Avoid scams! This article explains how to spot them.

Properties Listed on Online Platforms for Lease or Rent

Many rental listing platforms are not well maintained and contain outdated prices. This happens with sites that rely on people to remove their own listings once they are no longer available. When you reach out to someone who seems to be offering a price below what’s typical, it may have been posted years ago. Below are platforms that prevent long-outdated listings.

HomeShareOnline.org

• Rent as a housemate or roommate
• Free or upgrade to a subscription for perks including a background check
• Offers reviews and direct messaging
• Site stays up to date by eliminating profiles after 30 days of non-use

Zillow Rental Listings

Zillow has probably the most to offer currently, if you are searching for longer-term rentals.

Upsides include the following:

• The site stays organized, which saves time. You can easily limit your searches by price point, allowing pets, and many other features you may be looking for.
• Mapped listings can easily be viewed, narrowed, or broadened.
• You can apply thru the site, to message whoever posted the listing. The property manager or the owner might respond.
• Site stays up to date. As a paid service that operates the U.S and territories, it stays well maintained.
• If you save your searches, it sends you emails of new listings that match your saved search.
• They give both you and their listing customers your credit score (a “soft pull” or “soft credit check” that won’t count against your credit score) and a background check. The background check includes looking at whether you have ever brought a suit against a renter. If you’ve filed such a suit more than once, they may suspect you to be a “professional tenant” who games the legal system to avoid paying rent while living in a rental unit. As a positive side of this check, you can screenshot the reports they provide you and give those also to others who would be interested to know. Be sure to include in your screenshot the url, so it looks less as if you may have manufactured the image.
• Some property managers use Zillow to advertise, because it’s more widely known than the individual sites that property managers may also have for their own business.

Potential downsides:

• They require a $40 fee to apply thru their site, for access to the contact info. As of this writing, the site says the fee goes toward the rent if you rent one of their advertised locations.
• You have to put in the time and effort to sign up and provide quite a bit of information. They want to see documents showing your income so they know whether or not you can afford to lease.
• Listings of this type (6- to 12-month leases) usually require first and last month rent upfront, plus a security deposit.

FurnishedFinder.com

This site advertises rooms or apartments for traveling professionals, especially those in medicine.

Upsides include the following:

• Most offer a low rent for a furnished room in a house, usually with a private bathroom, sometimes with a full kitchen or kitchenette.
• Rent price usually includes utilities, so a listing should state if any utilities are separate.
• Site stays organized, which saves time. You can easily limit your searches by price point and many other features you are looking for.
• Mapped listings can easily be viewed, narrowed, or broadened.
• You can apply thru the site, to message whoever posted the listing.
• Site stays up to date. It stays well maintained because it charges the property owner/manager $99 for a 12-month listing.
• You can save your searches.
• You can access names and phone numbers and message property posters thru the service.
• Some lodges, timeshare condos, and extended-stay hotels also advertise on furnished-finder.

Potential downsides:

• Site intends to serve medical professionals who have temporary assignments, but it also says “other working professionals.” Some may ignore you as potential riffraff if you don’t match that description, so make sure to indicate your respectability and trustworthiness.
• Those offering a room only may have a limit of one person, because often they are renting in their own home, even if partly separated.
• Most require at least a one-month or three-month stay. They usually look for renters wanting several months or a year commitment.
• Some (but not all) request the first and last month rent up front, plus a security deposit.
• Not many rentals listed here accept pets.

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace has a category Property Rentals.

Upsides include the following:

• Many towns or neighborhoods show a page for locals to post “in search of” (ISO) requests. These can help you find potential co-renters. You can message them with your icmatch.org URL to give them more information about you.
• Many people use these sites because they are so easy to post on.
• You can instant message thru the site.
• Tells how recent the post is.

Facebook Affinity Groups

On Facebook you might join an affinity group in an area you are planning to move to. These might include sports, hobbies, activism, or any other interest.

Upsides include the following:

• It can be helpful to connect with locals to get a better sense of which rental platforms are utilized primarily in any given area.
• You may get a referral to a non-listed rental by connecting over common interests and upcoming events. 
• Posts link to a FB profile, so you can check out how long they’ve had an account and who they know. Not many could fake realistically, so it provides some level of trust.
• Many towns or neighborhoods host a page to post “in search of” (ISO) requests. These can help you find potential co-renters. You can message them with your icmatch.org URL to give them more information about you.
• Same upsides as those listed above for FB Marketplace.

Potential downsides:

• The most current listings aren’t always on top.
• No specialized search function to narrow down options by the criteria you are looking for. You might spend hours and find nothing useful.
• Once you direct message someone, when they respond, you may forget which listing was theirs. Asking them to point you back to the correct listing may make you seem like you don’t keep track of things, or they may simply ignore your note if you’re asking them to do extra work of repeating their information or pointing them back to it.
• These sites may have moderators, but they aren’t paid, so they usually lack oversight.
• Some sites insist they only accept posting of places to rent, not for posting a rental need (ISO). You’ll notice that people often ignore the request to not make ISO posts on their site, which makes the pages less useful to those searching for a place. Except you could message those to see if they’re interested in finding a place together.

Craigslist.com

Upsides include the following:

• One of the longest-standing rental postings.
• You can use limiters for search criteria
• Property offering versus requests are kept in separate categories (unlike those on FB)
• List and access listings for free.

Potential downsides:

• No oversight; no rating system or accountability.
• Listings may include scams or properties with hidden downsides. People who got dinged for irresponsible behavior on other sites can still use Craigslist. Proceed carefully with these properties. If you find one that seems promising, it may be best to pay as little in advance as possible, so that if the deal turns bad, you will minimize your losses.

Other Platforms

Many new platforms lack postings outside of major metropolitan areas. Many offer syndicated listings, meaning a property owner signs up with one platform and gets listed automatically in several of these.

