About Classifieds

Thank you for your interest in the Classified Ads on the Cohousing Website, the most heavily-used cohousing website in the world. The Cohousing Association of the United States is pleased to provided this mission-driven service as one cost-effective way to help cohousers (and future cohousers) as they Join Forming Groups, Buy, Sell or Rent a Cohousing Home, promote Events, and more!

About the Cohousing Website Classified Ads

Our Classified Ads are managed by the Coho/US staff who want to help you use this tool to meet your cohousing needs. We are actively improving the Cohousing Marketplace Opportunities, including our Classified Ad offerings. We welcome your input - you can contact us using the links at the bottom of this page.

The Classified Ads on this website are solely for Cohousing-related offers. Advertisements for products or services unrelated to cohousing will not be accepted. All ads are individually screened by Coho/US staff before being published. Our intention is to help you as best we can, so please help us to better serve you.

How much does it cost?

The cost to run your ad depends on (1) the features you select and (2) the duration of the ad. The Basic Rate is just $25 per month, but you can select options for a maximum cost of $50 per month. The minimum cost for a Classified Ad is $75. Typically, this is pays for 3 months at the Basic Rate of $25/month. You may set the Start and Stop Dates for your ad, so it need not run this entire 3 month period, but the minimum charge will still be $75.

Basic Rate

The basic monthly cost of placing a Classified Ad on the Cohousing web site is only $25 per month. You can place your ad for any duration, starting and stopping at any point in the future, but there is a minimum charge of $75.

Extras

We currently offer Two Extras (value-added options); Bold Headlines and Uploaded Images. If you choose one or both of these, you'll need to pay more for each month that your ad runs.

• Bold Headline: You can display your ad with a Bold Headline for an additional cost of $10 per month. Classified Ads that use this option appear on the list of Classified Ads with a bold headline. This helps increase the likelihood that your ad will be seen, read, and clicked.
• Uploaded Image: For an additional $15 per month, you can include a photo or other image, using either the JPEG or GIF format. We limit image sizes to a maximum of 400x400 pixels, using a normal screen resolution (e.g. 72 dpi). If this is confusing, you can ask for help or just go ahead and upload your image - and we'll do our best to help out if the image does not comply with these specifications.

Discounts

If you place a Classified Ad for a period of 12 months or longer, we offer a 20% discount. Other Discounts and Ad Packages are expected to be available soon (see Marketplace Opportunities for more info).

Why a minimum charge?

The minimum charge exists (1) to minimize submissions of low-quality or irrelevant ads (SPAM, off-topic ads, etc.) which are placed without serious consideration or attention, (2) to support the staff, technology, and processing costs for managing the many ad requests we receive, and (3) to provide a bit extra to help support the many free features of the Cohousing Website.

Placing a Classified Ad

Placing an ad is fairly easy and making an online payment on our website is secure (see our Privacy Policy for more detail). To place an ad, just click here to begin. You will have an opportunity to preview your ad, including extras such as bold type and a photo, before you are charged. The three steps to Placing your Ad are: (1) Entering your Classified Ad, (2) Paying for your Classified Ad, (3) Screening and publishing the Ad (which is done by Coho/US staff). Each of the three steps are described in some detail below. Many have placed ads with us without the detail below, so jump on in if you feel confident, but you might quickly review some of the hints for making your ad more successful.

Entering your Classified Ad

The form you use to enter your classified ad is here. This form contains a number of fields, some of which are required and some of which are optional. For people that really want to understand the form on a step-by-step basis, detailed instructions follow. Its fairly intuitive, so you may be able to figure it out without this detail. Alternatively, you may want to print this or view this content in another browser window or tab to make reference to it while completing the form...

