
> process.  We block out the dates for the whole process.  We go over what 
> support the Resale team can give and what work the Seller/Homeowner must do.  
> At that meeting we specifically ask for a donation of 3% to be made to the 
> community since we will be mitigating the 6% real estate commission.
> 
> We have a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) program that allows owners to sell the 
> home themselves, capturing the 6% commission a Real Estate company would 
> charge. 
> 
> We provide the Seller w/ resources to learn about FSBOs.  
> 
> As we are a condominium there are certain rules or milestones that must be 
> met for resales which can be challenging.  We smooth that process for Sellers.
> 
> We provide templates for the process itself and templates for marketing tools 
> such as a flyer.
> 
> We provide outreach and education resources such as the quarterly tours to 
> keep a healthy, active pool of potential buyers. 
> 
> We keep a notification list of all people who wish to be notified of a 
> resale.  
> 
> We have a notification strategy for alerting potential buyers including a 
> regional Meetup group w/ about 1550 members, trading notification lists w/ 
> other cohousing communities in the region, posting to neighborhood lists, 
> postings to TVC member’s organizations such as churches, schul, schools, etc.
> 
> We have a suggested path for buyers which you will find on our website.  
> 
> https://www.takomavillage.org/page/39042~755756/guide-for-prospective-residents
> 
> We track the participation of potential buyers so that when they wish to buy 
> we can let the home owner and the Board and community know what activities 
> the home buyer has participated in to avoid the new buyer being surprised 
> that we have expectations around workshare and participation.
> 
> After the contract is signed we continue to support the home seller and home 
> buyer through settlement when the keys exchange hands.  After that milestone, 
> the Orientation POD takes over w/ an equally comprehensive program designed 
> to create a smooth transition for the seller and buyer.  The Orientation POD 
> coordinates move out and move in dates, getting people on line w/ our 
> intranet, helping the new owner(s) w/ whatever they need to get settled.  
> 
> Regarding the donation of 3% ...  First, the donation is voluntary.  Some 
> people do not donate at all.  Most donate around 1-1.50%   While we still ask 
> for 3%  we are grateful for any donation to the community.  But if no 
> contribution is made it’s very important to remember that our first objective 
> is we want are new neighbors who are well educated about cohousing — people 
> who will take up living in cohousing.  And, no surprises for anyone!  As 
> Sharon mentioned, we have received more that 
> 
> It’s very satisfying to see the number of communities that have adopted some 
> or all of our process.  And, there are some communities who have come to a 
> similar process on their own …some predating ours.  This says to me we’re on 
> the right track w/ this resale process.
> 
> One more thing … I wouldn’t rule out Real Estate professionals completely.  
> Several of our new homeowners have used agents to help them craft an offer, 
> find financing or to see them through settlement.  Buyers Agents are always 
> welcome but in general the buyer pays the fee to the agent not the seller.  
> So … since there may be a role for Agents suggest you do as we have done at 
> TVC and find one or two agents you work with to make sure they represent 
> cohousing accurately.  We were fortunate to identify one who is a relative of 
> one of our members.  He works on an hourly basis not a fixed cost or a 
> percentage of the sale.
> 
> This is the short version.  I hope this helps.  :-)
> 
> Best --
> 
> Ann Zabaldo
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC
> Member, Board of Directors
> Mid Atlantic Cohousing
> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
> Falls Church, VA
> 202.546.4654
> 
> Do you ever get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and think … 
> “That can’t be  accurate.”
> 
> NOTE: I am switching back to: zabaldo [at] earthlink.net.  Many apologies!  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Mar 31, 2021, at 8:01 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
>> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>> 
>> We’ve had no success using realtors. People have tried it but the people 
>> they bring aren’t interested. And just doing tours 3-4 times  a year and 
>> keeping a notification list seems to do it. Units sell quickly. During the 
>> recession, they didn’t but when I looked at the vacancy rate in the 
>> neighborhood, ours was the same as theirs.
>> 
>> I think people would donate because Alicia and Ann are very persuasive. And 
>> have no doubts that this is what people should do. It communicates.
>> 
>> Sharon
>> 
>>> On Mar 31, 2021, at 7:36 PM, Patricia Lautner <lautnerp [at] gmail.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Thanks very much for this information.
>>> 
>>> Some of us were worried that if it was voluntary, people wouldn’t make the
>>> payment. But at Takoma Village, that’s not really the case is it? Sometimes
>>> our sellers do use a realtor but we have a deal with two local realtors who
>>> work in conjunction with the community on open houses etc., and only charge
>>> the seller 3% because members do a lot of the work. If that were the case
>>> at your community, do you think your sellers would still make a
>>> contribution?
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 6:40 PM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <
>>> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>>>> On Mar 30, 2021, at 9:56 PM, Patricia Lautner <lautnerp [at] gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Do any of the communities on this list have either a transfer fee written
>>>>> into your condo docs where a seller is obligated to pay back to
>>>>> the community a percentage of the sale price when they leave the
>>>> community,
>>>>> or have a gifting culture where a large gift gets made when a cohousing
>>>>> unit sells?
>>>> 
>>>> Our resales and rental pod organized themselves in 2013-14 when it became
>>>> clear that a number of units would be turning over in the next year or so.
>>>> They designed a schedule of tours and orientations so we have a list of
>>>> waiting people who have been oriented at a basic level.
>>>> 
>>>> As part of that process, they explain to the owners that the work they do
>>>> would cost them 7% of the sales price if they had to hire a real estate
>>>> agent. since that amount on selling units would be in range
>>>> $28,000-$38,000. As a result everyone (I think maybe one didn’t) has given
>>>> several thousand dollars to the special projects fund $5,000-$15,000.
>>>> 
>>>> Over the last 6 years that has added up to $100,000+, so we actually have
>>>> a capital improvements and special projects fund.
>>>> 
>>>> The donation is very nice and helps with the feelings of loss when people
>>>> leave — we feel appreciated not just abandoned. And it is a recognition
>>>> that the amount they received in exchange for their unit resulted from the
>>>> work of all of us. The improvements we have made and the financial
>>>> stability of the community is the work of everyone. And integrating new
>>>> owners is a lot of work that is left for us to do.
>>>> 
>>>> We were not able to even get a discussion on establishing Transfer Fee
>>>> Policy of 1% or 2%.
>>>> 
>>>> Sharon
>>>> ----
>>>> Sharon Villines
>>>> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
>>>> http://www.takomavillage.org
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
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