Frequently Asked Questions

ALOHA is the process of bringing people together with shared interests to create intentional, thriving housing communities. It connects individuals who want to collaboratively design, build, and live in neighborhoods that reflect their values, passions, and vision for the future. We want to help you own a home with neighbors you like.

ALOHA enables people to find their community first, then build a neighborhood together. Instead of buying into a development and hoping for compatible neighbors, members actively participate in designing, locating, and operating their neighborhoods. This collaborative model fosters long-term stability and meaningful connections.

Three reasons cited across the field. Loneliness is now considered a public health crisis. The 2023 U.S. Surgeon General advisory called it an epidemic with health impacts comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Housing has become unaffordable in the conventional model for many adults. And people want something better than living alone in a house designed for a family that no longer exists. The 85-year Harvard Study of Adult Development consistently finds that the quality of our relationships is the single biggest predictor of health and happiness.

These are excellent organizations, and we recommend them. CommunityFinders specializes in matchmaking and personal advisory. IC.org has the most complete directory of intentional communities and offers educational courses. Cohousing.org is the authority on cohousing specifically. ALOHA is broader. We cover the full spectrum from cohousing to interest-based independent neighborhoods to coliving to real estate. We focus on routing people to the next concrete step, including helping members buy a home in a great location even if they aren’t ready for full community living. We see these organizations as partners, not competitors.

No. We facilitate homeownership and community formation. We do not list rentals or manage rental properties. We can help communities identify professional management partners for models like condohotels and connect members with real estate professionals globally.

Most ALOHA communities are designed for individuals to own their own homes while being part of a larger, intentionally created neighborhood. Ownership structures can vary based on the community’s vision: condohotel, joint ownership, co-ops, land trusts, or other shared-equity models. The final structure is decided by the community’s leaders and members with legal guidance.

ALOHA supports a wide variety of communities tailored to diverse interests, lifestyles, and needs: wellness retreats, active aging neighborhoods, artistic hubs, family-oriented neighborhoods, and accessibility-friendly communities. Whether it’s a yoga retreat in Costa Rica or a music-focused loft in San Francisco, ALOHA helps turn shared visions into reality.

No. ALOHA covers the full spectrum of how integrated community life can be.

On one end: deeply integrated communities where members share meals, make decisions together, and live highly interdependent lives (cohousing, ecovillages, communes, income-sharing communities).

On the other end: independent-ownership neighborhoods where you buy your own home with your own deed, sell it whenever you want, and simply enjoy living near people who share an interest like golf, pickleball, music, art, wellness, or active aging. This is closer to how golf communities have worked for nearly 100 years. You own your unit. You attend gatherings if you want to. You skip them if you don’t.

Most ALOHA communities sit somewhere between those two ends. You pick the level of integration that fits your life.

Yes. Adaptive reuse is one of the most common paths in modern community living. A group of people can pool resources to buy an apartment building, an old school, a warehouse, or a college campus, and convert it into a community where each person owns their own unit while sharing common amenities.

A music-focused example: a group of musicians buys an apartment building, each owns their own unit (typically as a condominium), and the building includes shared soundproof rehearsal rooms, a recording space, a roof deck for performances, and a common lounge. Each owner can sell their unit on the open market. The shared amenities are governed by an HOA or condo association. The shared interest is what makes it a community.

The same model works for artist lofts, wellness retreats, multi-generational family compounds, sober-living buildings, surf houses, climbing collectives, or any group with a shared interest and the capital to acquire a property together.

An interest based community brings people together around shared passions such as wellness, surfing, music, cooking, pickleball, or mindfulness.

An age focused community is designed for a specific life stage, such as 55+ adults, retirees, or empty nesters, with priorities and programming built for that group.

A values based community is centered on shared principles such as sustainability, inclusion, faith, creativity, service, or intentional living.

A lifestyle community is organized around how people want to live day to day, such as urban walkability, rural simplicity, eco living, active aging, or multigenerational connection.

A location based community is anchored in a specific place where members prioritize climate, geography, local culture, and proximity.

A host led community has an instigator or small leadership team guiding vision, onboarding, member curation, and operating decisions.

A showcase profile helps you explore ideas and fit. A live joinable community is actively accepting applications and has a defined process for participation.

A developing community is still forming and may be building its member base, legal structure, location plan, or housing strategy before full launch.

