Cohousing to align housing spending with values

[BZB]

Are there any people living in cohousing in this forum who would like to share their experiences of how moving to cohousing changed your spending?
I'm a member of Cohousing Houston, the first cohousing community in Texas. We expect to be ready for move-in at the end of 2022. I look forward to having my spending on housing align with my values. In addition to community, friendship, and safety that are part of the cohousing concept, we will have several elements for environmental sustainability. We'll have a geothermal system for our A/C system and it will be built ready for solar panels. There will also we an extensive rain water catchment system for watering the community gardens. We won't need to use our cars as often, as the location will be close to public transportation and a bike trail, and there will be a coworking space for working remotely.

[Sibley]

There are a number of people on the forum who either have, or have had roommates.

[bacchi]

Sounds nice! I've looked into them but never found the right fit.

I believe @Zikoris lives in cohousing (or a coop?).

[Zikoris]

Sounds nice! I've looked into them but never found the right fit.

I believe @Zikoris lives in cohousing (or a coop?).

I'm in a co-op, but there are no shared living spaces - just communal gardens, rooms for events, etc. I do think cohousing is pretty cool, especially now when a lot of single people are getting pretty lonely. Sounds like a cool project.

[ixtap]

We just got a roommate.

Actually, I have friends who have lived in cohousing and enjoyed it. Their descriptions seem to replace regular communication with rules and formal meetings, which is very off putting to me. These were arrangements where everyone basically had a bedroom and common spaces and chores were shared. These are cheap, but more people and more rules than I want in my lap.

I have another set of friends who talks about building a cohousing community in this city, much more aligned with what co housing Houston is trying to achieve. Neither really have the pricing worked out. It might be cheaper than living in a McMansion, but will it be cheaper than living in an existing condo with a roommate?

[Cranky]

I lived in a co-op house in college. It was entertaining. I wouldn’t willingly live with anyone I didn’t know extremely well as an adult, though.

[BZB]

I've lived in co-op housing where each person has a bedroom in a large house, and I've had roommates, but this concept will be different. It is an intentional community with individual small private homes, and then there are shared gardens, workshop, and pool. The hub of the community will be a shared common house where there will be community dinners on some nights, a coworking space, exercise room and craft room, plus outdoor dining areas. The concept is more like this description on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohousing

[Cranky]

So how far along is this?

[BZB]

@Cranky - Land is purchased, design process complete, people have been choosing their individual homes and paying toward the 20% down payment. Construction is planned to begin next summer and move-in planned for Sept 2022.

[Cranky]

Enjoy!

[MoseyingAlong]

I have a place in a cohousing community.

Legally the units are condominiums, individually owned and occupied. We have a common house with multiple guest rooms and other spaces (exercise, art, library, office/internet cafe, laundry, big kitchen & dining room, kids play room, living room with TV & piano, workshop, garden, lawn, pool, etc.). Each adult resident is expected to do a few hours of work each month, nothing onerous and not strictly enforced.

It's easier to have a smaller individual unit when your infrequent guests can stay at the common house.
I could skip the gym membership since there is a pool and exercise room as well as being close to a long walking path.
There could be minor grocery savings with getting some produce from the community garden and fruit trees.
Definite savings come from the water system. The water is not individually metered so we don't have all those flat monthly expenses. Helps quite a bit. Plus the water system is set up with both irrigation and household water so the community is not charged sewer fees on the irrigation water.
People who live close to the common house can use that WiFi for internet access. My place is too far away but when I had outages it was nice to just walk up there and have service.
We are within walking distance of Target, a couple grocery stores, Home Depot & Lowes, several restaurants, etc.

If/when I move back, I'd like to discuss doing a car share with some neighbors. I can think of several who rarely use their cars so it'd be nice to reduce the number of cars and the maintenance we each are currently responsible for.

Also minor savings. We have a monthly free day where people put out things they want to move on. The community has a chance to peruse and take what they can use. Things not taken are packed up and donated. This is one of my favorite things about the community.

Other savings. Active list serve when you can post if you want to borrow some tool/appliance, need a hand with some home project, need a cup of sugar for a recipe or have food you won't use and want to give away, recovering from surgery/childbirth and need someone to run an errand, just ask.

All in all, it's a great setup. For people interested, the website ic.org is all about intentional communities. They range from communes where everything is shared to setups like mine.

[expatartist]

@MoseyingAlong sounds like a good setup.

OP looking forward to hearing how this evolves. Thanks for sharing with us.

