Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohesiveness of community after a sale?

[R Philip Dowds (rphilipdowds]

Homeowner occupancy “turnover rate” statistics are kind of flaky and 
broad-brush, but decades ago, the rule of thumb for an average was every 6-7 
years or so.  Now, given the recent stress of the pandemic, plus a very “tight” 
national housing market, that average is more like 9-10 years.  So with 32 
units, Cornerstone might anticipate 70-80 unit sales in a 25 year period.  ???  
Or, if we consider 11 units locked up by founders who refuse to go away, that 
would be more like 21 units in play, or 40-50 sales transactions.  Cornerstone, 
of course, has not had anything near this turnover rate — which is consistent 
with my understanding that cohousing turnovers are low and slow compared to the 
condo market generally.

None of which answers your question: Is one-third persistence after 25 years 
common on Planet Coho?  That doesn’t feel wrong to me, but I have no research 
data.  One thing to watch out for is:  What’s a “founder”?

———————————
Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Jul 21, 2025, at 2:38 PM, Ken Winter <kenatsun [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Interesting.  At Sunward Cohousing, also ~25 years old, 14 of 40 units
> contain founding fathers and mothers.  That's about the same ratio as
> Cornerstone!  Is 35% some kind of magic number?
> 
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2025 at 9:29 AM R Philip Dowds via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
>> My views are pretty similar to Alan’s … although I may have a different
>> take on the significance of the founding role.  Because it’s not scalable
>> into the future.
>> 
>> Today, cohousing in America is still a micro-cult activity: Only a tiny
>> fraction of USA residents live in cohousing, or can even find cohousing
>> nearby.  But I like to picture a future where most small towns have several
>> cohousing communities, and cities have dozens or hundreds.  Yes, some
>> candidate cohousers will always choose to find each other, to learn how to
>> be real estate developers, and to create their own brand of brand new
>> community.  But many others will simply shop around, and select an existing
>> community that best serves their lifestyle.  These existing communities
>> will be 30, 40 or 50+ years old, and the majority of founders will be long
>> gone.  For better or worse, the character and culture of these
>> long-established communities will be, of necessity, self-perpetuating
>> and/or self-redefining.
>> 
>> After more than 25 years, only eleven of our 32 Cornerstone units are
>> occupied by founders who were active in the development phase — and of
>> those founders, a few have substantially decreased their participation over
>> time.  The culture and practices dominant when my wife and I bought in 18
>> years ago have changed significantly — usually with the encouragement and
>> approval of some founders, and despite the resistance of other founders.
>> We continue to evolve, and we’ll never be a cohousing mausoleum.  I hope.
>> In this context, I share Alan’s preference for a “transparent” process that
>> familiarizes and educates potential buyers before they commit to joining
>> (and shaping) a living, evolving culture.
>> 
>> ———————————
>> Thanks,
>> Philip Dowds
>> Cornerstone Cohousing
>> Cambridge, MA
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2025, at 6:45 AM, Alan O'Hashi via Cohousing-L <
>> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Cohousers - At my place, the HOA requires buyers to take a tour and have
>> an orientation session about cohousing, community participation, etc.
>> Buyers attend a team or communit rmeeting, and attend a dinner. We have an
>> interest list, but it’s not a great source of qualified potential buyers.
>> We assign a community member or two to liaison among the HOA, seller, and
>> buyer to set up visits and meetings. Ultimately, it’s up to the seller to
>> pick a buyer. So far, our transparent process has worked pretty well.
>> Others can chime in here, but generally, my observation is that no
>> community has 100 percent ideal cohousers. The only group that can
>> self-select is the founding group. Rather than worrying too much about
>> future owners. I think it’s most important to correctly pick the initial
>> members.
>>> 
>>> Thx,
>>> 
>>> alan o
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Alan O'Hashi - Cyber Office
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