No. Communities vary in governance, ownership model, leadership style, and member participation expectations. There is a saying in the field worth remembering: if you’ve seen one community, you’ve seen one community. The label tells you the structural model, not the culture, daily rhythm, or feel.

Start with non negotiables: location, budget, lifestyle, values, and social rhythm. Then compare communities by practical fit, not label alone.

Compliance note: Community labels are informational only. Every community is unique, and actual structure, criteria, governance, and participation terms may vary.

Yes. Members can explore and apply to multiple neighborhoods based on their interests and lifestyle goals. Each community operates independently, so membership may involve separate commitments and governance structures. We recommend reviewing each community’s details carefully before applying.

ALOHA welcomes investors who believe in the power of intentional communities. However, each community sets its own policies regarding investor participation and owner-occupancy requirements. Please check each community’s page for specific details.

People who value connection, shared interests, and intentional living. Members include families, retirees, professionals, artists, and others who want more than just a house. Common motivations include:

• Addressing loneliness and finding genuine belonging
• Downsizing while staying active and engaged
• Creating neighborhoods built around shared values
• Solving housing challenges through collaboration
• Lowering costs through shared amenities and planning
• Seeking a fresh start away from social or political friction

These are people who want to build something together, intentionally and thoughtfully.

Each community may set its own criteria, but generally members should share the community’s interests, align with its values, and be financially prepared to meet commitments as the project progresses.

No. These are not required to apply. However, community leaders may request financial documentation later in the process to ensure members can meet project commitments.

Each community may charge a membership fee to cover hosting and operating costs on the ALOHA platform. This helps ensure members are serious and filters out bots and trolls. The actual cost of the real estate development varies widely and is set by the community’s elected leaders.

You still have options. Coliving rooms, work-trade arrangements, caretaker positions, and shared-housing models all reduce or remove buy-in barriers. Some communities offer seller financing or rent-to-own paths. Income-sharing communities require no buy-in at all but expect significant labor and full participation in shared economy. ALOHA can help you explore creative paths if traditional ownership isn’t the right fit yet.

Commitment expectations are defined by each community’s governing documents. These outline rules for selling or transferring ownership and help maintain stability. Review these documents before making any long-term commitment. Communities that demand lifelong commitment without a clear exit path are a red flag worth taking seriously.

We’d love to hear from you. Start the Host Application at Start a New Community or reach out via Contact.

No. The most successful communities balance autonomy with connection. Most members have private homes, doors that close, and full freedom to opt in or out of community life. Many community members are introverts who chose community precisely because it made connection easier without forcing it. Community is not the opposite of privacy. The best communities give you both.

No, and you probably should not try. The healthiest communities look for like-hearted people, not just like-minded ones. People willing to engage across differences while sharing core values. Communities that demand total agreement are often brittle. Communities that build skills for working through disagreement tend to last.

Some, yes. Communities make decisions together, and that requires meetings. The frequency varies. Some communities meet weekly; others meet monthly or quarterly. People who hate meetings tend to fit better in independent-ownership models with minimal shared decision-making, such as interest-based neighborhoods or real estate-led developments. People who want a voice in everything tend to fit better in cohousing or income-sharing.

Many community members are introverts. The structure of community life often makes connection easier for introverts because it removes the awkward "how do we meet people" problem. Most communities respect alone time. Doors close. Quiet hours exist. You opt into shared life on your own schedule.

Many communities are explicitly designed around families. Children grow up with adults besides their parents who know their names. Other kids become a constant presence. The "village to raise a child" isn’t a metaphor in community settings; it’s the daily reality. Some communities are mixed-generation, some are family-focused, and some are adults-only.

Many communities have homeschool co-ops, learning pods, or families who school their kids together. Some are near public schools that fit their values. Some have on-site schools using approaches like Waldorf, democratic, or other alternative models. Ask about the local school options and whether community families share educational approaches. Good communities have ready answers.

Aging in community is one of the fastest-growing reasons people choose this path. Senior cohousing, multi-generational ecovillages, and care-based communities all offer alternatives to isolated single-family living and institutional aging. The premise is simple: people in community know each other, watch out for each other, and step in when something is wrong. The 85-year Harvard Study of Adult Development consistently finds that strong relationships are the single most reliable predictor of healthy longevity.

Many communities are exploring how to be accessible. Some have ground-floor units, accessible common spaces, and members who actively contribute caregiving. Some are still working on it. A few are explicitly built around inclusion of members with and without disabilities. Ask specifically: ground-floor housing, common house accessibility, accommodations for chronic illness, environmental sensitivities. The right community will treat your needs as information, not as a burden.

