Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Investing in Cohousing, new model from Austria

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jan 5, 2023, at 12:43 PM, Irmgard Kravogel <i.kravogel [at] gmx.at> wrote:
> 
> But the newer Cohousings in Austria use a new financing/investment model that 
> is very attractive and allows people with lesser funds to participate. It is 
> called „Wealthpool" and was invented by an Austrian Lawyer and Community 
> Councellor. Here is the website in English that explains the system: 
> http://www.vermoegenspool.at/eng/who.php 
> <http://www.vermoegenspool.at/eng/who.php>

I don’t know if anyone in cohousing here is using this model but Ty Albright, a 
commercial real estate agent in Dallas and now a small developer explained a 
plan at a recent cohousing conference. It is similar to the model used by 
Chinese immigrants to start businesses in the US. A group would loan all their 
money to one person who would start a business and pay the others back. Then 
the next person would borrow all the money and start a business. That way each 
of them in turn was able to start a business without requiring the approval of 
a bank which was probably not available to them in any case.

He has now started a new neighborhood in a small town in Oklahoma. The plan is 
for 6 or 8 freestanding houses around a common deck or small central green. He 
has built one and plans to build the second one when this one is sold. I have a 
blog post explaining what he is doing. He has a fabulous design for a house 
that can easily fit 2 households but is built as one. He had hoped to build 
$100,000 houses but was unable to do it. Banks won’t finance a $100,000 loan — 
the paperwork is too expensive. 2 households, however, could be paying $100,000 
each if they bought the house together. A full description of the floorplan and 
Ty’s strategy:

https://www.strongneighborhoods.info/designing-low-cost-housing-that-works/

I haven’t talked to Ty recently but the first house is off the market and looks 
lived in. This is the Zillow listing:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/720-E-4th-St-Sulphur-OK-73086/2071578521_zpid/

Ty also explained how a group could use this model. Consolidate their funds to 
build the first house. When the first house is completed and receives a 
standard mortgage, the next house is built and continues until all houses are 
built. This is not an unreasonable plan given how long it takes to assemble a 
group and build a whole village. It would take a year to build the first house, 
possibly longer depending on land acquisition infrastructure, and subsequent 
houses less. Theoretically, it is less costly to build all 6-8 houses at the 
same time but not necessarily. It means bigger risks and carrying charges, etc. 
And a bigger construction loan requires the group to have more resources than 
it may have. It means paying for the house you are living in while also paying 
for the house you can’t live in yet.

Making homes available to those households who need a $100,000 house is going 
to take some new thinking. 

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org