Stakeholders in the effort to build homes that the Middle Class can afford

While we could have preferred buyers, and may develop a "point system" to qualify buyers at some point, based on their contribution to the local community and this effort, as well as the communities' need for them as homeowners in the community, (such as emergency workers) for now we will work to provide homes to the members of Prospective Homeowners Association, on a first-come, first-served basis. However, when a prospective home buyer's employer purchases a corporate membership, any employees working for that employer will get bumped to the front of the list, right behind other employees whose employer also purchased a corporate membership before them.

Additional Resources for
background material
on Living in a
Common Interest Development
  • Architect, Planners and Attorneys (benefits)

Thoughts to Ponder

What does a community look like
without a Middle Class?

Answer: Santa Barbara

"uninvolved in the community, disenfranchised & non-commital"

Development Sponsor's Note:

While the concept includes utilizing fees from "memberships" in the home buyers club to facilitate the payment of consulting fees to project planners, designers & conceptualists, the normal procedure for developing funds for new housing developments - in a similar case, condominiums - is to "pre-sell" and collect down payments to get the finance company's ball rolling by showing the bank that there is commitment from potential buyers, then utilizing the funds of the bank to do the work, not the funds of the buyers. (See projections on funds that can be developed in this way): Santa Barbara County Prospective Homeowners Project Round A.

At the same time, it is neither proper nor legal for housing developers to offer buyers an opportunity to use their down payment as an investment - which this is not an offer for. As well, buyers who pre-purchase homes by contract, prior to the homes being built must be able to legally/by contract, request and receive their down payment back, if needed/desired, from the builder-developer, prior to the buyer actually taking possession. 

However, if the bank will not loan funds based on the commitments, then there are other means of raising funds, such as loans, corporate donations of prospective homebuyers' employers, as well as the co-participation of general contractors and partners who may also be landowners, or builder-developers.

I am beginning to see the co-operative concept as more viable to all the aspects of this plan than condominiums; albeit there are a couple caveats. Co-operatives develop funding by developing the financing for the overall project, and typically a home unit buyer only pays the buy-in fee to join the co-operative itself. Utilizing the co-operative concept, does not negate the necessity to do pre-planning, or to sell memberships to show the bank commitments, so the bank will loan funds for such pre-planning work.