[BZB]

@MoseyingAlong Thanks for sharing your experience with cohousing! I hadn't thought about having a monthly free day, that's a great idea! Most of our members will be downsizing considerably. I will be upsizing because I currently live in a very tiny place, so I might be able to get a few things from the downsizers when we start moving in and they realize what will and won't fit in their units. Our set-up sounds very similar to what you describe. It will be compact and urban, about 1.4 acres total, condominium-style, and multi-generational, and designed to be ADA-compliant with aging-in-place in mind.

[MoseyingAlong]

@MoseyingAlong Thanks for sharing your experience with cohousing! I hadn't thought about having a monthly free day, that's a great idea! Most of our members will be downsizing considerably. I will be upsizing because I currently live in a very tiny place, so I might be able to get a few things from the downsizers when we start moving in and they realize what will and won't fit in their units. Our set-up sounds very similar to what you describe. It will be compact and urban, about 1.4 acres total, condominium-style, and multi-generational, and designed to be ADA-compliant with aging-in-place in mind.

One of the other cohousing communities in town has a free table up all the time in their common house. It's for smaller items. Larger items get posted on a slack channel as they come up. That could be more convenient than storing things for a monthly day.

I'd like it if my community started using slack channels for the various interest areas. We just have a main list serve. Partly in an effort to encourage in person communication. I think slack channels that anyone could review at their convenience might actually result in more engagement.

Anyway, exciting times for you and your fellow cohousers as you design and build. Hope it goes well.

[ixtap]

@MoseyingAlong Thanks for sharing your experience with cohousing! I hadn't thought about having a monthly free day, that's a great idea! Most of our members will be downsizing considerably. I will be upsizing because I currently live in a very tiny place, so I might be able to get a few things from the downsizers when we start moving in and they realize what will and won't fit in their units. Our set-up sounds very similar to what you describe. It will be compact and urban, about 1.4 acres total, condominium-style, and multi-generational, and designed to be ADA-compliant with aging-in-place in mind.

One of the other cohousing communities in town has a free table up all the time in their common house. It's for smaller items. Larger items get posted on a slack channel as they come up. That could be more convenient than storing things for a monthly day.

I'd like it if my community started using slack channels for the various interest areas. We just have a main list serve. Partly in an effort to encourage in person communication. I think slack channels that anyone could review at their convenience might actually result in more engagement.

Anyway, exciting times for you and your fellow cohousers as you design and build. Hope it goes well.

Our old marina had a makeshift system wherein we would leave items near the dumpsters and post on the FB page that it was available. There was also a formal system for handing over partially used paint, varnish, epoxy, etc that you would otherwise throw out, but you had to go ask if anything was available. The new marina doesn't have any such systems, which makes me sad.

[researcher1]

It is an intentional community with individual small private homes, and then there are shared gardens, workshop, and pool. The hub of the community will be a shared common house where there will be community dinners on some nights, a coworking space, exercise room and craft room, plus outdoor dining areas.

Could you help explain how this concept is different from traditional townhome/condo communities?

It sounds exactly like what you see in townhouse/condo developments built in the last 15 years...
- Shared outdoor spaces, community pool, community building with kitchen, exercise room, ect.

[seattlecyclone]

It is an intentional community with individual small private homes, and then there are shared gardens, workshop, and pool. The hub of the community will be a shared common house where there will be community dinners on some nights, a coworking space, exercise room and craft room, plus outdoor dining areas.

Could you help explain how this concept is different from traditional townhome/condo communities?

It sounds exactly like what you see in townhouse/condo developments built in the last 15 years...
- Shared outdoor spaces, community pool, community building with kitchen, exercise room, ect.

I think the difference is that there's an expectation (perhaps even a contract) that the people living there will spend time getting to know their neighbors and doing things together from time to time. In most condos that expectation does not exist; as long as you pay the developer or previous owner a fair market price for the unit you can move in.

[researcher1]

I think the difference is that there's an expectation (perhaps even a contract) that the people living there will spend time getting to know their neighbors and doing things together from time to time.

I'll be interested in getting clarification from the OP, but there is NO WAY you could possibly write that into a contract.

You must hang out with some asshole neighbor for xx hours/week or we'll evict you from the community!

[Zikoris]

I think the difference is that there's an expectation (perhaps even a contract) that the people living there will spend time getting to know their neighbors and doing things together from time to time.

I'll be interested in getting clarification from the OP, but there is NO WAY you could possibly write that into a contract.

You must hang out with some asshole neighbor for xx hours/week or we'll evict you from the community!

You might not put it in the contract, but these types of places will generally have a fairly extensive interview process to get in, which specifically tries to screen out people who don't want to participate. It's less about hanging out with this neighbour specifically, and more an expectation of participation in the community, like volunteering a certain amount, organizing/helping with events, etc. Someone could theoretically bullshit their way in, but there wouldn't really be any benefit, and a lot of drawback in that your neighbours would be pretty hostile to you if you did that.

