Kaleidoscope Village News

 (update to this page made on 09/16/2011)

BEGIN UPDATE OF 9/16/2011

As of 9/16/2011, the "hybrid development plan" for cohousing is not being pursued at Kaleidoscope Village Subdivision Lot 1, Block D. Hybrid development would have allowed the cohousing group to avoid either raising funds to buy the land up front or making personal binding financial commitments for the construction financing.

The hybrid development plan with the financing concept of using pre-construction sales contracts to provide the backing for interim development and construction financing failed for hybrid development of cohousing. Further, the necessary price increases for cohousing were not acceptable to most buyers. 

• Numerous individuals remain interested in cohousing community in Austin and surrounding area. Austin cohousing meetup.com (click here), a separate web site from kvaustin.org, is immediately available for meetups and discussions. Any interested individual may avail themselves of the resource by going to it and suggesting meetings and/or posting on the discussion page.  It is free and is repurposed for "general cohousing for Austin". Anyone doing cohousing organizing/discussing for Austin and the Austin area is invited to use the Austin Cohousing meetup web site to discuss their cohousing ideas. Topics to post there could be your ideas for cohousing on your land or in your favorite locations or for a group to focus on ecovillage style cohousing or senior cohousing or on affordable cohousing, or rural or urban or other sites in the Austin area. Enjoy.
  

Here is a link to content from the Kaleidoscope Village Cohousing Welcome page prior to canceling cohousing at Kaleidoscope Village: Archived Welcome Page content.

• FAQ Continuation of Update. In response to frequent questions asking for more information, here are a few brief comments.

The economic/financing and development/construction environment from 2006 through 2011 underwent changes and the business planning necessary for cohousing at KV [Kaleidoscope Village] had to adapt. 

In 2011, the development and construction estimates and bids had increased very siginificantly from the numbers of 2006. Further, the new construction interim financing and mortgage programs available to condominium development and sales became much more restrictive. The interim construction and development financing model under discussion depended on a total of least 30 cohousing homes under contract with buyers prior to financing draws. This approach was chosen in 2006 as an alternative to requiring buyers to purchase the land from the developer. Cash buyers would need to place 50% of the purchase price for their new home into non-refundable downpayments. Non-cash buyers using financing, aka permanent financing or mortgages, when paying for their new home needed to provide 5% to 25% of the sales price as non-refundable downpayments and obtain pre-approved mortgage commitments required by their pre-construction sales contracts. The higher prices were generally rejected by all buyers, both the cash buyers and the non-cash buyers. The remaining non-cash buyers were unable to obtain pre-approvals for mortgages because of the new and still changing underwriting guidelines.

The developer investigated obtaining certification of the new construction homes so that conventional and FHA mortgages could be offered from a "Kaleidoscope Village Cohousing preferred lender" program. The underwriter review of the homes and amenities planned as Kaleidoscope Village Cohousing resulted in underwriter rejection of the proposed homes as candidates for mortgage pre-approvals. The underwriter's condominium certification program implied appraisal values for new construction of attached residential homes at 6314 FM 969 aka E MLK Jr Blvd would be capped at about half the feasible cohousing sales price and also categorically ruled out one or two bedroom units at any price no matter how affordable. Even if prices had not significantly exceeded the original optimistic target prices, the financing programs and practices of 2011 disqualified certain cohousing design concepts categorically [particularly homes smaller than about 1300 square feet or with fewer than 3 bedrooms]. 

An alternative method of financially backing a cohousing development concept at that location would be for a cohousing group to purchase the construction site and do all improvements with personal funds. By not using other people's money, the certification, appraisal and qualifying issues go away. 

• Kaleidoscope Village Cohousing blueprints and construction drawings for homes (click here) and common house (click here) are complete and can be provided for your use -- to discuss terms, send email to info(at)kvaustin.org.
• END UPDATE OF 9/16/2011
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Kaleidoscope Village is an Equal Housing Opportunity Project

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. Equal Housing Opportunity Slogan: "Equal Housing Opportunity."

As of March 1, 2011 Kaleidoscope Village Cohousing is a Business Circle Sustaining Member of KUT FM 90.5

Our upcoming meetings are now being posted at Meetup.com. You don’t have to become a Meetup member to view the page, but if you do sign up, you can get notice of meetings by email.

Infrastructure Construction.