Local Property Managers

If you search online for a local property manager, or walk into a local realtor’s office, you may discover property managers who manage local rental properties. There are many benefits to this approach.

Upsides include the following:

• You won’t have a chore keeping track of which listings are current. The property managers stay on top of that, because they get paid to do it.
• By filling out an application with them directly, you may get access to newly available properties before the manager posts an ad.
• Many show you a place in person.
• If you look good in credit score and background checks, you have an advantage with this approach.

Potential downsides:

• Property managers want to make sure their work pays off and that you are trustworthy. They typically expect a year-long lease, a security deposit, first and last month’s rent up front, a credit check, contact information from past landlords, and personal references.
• Some might insist on you seeing a place in person before committing to it.

No-lease Month-to-Month Coliving Managed by Online Platforms

The following shared housing platforms focus on metropolitan areas. The residences are owned and/or managed by corporations: common.com, coliving.com, anyplace.com, cohabs.com, embassynetwork.com (international), digitalnomads.world (international), roam.co (with a set fee for multiple locations), Tribe in San Francisco, and Coliving in Toronto. With these coliving units, you don’t choose your house mates, although most have some way of evaluating compatibility beforehand. You also don’t need to negotiate with housemates, as your expenses are paid to a hosting company. GeekWire discusses the growing popularity of this option.

Specializing in Vacation Rentals

Airbnb

Upsides include the following:

• Flexible length of stay
• A variety of options from camping sites, to rooms in a house that may be rented by others, to entire home-and-yard rentals
• Huge market share, so you will find more options than on many other platforms
• Ratings and feedback for both renter and host
• Customer service by phone or email
• Top-notch functionality of website features

Possible downsides:

• When comparing options, the per-night rate will look lower than the actual price, unless you turn on the option “Display total price | Includes all fees, before taxes.”
• Airbnb now must collect and remit occupancy tax in behalf of the homeowner.

Budget

Hipcamp.com offers tent-sites, RV sites with or without hookups, and other low-cost options.

High-end

VRBO and homeaway: These vacation rental platforms specialize in renting a whole house or apartment, not individual rooms in a home, so most are priced higher. Listed prices show per night rates, even if your dates indicate you need a month or more. The VRBO site offers the more luxurious of the sites listed by these sister platforms.

Occupancy Tax

Whether or not you must pay occupancy tax for a 30-day or longer stay at an Airbnb depends on the local laws and regulations. In most cases, occupancy tax only applies for short-term stays, typically 29 nights or less. In these cases, you will pay less for a month-long stay than for a slightly shorter stay. However, some jurisdictions may charge occupancy tax for longer-term stays, or may have different rates for long-term stays.

Whether or not you must pay occupancy tax for a 30-day or longer stay at an Airbnb depends on the local laws and regulations. In most cases, occupancy tax only applies for short-term stays, typically 29 nights or less. However, some jurisdictions may charge occupancy tax for longer-term stays, or may have different rates for long-term stays.

You can check with the local tax authorities to determine whether or not occupancy tax applies for your Airbnb stay. You can usually find this information on the website of the local government, or by calling the tax office.

Here are some examples of how occupancy tax for long-term Airbnb stays in different jurisdictions:

• In Canada, occupancy tax generally applies for stays of 28 nights or less. However, in the province of British Columbia, occupancy tax does not apply for stays of 28 nights or less if you have a written rental agreement in writing and the guest qualifies as a resident of Canada.
• United States: In the United States, occupancy tax rates vary widely from state to state, and even from city to city. In some jurisdictions, occupancy tax only applies for short-term stays, while others charge occupancy tax for longer-term stays as well. For example, in the state of Colorado, occupancy tax applies only for stays of 29 nights or less. However, in Denver, occupancy tax applies for stays of 30 nights or less.

No-lease Month-to-Month Rooms or Private Units Listed by Online Platforms

These companies provide accountability with two-way reviews, but renters book with independent hosts, rather than the company owning the properties. Some of these facilitate financial transactions, but others don’t. For those that don’t, take precautions. As a trade-off for lacking a managerial company setting up safeguards, you also avoid added fees.

• Furnishedfinder.com (with pros and cons listed above in the long-term section) often accommodates month-to-month room rentals by owner. It does not book the stay and does not manage any rent transactions. It does not charge extra fees to the renter. It specializes in housing for health care professionals on local assignment.
• Padsplit offers a once-a-week all-inclusive bill for a private furnished room and all utilities. It facilitates the relationships and manages payment processing and background checks.
• Spareroom.com helps you find a rental alone and possibly also a roommate offering the space. Reviews indicate some vulnerabilities. Make sure to avoid being exploited. It does facilitate payments.
• Friendsmates.com offers community oriented features but limits listings to these metro areas: Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, and Tulum.
• homeshareonline.org has maps with pricing, similar to airbnb. It hosts renter profiles, provides messaging between renters and homeowners, does background checks for a fee, a paid subscription upgrade

Work-trade for Housing

Some of the following sites charge a fee to access listings. 

Trustedhousesitters.com connects temporary housesitters or petsitters to homeowners happy to offer a free short term stay. As a downside, you can’t choose the length of stay, because it depends on the homeowner’s vacation dates. Several other sites offer similar services, but this site is preferred because it stated up front it is fee-based, as some others do not. Some house/pet sitting sites specialize in long-term. Because of limited listings, use those that allow you to search for relevant listings before you have to pay or do the work to sign up. You might also try using a general google search such as the word petsitting with your desired locations, if you need a specific area.

Worktrade platforms: For details on several other websites for work-trade for housing scroll to the end of the linked list.

Homesharing With Elderly or Disabled Residents

Some sites match elderly homeowners with a younger caretaker who stays for free in exchange for negotiable chores.

The National Shared Housing Resource Center keeps a directory of U.S. homeshare programs. Similarly, canadahomeshare.com matches college students to elderly homeowners.

