you are invited to come and celebrate community at this open house:

to turn this apartment building into a co-housing community in the next 6 months!


yes, the building is still a diamond in the rough: still needs to be
made beautiful - with your ideas! please come and look at the inside of the townhouses, and the possible
common space.

we'll have delicious refreshments and scintillating conversations about cohousing!

date: sunday, november 5th
time: 2 pm until 6 pm
place: 3000 nicol ave, oakland (off fruitvale ave / coolidge , near 580 - satellite view)
apartments #1 and #3
RSVP

who else would you like to have live here? please send this invitation to them and to their lists.

for more info: email me luverika@hotmail.com

directions: at the very end of this page.
please be respectful of the existing tenants.
please park on the street.

see you there!

erika

here is more information: a lot more information....

---

THE FANTASY:
So, i have this fantasy....

ask the people who know me: my fantasies tend to be good ones. and
they tend to come true. and they tend to include plenty of people. and
those people tend to be very happy!

CLOSE, BUT NOT TOO CLOSE
this is a fantasy about living together with the people we enjoy - but
not too close together: close enough to have fun together easily
without driving or planning way ahead. but still have your own house
that is all yours and is private. you can keep your very own kitchen
as clean or not clean as you like. you will not be cleaning anyone
else's bathroom, or fighting over who does. this is not intentional
community, it is not a commune: it is an intentional neighborhood.

PRIVACY AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
i would love to have my own completely normal house to live in, to
work in, to be solitary in. and then, whenever i feel sociable, walk
outside into the common courtyard and hang out in the hot tub, at the
picnic table, by the barbeque. catch up on how a friend's
day is going, on news about cool things going on in the larger world,
join the
cuddle puppy pile in the common house living room, trade a massage, .
would you love to have a house like that too?

THIS IS THE PLAN:
a co-housing community!
a special alternative co-housing community for all of us who love
community,
dance, art, compassionate communication, burning man, HAI as well as
financial stability and security and wise investment.

sounds too good to be true, doesn't it:
and yet:
we can really do it right here and right now!

HOW SOON?
we can have this in 6 more months - maybe even may 2007.
you can't believe it, right? look at the timeline and see!

IS IT POSSIBLE?
i always assumed that these kind of communities would drive me nuts
with too much closeness, they would be too ingrown, they would blow
up.
and guess what? they don't.

DOES IT WORK?
so i asked lots of questions on the co-housing tour.
now it definitely does happen that some people have issues with other
people - of course that happens. however, it does not end up being a
big deal. as long as people join in with a desire for co-housing,
issues seem to get worked out. only very rarely does anyone leave
because of interpersonal stuff.

WHY DOES IT WORK?
there are several reasons for this:
there will be about 10 units, 10 sets of people - that is enough mass
so that one does not need to be close with everyone. no pressure to be
buddies with anyone.
and also people like us tend to have busy outside lives too - so we
have a larger community than the one we live in. we get juice and
stimulation from lots of different sources. and we also get support
for dealing with issues from lots of different sources.
this is just a very yummy place to live - it is not your whole world.

THE BUILDING:
i have a place in mind, although it's not a totally sure thing - it
can't be sure until the units are actually for sale.
this property is actually 2 buildings with a courtyard in the middle.
it has an urban feel to it. there is not a lot of garden and field
space (although that exists next door - perhaps one day that can be
bought and annexed).

THIS IS THE FANTASY FOR THE ACTUAL PLACE:
10 townhouses in 2 buildings. with a courtyard in between. will be
made pretty with climbing vines, trees, hanging flower baskets . the
cars are outside, not visible from the courtyard. each townhouse has a
garage, which could also be used as a studio or workshop.

THE TOWNHOUSES:
the townhouses are 2 bedrooms, a walk-in closet in the master bedroom.
a powder room downstairs. a full bathroom upstairs. each unit has a
big outside patio or balcony.
skylights upstairs. lots of sun and light in all the windows.

the advantage of a townhouse is no one is on top of you or below you -
dance and bounce all you want! they are not huge: just under 900
square feet. but you have a full kitchen (comes with fridge and stove
and garbage disposal, some microwaves), a dining area, living room and
stairs to upstairs.

HOW LUXURIOUS ARE THEY?
now, these townhouses are not luxurious right now, they are plain. and
we probably will not be fixing them up before selling them.

yes, we could fix them up and charge a lot more but we're guessing
that you all are aesthetic types and know exactly what kind of organic
flooring you want. and what kind of colors you want on your walls to
complement your auras.

so we'll trust that you have vision when you see your plain unit. and
appreciate that the cost is way less so that you can make it beautiful
in exactly the way that you want!

