There are many different kinds of co ops. They exist for housing, food, advertising or really anything where a group of people get together to share a common goal. This article will discuss some of the benefits and disadvantages of a housing cooperative.
The whole housing complex is its own entity. Residents who live in a co op do not own real estate, rather then own a share of the entire complex. That means if the co op consists of ten units, each person owns one tenth of everyone’s house, including only ten percent of their own. This is why the board will decide who they let live inside the co op, and why moving in and out of one can be difficult.
The benefit to living in a co op, is that since everyone has a vested interest, usually they are very well maintained. Many co ops have yearly inspections, where a few members of the board, rotated every year, will go through all the residences and notice what needs fixing, and what needs cleaning. The people who live in those buildings will have only so many days or weeks to fix the problem, before they are considered in violation.
Obviously this has a downside as well. Since the neighbors own your house as well as theirs, any changes you want to make within your building or yard has to be approved. This means your home improvement project can not be spur of the moment, started on a Friday completed by Monday. First the board needs to approve the changes, and usually a housing co op board meets once a month. If the board has questions for you, that you can not answer to their satisfaction, your project could be delayed another month or more while you get the answers they require.
The internal politics are also an advantage and disadvantage. If you have lived there a long time, and get along well with your neighbors, swinging the vote to go your way would be easier then someone who is new. This means a new person can not come in, and cause uproar to the way things have always been run. However, if you are not liked by the majority of the board or just too new, you may find yourself blocked every time you try to do something, even if your idea is a good one.
Some co ops allow people to sell their share at anytime to anyone they choose. Other co ops limit to who, when and how much the shares can be sold for. They can also limit your visitors and how long they can stay for. Pets are another issue that can be restricted as well as some co ops are adults only, and others are child friendly. The options in a co op are seemingly endless, one has to read the contract carefully before signing to be sure that the agreement they are getting into is right for them.