Costs of Elder Cohousing

Costs of Elder or Senior Cohousing

Although building less costly elder cohousing often means building on land further from the center of town, seniors find a lower crime rate another benefit.

Many senior couples need to buy in a cohousing community at less than market rates.

Dallas Senior/Elder Cohousing

Martin Sheehy writes for the Wall Street Journal, "Co-housing isn't necessarily an economical option. Units at Silver Sage, situated on prime Boulder land, start around $400,000. Six homes were set aside as "affordable" -- about $119,000 or $140,000 apiece -- for which Colorado residents are most likely to qualify. Applicants currently must have annual income of roughly $35,000 or less to qualify for the $119,000 units and $45,000 or less for the $140,000 units. In Abingdon, Va., where a group of former nuns sparked the formation of ElderSpirit Community, with 29 cluster homes and apartments, prices were kept in the $100,000 range by searching for a bargain-basement land price and winning state grants."

Most intergenerational cohousing builds-out at market rate. When that is true in elder cohousing, it leaves quite a large portion of the senior population unable to afford to live in cohousing.

As with ElderSpirit described above, costs can be kept down by building on lower-priced land. This is accomplished by moving further away from the center of the urban area (possibly into the rural area surrounding a city) or by moving into an area that is less desirable for most of that city's inhabitants. Since this usually means an area of high crime, the preferable solution for most seniors is to move further out from town.

There is another alternative that might work in the future: modular homes. Modular homes are probably tighter construction than the majority of builders can accomplish and they are also constructed in a dry atmosphere. Unfortunately, energy-efficiency stops there for most modular manufacturers.

It makes no financial sense to save on construction costs, then pay increasingly higher utility bills so passive solar design and energy-efficiency is a must for elder cohousing.

One concept that is being considered for the cohousing communities in Hidden Lake Village in Texas is modular housing with an energy-efficient foundation and a SIP roof--both additions by green-building expert Jim Sargent.

Modular housing has one other advantage. The entire community builds quickly, this allowing savings on interim financing costs.

The availability of grants and subsidies for elder housing is increasing. We will report on that in the future.

Senior Cohousing
Hidden Lake Ecovillage
Dallas-Fort Worth

Senior Cohousing Directory

Hidden-Lake in DFW
Senior Cohousing in Dallas

Active Lifestyle of Elder Cohousing
Aging Gracefully in Elder Cohousing
Benefits of Senior Cohousing
Cars, Who Needs Them?
Common Areas in Senior Cohousing
Costs of Elder Cohousing
Do Rentals Make Sense for Senior Cohousing?
Ecohousing: Why Build Green?
Features of Senior Cohousing
Finding a Senior Cohousing Community
Good Neighbor Information
Hot Spots in Community Decisions
Individual Privacy in Senior Cohousing
Is Senior Cohousing Right for You?
Locate a Senior Cohousing Community
Make Good Use of Your Common House
Meanwhile, Back at the Common House
Outdoor Common Areas for Senior Cohousing
Therapeutic Community Gardens for Seniors
What Kind of Housing Do Seniors Want?
Why Elder Housing?
Seniors and Loneliness
Where Do Pre-Retirees Want to Live?
Younger Faces in Senior Cohousing
Senior & Intergenerational Cohousers Fit
Few Lonely Seniors in Elder Cohousing
Deciding Where to Live

Home