Currently we have no houses available for purchase . However, if you are interested, we encourage you to aquaint yourself with Vashon Cohousing and to contact us via email or by phone at (206) 463-4053 for further information. We maintain a list of interested parties that we will contact if a home becomes available.

Joining Vashon Cohousing is more than purchasing a piece of property. You will be joining a group of people trying to develop a cooperative and closely-knit community. While we have no religious or political requirements, we do share certain values. Our policy for joining Vashon Cohousing is designed to allow you to understand these values and to determine if you can participate in them. It is also designed to allow you to get to know your future neighbors and for them to get to know you.

When a house in Vashon Cohousing is listed for sale, the community members strongly want any prospective buyers learn as much as possible about Vashon Cohousing before making an offer. As a minimum, we expect that interested parties will come to three general meetings, held every other Sunday evening. Anyone expressing interest will be assigned a community buddy whose job it is to stay in touch with prospective buyers, informing them of events and making them welcome. There are many opportunities to become involved at Vashon Cohousing: attend committee meetings, come to group meals and potlucks, participate in work parties, join the community email list serve, be available for get-togethers in folks' homes, and just spend time in the common house. We expect that buyers will become familiar with the agreements that form the basis of our community (found in our Agreements Log) and learn how life is lived here. We also ask that prospective buyers read the book Cohousing by McCamant and Durrett.

Naturally, we want to learn about buyers, too. We request that buyers write a vision statement describing their past experience of intentional communities, how they came to have an interest in Vashon Cohousing, and what they hope to find here. What resources, skills and talents new members will bring to the community is useful information as well. We make time on group meeting agendas for guest questions and information, and support prospective buyers to share thoughts and hopes about community living. Our goal is to ensure a good fit between Vashon Cohousing and new members.

Vashon Cohousing is in the process of creating future rentals. We encourage people who are interested in being a long-term renter at VCG to aquatint themselves with us and submit your name to our waiting list via email or by phone at (206) 463-4053. The following is our Renter's Information Packet preceded by expectations and responsibilities for homeowners who are in the process of renter selection.

Note to the Homeower:

Its in the best interest of everyone that homeowners find responsible and respectful renters who are open to participating in the building of both the physical and social aspects of the community. Much of this process is based on trust—trusting our neighbors and ourselves to find a renter(s) who meets the homeowner’s needs and fits the cohousing community.

The Renter Information Packet is intended to assist in this process. We suggest that the homeowner notify the group before they begin the process of renter selection, and that the Outreach Committee maintain a waiting list of potential renters.

As a homeowner, it is your responsibility to:

• acquaint the renter(s) with all the information in the Renter's Packet;

• have the renter(s) fill out the Questionnaire;

• inform the community of who will be renting and for how long;

• circulate the questionnaire within the community as a means for people to get to know the new renter(s);

• invite the renter(s) to the next general cohousing meeting for introduction to the community.

If someone in the community has a concern or issue about the renter(s), it is their responsibility to discuss it directly with the homeowner. (In the absence of the homeowner, the concern goes directly to the executive committee or the person(s) within the community overseeing the house.)

Renter's Information Packet

Welcome to Vashon Cohousing. We look forward to having you as a member of our community. The purpose of this packet is to introduce you to our group, to inform you about the responsibilities and benefits of living in our community and to encourage you to think about your personal values with respect to being in community.

Vashon Cohousing began in 1989. Although most of the infrastructure is complete, we still consider our project to be a work in progress. We ask you to join in the work of building our community, both in a physical and social sense. We are a diverse group with varying lifestyles and opinions and yet we share an interest in open communication and mutual respect, and we are committed to the creation of a socially satisfying and environmentally sound community life. We hope you feel comfortable joining right in, asking questions, participating in decision making, proposing ideas and initiating improvements to our neighborhood and its workings.

Enclosed you will find the community's statement of values, information on conflict resolution, a list of expectations for Renters and group policies, some information about the current members of the group, and a questionnaire about your ideas and feelings on community living and some of the issues we commonly deal with in cohousing. We hope to use the questionnaire as a way of getting acquainted with you.