Nesterly.com matches younger renters to seniors or people with a disability, for reduced rent.

Meetmyrumi.com could match you with someone who needs disability assistance. Some will need minimal care, and others could need substantial care that you would be paid for providing. These sites require some level of vetting and oversight by government or non-profit agencies to ensure ethical treatment and to manage payments.

Scouting Around in Person

If you live outside your planned location, it may help to visit the area while you scope out the possibilities. Extended stay hotels and vacation rental platforms (e.g., Airbnb and Hipcamp) are options that offer a balance of flexibility versus affordability for week-long or month-to-month stays.

If you search in a specific neighborhood, look in person for signs on houses and apartments to find a rental thru an individual property manager. You still may find people who prefer the advertising modes of decades past, even notes on billboards of informal community hubs.

Roommate Finders

Short-term easy-to-find: This link shows many free or paid roommate and housemate finders. Facebook local rental pages allow you to scan for people looking to share the cost of housing. As a way to save time finding a good fit, fill out a profile for free with icmatch.org then include a link to your profile when you message potential roommates. Find rental agreement tips online. For example, when sharing a single residence, you might split rent by bedroom, utilities by number of people.

Long-term high compatibility: ICmatch could help if you need a highly compatible long-term live-in housemate situation where you feel as if you’re living with a friend, whose company you enjoy when you’re home. For your profile, in the co-housing section you can indicate that you are looking for roommates and/or housemates and select “rented cohousing” as an interest. See Trial run: Join a Household, Metro Apartment Coliving, or other ICmatch community types.

Apply for a rental as co-applicants: A community-house creator shares three decades of experience about how to find and rent an affordable house together.

As in many areas, seasonal workers and newcomers are finding it difficult to locate affordable housing. The following housing resources may help.

Facebook Pages

Roaring Fork Rentals and Roommates is a mediated FB site. You might need to be already in the area to be accepted to join.

NEW Roaring Fork Rentals And Roommates By OWNER

Local Property Managers

Current rentals available thru a local property manager will often show up on Zillow or other platforms. Most will require long-term lease and a credit check, possibly also a background check. Generations that do most of their searches online often haven’t considered that some property managers specialize in rental housing resources.

Mason Morse property manager: Current rentals are posted by a local property manager who may thoroughly check your background. These posts also show up on Zillow rentals, and many will require long-term lease.

Re/Max Rentals: These prices could be per month or per night.

Others include Crystal Property Management, Integrated Property Management, Basalt Realty, and Village Green Apartments. In Rifle, three companies serve the locals: Bray & Co., Gold Star Realty, and Cheryl & Co.

Extended-stay Hotels and Inns

Several national chain extended-stay hotels advertise rates as low as $1200 per month as found on FurnishedFinder.com, so ask for that rate! If they aren’t offering that rate, they shouldn’t be showing up in that rent bracket: Brettleberg Inn, Pinon Pines, Red Mountain Inn, Sunlight Mountain Inn, Glenwood Canyon Resort, Hanging Lake Inn, Glenwood Suites, and Cedar Lodge are local. Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Days Inn, and La Quinta Inn also show up as offering discount for long-term stays.

Glenwood Canyon Resort is a favorite. It is in a gorgeous location that’s a 5-minute drive from central Glenwood Springs. There’s a safe bike trail into town. Renters can use shared bathhouse, coin laundry machines, a communal fire pit, and picnic tables. There are several rental options. Here are some current prices that may change. For now, if you rent for over a month, they’ll prorate the monthly rate instead of charging the daily rate. They require no security deposit, but they require a non refundable whole-month payment upfront.

• cabins with a bedroom plus a sleeping loft $2000-$2500 per month with ac, heater, and kitchen
• pets allowed in delux cabins (higher priced cabins): extra $200 per month for one, $300 per month for two
• one-room mini-cabins only available until Oct 31 at $1500 per month plus $100 for pet, with ac and heater but no kitchen
• glamping tents, tent sites, and RV sites, each with their own water tap, some allow pets, with details here; ask for monthly rate and season-end date

Low-cost Housing Resources

Glenwood Springs Hostel is in a convenient downtown location, offering short term and long term stays.

Housing in Exchange for Support of Elderly

Two Colorado-based programs match up people who need housing with elderly who have extra space and need some level of assistance, even if they are fairly independent but feel vulnerable living alone. Might not be much there currently, but if you sign up, it could grow. Garfield County’s senior support services staff have been tipped off about this and say they’ve been talking about the need for something like this. If even a few people get on, they’ll see that it can work.

• sunshinehomeshare.org
• voacolorado.org

See this related page for more housing resources like this.

Housing Resources for Crisis-level Needs

Housing and Benefits Application Assistance

Agency: Center For Independence, Western Slope, 401 27th St, Ste 110, Glenwood Springs, CO    

Subsidized Housing 

• Agency: Archdiocesan Housing Committee 
• Location: 508 Sunny Ave, Bldg K, Gypsum CO, Eagle County 
• Location: 111 Soccer Field Rd., Glenwood Springs, CO 81601; 970-945-9792, Garfield County 
• Location: 302 Meadowood Dr., Bldg K, Carbondale, CO, Garfield County  

Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher 

• Agency: Garfield County Housing Authority, 1430 Railroad Ave, Ste F, Rifle, CO;  they may have a year-long wait for available units

VoA Veteran Services Center — Western Slope Office

740 Gunnison Ave., Grand Junction, CO 81501, 970-644-5220

GWS Homeless Day Center and Homeless Prevention Services

Agency: Feed My Sheep Homeless Ministry

Agency: Catholic Charities for Glenwood Springs/Rifle
1004 Grand Ave, Glenwood Springs, CO; 970-384-2060

Platforms Showing Nationwide Rentals

Find here non-local information on nationwide online platforms that post short-term and long-term rentals: Rental Housing Search Tips.

