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Alternative ownership and living methods

SneakyPete

Howdy.

I've read here and there over the years about alternative methods of property ownership, co-living, etc. 

My family would eventually like to have "our own" house / living space that isn't beholden to a landlord, and I know there are ways to do it with mutual friends, extended families, etc.

If you know of any such alternatives like co-ops, co-living, pods of buildings, etc. I'd really like to know more. It's vague as hell, and google gives me way too much information, and it's difficult to separate the shit from the gold, so I thought I'd ask you all. I'm interested in the benefits and drawbacks, both social and legal.


 
Aug 12, 20 2:02 pm

I think you need to define what 'co-living' is to you. I've seen it in roughly three types.


Type 1 - Dorm Life

You basically have private sleeping and office space - everything else is shared.


Type 2 - I want to bath alone

You have private sleeping, bathing, and maybe an office space.  You may also have a kitchenette. Everything else is shared.


Type 3 - I like my friends but in limited doses. 

Small homes with a shared larger community space that houses community kitchen / dining, rec spaces, utilities, ect.

Aug 12, 20 2:23 pm  · 
2  · 
SneakyPete

I'm thinking more along the lines of resilient communities that are created to mitigate risk from outside forces like landlords, mortgages, and covenants. I'm not looking for dorms or apartment style life at this point in my life journey.

Aug 12, 20 2:26 pm  · 
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bowling_ball

Pay cash for a house or condo? What am I missing here?

Aug 12, 20 10:48 pm  · 
1  · 
wurdan freo

escape the evil profiteers... of course you'll never escape zoning and taxes... think you own your house... try not paying your taxes for a couple of years...

Aug 17, 20 2:56 am  · 
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chris-chitect

Hmm, I've been thinking about this sort of thing myself lately. Especially as I'm working from home and getting used to it, I'm re-evaluating what I need.

Living out here in BC I'm really liking the idea of going in on an acreage an hour out of the city or a Gulf Island (saltspring etc..) with friends or family. I'm somewhat of an introvert, need my own space, but like the idea of a large property with one or two other homes to just get the cost of the property down and share the risk. 

The idea of a shared workshop is appealing though, also the shared knowledge of like minded people to help out. 

Where are you located SneakyPete?

Aug 12, 20 2:51 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

Northern California.

Aug 12, 20 3:04 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

I'm currently reading up on Community Land trusts. Anyone have any good links other than the ones google pulls up?

Aug 12, 20 3:06 pm  · 
1  · 
tduds

There's a small collective farm near me that publishes a lot of their own info online. Not sure if this is what you're looking for but it might be helpful / inspirational: http://tryonfarm.org/share/

Aug 12, 20 3:11 pm  · 
1  · 
Dangermouse

Here's a great summary from the Granby CLT, which is another excellent Assemble project: https://www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk/whats-a-clt

Sep 8, 20 10:47 pm  · 
2  · 
Dangermouse

I also have some books I can recommend. There isn't a whole lot on the internet, sadly

Sep 8, 20 10:48 pm  · 
1  · 

I guess I don't really understand the concern about holding a mortgage, unless it's just that it can be unaffordable to own a home? Interest rates are *really* low right now, and you lock that rate in for 15-30 years/

I loved living in a rowhouse, which was a SFH but with shared party walls. No landlords, no covenants, the bank didn't bother us as long as we paid on time.  Which can be hard, sometimes. That's why husband and I are downsizing right now.

This is my ideal:

Look how beautiful it is! Scale, material, density...Love it.

Aug 12, 20 3:35 pm  · 
2  · 
SneakyPete

When the down payment for a tear down is 20% of half a million, it's not so easy to get money together to start investing in something that costs more than rent per month.

Aug 12, 20 3:59 pm  · 
2  · 
tduds

That is a very pretty image, Donna.

Aug 12, 20 4:03 pm  · 
1  · 
randomised

And...no cars!

Aug 12, 20 5:29 pm  · 
2  · 
geezertect

Looks like something you'd find in North Korea, at least to me. Oh, well, no accounting for taste. LOL

Aug 16, 20 1:32 pm  · 
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Jaetten

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but there's the option of buying a plot and having a 'tiny' home or a large trailer, but that may be too small for your needs?

Not the most glamourous, I'll admit. 

Or maybe self build?

Aug 13, 20 5:07 am  · 
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ivanmillya

Pretty sure most municipalities won't legally allow you to use a tiny house or a trailer home as a primary residence on standard residential-zoned lots. So you can only park one there if you already have a house on it to begin with.

