4/27: Mariposa Grove (N. Oakland) AFFORDABLE for-sale open house

Playful shared meals, clucking chickens, children, artists, cooperative economics, outdoor movies, bicycles, musicians, gardens, bees, healers, social change work, biodiesel, fruit trees...

These are some of the things you'll find in North Oakland...
       ...at Mariposa Grove.

Is this for you?


COHOUSING/INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY - 2BR CONDO FOR SALE
Sales Price: $32,000 to $83,000 (after subsidies)
Income limits apply

Applicants must attend an open house! See below for details.

MARIPOSA GROVE (open house info below)
"Mariposa grove is a member-owned, consensus-based intentional community in an urban setting that supports sustainability, social justice activism, creativity and the arts.  We are creating a permanently affordable home, a physical and social space where we share resources and responsibilities, grow together and support each other to fulfill our personal dreams while providing a model for the larger community of which we are a part." - Mission Statement of Condo Association

We have a rich web of relationships and history among the adults and children living here. Our community culture attempts to reflect our mission, supporting us and our society.

We're also just plain good folk. We enjoy a good time, both together and separately. Most of us have also been involved in both the arts, social change and/or sustainability work. Among the folks here (both in the affordable condos and in the house next door) we include 5 couples, 3 single adults, 4 (soon to be 5) children under 6, and a 13 yr old. Hopefully you'll get a bit of a sense of some of us at an open house. We have bios of many of us in the application packet.


All applicants must attend one of our open houses, read all materials supplied, and complete a written application. A description of our community, open house & application information, membership criteria and directions are contained in this email after the description of the units available.

UNIT DESCRIPTION

828A 59th St. - 2 BR, approx. 530 sq. ft. apartment
This efficient first floor space has beautiful Pergo style floors, new slate floor in bathroom, ample closets in the bedrooms, gas heat and stove, a dishwasher, an herb and flower garden outside the south facing front window and a kitchen skylight. It was remodeled in 2001.

Financial Details
Purchase Price: $197,000
Subsidies Available: $114,000 - $165,000 (depending on income & assets)
Estimated Monthly Cost: ~$750-$1050, (depending on income & assets, Including mortgage, taxes, condo fees, etc. - based on $10,000 downpayment and good credit)
Likely Necessary Annual Income: $25,000
Maximum Annual Income:
$46,350 (for a 1 person household), $53,000 (for a 2 person household), $59,600 (for a 3 person household)
Deposit/Initial Investment: $5,500.00 (Required before move-in. Applied to purchase as part of down payment)
Move in: Negotiable - June 1 to July 1
Monthly Rent between move-in and Close of Escrow to Purchase: $1,135    (+ supplies fee)


This cohousing community is just finishing the process of converting to condominiums. By the time our new member/purchaser moves in this should be completed. Our new member/purchaser should expect to rent until they can complete the process of of obtaining their loan to buy. This could take as long as three months . They will also need to provide a $5500 deposit. Since the unit will be purchased by our new member/purchaser shortly after moving in, they must prequalify with a bank for a loan to buy the unit as part of the application process before moving in.

If your income is higher than the maximum above for your household size, your application cannot be considered. We will also need 3 years of tax returns, recent pay stubs and a credit report as part of the application process, both to verify that your income is not too high, and to make sure you will be able to get a loan. This is also for people who have not owned a home during the last 3 years (possible exceptions for displacement due to divorce, or comparable situations).

Depending on your income & household size, from $114,000-$165,000 in combined subsidies will be available for you from the city of Oakland, the state, and the nonprofit we are affiliated with for first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance. This is what will keep the monthly purchase cost as low as listed above.

THE COMMUNITY (more info in person and in application packet)
Condo association- 3 buildings on 2 lots sharing back, side and front yards. Total of 6 units, plus a common unit, cohousing style. Willow House, an adjacent house, is legally separate but we are in most ways socially one community and share resources (like our yard and gardens).