COMMON SPACE, WHICH IS THE SHARED SOCIAL SPACE:
we will however fix up the common space: the courtyard and the common
house and the exterior of the buildings and the landscaping. we will
check the roof and the plumbing and the wiring and the laundry room.
the budget is prepared by a professional budget preparer and contains
provisions for things that need maintaining. and for thing that will
need major maintenance or replacement in the future.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS:
who takes care of the whole complex: we do! that is we do as much as
we want. the basic structure is laid out in legal documetns. however
we decide whether we want things like the gardening and cleaning the
common areas done by paid people or done by us. same with the bill
paying for the common bills: we can hire a management company or do it
ourselves.

TIME INVESTMENT:
typically after the complex is settled down there is only one meeting
a month for everyone (about 2 hours) plus some individual chores, that
rotate, for another couple of hours a week plus the occasional work
day. and these opportunities to work together are actually also
opportunities to be together and become a more functional group.

SOCIAL MEALS:
and then there are meals together in the common house 2-3 times per
week. people cook on a rotating basis. and people sign up to eat for
each individual meal. so you only cook once every few weeks. the
meals range from put-together take-out to very gourmet.

and, for example, the doyle street co-housing has a wine club. so the
wine does not come out of the common kitty but those who want can have
nice wine.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL EVENTS:
and then, of course, there are opportunities to play together and
those can be whatever the community wants. however play is as
important as work for bonding!
the common house can be used on a sign-up basis by anyone to create
events. and it looks like it usually works out that the events are
structured so that everyone feels included.

THE COMMON HOUSE:
we would be using a 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment as our common house.
the kitchen is a good size and has a dishwasher. and the lliving /
dining area is large enough to easily seat everyone - plus friends for
larger parties and to easily convert to a dance space or workshop
space. it's not huge but a generous sized living room.

the extra bedrooms could be guest room or massage room or rented out
or computer center or ......

ACCESSIBILITY:
sadly each unit has interior stairs and the common social apartment
has exterior stairs so that this is not a great building for someone
who is mobility impaired.

THE FINANCIALS:
now, i'm no attorney, that's why an experienced attorney has written up
all the agreements. this is my understanding after significant
research but please do your own research to satisfy yourself about
everything:

the building will be divided into tenant-in-common (TIC) units.
TIC units are actually very similar to condos:

when you buy one of the units, you legally own a percentage of the
whole complex. and then you have the legal agreemetns between all the
owners that spells out who owns which unit and all the financial
details.

FINANCIALLY YOU ARE ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF:
this is the wonderful thing; every owner has their own mortage, that
they have to qualify for. so if someone else defaults, it does not
effect you at all. also you can sell your unit to anyone except they
also have to qualify for their own new mortgage. i already have a
lender lined up ready to go. you can refinance. when you look at the
co-housing communities, you will see that the resale value of the
units is good.

SELLING IN THE FUTURE:
once a co-housing community is established, people love to buy into
it. the new buyers tend to self-select to fit into the community.
this is why it's so cool for us to create this dream for ourselves: we
can make it what we want. and we do not have to wait to move into
someone else's dream!

RENTERS:
in existing co-housing developments it has worked for someone to rent
one of the units. (they may end up buying in later .) when an owner
had to live somewhere else for a while. the communities said that the
renters were a positive addition.

PARAMETERS FOR TIC's:
the loan terms are very slightly less favorable - like 1 point higher
interest rates. and maybe an extra point when you get the mortgage.
it appears that you cannot have a homeowner's line of credit at this
time although that may change as these loans become more common.

also all the units need to work with this same lender. and if a unit
is sold later, the new owner also needs to stay with this same lender.

also the downpayment is 25% for TIC's.

it is preferable to have condos. however it costs a huge amount to
condo-ize a building so that the units would cost a lot more. also in
oakland you simply cannot condo-ize anymore, it's not allowed. so
this is one reason for the affordability: the TIC rather than condo
arrangement.

THE COST:
ok, remember that this is all fantasy at this time. if you give me
your email, we will keep you posted as the fantasy turns into fact.
real estate investments are a big deal and it is absolutely imperative
to move as slowly as needed to make sure that everything is done
properly. at this time there is no way for anyone to sign up for any
units. there is no way to give money to anyone for any of this at this
time. the legal structure has to be in place before anything else
happens.

i have not done anything like this before. luckily some people have:
i am hiring them! there is some fabulous expertise and talent out
there. see the section about the team!


GENERAL FIGURES:
it's possible that the units might go for as little as $ 250 000 ($
275 000 including the share for the common apartment) - the exact
price will become more clear as the costs become more clear.


