Housing cooperatives operate similarly to agricultural cooperatives or credit unions, but on a much smaller scale. Each member owns a share of a non-profit corporation, which in turn owns the building that members live in. The members elect a Board of Directors from among themselves, and that board makes decisions regarding the upkeep, maintenance, and finances of the building.
Because the members own the entire building collectively (as opposed to a condominium or townhome in which each member owns his/her own unit), the cost of the maintenance of all of the individual units is shared collectively.
So when you live in a housing cooperative, all of the maintenance – fixing leaky faucets, replacing worn-out appliances, repairing squeaky doors, etc. – is handled by the cooperative. Individual members need only report an issue to have it taken care of. They do not have to fix it themselves, nor arrange for and pay a repair technician to do so.
The same is true for snow removal and lawn care. Belonging to a cooperative means you can use your time the way you like; you do not have to maintain your home.
Cooperative membership is ideal for people who like to travel for lengthy periods of time. You will not need to have someone look in on your home, nor will you worry about frozen pipes and other concerns that typically arise when you are away for a long time. The Cooperative takes care of all of that.
How OUR Cooperative Works
There are 49 units in our building, and there are 49 memberships. So the building is entirely owned by its members. There are no outside owners.
Board of Directors. We have a 5-person Board of Directors, with each Board member serving a 3-year term. Every year there is at least 1 board member whose position is subjected to election by the members. Every member is welcome to run for an open position on the board when there is one.
The Board makes all decisions about how budgets should be set, how much money should be kept in reserves, when improvements should be made, etc.
Member Committees. The board is advised by several committees, which also are comprised of members. Every member is encouraged to serve on a committee – although there are no requirements for service on committees, this is the most effective way for individual members to have input on cooperative decisions.
The committees at Vintage Hills are Social, Landscape, Building & Safety, Decorating, Marketing, Finance, Marketing, Workshop, Refurbishment, and Health & Wellness.
The Board meets once a month, and members are welcome to attend and be heard. We hold an annual meeting of the members each may, in which members elect Directors to open positions on the Board and raise any matters that they feel should be discussed among the membership.
Budgeting and Fees. At the end of each calendar year, the various committees plan their budgets for the next year and submit them to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee then determines a budget for expenses and for various reserve funds, and it proposes the member fees necessary to meet the budget and reserve goals for the next year. The proposal for the budget and fees then is submitted to the Board for its final decision.
In short, you and other members, through the various committees and the elected Board, determine the monthly fees used to meet expenses and to save for refurbishments to the building and grounds.
How a Cooperative Becomes a Community
There is something about neighbors owning their building together that fosters a strong sense of community among our members. Our members socialize together – many have coffee together every morning in the great room; they have a weekly potluck; there are card and other games most afternoons; and we bring in entertainment from time-to-time.
More importantly, our members look out for each other. It is not at all uncommon to see our members helping out their neighbors with rides to the store, carrying boxes, and assistance with other tasks that arise.
Our members work together to make Vintage Hills a safe, comfortable, and fun place to live.
Our Building
Vintage Hills is located in the heart of Ankeny, right next to The District and close to trails, parks, dining, and entertainment.
Our building is designed to help our members maintain their independence as they age. We offer:
- A climate-controlled underground garage, so that you do not need to walk outside in cold of the winter nor in the heat of the summer;
- A centrally-located elevator, so no stairs (unless you want the exercise);
- Wide hallways with railings, to assist members in walking and to enable the use of scooters, walkers, and wheelchairs; and
- Secure entrances and exits, to keep everyone safe;
- A fully-stocked woodworking shop;
- A library with a pool table;
- A large “great room,” with an oven and refrigerator, that members can reserve for family gatherings;
- A patio just off of the “great room” for getting together and relaxing when the weather is good;
- A smaller meeting room that also can be reserved for gatherings;
- Two guest rooms – essentially clean, comfortable hotel-like rooms that members can reserve for visiting friends and family; and
- An exercise room stocked with treadmills, exercise bikes, free weights, a nautilus machine and, most importantly, a TV with cable.
Brief History of Cooperatives
The roots of the cooperative movement are difficult to trace, because cooperative-type ventures can be found throughout history in the form of mutual aid associations use to build roads in medieval Europe, “profit sharing” agreements among workers and owners in pre-industrial England, and agricultural cooperatives formed in Europe dating back to the 18th century.
But historically, cooperatives have had 2 defining characteristics – they are owned and controlled by their memberships, and the members share in the cooperatives’ earnings.
The first documented consumer cooperative opened in England in 1769 – the Fenwick Weavers’ Society. By 1844, a few cooperatives had become successful enough in Great Britain to establish a set of guiding tenets, called the Rochdale Principles. These provided for:
- Open membership;
- Democratic control;
- Distribution of surplus in proportion to trade;
- Payment of limited interest on capital;
- Political and religious neutrality;
- Cash-only trading (no credit extended); and
- Promotion of education.
These provide a basis on which cooperatives around the world still operate today.
In Iowa, cooperatives arose most notably in the agricultural context. The first ag cooperative in Iowa was formed in Marcus (northeast of Sioux City) in 1887 as a means of circumventing the common practice by privately-owned elevator companies of paying little to individual growers but selling at much higher prices. By organizing cooperatives, farmers were able to obtain a greater share in the profits of their work.
Unlike some farm cooperatives (or many, depending on who you ask), housing cooperatives are very responsive to the needs and wishes of their members. This is so because of the relatively small size of housing cooperatives. Rather than serving hundreds or even thousands of members, housing cooperatives serve only the number of members who can live in a building. Vintage Hills, for example, contains 49 housing units and so serves only 49 members.
In the United States, housing cooperatives first took off in New York City beginning in the 1870’s. By the 1920’s, housing cooperatives could be found in several major U.S. cities, but they were marketed primarily to upper-income people seeking luxury accommodations.
In the upper Midwest, housing cooperatives began to take off in Minnesota in the 1970’s, and today you can find many more cooperatives there than in many states. In Iowa, housing cooperatives only began to gain traction as a business model in the past 20 years. But as more and more people see the advantage of the model, the housing cooperative approach is expected to expand and spread throughout the state.
Fun Facts About Cooperatives
- Benjamin Franklin took part in the creation of the first cooperative in the United States in 1752.
- Roughly 30,000 cooperatives operate in every sector of the U.S. economy.
- 1/3 of Americans are members of some form of a cooperative. More than 1.4 million Iowans are members of a cooperative.
- When American farmers found that electric companies would not supply them with power, they established their own electric cooperatives. In Iowa, cooperatives supply electricity to more than 650,000 people.
- Some notable cooperatives include:
- Land O’ Lakes, one of the largest dairy companies in the United States;
- Sunkist, the largest shipper of fresh produce in the United States;
- Sun-Maid, one of the world’s largest producers of raisins; and
- Blue Diamond Almonds, California’s largest exporter of almonds