April 28, 2005
Yikes!
Hi friends-
Yikes, May looks really busy for everyone! Let's think about a meeting in June (I'm going to be gone 2nd half of May in Palm Springs with some union organizing- life's rough :) Not to worry, the most important part of the meeting was going to be just kind of fleshing out what our ideals in would be in collective housing and there's no huge rush on that aspect since it will be a good while before the church as a substantial group of people can get into some sort of non-profit or collective buying arrangement.
The other important part of the meeting was going to be encouraging individual families to start looking into buying tri-plexes, duplexes or units of four apartments together for those who are seriously thinking about getting into housing sooner rather than later. Obviously this bit is more urgent. The families that I know of who fit in this category are the Kane/Whites, the Borgers and the Bulgriens. I have talked to them and they will likely start to look for something together. They could likely use one more family that might be interested in purchasing with them so I encourage any of you so interested to contact one of these families. I would be more than willing to help pair families up if more families are interested and give you contact numbers so you can begin contacting the right professionals.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Aaron
Posted by aaronfriberg at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2005
Update on earth day
Hello all-
It's high time for another meeting. Let me suggest two items for the agenda:
1) For those families interested in purchasing multi-unit places together on the regular market as a means of building up equity before we do something collectively as a church (it will likely be awhile before we get something off the ground) I will provide some contact information. After talking to the O'Rourkes, the most sensible process seems to be having these families first discussign with a finance professional each families distinct situation so as to determine what kinds of properties can feasibly be purchased by the collective. These families can then talk to a real estate agent (given Jamie's relationship with the O'Rourkes and their assistance so far, they would probably be a great choice) to find units that fit within the groups' purchasing parameters. I'll give this info out at that time so families can organize themselves.
2) It would be beneficial to just kind of dream together to think of what our goals should be as a congregation as regards collective housing and housing those with lesser financial means who are unable to get into the market. Jamie, Scott, and I can share how the meeting with the O'Rourkes went. I have had trouble nailing down a meeting with the non-profit professional we were going to talk to, but if that meeting occurs prior to our big meeting we can update on that as well.
Let me tentatively plan on the Saturday two weeks from now (I believe that's the 7th of May) at 7pm for a meeting. Please email me back to let me know if that works. In addition, let me know if you have ideas that you would like to see discussed at the meeting or comments about the evenings format. Your comments are always appreciated. Go mayoral recall.
Thanks friends,
Aaron
Posted by aaronfriberg at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2005
update
Hi friends-
Let me give you a little update. Last Friday, Jamie, Scott Borger and I met with the O'Rourkes to discuss forms of communal ownership of property. I'll give my impressions of the coversation - Jamie and Scott, feel free to add anything. The O'Rourkes thought that the most tenable way for us to enter the market (for members who can't get into the market the standard way) would be for the church itself to buy property. Since the church already owns a big chunk of property, it could more easily qualify for a big blanket loan (since the church already owns a big chunk of property, this built up equity gives it more leverage in qualifying for and getting a better loan). The church could then sell the individual units. The specifics about the units (ie, if the church wanted to set appreciation rates so that prices remain more affordable in the future, how many people should be connected to the life of the church, etc) would all be laid out in the contract. There seem to be a couple of advantages in doing it this way. First, we wouldn't be limited by outside organizations' strictures (ie, its apparent that if we worked with the city's financing, they would be averse to us already having a specific group of people who make up the majority of the occupants picked out). Second, families who normally would not qualify for mortgages would still be able to participate since the church carries the loan. Clearly, this option of the church buying property is no small feat. The English speaking congregation is only a shareholder in the church's property so all the congregations would have to be convinced of the viability/goodness (as opposed to value right John ;) of the project. You can imagine the intense discussion that this feat would require as you decide important logistics, not least of which is the process for deciding which families get to participate, which units, etc. Although difficult, this process would probably be redemptive in itself.