Once you find a place, you might want to split the bills with others who are looking. Post your profile for free on icmatch.org and share it with people on other platforms who are looking. ICmatch intends to help you find the highest level of compatibility for a long-lasting mutually supportive friendship. ICmatch focuses on the people more than the place.

Affordable Housing is a Priority Concern for City Planners

When employees can’t find affordable housing (YVHA, 2023, p. 3):

• Workforce declines or cannot grow to meet demand
• Businesses are at risk of leaving the area or failing

In addition, social service agencies can fail to meet local needs:

• Municipalities may begin to experience a shortage of teachers, nurses, police, and service industry workers
• Nonprofits have reduced hours and services because they can’t hire workers

Homeowners Sharing Living Space Should Be Exempted From Some Regulations

Fair housing laws are important and necessary, however, they shouldn’t apply to every housing situation. Certainly someone renting a self-contained unit across town should be prevented from making a prejudiced renter selection. However, renting a room in one’s house is a different matter. For example, for safety concerns, if you have a teenage daughter you have good reason not to rent a room to a man who isn’t a relative. Airbnb rentals are one way around this, but Airbnb is set up for short term rentals. ICmatch is a different way to meet long-term demand for non-conventional rental situations. It makes use of the existing housing stock in the following ways:

• Vulnerable elderly homeowners can find people they feel they can trust and rely on for help.
• People who don’t rent at all, because they might have had a bad experience with renters who damaged their property or were inconsiderate, can select the characteristics of people they invite into their lockoff or extra space.
• With a framing of community rather than purely transactional rentals, people don’t have to open their semi-private spaces to people whose lifestyle may clash with theirs.
• Property owners can make more flexible and unconventional arrangements, such as accepting whole or partial payment in the form of building maintenance or upgrades.

Community Types Sought as Affordable Housing

Many single young adults have explored the following options for affordable housing.

Resource-sharing Commune

Tiny Homes Community

Student Houseshare

Metro Apartment Sharing

Join a Household as a Trial Run

Van Life Co-travelers

Two of the family-oriented community types also focus on affordability.

Single-parent Coliving

Multi-family Shared House

Community Types: See other housing types that may be sought as affordable housing.

Rental housing: See the search tips page, which includes options for work trade for housing. See our guide for how to set up a shared rental house.

Changing housing policy: Get informed about how to work with city planners to allow for more helpful zoning and permitting.

Community land trusts: There are several benefits from partnering with land trusts or setting up your residential intentional community as a land trust. At this link you might locate community land trusts near you.

Grants

Grants for affordable housing projects in the U.S.: This list can be searched by state. These grants or scholarships can be applied for by individuals. You do not need to have non-profit status or be under the umbrella of a government agency. We are working on further refining the list by topic.

Angus Deaton makes a powerful case that those who are financially comfortable have aggravated populism by neglecting struggling U.S. communities. Many government decision-makers and NGOs favor giving aid to foreign nations, which aid he shows is often mis-spent. You might refer to some of these assertions in your grant writing. See also our discussion of economic disparity.

Options for Those in an Immediate Financial Pinch

Connect with workshare programs: See the worktrade and homesharing sections at this link.

Metro apartment sharing: See the section “No-lease Month-to-Month Coliving Managed by Online Platforms” at this link for coliving situations in the city.

Resident Owned Communities (ROC): This listing is primarily of U.S. mobile home parks that have made the transition from landlord to community ownership. Some offer a plan for low-income individuals to become part of their community. 

Here’s how an ICmatch profile might be used to help you find accommodations:

• It validates for property owners that trying out a work-trade could be a realistic supplement to the relatively small rent you’re able to pay. Often people need “permission” or a rebranding to feel like a less conventional option could be workable.
• It shows property owners what kind of work-trade could be arranged, based on your listed skills, even if you can only do work that’s not physically demanding.
• It gives property owners a good sense of your values and habits, without them having to be uncomfortable in asking about personal details that they understandably would like to know about someone they’re inviting to live in or close to their home.
• It might give property owners an assurance that there are resources to help them do the culturally unfamiliar work of clarifying agreements in writing so that everyone can trust that the others will uphold their part, rather than having to keep guessing about the other person’s needs or expectations.
• It might give property owners an assurance that there are resources such as free or low-cost mediators to help as a go-between or third party to resolve difficulties that may come up.

by Ardell Broadbent

After eight months of volunteering for an intentional community, and then renting a house there for four months, I saw many people move in, temporarily or hoping for a long term stay. They came full of enthusiasm. Some were inspired by positive reviews from short-term residents. Everyone eventually left. I want to share my observations in a way that could help interested individuals evaluate ICs, but this could also help owners or managers. These are changes that I would want to see, as a potential community member, before I would feel safe or willing to join a community long term. At one point I had been invited to participate in a leadership training session and had helped with grant writing, so I believe it was fair to conclude they might consider my perspective worth considering. This is a letter of feedback I offered to the owners prior to stating my intent of leaving. Even though I felt it was most likely they would dismiss it as they had others’ feedback, I felt it was important to offer what I could. Specific names are removed. A related page discusses leadership challenges, which passes on additional points that I learned from the situation described next.

A Workable Business Model for Challenging Times

I understand you are already considering a rent-to-own model. I would like to help you work out some of the details even if we both decide I’m not a good fit for the community. I learned from my own experience with using my home as a rental, that altho short term you can charge higher per-night price, short term rentals can yield lower income due to times between renters and the expense of turnovers. Also, short term rentals increase your covid risk and might create personnel overwhelm. Both on Airbnb and TripAdvisor, [this IC] is rated as average. That means you probably aren’t going to be able to charge top pricing for short term stays. That could keep you on the hamster wheel of chasing short-term profit and thus not being able to invest the energy to level up to admit long-term renters who could become fully contributing community members. Whatever you need to do to keep afloat in the short term, your best chance for financial sustainability seems to be in bringing in community members who (a) have committed with a solid understanding of policy and (b) feel confident that they can safely buy in. It seems the pandemic has heightened people’s interest in living sustainably, so it would be an excellent time to send out an invitation for applicants who have prior ties to [this IC] to live a year on site. Perhaps those with prior on-site residence could have their prior time count toward the year. After that trial run, you could feel more confident to do a rent-to-own agreement. This could help move you toward what you say you have long wanted: a close-knit small community that doesn’t require constant teaching and conflict management.