Yes. Many communities are explicitly built around shared identity, life experience, or values. Communities for LGBTQ members, neurodivergent residents, single parents, veterans, people in recovery, BIPOC members, faith-based groups, and many others exist. Some are by and for specific populations. Others are broadly welcoming and demonstrably so. When a community describes itself, take that description seriously. When a community is silent on these questions, ask directly.

Communities vary widely. Some are explicitly sober. Some are explicitly cannabis-friendly. Some are vegan or vegetarian. Some are smoke-free indoors, outdoors, or both. There is no universal rule. Ask each community directly. The best fit is one where their policy matches your actual life, not the version of yourself you wish you were.

Most communities welcome pets. Some have limits, species rules, or breed restrictions. A few are pet-free. Ask specifically about your animals before you visit, especially for larger dogs, multiple pets, or unusual species. If you have a service animal, federal law requires accommodation in most housing situations.

Many communities have full broadband and reliable cell service. Some, especially rural or off-grid ones, have spotty service or rely on satellite internet. Ask each community specifically: typical internet speed, cell signal, mobile hotspot ability, dedicated work spaces, quiet hours for video calls. If your livelihood requires reliable internet, treat connectivity as a hard filter, not a question to figure out later.

The same answer everyone gives: the people. Communities surface every relationship habit you have, good and bad. Conflict happens. Most adults were never taught skills for working through disagreement constructively. The first year can be a personal growth workshop. The best part is also the people.

Drama isn’t a community problem. It’s a people problem, and people are everywhere. The difference between healthy and unhealthy communities isn’t the absence of conflict but how conflict gets handled. Healthy communities have explicit processes: regular check-ins, mediation, restorative circles, the option to bring in outside facilitators. Unhealthy communities have a leader who decides who’s right and who’s wrong, or no process at all and resentment that builds for years. When you visit, ask how the last big conflict was handled. The answer tells you everything.

Healthy communities share common patterns. You can leave whenever you want without losing your money, your relationships, or your dignity. Decisions are made transparently. There is no single charismatic leader whose views can’t be questioned. Members keep contact with friends and family outside the community. Money flows are visible to all members. Conflict is processed openly, not punished.

Red flags include pressure to commit fast or sign over assets, isolation from outside relationships, a leader whose authority can’t be questioned, vague answers about money, people who left being treated as enemies, escalating demands for time or labor, and ideological framing that punishes doubt. Visit before committing. Talk to former members if you can find them. If something feels off, trust that.

Visit communities. Every practitioner, author, and founder in this field gives the same answer. Browsing online has limits. A weekend on the ground tells you more than a month of reading. Many communities welcome visitors through scheduled tours, work-trade weekends, or guest stays. Some have full immersion programs lasting weeks or months.

ALOHA’s Community Showcase is one starting point. The Foundation for Intentional Community (ic.org) has a directory of over 1,000 communities. The Cohousing Association (cohousing.org) lists cohousing communities. Ecovillage Tours organizes group trips to multiple communities. Many regions have local networks. ALOHA pulls from these sources and adds our own listings.

Most of the active community-living conversation happens in the U.S., but there are thousands of communities globally. Ecovillage Tours focuses on international visits. The Global Ecovillage Network connects communities across continents. Many seekers find their fit abroad. Visa, residency, healthcare, and legal structure all become more complex internationally, but the option exists.

Ask about daily life, not just structure. What do meals look like? How do decisions actually get made when people disagree? What was the last conflict, and how was it handled? Walk the property. Eat with people. Stay overnight if possible. Notice how you feel after 24 hours. Notice how people treat each other when they think no one is watching.

A Discovery Trip is a multi-community visit designed to help you compare options before you decide. Some are self-organized. Some are guided by tour operators or community advisors. ALOHA can help with both. The advantage of seeing two or three communities in a week is comparison. Each one teaches you what to ask about the next.

That’s information, not failure. Most seekers visit several communities before finding their fit. A wrong-fit visit sharpens your sense of what you actually want. Many people say their first visit clarified more by what they did not want than by what they did.

Community members shape the design collaboratively. Some projects involve converting existing properties; others start from scratch. Typically, up to three elected leaders guide the process while members weigh in on design, budgeting, and amenities. ALOHA provides tools and guidance to support a fair, transparent process.