HERE IS INSPIRATION FOR YOU:
so this is the time to start organizing your finances to collect the
downpayment . get a credit report, and clean up your credit if needed.
talk to family about possible help from there.

just think: you are creating your secure financial and social future.
once you own the place where you live, you are so much safer in
middle and older age.


LET'S BUILD OUR GROUP NOW:
what we can do at this time. and this is a very good thing to do for
building the group; we can start forming a group or groups. we can
get together and talk about dreams and fantasies and hopes and wishes.
we can educate ourselves and each other on what's possible here. we
can learn about legal and financial aspects. we can learn about
co-housing. so do leave your email on this website and let us know if
you want to be part of a group now. and if you'd like to help
organize a group.

BUS TOUR TO LEARN ABOUT CO-HOUSING:
we could even organize bus tour of the local co-housing communities in
the east bay! oakland has more of them than any other city in the
whole country.

LOCATION:
the building that i have my eye on for this purpose is in the
fruitvale area of oakland. a few blocks off 580 on the bay side of the
freeway. amazingly one does not hear the freeway. the area is not a
great area, however it is getting cleaned up. a new huge gourmet health
food store , farmer joe's has just opened 6 blocks away.

there is an advantage to being in a not-so-great area: the neighbors
are more welcoming. in a fancy area, the neighbors might get anxious
about something unusual happening in an apartment buildig. in this
area, the neighbors would welcome us as the good neighbors that we
will be. and they would be more tolerant of people who wear unusual
clothes or who like to chant with their windows open.

we would be 1.5 miles from the fruitvale bart station on
bicycle-friendly streets. and 5 blocks from the new farmer joe's. the
local area, the dimond area, has a neighborhood association and email
list and activities.

itis 5 miles to berkely and to the bay bridge.

this area is mixed with all ethnic groups. and has owner-occupied
single family homes as well as other apartment buildings.

PROPOSED TIME LINE :
the TIC process is starting now. in 2-3 months the california
department of real estate (DRE) gives us the 'pink paper' which means
that we can start marketing but we cannot actually sell. in about 6
months we get the final papers from the DRE and we can then actually
sell the units.

this process includes the legal and the financial structure for the tic.

and then we also need to work with the existing tenants to see which
of them would want to buy in and which of them would like to receive
financial and organizational help in relocating to another rental.
luckily there are lots of wonderful and affordable rental units
available in oakland right now.

TO DO IN THE MEANTIME:
in the meantime we all can work on collecting a group, on creating the
co-housing part of the structure (lots of amazing people resources
available for that too!).

help prospective buyers (once we have the pink paper) get ready to
apply for a loan and prepare the downpayment.

we have some good ideas for improving the exterior of the building and
the > > > landscaping - there will be some pictures available.
if you like to be involved in that, that would be great!


THE TEAM:
please do not contact these people in regards to this project at this
time until we have more definitive information for you.

the attorney: andy sirkin www.andysirkin.com has great info about
TIC's

the surveyor: richard langford surveying

the budget preparer: wendy franklin of ford, donegan & associates, inc.

the title company: stephanie brochier of old republic title, san
francisco

the realtor: diane ohlsson, a realtor who was involved with existing
retro-fit (which means using existing buildings vs building new)
co-housing projects in the east bay

the loan officer: beth hoffman, owner of alternative mortgage sources
at sources.com

consultants: the authors of the classic book "cohousing", kathryn
mccamant and chuck durrett do consulting and may
consult on this project

plus lots of experienced cohousing folks from the area have offered to
be resources and to support this project.

FOR MORE INFO:long
- send me your email for periodic updates at luverika@hotmail.com
- you will receive no more than 2 emails per month
- the website is under construction

RESOURCES:
- the co-housing association: http://www.cohousing....
- books:
- Cohousing, A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves
by Kathryn McCamant, Charles Durrett, Ellen Hertzman
The Cohousing Handbook
- Building a Place for Community
by Chris ScottHanson, Kelly ScottHanson

DIRECTIONS:
- 580 from the north: exit at fruitvale,turn right onto fruitvale.
take the 4th left onto nicol ave. on the left, 3 blocks. white
building with blue balconies. 3000 nicol ave.
- 580 from the south: exit at coolidge ave. turn left onto coolidge.
right after 3 blocks onto nicol ave. first block on your right. white
building with blue balconies. 3000 nicol ave
- 880 : exit fruitvale, go east about 1.5 miles, turn right onto nicol
ave. on the left, 3 blocks - white building with blue balconies. 3000
nicol ave.

please park on the street.