[Freedomin5]

This sounds similar to how our cottage is set up. We own a small cottage in a resort. We pay an annual fee and have access to boats, paddle boards, tennis courts, swimming pool, the beach, trails, BBQ area, etc. There is a “welcome center” where you can hang out with neighbors and get coffee, ice cream, and snacks. There’s shared laundry. Because of all the common areas (lake, beach, playground, welcome center, etc.) it gives us many opportunities to meet our neighbors, many of whom are in a similar life stage (which is why we were all hanging out at the playground at 10 AM). There are weekly events and interest groups where people can get to know each other.

I like it a lot as an introvert. I have privacy, but I also have friends.

[Cranky]

It actually sounds like a lot of condos and even neighborhoods.

[BZB]

@researcher1 That's a good question - how is cohousing different than a condominium complex or neighborhood with nice amenities and group activities? The short answer is that it's an intentional community, not just a community.

The longer answer is that people self-select into cohousing because they are seeking something beyond what they can find in a typical neighborhood. You're not buying a condo in a complex that a developer designed to sell lots of units, occupied with neighbors you may or may not get to know. You already know your neighbors quite well before you move in. You are part of the design process, and during weekly meetings over a couple of years, you help shape the vision of the community, find the land, interview architects and consultants, and you get a say in all the design plans. Once it's built, you continue to have a say in how things are run and how they change. So it becomes a very personal level of ownership, not just being a resident in a community. Even when people purchase a home in an existing cohousing community, they would spend some time getting to know the people before purchasing. There is a process to join the cohousing, mainly to make sure people are making an informed decision, have had time to carefully review all the financial and legal documents, and have asked lots of questions before joining. Also, while I know there are many neighborhoods and townhome/condo complexes that have cookouts and a clubhouse, it's not on the same level as cooking together in the common house kitchen and sharing meals a few times a week, working in the gardens together, watching out for each others' kids, and knowing you could ask any one of your neighbors to get a ride to the airport or help you out when you're having a rough time. The personal investment of time and energy you make as a member of cohousing is what makes the difference. The model works because you put in a lot but with everyone similarly invested, you reap so much more than what you put in.

[Cranky]

So it’s a condo community for really gregarious people! ;-)

[uniwelder]

I don't live in cohousing, but know some people that do.  There's a place local to me, ShadowLake Village---http://shadowlakevillage.org that started about 15 years ago.  I know one of the original founders that still lives there, as well as some of the more recent people.  Its very much in the same style as the OP described for their setup--- a community of smallish houses/townhouses, circled around a central area, parking on the outside perimeter so the central space is walkable and neighborly, a large community house with a weekly potluck meal and another weekly organized meal, solar panels, shared responsibilities for the common grounds, etc.  Its still going strong and house pricing (demand) is quite high compared to other homes in the area.  People pay quite a premium for the community aspect.

@BZB  --- If you have questions about setting up the group, I'm sure the ShadowLake people would be happy to talk to you.

[BZB]

@Bartleby_the_Scrivener Thanks for your reply! Katie McCamant and Charles Durrett brought the modern version of cohousing to the US, and they have written some books about the process of setting up a cohousing community. Katie is one of our consultants. You can check out the process we're going through on cohousinghouston.com.

@uniwelder Thanks, I checked out the ShadowLake Village website, and it looks like a wonderful community! I hear that cohousing home price resale value stays high because people interested in cohousing understand that you're not just purchasing a home, but also all that you get with it. It's definitely not low-cost housing, but I'm hoping that some of the ongoing expenses like utilities will be much lower considering we will have geothermal energy, water catchment, and eventually solar energy. One of our members who used to live in another cohousing community before said that households paid about $10/month for blazing fast internet because they got some kind of package deal. I hope we can get something like that.

[BZB]

Free movie night Jan 21, 7 pm Central Time, if anyone's interested in learning about cohousing.
CoHousing Houston is hosting a free public showing of a new documentary "The Best of Both Worlds, Cohousing's Promise" (27 mins). Register here for your Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItf-CgqzgsHtyFoJ22VaP-ZmWevNKmQbLl. This will be followed with a Q&A about cohousing and our Houston Project (more on our website at www.cohousinghouston.com) 

[partgypsy]

There are many studies that find a relationship between social support, strong social networks, and physical and mental health. Even longevity. Many areas in europe, other parts of the world where one lives in the same village, everyone goes to the same church or temple, and look "after" each other; cohousing seems a US way to replicate that. I know when I a) lived in cooperative housing in college, and lived in a city in a neighborhood, I enjoyed that feeling of connection and community. There are a couple cohousing communities where I live, but they are on the expensive side. Anyways I can see their appeal.