Cohousing-L Mailing List: Unit Entitlements

[Elizabeth Rosenau (ejrosenau]

Hello!!

I’m part of a Canadian community called Compass Cohousing that’s planning to 
starting building soon.  We are looking to engage realtors and this has brought 
up the subject of “unit entitlements” as a component of setting our monthly 
Strata fees.  (I believe our Strata fees may be analogous to HOA fees in the 
USA.)

Right now we are using the square footage of each unit to calculate those fees. 
 We realize that square footage alone is not the ideal way forward because it 
doesn’t take into consideration the expense of operating common facilities 
which we assume will be used by residents of all unit sizes.

Here are my questions:  What was your community’s experience deciding how to 
calculate unit entitlements?  Has your community been satisfied with the way 
the entitlements work or have there been struggles or pushback?  Is it easy to 
change unit entitlements after occupancy?

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you may have to share.

Elizabeth Rosenau,  Compass Cohousing.