Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Communication between prospective buyers and community members?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Sep 8, 2024, at 7:03 PM, Jyoti Rae <jyotirae [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Our California community has recently been told by one real estate agent
> that communication between prospective buyers and community members should
> only go through real estate agents after a prospective buyer has viewed a
> unit and has signed on with a real estate agent. 

I’m not a lawyer and I don’t know California Law. I’m also a child of the 1960s 
when this kind of thing was rampant. No one could know anything. People were 
not even entitled to see their blood test results. No one could get a divorce 
without paying a lawyer first.  It took a lot of work to end this monopoly of 
experts.

That’s my bias based on my experience with changing laws — and revealing that 
laws are not laws. 

This is quite probably part of the realtor’s contract with the seller. It’s 
their own fiefdom and is intended to protect against screwing the deal and 
losing a sale, as in money. Ask to see the law — where is it written? If it is 
in the realtor’s contract with the seller, the seller can delete that provision 
in the contract before signing. If the realtor doesn’t like that, they don’t 
get the job!

Think about this logically. Why would this be a state or federal law? What does 
it accomplish? And for whom?

We don’t use realtors partly because of this kind of thing. We have no problem 
selling units, we have a good process that works, and sellers donate to the 
community rather than paying realtor’s fees. We have a list of prospective 
buyers who have come to an information session, toured the community, and 
participated in workdays, meetings, and meals. Those who are seriously 
interested are known to the resale and rental pod and other members. 

I’ve never known this to be a problem and has been a huge advantage to the 
community. The people who have joined since Ann Zabaldo and her pod have taken 
control of this process hit the ground running. They understand what they are 
joining. They take on work responsibilities from day one. 

The difference between new members 15 years ago and now is astonishing. You can 
take over this process and it is to your advantage to do so. 

Buying a home is an essential part of the relationship but it isn’t the 
relationship.

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