Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Move In Procedures?

[Tara Gallen (tarabytransit]

Our Urban Village is a 13-unit building in an urban setting in Vancouver.
We moved in three years ago. We were fortunate to get some notes from peer
communities that helped us a lot. I've adapted a few highlights below
(including stuff that was applicable for us and stuff that was not) and my
own more recent notes are marked with ["ed"]. Sorry if the formatting is
bonkers. Mazel tov for your move-in and your new community.

-Lead up to move-in:
--Plan for the few weeks prior to closing to be wholly dedicated to just
getting closing completed (anything non-essential should be put off) [ed:
seriously, this - assume everyone will be bamboozled]
--Focus of meetings
---Plan common space in advance - furniture, supplies, etc. - to help get
rid of stuff in advance rather than after move-in [ed: we tried to do this
a bit via spreadsheet and it was just too cumbersome. Suggest to focus
effort on deterring everyone from expecting to store their unwanted big
appliances and furniture in the CH. It's just much easier to see what's
unwanted once you move in. We might have said 'no' to the many Instant Pots
that came our way, and that would have been a mistake. But do make sure
there aren't twenty dining tables people expect to put in the common
house...]
--Confirm parking plan (for those with cars, where will they put their cars
and how do we minimize negative impact on our neighbours)
-Coordinating move-in:
-Set up a schedule for households moving in (e.g. 3-hour increments (9AM -
9PM) over the course of several days for move-in)
--Identify priority moves (time-sensitivity, urgency, unstable situation,
difficulty)
---Send out Excel spreadsheet for people to sign-up for slots
--Space out storage pod deliveries and moving trucks so not all arriving at
once
--Check-in to ensure everyone’s needs are met
--If possible for your household, take the pressure off moving in right
away and do it over the course of days or even weeks
--Secure parking spots in front of the building to ensure moving trucks can
get in and out - block off with construction cones, etc.
---[Ed: One other coho offered to lend us their orange cones for use during
move-in. We actually found it more effective to use our own vehicles to
block the desired on-street spaces. We'd all snap up the spots the night
before, then be ready to retrieve them right as the moving truck was
pulling up.]
--Set up a plan for disposal and recycling (styrofoam, recycling, garbage)
---Designate a spot to leave materials to be recycled
----Have a few people manage posting and coordinating via buy-nothing
groups (packing boxes to give away)
---Designate people and timing for:
----Recycling depot trips
----Donations or buy-nothing pick-ups
-Deficiency walk-through
--Recommended having 1-2 people do a deficiency walk-through of every unit
and space so commonalities can be noted [ed: The benefit of this can hardly
be understated]
-Security considerations
--Risk of break-in attempts early on and during move
---Set up guidelines for safety and security: Don’t prop doors open
-Tips for households preparing for move
--Walk through the space ahead of time and identify where boxes and objects
will need to go in advance in your unit
--Consider painting and doing any other configuration while your unit is
empty, i.e. before moving in (if feasible)
--Get any built-in furniture done before moving in so it is ready for
move-in
--Replace standard closet fixtures with sturdier ones
-Furnishing the common areas
--Have teams create a wishlist of what is needed for each space, so
everyone packing/down-sizing can identify items to contribute (perhaps
sign-up to donate on a spreadsheet) [ed: see note above]
--Designate a time/people to sort through all contributed materials after
move-in and pack things away/organize
--Put aside money to buy stuff but ensure you give yourself time after move
in to get a sense of space and needs before buying new stuff
--After a specific period (e.g. 6 months), review furnishings/items and do
a cull of items
--Communicate throughout to ensure everyone is aware of items being
contributed, removed (even after move-in)
--Set up a “buy nothing” channel in Slack for the community to exchange
items [ed: Our Buy Nothing slack channel thrives to this day!]
--Kitchen
---Reusable napkins
---Most dishes/equipment can be obtained for free (donated, buy-nothing,
etc.)
-Dealing with damage from move-in
--May be able to have this taken care of as general building deficiencies
process
--Identify steps to take if there is any damage done so follow up can occur
(e.g. who to contact, who does the contacting, etc.)
-Community building in the early days:
--Helpful to act as community at the very beginning (don’t wait)
---Setting up socials or community gatherings right away; make a commitment
to # of meals before move-in [ed: We started meals almost right away, but
this ended up being stressful for some of our households. Be sure that
there isn't pressure on overstretched households to cook community meals
while their homes are in shambles.]
----Avoid cutting back on meals during “slow” periods (e.g. summer) as it
is important to continue the connection [ed: This is really important.]
---Common meals can be done in different ways (if not prepared to start
cooking right away), e.g., people bringing their own dinner and eating
together, doing a potluck, etc.
--Common meals can also be done as meals out (pub nights) or other events
--Communicating frequently through Slack, asking for help, borrow a cup of
sugar, helping others, and engaging in general
-Storage and sharing of items
--Decide what is “donated” vs. “loaned” to the community and how these
items are managed
---Examples:
----Some households may have items they own but open to anyone contacting
them to coordinate borrowing
----Lending library for anyone to borrow and return
----If something is being purged from a common space, it is put in a
designated space so whoever donated has an opportunity to take it back
(otherwise it is disposed) [ed: yes!! This!!]
----Defining what it means to donate vs. loan (e.g., donation = giving up
rights to the item)
--Managing build-up of donated items
---often just dealt with on an ad-hoc basis by community members, but
communicated with the rest of the community when it happens to get ahead of
any issues via Slack
----Ensures that no individual unilaterally decides what gets removed
-Managing storage units, bike lockers, parking spots
--Clearly establish ahead of time what is limited and/or common property,
which usually applies to bike lockers and parking spots
---Made it clear no one “owns” a spot
---Opens a conversation as to priority use (access considerations,
practicalities - cargo bikes need bigger space, for example) and then
allocated spaces accordingly
--Consider having a designated person to manage the storage/bike lockers
over time
--Be mindful of where you store items (proximity to sensors or sprinklers)
-Unexpected events or complications from move-in
--Break-in attempts [ed: thieves take the opportunity to notice that people
are coming and going and opportunistically sneak in. It helps that we all
know each other, but we did keep a close eye on the front doors while
movers were doing their thing as another coho suggested, and this helped us
avoid most issues]
--Delays in move-in
---Move-in plan may need to shift for various reasons (may get short notice
of actual move) and impacts to temporary living situations [ed: Our
completion/possession dates were a huge moving target for a long time. We
heard October, then February, then finally moved in in July. It was
extremely disorienting - some families had decamped to temporary
accommodations because they had sold their previous homes, for example.
Everyone felt the challenge of moving into a new home with new quirks and
new things to figure out.]
---Potential causes of delays
----Supply chain issues of materials needed to finish build
----COVID-19-related site shutdowns [ed: maybe not anymore...]
----Labour shortage
----Availability of building inspector; building inspection identifies
changes needed before occupancy permit can be issued
----[ed: After we got possession, an entire wall in our unit needed to be
re-opened for the constructor to get access to the plumbing behind it
again. Stuff happens...]