Onboarding Systems

Please consider the following recommendations:

• Site fees and policies need to be available online in detail. I certainly wasn’t aware of some of the extra mandated fees, although I read the handbook and much more. Pandemic policies and other safety precautions need to be available online. People need to be able to decide prior to onboarding whether or not they (a) can afford the costs and (b) feel comfortable with and commit to abide by all policies. In my case, [name of prior long-term member] was excellent at onboarding in some aspects, but she can’t be expected to memorize and transmit every policy. I explained in advance what was affordable for me. I buy much of my own food, so my expectation was that the amount was adequate.
• It didn’t feel it was fair to be told my food contribution was insufficient after I’d already been accepted on site and my payments accepted. This erodes trust.
• [Prior long-term member] does not have authority to make adjustments where the policy may not be adequate for describing a particular circumstance. Therefore it’s important to designate some members with authority to take the time for conversations with those onboarding prior to them coming. They might not know what questions to ask, so it’s important for [this IC] to prompt the conversations by providing more written description.
• It was an excellent suggestion to read Slow is Beautiful and Creating a Life Together. I found that these books helped me understand the values of [this IC] and feel that there was alignment. Similarly, a legal commitment to use mediation rather than litigation seems in line with [this IC] values. You could make it a required agreement to use mediation as a first step, which many organizations do. This may have helped avoid the two lawsuits that [this IC] now must contend with.
• Potential members ideally should have an engagement period of consistent interaction with the current community for both [this IC] and the potential members to decide whether they might be a good fit. I found that volunteering regularly over 11 months gave me a better idea of what [this IC] life is like. Invitations to outdoor events or zoomed in events could be another important way of interacting. To assist in this, I would be available to continue to offer tours, and add emergency preparedness and resilience circles for the community if you believe that would be helpful. This could also help [this IC] increase its exposure and community reputation.

Team Agreements and Community Service Hours

You have complained that people are leavers. Without more transparency and fairness than currently exists, I expect this would continue. With the current governance, I would not feel comfortable to be part of the community or buy into it as an investment, even though there are some tremendously attractive aspects of it. I don’t mean for this to be an insult. I hope it can prompt some restructuring that will allow [this IC] to be the great example of a teaching institution that it has been and has the greater potential to be. Please consider the following recommendations for increasing longevity of residents:

• It appears that you do consider potential residents or off-site workers according to the skills that are needed in the community. It is important to build in some redundancy to protect [this IC] assets. A knowledgeable trained backup person for farm, garden, and business functions is important. I’m sure you’re aware of this, but I will state the obvious: lack of longevity prevents people from reaching optimal skill levels.
• You need someone available who has time for communication about the team agreements early on, and this ideally should be someone who has authority to negotiate terms of the team agreements, or at least could give realistic guidance before a final review. This didn’t happen for me except for a brief overview. Unfortunately I didn’t press for more discussion, because it was an intensely busy time as I jumped in to help with managing the covid-related challenges and high turnover during the first months of my stay. People who respect a leader’s time will need to be invited to a conversation. You can’t expect new members to set a time for a meeting. As happened with me, newcomers are unlikely to press for a meeting only when the situation reaches a quite uncomfortable level.
• The team agreement needs to be honored. It isn’t fair or helpful to continually ask people to do different chores than they agreed to and more than their agreed-on hours. For example, in my team agreement schedule I have the paddock picking, tours, grant writing, and [one of the affiliated courses] each-one-teach-one group onsite. I also found it consistent with my skills to help with the newsletter, the covid policy, and starting the morning check-ins. I helped with Airbnb turnover and hospitality when urgent, only because [this IC] seemed severely understaffed for that. It was uncomfortable to be pressured to help with food processing and asked repeatedly to “re-evaluate priorities” when I was already consistently doing double or triple my required hours. This kind of treatment made me feel my current contribution was unvalued, especially because of frequent criticism. I didn’t experience it as offered in a friendly manner. I hope this feedback can help improve the team agreement conversation for others, so that there is more clarity before onboarding.

Financial Management

It alarmed me to hear that the last big grocery trip was on credit card. If [this IC] is to be financially sustainable, it would be better to do a group plan for how to get by with what’s available. With the current full freezers and garden, I don’t see that all those purchases were necessary. I would be very nervous to join finances permanently with any organization that is not frugal enough to recognize that there are times to splurge and times to make do with less. It is dangerous to not keep an emergency fund. During our last meeting, [director and owner] mentioned the village needs people who can afford to help pay for emergency expenses. It isn’t fair to tell residents that because [this IC] is about community, its short term residents should contribute to unexpected costs. It’s unfair because we have no decision-making about expenses and no long term benefit from the added expenses. If someone is willing to pay extra, they should be offered extra benefits, not pressured to pay or leave. My perception of the culture is that if someone is not a favorite, they are pressured to work more, pay more, or leave. I came in good faith, worked hard, and consistently paid the amount I had agreed to. Now I’m being pressured to pay more. [I later learned one resident of 1.5 years had bought shares at $10K but had no paperwork nor way to sell the shares when she left. There was no recourse except to sue. She wasn’t willing to sue, and would have had to force the sale of property to get any reimbursement. The IC already has two current lawsuits against it, which have been ongoing for years.]