Aug 13, 20 9:07 am  · 
1  · 
Jaetten

That seems counter intuitive, given that lots of places are experiencing house prices out grow wages

Aug 16, 20 2:03 pm  · 
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archi_dude

Sneaky, unfortunately you are in an area that is anti-development and therefore, lack of units=extremely high demand. I'd suggest either voting for officials ready to close loopholes in CEQA that NIMBYs use to block dense developments. Also officials ready to deregulate the scores of other fees and permits that add up to hundreds of thousands just to get approval. Or you can move, there are some great states with amazing cost of living, low taxes that many businesses are headed to, they are all red though. Might be a correlation.....



Aug 13, 20 9:21 am  · 
1  · 

Not all are red, look at Rockford IL for affordable housing, you can get a huge house for 120K and you are in a liberal city, in a liberal state.

Sep 10, 20 2:31 pm  · 
 · 
∑ π ∓ √ ∞

Co-housing is a great way of doing this. Separate addresses, private living spaces, with shared communal spaces; kitchens, laundry, etc....

Aug 13, 20 9:57 am  · 
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EvanH

There's always this approach: https://freegan.info/what-is-a...

Aug 14, 20 9:19 am  · 
 · 

This is a nice article about co-housing in the time of covid. 

https://www.theurbanist.org/2020/08/05/designing-for-community-in-the-covid-city/

Coincidentally, since I'm packing up my books for our downsizing move, I found my original copy from 1989 of Cohousing: A Contemproary Approach To Housing Ourselves. It still holds up.



Aug 14, 20 4:40 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

Thank you all. This is great stuff. 

Aug 14, 20 8:09 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Seriously, Sneaky Pete, I don’t know if you have kids or not, but if you don’t: the benefits of having a network of extended family or friends who are like family nearby when you have young children CANNOT be overstated. It seriously takes a village during the first decade of kids’ lives. 

Aug 14, 20 11:14 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

We don't but hope to soon. We have a great network on the east coast but the city is not somewhere we wanna raise kids.

Aug 15, 20 12:20 am  · 
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mightyaa

I have no idea how it worked financially, but basically until 4th grade, my family lived on a artist (hippie) commune in NM.  If I were to guess, somehow they took over a summer camp type place (at least that’s what the layout felt like). Common stuff like shower facilities, community center & kitchen, and a church.  What may have been dorms were converted to artist studios, smelters, pottery wheels and kilns, photography, recording studios, etc.  Basically picture a hundred or so artistic hippies living together in the late 60’s/early 70’s. Housing was the variety; we lived in a couple tee-pees during the summer, a pit house in the winter. Some had cabins.  Some had converted busses.  I don’t think anyone had running water except at the common areas. No idea how it really worked as a business or with code, or with policing, etc.  But they farmed, ranched, etc. as well.  Everyone, including kids had daily assignments/duties; it was organized versus the ‘just show up’ type communes; I vaguely recall they had a couple art galleries in probably Taos and SantaFe to sell the art produced in the commune (I’d have to help load the van).  

Aug 17, 20 11:13 am  · 
2  · 
atelier nobody

Yay, I'm no longer the only commune kid I know!

Aug 17, 20 2:36 pm  · 
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mightyaa

:P

Aug 17, 20 4:44 pm  · 
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atelier nobody

You could just move to Slab City and build whatever the hell you want. Of course, the high temp this week should be about 114°F, you'd have to have your water trucked in, and you're a 4 hour drive from anywhere, but absolute creative freedom, free land with no property tax, and no building department.

Aug 17, 20 2:54 pm  · 
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∑ π ∓ √ ∞

I can't find it, but someone posted an awesome link to co-operative apartment ownership as a model for owning, can someone repost the link, or direct me to the thread?

Sep 8, 20 9:29 pm  · 
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∑ π ∓ √ ∞
gwharton

Move somewhere affordable. There are plenty of places in the USA still where you can buy acreage for not much money and homestead.

Sep 9, 20 11:27 am  · 
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∑ π ∓ √ ∞

Why?

Sep 9, 20 3:35 pm  · 
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Jay1122

Architecture is probably the worst profession in that prospect. Around 90% of architecture jobs are in Major cities, and mostly NYC & CA. And the ones in small towns are usually for tiny residential or commercial projects. The only change possible while still working for large firms is probably between moving from super expensive cities like NYC,LA,SF to Cheaper mid western cities.

Sep 9, 20 5:07 pm  · 
1  · 
JLC-1

came across this article today

https://www.mainebiz.biz/artic...

Sep 10, 20 11:57 am  · 
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