Peak oil is here and we are going to need more and more creative ideas to deal with this change in all our lifestyles. One of my favorite themes is cohousing for those who want to share their lifestyles with others in a closer relationship than neighbors and still have their own private personal living space. How to do this? Make the jump.
Students have shared living arrangements for practically forever.And those of us who have done so remember those times as one of the happiest if we were fortunate enough to share with those we were compatible with. In the 60's and 70's many people stayed with this arrangement and shared housing in the cities and farms in the rural areas. For many it became a semi-permanent way of living. Now renting a room to someone is an accepted way to share with someone else. A logical extension of this idea has been the proliferation of intentional communities now numbering in the thousands all over the world.
I have gone a step further and have actively sought real estate in order to do this. The cohousing home site at http://www.cohousing.com has a wonderful virtual tour of this type of living. The only problem is the housing starts at 100+K and only goes up from there. How about being in on the beginning instead of paying through the wazoo to join at the end, after all the work has been done, the decisions made, the lifestyle more bureaucratized.
So I have found a 7100 sq ft building here in my neon red town that has been up for sale for years with no takers. Nothing wrong except it is a very large building and requires imagination as to what to do with it once you have it. Business is slow here which is why real estate values are pretty low. The asking price is $54,900 and owner financing is available at around $500 per month. A down payment of a few thousand would be welcomed.
We are 35 miles from Springfield just off a 4 lane divided highway with only two traffic lights between here and Springfield which is getting quite trendy. And one hour from Branson for those with certain aspirations and ambitions.
What I have done first is to put togther an auction on ebay for becoming a member of a coop to finish developing this building and living/working in it if desired. So here's the link: coop auction on ebay so please check it out and give me any feedback you can think of.
I have posted photos on flickr flickr photos and there are more photos in the auction of Seymour by someone else if you are really interested in seeing them all.
So let me know what you think of co-op housing.
I am posting this to put a model out there to be copied and improved upon. To give others the idea to do this.