Conflict Resolution

There should be third-party mediation available to work out differences. Just as doctors don’t operate on themselves or their family members because they are considered too emotionally invested, those trained in mediation can’t be unbiased in applying mediation principles in their own disputes. A resident’s sense of safety must be respected. If no egregious policy violations have been made, residents should be allowed to finish the term of residence agreed on. No one should feel that if they lose favor of one person, they can be made to leave without notice. This practice has eroded trust of residents.

There should be a policy of refunding a pro-rated amount of site fees if someone is asked to leave early and will not stay their pre-paid number of days. There needs to be clear and realistic assessment and management of damage and damage deposits so that [this IC] doesn’t have further legal troubles.  

Consistency of Rules and Meeting Times

[this IC] has many good systems in place, and they should be adhered to. Sometime there is a need for exceptions, but it is not helpful for it to be seemingly on a whim. For example, there were three team meetings in a row cancelled. There was a closing down of the [one step in the food waste process] for weeks because someone put a paper muffin liner in, which wasn’t necessary and left us unsure what the alternate process should be. The decision to make [former long-term member] have a two week isolation because of her decision to carpool—while she wasn’t breaking any written policy, and while the [invited guests] were coming to meetings without masks—was not fair nor consistent.

Shared Decision-making

There needs to be shared decision-making about more aspects of the community life, or it will feel authoritarian. Decision-making needs to be more equitable than having discussion-by-all but decision-by-one. There aren’t enough people to form the subgroups for sociocracy, so holacracy is a more workable model currently. You won’t likely attract capable and fair people the way [this IC] is governed currently. You will attract and retain only people who have few other options and/or who likely will agree to any rules but will be quietly subversive. Those with better options will probably not choose to stay. An autocratic style also creates a bottleneck where things can’t get done because a decision-maker is too busy to discuss every issue, yet insists on doing so.

Leadership and Management

Perhaps [this IC] could call back a past capable member to help manage personnel. I suggest the following example could be a good model to take some of the load off [director and owner] so that she can put her tremendous skills where they are most needed and useful. My sister was brilliant at building from scratch a highly rated private school from the ground up (Daybreak Academy in Utah), but she eventually admitted she wasn’t the best person to do the personnel management of the gentle teacher types who are excellent at nurturing and guiding young children. Her directness and take charge attitude was necessary in the outward-facing business side, but for the day-to-day internal management, she admitted she was too abrasive. She kept alienating and offending staff members. She wisely hired a director to do the personnel management, and together they have long been an excellent team. My sister still does the firing because she is suited to it, but she relies on the director to help with the decisions about when someone’s employment is no longer useful. A team approach could make the best use of complementary leadership attributes.

Cost of Housing

[From early 2020] It isn’t realistic to charge $1500 monthly for rent/sitefees/upgrade. On airbnb, looking for month-long discounted rates, there are available [location] similar-sized rentals for around $1200 monthly, which include utilities and wifi and sometimes on-site washer/dryer. Although [this IC] has unique aspects to offer, the solar electric is inadequate on cloudy days to even keep the [ultra-mini energy star] refrigerator going, and to barely even charge a laptop. Managing with headlamps is not ideal. Living without running water and having to keep a fire going is time intensive. I hope you will reconsider the price you recently demanded.

I invite you to consider how you are going to find investing members who stay long term. Why is it that “people are leavers” as you say? Out of the reported thousands of people who have visited yearly and the high level of current interest in living on site, how is it that the nine possible household spaces aren’t filled, not even the mostly-completed structures? Why is there is only one [permanent family] currently? It is not easy to offer this advice, and perhaps I am able to give it only because of being more detached now. It might not easy to hear, yet I hope this will be of some benefit.

You can stay legal and fair with housing while creating or finding like-minded community. The FIC directory does a great job listing intentional communities that are established and open to new members. Because they advertise housing, they have to be careful to comply with Fair Housing Law.

ICmatch is intended to provide a service that isn’t what the FIC listings are ideally set up for. ICmatch is to help new founders groups form. It’s important that ICmatch profiles don’t advertise housing, because some of the profile information is protected by fair housing law.

Say you’re a family that wants to form a small residential community that has kids of similar age. It would be important to find others that want the same, but finding out about “familial status” (a protected category) has to happen separately from a post that could be interpreted as housing availability. The families-oriented group can form using ICmatch.org, then together they can establish residence.

What Fair Housing Law is Intended For

If you are offering a rental apartment that’s across town from you, it doesn’t matter if you like the prospective tenant. If they pass the credit check and their references are good, they should be accepted. You both have legal protections. As long as you treat each other with professionalism and respect, and everything should go fairly smoothly and you’ll probably have minimal contact with each other. The legally protected characteristics are a valid way to create more equal opportunity. This law makes sense if you aren’t living near or with the tenant.

Exemptions

The Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent, and housing operated by religious organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members.

HUD

There may be other legal exceptions you could get from local housing authorities. For example, retirement homes have an exemption from laws against age and gender discrimination. If you have a non-profit with a stated mandate to serve a particular group, that is likely to hold up in court if you were to be challenged about who you are giving preferential treatment to. If you have substantial assets to protect, seek legal help relevant to your jurisdiction.

Be Honest Without Incriminating Language

If you’re looking for a housemate, maybe even a roommate, it does matter if you are compatible, even if one of you is a prospective tenant. One of you is a religious renunciate craving a quiet peaceful life, and the other is a wild partier with lots of friends. One of you has young children and the other is a collector of delicate figurines and loves to have them out on display. Do each other a favor and speak the truth, in the nicest way possible. No one has to say anything legally incriminating about religion or children. The one offering the housing could say, “I’m going to wait a week or two so that I have a few applicants to choose from.”