Category (required)

As of March 1, 2008, the following Classified Ad categories are available:

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• Cohousing Events	• Guest Rooms
• Cohousing Groups Seeking New Members	• Housemate Wanted
• Cohousing Home/Unit Exchanges & Short-term/Vacation Rentals	• Land Seeking New Cohousing Group
• Cohousing Homes/Units for Rent	• Professional Services
• Cohousing Homes/Units for Sale	• Cohousing Publications for Sale
• Cohousing Residents Offering Services	• Volunteer Opportunities
• Employment Opportunities

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You must select one of the current categories and the contents of your ad must fit that category. If you have an offer that you feel belongs in the Cohousing Website Classified Ads and it doesn't fit one of these categories, please Contact Us (see section below). To select a category on the "Submit Classified Ad" form, click on the pull down menu under the Category label and move the mouse over the category that best describes your Classified Ad. Except for the Cohousing Events and the Professional Services categories (see below), most of the categories are self-explanatory and you can just select the best one. When your Ad is reviewed, we may change it to another category if we believe that better describes your offer.

• Cohousing Events: In addition to paying for a listing within the Classified Ads, you may wish to have a free listing for your Cohousing-related Event listed in the Tours and Events calendars. See that section of the Cohousing Website for more information. Buying a Classified Ad for your Cohousing Event does not guarantee placement on one of the free, editor-managed Tours and Events calenders.
• Professional Services: Most of the Classified Ads in the Professional Services section consist of simple cross-links to Cohousing Professional Directory listings. These simple Link Ads are provided as a complementary feature for businesses with a presence in the Professional Directory. See the Cohousing Professional Directory or Marketplace Opportunities for more info on how you might promote your business using the Cohousing Website - please help Coho/US grow the movement and industry!

Community or Group (optional)

You have the option of listing a Community or Group. It will be rare that one would not want to use this field, but it is not required for your ad. Use this field to name the organization most relevant for the Classified Ad. Usually, this will be the name of (1) an Established Cohousing Community, (2) a Forming Cohousing Group, or (3) a Business offering goods or services. A maximum of 40 text characters can be entered into this field, so you may need to abbreviate longer names. The Community or Group is one of the four fields that appears on the Classified Ad list, that includes all currently running Classified Ads.

Posting Date (required)

What date would you like the ad to start running? This required 3-part field lets you select the Month, Day, and Year that you want the ad to begin. If you set the date for today, the ad will start running immediately once it has been screened and published by Coho/US staff (see below)

Expiration Date (optional)

When do you want the ad to stop running? This is only optional because it is tied to your payment. If you leave this blank, we will complete it for you once you have paid for your ad (see below). If you have not paid enough for your ad, given the expiration date you enter, we'll let you know via email or phone and set a new expiration date based on what you paid.

Headline (required)

The Headline is one of the four fields that appears on the Classified Ad list, that includes all currently running Classified Ads. Along with your community or group name and location data, it is what readers will use to decide whether or not to view your ad. Most people who look at the Classified Ads will not actually read your ads - they will, however, see your listing and decide that your ad is not of interest to them. An interesting headline is your single best chance to capture their interest and attract their attention to your offer. Please look at the many other offers on the website and carefully consider how best to reach interested parties.

Bold (optional)

If you would like to take advantage of the Bold Headline Extra (at an additional cost of $10 per month), use your most to click this check box.

Ad text (optional)

While officially optional, it would probably be a mistake to skip the main body of information for your advertisement. You can enter text or simple links into this field and are able to put far more information here than is typical for a Classified Ad - the actual limit is several hundred words, but you are best served to use this text to entice the ad's reader to either visit your website or contact you for more information. Because of this high character limit, you are urged to use normal language, rather than the type of abbreviations typical for size-constrained ads, e.g. bathrooms vs. BA.

City (optional)

The City is limited to 16 characters, so you may need to abbreviate longer city names. The City is one of the four fields that appears on the Classified Ad list, that includes all currently running Classified Ads. You may choose to reference a nearby, well-known city and then explain details in the Ad text.

State (optional)

The State is limited to 2 characters, so please use your state abbreviation. The State also appears on the Classified Ad list, that includes all currently running Classified Ads.

Contact Name (optional)

This is optional, but is recommended. For many types of ads, people are more likely to respond to an person.

Phone (optional)

Again, optional, but recommended. Some people that will not use email are likely to pick up the phone and call. We also use this phone number to contact the person placing the ad.

