Living in a housing co-op?

[Heavenly]

My husband and I are currently living with my inlaws while he is in school. He graduates in December and after that point we are obviously planning to move out ( : ). We don't think we will have enough to buy a house right away so we were looking at our cities housing co-ops. A couple of them look really nice (some not so good). It would be way cheaper than a mortgage and actually way cheaper than just renting a place. For example a 3 bedroom townhouse in a nice neighbourhood goes for $1000-$1200 a month (Canadian). Most of the housing co-ops seem to be around $850-$890 a month for a three bedroom townhouse. I want to raise the kids in a good environment so just wondering if anyone else has done co-operative housing and how it worked out for you?

[Bluegoat]

I'm not in a co-op but my uncle is with his kids and I know some others too. I think they are great over-all, but there can be some downsides.

If the co-op is badly run, it can be a serious problem, so you will want to check this out. See if you can sit in on a meeting, and find out about their finances. Do they have trouble getting people to sit on the board and do the work that is required? How do they resolve issues.

Another issue is people who do not contribute. If you are pulling your weight but someone else never shovels or mows or whatever, it can be frustrating. It is probably impossible to totally avoid this problem, but it is something to keep in mind.

Try to get a feel for the people. What are they like? Are there "unsavory" activities? Are there families? How do they deal with problems?

Just my few thoughts. Good luck with your home-hunting.