We were on-track getting the necessary audited financial statements to Terra Housing and decided to move ahead with CRS's help to get quotes to repair Unit #107.
Thursday 19 July 2012
Save the Co-op - Terra Housing
A quick meeting with Zimel Magallano of Terra Housing on July 19th reviewed our progress with the Capital Plan and getting repairs started on Unit #107.
We were on-track getting the necessary audited financial statements to Terra Housing and decided to move ahead with CRS's help to get quotes to repair Unit #107.
We were on-track getting the necessary audited financial statements to Terra Housing and decided to move ahead with CRS's help to get quotes to repair Unit #107.
Thursday 12 July 2012
Save the Co-op - Terra Housing and Bob Nicklin
Our meeting with Terra Housing on July 12th had a surprise when Bob Nicklin of Affordable Housing Societies showed up unannounced. He brought a great deal of enthusiasm and experience and was very keen on reviewing our plans and looking into Unit #107. Stuart Thomson and Zimel Magallano of Terra Housing also showed up as scheduled to discuss our plans.
By this time we had received feedback from BC Housing about the roof work. Unfortunately their plan started with us having to pay several thousand dollars for yet another building inspection before any work could be done.
Stuart pointed out that repairing the roof would also cost most of the co-op's cash reserves and do nothing to improve our situation moving forward. Instead, it would help CMHC meet their goal of having us pay off the rest of our mortgage, then we would no longer be their responsibility.
This would leave us broke and without government support while not addressing our other issues:
- Unit #107
- Closed-off Decks
- Degraded Building Piping
Stuart's alternate suggestion was to keep the roof tarped for now and invest in restoring Unit #107 to a livable state instead. This would increase our revenue and give us a better financial picture when the time came to remortgage.
To help with this, Stuart and Zimel were going to contact Social Purpose Development (SPD) and apply for help developing a Capital Plan for the co-op's future. To pay for this project they were going to ask SPD for a deferred payment plan - the first of it's kind from SPD!
Moving forward this would have Aaron Webster, primarily Adrian Estergaard and Cherise Craney, work with Terra Housing on developing the Capital Plan.
By this time we had received feedback from BC Housing about the roof work. Unfortunately their plan started with us having to pay several thousand dollars for yet another building inspection before any work could be done.
Stuart pointed out that repairing the roof would also cost most of the co-op's cash reserves and do nothing to improve our situation moving forward. Instead, it would help CMHC meet their goal of having us pay off the rest of our mortgage, then we would no longer be their responsibility.
This would leave us broke and without government support while not addressing our other issues:
- Unit #107
- Closed-off Decks
- Degraded Building Piping
Stuart's alternate suggestion was to keep the roof tarped for now and invest in restoring Unit #107 to a livable state instead. This would increase our revenue and give us a better financial picture when the time came to remortgage.
To help with this, Stuart and Zimel were going to contact Social Purpose Development (SPD) and apply for help developing a Capital Plan for the co-op's future. To pay for this project they were going to ask SPD for a deferred payment plan - the first of it's kind from SPD!
Moving forward this would have Aaron Webster, primarily Adrian Estergaard and Cherise Craney, work with Terra Housing on developing the Capital Plan.
Thursday 5 July 2012
Save the Co-op - CHF BC
On July 5th CHF BC's representative Darren Kitchen was finally able to make it out to the co-op to review our progress to-date and plan for the future.
Unfortunately, Darren pointed out that CMHC was wrong about the mortgage and we could not extend it. We discussed the value of the land and options for remortgaging it for the money to repair the building, or more drastic actions like selling it and relocating the entire co-op. None of these were ideal, but we wanted to review all our options.
After reviewing our financial options setting up a 2nd mortgage through VanCity with a 50-year amortization sounds like the best option. We may even be able to start before our 1st mortgage is paid off by arranging for lower payments until the 1st mortgage is done. However it is done, the bank will need a financial plan that indicates our long-term viability. Co-op unit rents will also go up.
Moving forward the plan is for us to contact Terra Housing for quotes on roofing work and other necessary work to let us survive long enough to pay off our mortgage. Then we can get a lump sum with our 2nd mortgage and, hopefully, be able to do a full remediation.
Unfortunately, Darren pointed out that CMHC was wrong about the mortgage and we could not extend it. We discussed the value of the land and options for remortgaging it for the money to repair the building, or more drastic actions like selling it and relocating the entire co-op. None of these were ideal, but we wanted to review all our options.
After reviewing our financial options setting up a 2nd mortgage through VanCity with a 50-year amortization sounds like the best option. We may even be able to start before our 1st mortgage is paid off by arranging for lower payments until the 1st mortgage is done. However it is done, the bank will need a financial plan that indicates our long-term viability. Co-op unit rents will also go up.
Moving forward the plan is for us to contact Terra Housing for quotes on roofing work and other necessary work to let us survive long enough to pay off our mortgage. Then we can get a lump sum with our 2nd mortgage and, hopefully, be able to do a full remediation.
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