Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: strategies to rein in escalating purchase prices

[Olaf Kula (kulaolaf1957]

thanks so much for this.

On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 11:33 AM Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

> We went with tiny savings--
> only floor boards, no flooring,
> upper cabinets only for folk who paid extra,
> no closet doors.
> No attic flooring.
> big discussion about making porches smaller, but nixed that.
> building our own outdoor lighting bollards
> no landscape architect, no top soil
>
> We removed a few windows from the design.
> Several households bought smaller homes.
> Some folk were priced out.
> It totally is a bummer.
>
> Liz
> Mosaic Commons, Berlin, MA
>
> On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 10:06 AM Olaf Kula <kulaolaf1957 [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you Ann for your thoughtful response. I am with ABQ Co-housing, dba
> > Bosque Co-housing.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 09:16 Main Email <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > > Hello Olaf— I feel your pain.
> > >
> > > Unless I’m completely mistaken most cohousing communities have to go
> > > through this period Sometimes called “value engineering. “ Not unusual
> for
> > > our eyes to be a lot bigger than our checkbooks.
> > >
> > > It stings.
> > >
> > > We certainly did that here when Takomavillage in Washington DC was
> right
> > > at construction phase.  It’s been over 20 years so I don’t recall the
> > > details but I do remember one consideration we had was to keep anything
> > > inside the walls – geothermal, insulation, etc. - because
> > > obviously changing or adding things later inside the walls would be so
> > > much higher.
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, you are also trying to build at one of the most
> difficult
> > > times for construction. Lack of labor, lack of materials, unstable
> supply
> > > lines, vs super demand for housing. I heard just yesterday that people
> > > whose homes were burnt out in the California fires 4 years ago are
> still
> > > waiting for checks to rebuild their homes wherever they’re going to
> build
> > > them.  Get in line…
> > >
> > > Just thinking out loud here… The first place to start is with your
> > > architect and engineer. Or your developer or your developer consultant
> -
> > > whomever is on your professional team. One of these folks is
> responsible
> > > for bringing in the design within the budget. So I would be going back
> to
> > > them to find out what they recommend.
> > >
> > > I would not recommend building the common house later. Later always
> gets
> > > to be much much much later. If at all   You may end up with a Common
> House
> > > that doesn’t suit your needs. My experience shows that the common
> house is
> > > the place that the group will seek to make cuts. That’s not
> necessarily a
> > > bad thing but the cuts can get so deep because they don’t want to take
> it
> > > out of their personal houses. The common house becomes second cousin
> to the
> > > whole development. Or maybe even a third cousin. Or maybe even at
> least one
> > > case I know of they never got their Common House at all.   Consider
> > > removing bells and whistles  from your individual units.  I know. It’s
> > > heresy. But not within the Cohousing tradition in which you are
> looking to
> > > Build a Community not just bricks and mortar housing. As Katie McCamant
> > > says: you are building a neighborhood. I take that to mean the overall
> feel
> > > and accessibility to common features of the whole construction.  What’s
> > > going to draw people out into the whole space Not just the interior and
> > > exterior of individual homes but the whole gestalt?
> > >
> > > Do you have a website so we can see the design?
> > >
> > > Just a gentle gentle reminder to everyone posting… It’s a great
> service to
> > > people reading like me to know the name of your community, where you
> are in
> > > the world and just a little something about where you are in your
> process
> > > for instance: forming, building, built, expanding.  One of my goals is
> to
> > > build a sense of Community whatever medium I’m using.  This is
> especially
> > > true for an email list.  Even us old timers contributing to the list I
> > > might be mindful about including this information because there are
> always
> > > new folks Joining us.
> > >
> > > Ann Zabaldo
> > > Takoma Village Cohousing
> > > Washington DC
> > >
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > > All tiipos ... curtesy of Siri  :-)
> > >
> > > > On May 25, 2021, at 7:36 AM, Olaf Kula <kulaolaf1957 [at] gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > We are looking for advice on strategies that different co-housing
> > > > communities have used to rein in escalating home purchase prices.
> Our
> > > most
> > > > recent construction estimates are some 30% higher than most of us
> were
> > > > aware of.   The sticker shock threatens the ability of some members
> on
> > > > fixed incomes to remain.
> > > >
> > > Snip
> > >
> > > > Please share any and all ideas.
> > > >
> > > > Optimistically,
> > > >
> > > > Olaf
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > _________________________________________________________________
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> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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> >
> >
>
>
> --
> -Liz
> (The Rev. Dr.) Elizabeth Mae Magill
> Pastor, Ashburnham Community Church
> Minister to the Affiliates, Ecclesia Ministries
> www.elizabethmaemagill.com
> 508-450-0431
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