Cooperative Living Presents an Attractive Alternative for Downsizing Seniors
The first time I heard about Village Cooperatives was a few years ago when I listed the Lakewood home of an elderly couple who had a deposit on an apartment at Village Cooperative Lakewood, near Wadsworth and Jewell, which was then under construction. They ended up canceling their reservation, so I didn’t think more of it, including in March 2020 when Rita and I sold our Golden home and moved into a 55+ rental called Avenida. If I had looked into Village Cooperatives, I think Rita and I might have made a different decision.
pro-rated to the portion of the year, so it wouldn’t actually be 9% unless you bought after exactly 3 years.
There are between 50 and 70 apartments in each of the cooperatives. All but this one are 3 stories with a garage in the basement. There are a few 1-bedroom units, but most are 2 bedrooms, and some of those also have a den. They range from under 900 to over 1,700 square feet, and there are over 20 floor plans. During the tour, I got to see all three types.
Two weeks ago, I got an invitation to visit the Village Cooperative building in Centennial from a reader who had moved there from Avenida the same year we moved in. I attended a 2-hour talk and tour of the facility last week, and learned enough to consider getting on a waiting list for a 2-bedroom unit with a den.
Ten of the 45 Village Cooperatives built so far are in Colorado. Five of the 10 are in the Denver metro area, stretching from Longmont to Centennial, and the only ones that aren’t sold out are in the Columbine area of Littleton and in Longmont. All the others have waiting lists. The company that builds them is based in Minnesota.
The details and numbers I’ll quote below are for the Centennial location, but the other locations are probably comparable.
Buying into a cooperative is not at all like buying a condo. You are buying a share in the ownership of the building. The price of the share is set originally and appreciates by 3% per year, without compounding. For example, in the Centennial cooperative, the original prices ranged from about $160,000 to $240,000 when it opened three years ago. If you could purchase a share which had an original price of $200,000, you’d pay $218,000 (3% increase x 3 years). The 3% per year is
Real estate agents play no role in the purchase. You pay a refundable $500 deposit to get on the waiting list, and you will be notified when shares become available. You can pass on any unit that becomes available and not lose your place on the list.
The monthly fees — it’s not considered “rent” — are about $2,000 per month and consist of four components: your pro-rated share of the monthly payment on the building’s 40-year construction mortgage; your share of the property tax on the building, and a management fee, including your share of the building’s contract with Comcast for internet access, cable TV and a landline. The fourth component is contribution to reserves. Gas and electric are individually metered.
The cooperative is managed by a board of directors consisting of your fellow shareholders. Members also are encouraged to join committees focused on finance, maintenance, and social activities.
One parking spot in the secure basement garage is assigned to each unit. There is a high-pressure car wash bay with vacuum, too.
Amenities include a fitness center, a library, storage rooms, a meeting/game room, and two hotel-style guest rooms that residents can reserve for $50/night.
I was impressed by the sizes of the rooms in each of the apartments. In our current apartment, the master bedroom is
Just Listed: 5-Bedroom Brick Ranch in Wheat Ridge
10’ by 11’ — barely big enough for our king-size bed and one dresser. The master bedrooms in the cooperative’s units are more like 12’x15’, and the smallest guest bedrooms are bigger than the master bedroom in our Golden apartment.
A member can sell their share at any time and get back their investment plus the 3% per annum appreciation paid by the replacement member, minus deduction for repairs, etc. Members can pay for upgrades such as better appliances, countertops, backsplashes, fixtures, flooring, etc. and expect an additional direct payment for those upgrades by the buyer, as negotiated between buyer and seller.
A gas forced-air furnace is in a locked closet accessed from each unit’s balcony. Central hot water is included in the monthly fees.
You can’t finance your purchase with a mortgage, because it’s not real estate. It’s a cash purchase, and you have to demonstrate that you can afford the monthly fees. If you are planning to sell your current home when your wait for a unit is up, one strategy is to borrow the $200,000
via a home equity line of credit (HELOC) that is paid off when your home sells.
The purchase price and the monthly fees for a cooperative are roughly half what a comparable condo purchase and dues would be, making the decision an easy one if you have the liquid funds to buy the share.
Village Cooperative only began in 2011 and has grown impressively. You can learn more and see its many locations at www.VillageCooperative.com. In the posting of this article on my blog, http://RealEstateToday.substack.com, I have links to a few YouTube videos I recorded during my tour.
Some Buyers Pay ‘Admin Fees’
A couple weeks ago I wrote that almost no buyers are paying a commission to their agents, despite the recent NAR settlement. Sellers are still paying buyer agents’ commissions. However, many brokerages have a long-standing practice of charging a 3figure “administrative fee” to buyers — usually around $300. Golden Real Estate does not charge buyers such a fee.
Water Cremation: Going Green in the End
$750,000
The seller has owned and loved this brick ranch at 7085 W. 32nd Place for 43 years! The basement, with two doors to the backyard, includes a large wet bar for entertaining plus a sound-proofed musical studio which could be a bedroom with ensuite bathroom. The home has 500-amp electrical service, with 240-volt outlets in the detached garage/ workshop. There are four separate sheds in the backyard. Well water is used for irrigation. The asphalt driveway was recently seal coated. There’s a fenced dog run and pre-wiring for a hot tub. You’ve got to see this home to believe it! Visit www.WheatRidgeHome.info to see lots of interior and exterior photos and to take a narrated video tour. Kathy Jonke will be holding it open this Saturday from 11 to 1, or call her at 303-990-7428 to request a private showing.
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I don’t recall how I learned about it, but last week Rita and I visited an open house at Be A Tree, a company which offers water cremation as a green alternative to conventional flame cremation. Conventional flame cremation uses natural gas. Water cremation is what it sounds like. Also known as alkaline hydrolysis, it uses a mixture of 95% water and potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide to dissolve fats and tissues in a body, reducing it to components of liquid and bone. The process takes place over 18 hours in a pressure vessel heated to around 200°F.
The bones are then ground into a powder referred to as ashes, although no flame was used. For an extra fee, those ashes can be molded into white stones which can be shared among loved ones.
The 150 gallons of nutrient rich water generated by the process, called Tree Tea, can be used as fertilizer, hence the
name of the company, Be A Tree. Rita and I had always thought that cremation was the best way to go when we die, but we had done no pre-planning and this approach is much more appealing to us, so we have now pre-planned for water cremation with Be A Tree. If this concept appeals to you, learn more at www.BeATreeCremation.com or call 720-782-2782.
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