Re: Elevator: At OUV we have a LULA Lift, not an elevator. (A choice for
cost purposes.) It's not designed for moving furniture, and the manual
explicitly states that it shouldn't be used for that kind of thing, though
there was lots of interest in using it for that purpose. We had to be
explicit that the lift was not to be used for moving heavy couches and
things. That needed to be communicated to folks' moving companies, but that
didn't happen evenly and there was still lots of furniture being moved in
the elevator. Nothing too bad happened but we did have some minor
mechanical issues early on. We have only 10 units that hypothetically use
the elevator, and not all the units were sold by move-in anyway, so our
advance planning exercises turned out to be more critical for ensuring we
didn't have two moving trucks out front for the same day than they were for
booking the elevator.

Tara Gallen
Our Urban Village Cohousing - Vancouver, BC


On Tue, Sep 29, 2026 at 1:49 PM Fred-List manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
wrote:

> Ann Lehman <ann [at] zimmerman-lehman.com>
> is the author of the message below.  It was posted by Fred of
> the Cohousing-L management team <cohousing-l-owner [at] cohousing.org>
> due to a format issue.
>
> --------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
> Hi Folks,
> The Berkeley Moshav is getting closer to move in. If you have move in
> procedure, especially if yours included using an elevator can you send me a
> copy?
>
> Ann Lehman
> ann [at] zimmerman-lehman.com
> https://zimnotes.org [zimnotes.org]
> 510.755.5701 <(510)%20755-5701>
>
> Ann Lehman
> ann [at] zimmerman-lehman.com
> https://zimnotes.org [zimnotes.org]
> 510.755.5701 <(510)%20755-5701>
>
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