Email (required)

You must enter a valid email address for people responding to your ad to contact you. You can use a separate email for billing purposes, but please help the contact person understand that the ad exists.

Website (optional)

One of the most useful things you can do with your classified ad is to encourage people to come visit your website for more information on your offer. It has been well established that the best way to encourage action on the part of somebody reading an advertisement is to encourage people to take a small, no-risk actions toward the offer - rather than attempting them to directly jump to action. What better way to do this than having your ad be an entry point to a more complete description of your offer on your website. If you are selling or renting a Cohousing Home/Unit in an established community, this link could either go directly to a page in your community's website on the home/unit being offered or to your community's homepage - ensuring that its very easy to find your offer from your community's homepage.

Photo (optional)

People like to look at photos and more people will come to look at your ad because you have a photo.

Preview (required)

The Preview Checkbox (I have previewed my classified ad) is to remind you to please use the Preview button at the bottom of the form to view your Classified Ad before submitting it. You may even want to have somebody else take a look before submitting it. Check the details. Many ads are submitted with the wrong year, misspellings, broken links or other problems. We don't always catch these when proofing your ad, so please help us keep the quality of our ads high.

Preview/Submit Buttons

When all is ready, press the Submit button. Your classified ad will go into the management queue and you will be taken to the Classified Ad payment form.

If you have problems with the Submit Classified Ad page, please Contact Us (see below).

Paying for your Classified Ad

After you submit your ad, you are taken to a payment form. Some of our advertisers have had problems using this form, if this is the case for you, please review the following information carefully.

Calculating the cost of your Classified Ad

Our system DOES NOT automatically calculate the cost of your advertisement. This is up to you and you will need to pay attention to the cost of your ad. The Rate Summary is provided to help you properly calculate your "Contribution Amount."

Contribution Amount

The label, Contribution Amount, may be confusing. This is the payment you are making for your classified ad and is NOT a tax-deductible donation to Coho/US. If you like to make a donation to Coho/US (which is fully tax-deductible), please see this section on Contributions.

More to come...

The rest of this page is a work-in-progress - when the editor returns to this project, it will be completed. Until then, please do the best you can to use our Classified Ad system to serve your cohousing needs.

Email Address

Credit or Debit Card Information

Card Type

Card Number

Security Code

Expiration Date

Billing Name and Address

Continue>> Button

Screening and publishing the Ad

Coho/US staff handles the next step... After you have paid for your ad, the members of our advertising team receive a notice from the credit card processing company that your payment has been processed - usually a matter of minutes after you submit your payment. At that point, a staff member will screen your ad. Screening is done to help ensure that the ad is publication-ready.

Questions we ask are:

• Is the Classified Ad publish-ready? Is the data complete, do links work?
• Does the Classified Ad comply with our advertising standards?
• Was the Classified Ad paid for appropriately?

If your ad appears legitimate, and we note minor issues, we will fix them and send an email that indicates the changes to the person placing the ad. If we have significant questions, we will attempt to contact you through the contact information you provide for the Classified Ad. If you are submitting the Classified Ad on behalf of somebody else, please make sure the contact person (in the ad) has knowledge of the ad - otherwise, confusion will ensue.

If your ad appears illegitimate, e.g., SPAM, then we ignore them and delete the ad. For those very few people who might reading this, you are just wasting both your and our time by submitting ads that are not focused on cohousing-related offers.

Managing your Classified Ad

You can cancel your ad at any time - just use the link below. Please be sure to send it from the same email address that appears in your ad to help us know you are authorized to cancel the ad. Otherwise, we may require other form of verification.

Contact us

You may wish to contact us for a variety of reasons. Below are some possibilities. These links open an email form to help us process your request.

• Help me place a Classified Ad
• Cancel my Classified Ad
• Extend the time of my Classified Ad

Disclaimer

Coho/US reserves the right to refuse any ad that our staff believes is inappropriate for any reason. If you have trouble placing an ad, or if you have any questions, please contact us.