Be Realistic About What You Can Tolerate

One of you is allergic to cats and the other has five of them. At least in this case you can say what the real issue is without hurting anyone’s feelings. One of you is a neat freak minimalist and the other a hoarder who feels too time pressured to keep things organized and put away. Why make life harder than it already is? Find a way of saying, “I don’t think it would work out.”

Founder’s Groups

A founder’s group is not subject to discrimination laws because it is a friendship group and/or a business partnership, not an employee relationship or a landlord/tenant relationship. Even if one or more members owns property, you might end up moving to a different property based on the needs of the group. Don’t let fears about a few bad actors prevent you from creating the community of your dreams.

Established Residential ICs

Intentional communities are about shared space or shared housing, so we need to tease out the difference. If you are an established intentional community, you do need to be careful to avoid discrimination. The best way of making sure you have compatible people coming in when there’s a vacancy is to keep a waiting list and invite prospective members to join certain events so you can get better acquainted. That way you will never have to advertise a unit. However, you could legally advertise to invite people to join an event and get on your waiting list.

If you’re interested in joining an established intentional community, there’s nothing to stop you from sharing your profile link with those you’re interested in. They would get a lot of useful information about what you could offer and whether you’d be a good cultural fit. It only could get the community in trouble if they asked for the information.

What we would call a type of intentional community (IC), this author calls a community house. These function as a shared rental house with roommates who choose each other first and then find a house together. This arrangement can be a great fit for friends seeking affordable housing, single-parent coliving, an IC based on shared cultural values, or an IC as a work team. This author wanted to remain unnamed, though this is shared with permission. His words follow, with light edits.

[College town] had a lot of community houses 12 years ago. It was easy to get invites to their house parties on weekends. If a person wanted to rent a room, there were lots of houses to choose from. If you had a group of people, it wasn’t hard to find a house to rent. A lot of that has changed. It is still possible to start your own community house; it just takes a little more work. Community houses help support artsy people, activists, and musicians. This creates a better vibe in the neighborhoods than family houses, and single people sharing 2-bedroom apartments.

I’m providing here a background on community houses, and a strategy for how someone can create their own shared rental house, specifically in [PNW college town] in 2021.

Community-builder’s Background

I’ve been living in community houses since 1987, almost constantly. I’ve lived in houses and apartments of all sorts, with many other people. I’ve also visited lots of community houses to spend the night or a few days. I’m always interested in how different houses work. With different types and qualities of houses, different governance structures, and different ownership types.

I have established 10 community houses over the last 30 years, with various governance and ownership structures:

• 5 rented directly from individual property owners
• 2 rented from corporate property owners
• 3 owned by me

I’ve experienced different lease structures:

• 2 myself and the other residents were all on the lease together
• 1 myself and some housemates were on the lease, but we sublet rooms to people who weren’t on the lease
• 3 I was the only person on the lease, and I sublet rooms
• 1 I was not on the lease, but other housemates were, and they sublet a room to me

I’ve experienced different types of governance:

• horizontal shared governance
• a subset of people make the decisions (part horizontal, part vertical)
• I make all the decisions (vertical)

I’ve experienced different levels of communalism:

• 5 were shared food, with some shared meals
• some have had shared gardens, no compensation
• in some I have paid people for gardening
• various other levels of structured community activities

Short term vs. long term:

• Most have been a mixture.

I have lived in all of these types of community houses. I have set up all of these types of community houses. They all have advantages, and they all have disadvantages. I had set up five community houses as a renter before I bought my first house to create a shared rental house. The social dynamics are different with each type.

Housing Age

• Old, worn-out house: The classic community house is a big, well-worn house with lots of bedrooms, a garden, and some craft space. These are harder to find in [College town] than in the past, but they are still available. It just takes some work to catch one. Upsides: (a) rent is low per square foot, low per bedroom, (b) you can usually modify the house however you like, and (c) pets are usually fine. Downsides: (a) usually renters must put up with some cold in the winter, heat in the summer; (b) they are hard to clean (you can clean for an hour, and everything will still look about the same, as the floors are scratched and keep dirt, the kitchens are old material, with peeling countertops).
• Renovated older house: These are common in [College town] now. To me they are not as much fun to live in, because the landlord will be fussy about carpets and paint. But these houses will be more comfortable to live in with regard to temperature and cleanliness.
• Newish house: There are many big duplexes and townhouses in [College town]. You don’t get as big of a yard, but you get a modern house.

Ownership Types

There are different types of ownership, each with pros and cons:

• Owned by a professional landlord: The landlord owns about 20 houses and does a lot of renting and repairs. They will have a fairly stringent application processes, but they will also take care of problems pretty well. The houses will feel less homey, as they are all repaired with very basic parts, since they need to keep things durable and easy to replace if damaged.
• Owned by individuals: These are often houses that someone bought to to live in, then moved out of town  or into a bigger house. They don’t want to sell the house, because they might move back or keep it as an investment. These houses have much nicer finishings. The landlords will be fussier about care, because it is more expensive to repair damage to a nice house than one that was built or renovated as a rental house. However, these landlords will also likely be more flexible on lease terms if they like you and think you will take good care of the house. They are not trying to make as much profit as the professional landlords. They may be more flexible in terms of income, pets, and gardening. They often welcome gardening.
• Living with the landlord: These are usually nicer houses than rental houses. They’ll be more eclectic in terms of rules, but often more flexible in rules. If you want to set up your own community house, you might find an empty-nester that has a couple of empty bedrooms and garden space, and is willing to have a group of people move in, in exchange for rent and help with maintenance, possibly including errands and driving for them, if elderly. [more about senior home sharing]

Identify Housemates

1. See what sort of a core group you can muster up. Ask your friends, colleagues, current housemates, or put up an ad on Craigslist [or join ICmatch.org]. Try to get a core group of 2 or 3 committed, and an orbital group of maybes. 
2. Identify potential roommates who agree on options for housing type, cost, and location. If you have a range of locations, prices, or housing types you might find acceptable, some of your possible housemates will be limited in one way or another. One might be happy in a run down house, another will only want a renovated house. Some might be willing to live far-out; some only close-in. To get a good house in a tight housing market, you’ll probably need to make some tradeoffs.
3. Discuss with roommates what you can agree on in a shared house: conflict resolution, governance structure, pets and support animals, cleaning, noise, security, guests, parking, how one can get out of the lease,  conflict resolution, guests and partners, and COVID policy.