Physically we're about 10 min from Ashby Bart in North Oakland, close to Berkeley Bowl, Whole Foods, independently owned cafes and farmers markets. We're a collective/cooperative/consensus-based group, and we eat together about twice a week right now. There's also lots of shared space - our common unit contains shared living & dining rooms, a kitchen, guest room, laundry, art room, office, and more. Our community hosts fruit trees and gardens, 6 chickens, bees, a children's play area, a cozy swing nestled in back yard, a firepit, kiwi vines, many fruits and vegetables growing around the back and front yards, a covered workshop area, an enclosed deck, especially good for classes and gatherings, and open decks ideal for quiet contemplation over morning coffee/tea. 

The community was founded in 1999 and a friendly non-profit (Northern California Land Trust - NCLT) purchased the condo property in 2005.Mariposa Grove condo members are co-owners with the Land Trust and formed an LLC corporation which oversees the property and has worked with NCLT to do the condoization (should finish in early May).

Monthly rent (or condo fee after you have finished your purchase) of each unit includes water & sewer, but not PG&E. There is also a small household fee assessed per adult that covers supplies like toilet paper, DSL, laundry soap, dish soap, community retreats, chicken feed and some shared entertainment.

OPEN HOUSES & APPLICATION
We are having two open houses for anyone interested in the units:
   Sunday, April 27th, 1pm-4pm
   Saturday, May 3, 11am-2pm

We will hand out applications and other materials at the open house. We will not distribute applications by email, or at any other time other than open houses.

If you are interested, you MUST come to one of the open houses. Applications are due Wednesday, May 7th. (note: it is unlikely, but there is a slight possibility that we will add a 3rd open house - if you absolutely cannot make it to one of our open houses please email us to tell us why, and let us know more of your availability. If we add a 3rd then we will attempt to coordinate your availability with that of others in the same situation)

If we invite you to an interview you will need to submit additional financial information.

If you want to learn more about Mariposa Grove, please visit our website (which is in the process of being updated. Please revisit within a couple days) at http://www.healthyarts.com/mariposagrove. Bring any questions you might have to the open house. Please do not email questions. We expect many people will be interested and we can't commit to responding to them via email. Thank you for your understanding and interest.

MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
The owners of the affordable condos will be selecting our new member/purchaser.
Here is part of what we will look at in choosing a new member.
More details are in the application packet.
   - desire to live in a cooperative/collective environment 
   - willingness, interest, & ability to share the
     workload of organizing the community including 
     attending regular group meetings 
   - willingness & interest in cooking for the group
     semi-regularly
   - skills in dealing with conflicts
   - emotional and communication skills
   - involvement in social justice/social change
     work/activism
   - interest and ability to carry projects that will
     make Mariposa beautiful, interesting and open to
     broader communities
   - creative, artistic sensibility
   - experience living or working in diverse environments

DIRECTIONS
Mariposa Grove
828, 832 & 834 59th St., Oakland
cross street Martin Luther King Jr. Way

via BART: get off at Ashby. Come out on the west side of 
the station (towards MLK rather than Adeline), cross MLK, 
and walk South down MLK. Stay on MLK as it goes under 
the BART tracks. Turn right on 59th St. to 828 & 832.

via CAR/FREEWAY: take 580 to rte 24, then take the 51st
Street/MLK exit (first exit). Stay to the left for
MLK. 59th street is the 3rd light. Turn left onto 59th
and go to 828 & 832.

BOTH: 828 & 832 are a little past halfway down the block, 
on the right. One house is green with red & yellow trim the 
other is yellow with red & cream trim. Down the driveway 
in the middle is the backyard and where you will likely find 
people. Give a yell if you need to. If you don't find someone 
quickly, knock on any door.

-- 

              Mariposa Grove
    CoHousing / Cooperative / Community
         Creativity & Social Change

Apr 27, 2008 1:00 PM

An initiative of Cohousing California, brought to you by Cohousing Coaches at Planning for Sustainable Communities.