The tribes retreat

Aha I've created confusion. Not my intent.

Land for housing was not to be sold, but leased. Big difference.
The following plan was not conceived by myself but I'll go into more detail:

The last time I was involved in an attempt such as this, the group was to form a corporate trust with all principles (head of household) named as trustees. There were to be 25 initial investors who would provide "XXXXX" amount of dollars to purchase several hundred acres. Total membership was to be capped at 100 families.

UNDERSTAND I AM NOT PITCHING THIS AS A FOR SALE OR INVESTMENT OPPURTUNITY

Why so many ? Strength in numbers.

The 25 initial investors would get first choice (first in, first choice) at building lots of one acre per household.
75 additional members would each contribute "XXXX" dollars and receive one acre (again, first in first choice)

All members would receive a 99 year lease from the Corp and would be responsible for building their own residence.
The 25 initial investors would receive dividends coming from (at first) leasing fees and later from renting common spaces as shops &/or market spaces. If the project had been presented better (insufficient marketing) participation, profitability at 75% capacity and three year timeframe was shown to have repaid the initial investment and to begin paying dividends to all 25 initial investors. Profitability at 100% occupancy was proved at two years.

The capital raised by the 25 initial investors was to be supplemented by limited timber sales to install infrastructure; Designated areas for residences, gravel topped roads, a well and one common building (with others planned).

Other than marketing, why did this effort fail ? Because people could not grasp the concept of what is called Co-op living. In my location real estate taxes can be expensive for a single residence BUT when the land is leased from a corporation the taxes are cut by two thirds to three quarters of the cost of owning the land a similar residence is built on.

Typical responses were:
That's communism !
It's a hippie commune !
I don't want to live in the same house with other families !

Rebuttal:
Not true, and yes, true to a limited extent, depending on how the community is formed, EXCEPT this community was not presented as any of the above concepts in any way, shape, form or manner.
People heard what they wanted to hear and shouted down everything else.

The most obvious advantage is operating costs starting with real estate costs and group buys on construction supplies, heating sources, groceries, ect...ect...

The concept of caretakers was expanded to include members who wished to take up permanent residence, rent space for shops use as BOL's with or without prepositioned supplies. Leasing fees could be compensated by; working in the common areas, farming, teaching, or simply by contributing dollars / PM's / bitcoin

As one example I offer Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farms as an example of one high-end co-op community.
Note the "for sale" section and the taxes on the available residences, then if you were to search for comparable size homes on private land, taxes would be much, much higher. Keep in mind, this is a high-end community and the "farm" is more of a petting zoo / hobby farm for tax reasons.

The above was taken from The Fellowship for Intentional Community where one may gather better, more articulate information on this concept of living than I can provide.

Long story short: The only difference between a C0-op apartment and Co-op housing is one is in an apartment building and the other is separate single family residences. Both are governed by an elected board of directors and decisions are voted on by the general membership with each household having one vote.

Bylaws stating the purpose and general definitions of the infrastructure and day to day operations are formed by a consensus of the membership.

The concept has been proven to work, organization and execution of the community depends on what the founding members decide they want.

 

I think the lease thing is where you will always have a problem. I understand what you are saying, but many will not like "owning" the property. Personally, I wouldn't want to be a live in member of something that large unless there was a heck of a vetting process,but that's me. However, I like it from an investment viewpoint.

 

Many people could not understand the difference between joining a co-op with a 99 year lease and renting. Of course potential members would need to be vetted carefully. All of these issues were to be voted on and written into the by-laws to protect the corporation and potential members which was another issue too complicated for many to understand.

What lesson did I learn from all of this ? To never, ever attempt to herd cats again !

If there was an existing community already formed I'd be interested if conditions were right. Off grid sounds romantic until you realize the work involved. (Been there, done that.) The same for any endeavor claiming to be 100% self sufficient. A mix of off grid with optional grid tie in's and sustainability could work but I'd not put up with "vegetarian / vegan diets required" or other such nonsense. I like my occasional sippin' whisky and a good cigar too. No firearms ? No chance, I'll give up my guns when they pried from my cold dead hands.

We're all looking for utopia / nirvana / heavenonearth but we all have our own ideas of what it means to each of us and without understand the fine art of compromise it'll never happen.