Governance Structures Suited for a Shared Rental House

Community houses may look similar to each other, but they may have completely different governance structures. The basic ones are as follows:

• One person (or couple) is on the lease or owns the house, and rooms are sublet. The one person (or couple) makes the decisions.
• Everyone is on the lease, with collective decision making.
• Some people on the lease, some people subletting. If you have two or three solid core people, you can likely talk a landlord into renting the house to you and allowing sublets. There may be main decisions made by those on the lease, and minor decisions made collectively.

Other governance decisions, best made at the outset:

• Different levels of shared things: Shared bulk foods? Shared garden costs? All foods shared? Regular community meals? All of these options can make the house more interesting and affordable for people.
• Conflict resolution? How to minimize conflicts? What to do when difficult conflicts come up? How to have someone with irreconcilable differences move out?
• Changes to house rules and policies?
• Meeting schedule?

I currently most enjoy a type of community house that accommodates shorter-term rentals because (a) most of the rooms feel crowded if people start to accumulate things, and (b) I like living with a rotating cast of characters. As a result, my current Beech House is less consensus-based in governance. It’s difficult to have shared decision making with a large, changing, and diverse group of people.

How to Find a Property to Use as a Shared Rental House

With patience, you can snag a great house when one comes up! Be prepared to wait for your ideal house to come up for rent. You probably won’t get the first one, but eventually you’ll get one that works out well for you and your peeps.

1. Start surfing Craigslist to see what is available. Typically, in [College town] 2021, it’s $3000 per month for a 4-bedroom house. It varies a bit with how big the house and yard is, the desirability of location, and the quality of finishing.
2. To see what options are available in each classification, start surfing Craigslist for 4+ bedroom houses, price $2000 to $4000 per month, and see what is on the market. Make note of how fast different types of houses get rented.
3. For a low-cost shared rental house, the key is to find one that can have a 5th bedroom converted from a garage, a basement, a family room, or an RV parking space. That way, the $3000 will be split five ways, for $600 each. Look for these features on potential rentals.
4. Plug in these search terms: “3+ bedrooms, house, $2200 – $3800.” Go out and look at these houses. See what you get for $600 to $750 per bedroom. Even if you’re not ready to rent, you can see what is available and know how much house you can expect to get for a given amount of rent.

How to Successfully Apply for a Rental as a Group

There are some property owners who have had bad experiences with seemingly qualified applicants in the past. Some are reluctant to post their homes for rent because the laws are such that they must rent to the first qualified applicant or risk being accused of some kind of discrimination. Some may be waiting for a word-of-mouth connection. Some look through the “housing wanted” posts to try to identify the best tenants.

1. Create “housing wanted” ads, including on Craigslist.
2. Get all possible roommates to complete a joint rental application. Download a rental application from the internet and fill it out. It will ask for social security numbers (for credit checks), bank accounts, credit cards, pets, musical instruments, cars, waterbeds, and lots of other questions. It will take an hour or two to get it filled out.
3. Collect a current resume from everyone. Print it out on good quality paper.
4. Get everyone to fill out previous landlord history and letters of recommendation.
5. Put together a cover letter for your group. Include pictures, hobbies, why you all want to live together, and what you plan to do with the house. Make “eye contact” in the photos.
6. Use social media, if you like. You might include a professional portfolio, art, and music from the group.
7. Share your Craigslist “housing wanted” ad on your social media platforms. When a house comes up that you are interested in, give them the link to your housing wanted post when you reply to their “housing available” post.

• Make assignments so that the group is checking Craigslist twice per day, looking for the perfect “4-bedroom with garage” or “4-bedroom with basement” type house. When one comes up, and you are interested, you want to be the very first applicant. Call them up, have a subset of your group go and see it within 24 hours, and if you want to try to rent it, have your stack of printed application forms ready. The landlord’s application form will likely be a little different, but you’ll have all the information you need. You can hand them the stack of resumes and the cover letter. Scan or photograph the completed applications to your co-applicants, so they can digitally sign them and get them back to the landlord within a couple hours.
• A strong application may also mean you can negotiate a concession such as the following: convince them to let you have a cat or a dog, allow you to have one subletter who is not on the lease, plant a garden, get a $100 break in rent in exchange for making a repair or modification, or add another bedroom if needed.

To be a highly desirable group of tenants, you want to put all of your material together before trying to rent a place. Do a lot of extra preparation. It will impress landlords; they will want to rent their house to you. A landlord’s nightmare is a group of people that can’t figure out how to pay rent, can’t report small problems before they become big problems, bother the neighbors, and don’t keep the place clean. If you have a sleek application package, they will assume that you’ll be decent tenants.

Add a Bedroom for a More Affordable Shared Rental House

I have converted at least 13 bedrooms out of other spaces over the last 25 years. A basement partition can be done with $500 in materials: 2x4s, sheetrock, paint, weatherproofing. Same with a garage with a loft. Sometimes all it takes is a door on a family room and you have another bedroom. Make it look good; figure out heat, insulation, and ventilation; and you now have a 5-bedroom house for the price of a 4-bedroom house. You can add extra outlets for about $200. You can do this in a way that it can be completely removed in about 2 hours if at some point you must reverse the construction. You can also have an RV if there is a driveway. You might build a tiny house on wheels or in the back. People in outdoor “bedrooms” can come in the shared rental house for living space.

We need more community houses! Best of luck creating yours.