Ann's very personal, highly biased and incomplete guide to the ecovillage ... in a nutshell.
Dream House
What's my idea of a dream home?
I bet you think that I already have mine ... a timber-framed, cordwood beauty with a view to die for. I love it, I do. But I said 'dream', and mine's a reality, so it doesn't count. The dream homes I have in mind, are being built right outside my window ... units 1/2 and 11/13.
The new construction of homes next door are dreams coming true, because they're being build by all of us ... in collaboration ... they're being built with love, care, attention and ... extra insulation for warmth in the winter and coolth in the summer.
Imagine!
Our neighbours are wielding the hammers, over-seeing the quality of construction, choosing eco-features, putting money to good work and understanding what creates community. They're making homes for new friends in cohousing, nested in an Ecovillage. And you're included in all sorts of ways, because that's what cohousing is - people making their own villages.
Does this make your dream home, too?
And lest you think I've gone off the deep end of idealism ...well, I have, and it's okay!
I hope you know me by now, that I write from a personal perspective about what I see really going on here. Warts and all - septic systems, construction loans, struggles of all kinds. I don't hold back. I want you to know what you're in for, when you come here.
And I can write about beauty, seeking, pleasure, simplicity, friendship and abundance, too, just as easily and sincerely.
So tell me, am I being starry-eyed, or realistic?
Lots more Beauty on the way.
Consuelo, our newest Village shopkeeper, is setting up a 'Beauty Booth' snuggled under the Chestnut trees, beside the Deli. This new location for her retail shop puts her into our commercial zoning and allows her to sell all manner of good stuff, besides her beauty and skin merchanise. She'll continue the manufacturing part at the end of what we affectionately call the 'Machine Shed'
Ecovillage Money : First installment :
Construction Financing- where it comes from, where it goes, and how we make very good use of it in between.
Prepare to be inspired!
Here's the conventional way to finance construction ... it works here at the village, too.
Buyers: you make a down payment, securing your chosen unit. If you need financing to buy a home, you approach a lending institution and determine your qualification for a conventional take-out mortgage, (your on-going monthly payments after move-in), based on your credit rating, income and ability to pay it back, etc. There are various servicing costs involved in this process.
In the meantime, Cohousing Village, as the builder, gets construction financing from a financial institution, based on the total amount of money raised from new purchasers, (or from Chief - more about this special option later). The more our members raise, the less we have to ask from the banks. The bank or credit union supplies the funds to the builder in stages, as the building progesses.
Of course, if you have the necessary savings, you may be able to pay for your home outright, instead. (Perhaps you've been able to sell a home prior to coming.) You would supply your own financing as construction progresses, just as a conventional lender would do. You'll be saving on the extra charges and interest that banks would have added on, had you gone that direction. And there are additional routes for circumstances where you haven't yet sold your previous house, but I don't know what they are. Luckily there are knowledgeable people to ask!
OR ... You can take advantage of
a special and extra option here in the cohousing world. You may pay the whole amount right up front, and receive a discount dividend off the final purchase price. You'll have saved Coho from borrowing money and paying interest, and so you can share in the benefit of that.
Now something special
- CHIEF investments to contribute to, or benefit from.
CHIEF
You too, and your friends as well, may invest, and choose either to support a particular unit ( your own, or a friend's) or construction in general. Unless you're rolling it into your own purchase, you'll be given the opportunity to withdraw your investment upon completion of the specific building, or asked if you'd like to keep your money in for a longer term.
A number of the units here have taken the Chief route, and avoided the rigmarole of conventional construction financing. As a result, they have saved the many extra charges a bank would have demanded. Also, folks who might not otherwise qualify for regular financing, receive the support of cohousing friends, who understand, in a way banks and even credit unions don't, how stable and safe an investment in cohousing is.
This is an excellent and easy way to participate in the creation of the Ecovillage, putting your money where your heart is.
This has been an artist's summary of how construction financing works here... we have folks here who are talented at finding creative funding options and can give you lots more details. ( And I'm expecting that you'd ask them penetrating questions to make sure my portrayal of cohousing and Chief as safe investments is accurate.) Try them!
is a lending, investing and borrowing vehicle, administered by Alan Carpenter. CHIEF (Cohousing Investment Equity Fund) was created especially for the support and creation of cohousing villages. Friends of cohousing invest their money in Chief and receive a reasonable return, about 5% per annum, based on the risk and length of time of the investment. Chief funds currently are being put towards construction financing at Yarrow Ecovillage, and are properly secured by a mortgage on the property.
The next Ecovillage Money installment will cover-- What you get with your purchase price... the land lease, the house unit purchase and a share of common facilities. And the realtor fee - what about that? Stay tuned.
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