We are planning to meet with some people more familiar with the non-profit model soon. I'll give you an update on this too. Obviously, this whole process will take a long time. A few people have expressed a lot of urgency in getting into housing as soon as possible. We may want to think of encouraging these folks to find others in the congregation who also have a little built up/ or salaries sufficiently high enough to go in together to purchase two or three famiy places. The economies of scale would still be of advantage (buying in bulk is cheaper). While this will be good for a few families who collectively have the means, its no solution for all the families in the church as not all the families would be able to qualify for mortgages. I'm thinking that after Jamie, Scott, Cassie (if you're still interested in meeting Cassie) and I talk with the non-profit folks we will report to the group and go over the options. This next week I'll try to get contact numbers to those who might be interested in purchasing collective units together in the short term. The Bulgriens and Borgers have both expressed interest in doing something like this quickly so if any other "B" families are interested they can join up with them. I'll try to get some contact numbers to help make this easier.
Jamie and Scott, feel free to add any emendations from your memories of our meetings with the O'Rourkes.
Peace all,
Aaron
Posted by aaronfriberg at 01:03 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
RE: update
Friends-
Jamie's idea sounds great. I met with Sue Reynolds a few months ago and Community Housing Works is basically working on developing large affordable apartment complexes right now so their work probably doesn't intersect a lot with our interests. I think we should definitely talk to Matt Hervey, Tom Scott, and Matt Jumper. I'll call them this week and see if I can set up a time. It would be great to have some others who are potentially interested in the project come and meet them with me. Obviously we can't all show up but maybe four or five of us? Since Jamie already knows a lot of these folks and Scott Borger has worked some in development work in the East, it would be great to have them/you join me if you can. If one or two others are interested in meeting them with us that would be just dandy. It seems likely that any options that will rely on some form of non-profit or special financing will likely take a while to get running. Consequently, we should also be thinking about just getting into smaller complexes of ten units or so as a means of building equity until one of these other larger non-profit or affordable projects come through. Thanks for the suggestions Jamie. I'll try to get in contact with these this week.
Aaron
Posted by aaronfriberg at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2005
Update
Hi friends-
Well, the possibilities of a limited equity housing cooperative as one of the options we are considering looks more and more untenable. As you know, Ms Cohen tentatively set up an appointment with us for next Saturday. About a week and one half ago I emailed her to nail down details and she did not respond. After calling her law office four days ago she has still not responded. We better call of the meeting for this next Sat since we would want adequate time for promoting. In addition to not having the meeting this next Saturday, it seems increasingly unlikely that Ms Cohen would be able to assist us. For whatever reason she has not communicated well and her location in Los Angeles does not mitigate the situation. It would likely be difficult having her direct our efforts from Los Angeles at any rate.
At this point it seems to me that, given the difficulty of finding an experienced developer who would be willing to work with us in establishing some sort of non-profit, we should really take seriously the option of creating limited liability corporations (the traditional model where people would just collectively buy an apartment building, for instance, together without dealing with the complexities of applying for non-profit financing--discussed in the last email). A few members of the congregation have, rightly so, stressed that we really need to get moving on housing quickly. To that end, we will bring in somebody who knows the llc model well and could possibly assist us in its implementation were we to choose doing housing this way. This is not to say that creating non-profit housing would no longer be important if we decided to promote LLC among members of the congregation. For one thing, these apartments would likely be affordable for many of our families otherwise may not
be able to access the market. The option would also allow us to collectively build up some wealth which would make a non-profit more feasible for the future. I've been lazy this last week in not getting in contact with Jamie about his real estate friends who are familiar with the LLC model. I'll try to nail down a date this next week so we can move forward. However we decide to house ourselves I trust it will be in a just way that does not further divide along lines of wealth in the congregation but works to a more equable life together. I know and am thankful that is your desire as well. As always, your wisdom in all this is needed so please write back with comments/ideas/concerns.
Peace,
Aaron
Posted by aaronfriberg at 10:20 AM | Comments (2)