Yes. Each community establishes its own rules and governance documents (similar to an HOA or CC&Rs). ALOHA’s legal partners provide templates and options to help communities draft clear, inclusive guidelines aligned with their shared vision.

Yes. When a community moves forward, it typically forms a legal entity (LLC, corporation, co-op, or another structure recommended by legal counsel). Governing documents outline decision-making, ownership, and responsibilities. Members should perform due diligence just as they would for any real estate investment.

You can express interest during the application or creation process. Leaders are typically elected by community members and play a key role in guiding planning and recruitment.

Hosts organize, recruit, and facilitate community planning. They act as liaisons between members and ALOHA, ensuring the project stays on track.

Not necessarily, though it’s encouraged. Some hosts may act as facilitators without becoming residents.

Yes. Communities can design shared spaces like gardens, pools, co-working spaces, soundproof music rooms, or other unique amenities, determined during the planning process.

Absolutely. Members are encouraged to share ideas, and ALOHA provides tools to help bring those ideas to life.

Yes. Accessibility and sustainability are priorities. Communities can incorporate features like wheelchair-friendly design, renewable energy systems, and more.

Many people are in this exact position. You have a vision, maybe a few interested people, but not yet land or structure. The work right now is to formalize. Write a one-page values statement. Define what "co-founder" means in terms of commitment, financial expectation, and time. Set a deadline (often six months) to land, structure, or first commitment. Forming groups can list publicly on ALOHA so other potential co-founders can find you.

They get stuck in what practitioners call the potluck stage. The group meets, talks values, draws plans, but never moves to land, money, or legal structure. Action is the difference between a discussion group and a community. The fix is uncomfortable but simple: set deadlines, raise the first dollar, get the first contract, visit the first parcel.

Yes. Communities are real estate, contracts, and group decision-making, all at once. A lawyer who understands cooperative structures (co-op, LLC, land trust, condo association, HOA) is essential. An experienced community advisor can save you years of mistakes. ALOHA can connect you with both.

Conflicts are addressed through the community’s established guidelines and dispute-resolution processes. Healthy communities have explicit processes: regular check-ins, mediation, and the option to bring in outside facilitators. ALOHA offers recommendations and templates for managing conflicts constructively, but every community handles this its own way.

ALOHA supports the full range of community types people are forming today. Common ones include:

• Cohousing. Private homes clustered around a common house with shared meals and amenities.
• Intentional community. Broad term for any group that has consciously chosen to share life together.
• Coliving. Shared-household model, often rental, with private bedrooms and shared living spaces.
• Ecovillage. Land-based community focused on ecological sustainability and regenerative practices.
• Senior cohousing or 55+. Age-focused community designed for active aging.
• Intergenerational community. Explicitly mixed ages, often with caregiving and mentoring built in.
• Housing cooperative. Members own shares in a corporation that owns the building or land.
• Agrihood or farm community. Homes built around a working farm.
• Homestead or off-grid community. Self-sufficiency, often rural, often with shared infrastructure.
• Commune. Shared income, shared resources, deeply interdependent daily life.
• Tiny home community. Small dwellings, often with shared facilities and gathering spaces.
• Disability or special-needs community. Designed around inclusion and shared support.
• Spiritual or faith-based community. Organized around a shared religious or spiritual practice.
• Artist or creative community. Built around shared creative work, studios, performance spaces.
• Wellness-focused community. Built around health, movement, healing modalities, retreat practices.
• Urban intentional community. Community life inside a city, often a single building or block.
• Rural intentional community. Community life on land, with space for farming and outdoor activity.
• Land trust community. Land held collectively by a trust, with members holding long-term leases.
• Manufactured-home community. Resident-owned mobile or manufactured home parks.
• Adaptive reuse community. Existing building (school, warehouse, church, hotel) converted into housing.
• New-build planned community. Designed and built from scratch around a specific vision.
• Hybrid or mixed model. Combines elements of multiple types.

Communities exist in many physical configurations. Common ones include:

• Neighborhood of detached homes. Individual houses with shared common areas.
• Condos or apartments. Multi-unit buildings, often with shared amenities.
• Shared house. Single dwelling with multiple residents and private bedrooms.
• Mixed housing types. Combination of homes, condos, and other forms in one community.
• Tiny homes. Small dwellings, often clustered with shared facilities.
• Campus or dorm-style buildings. Multiple buildings on shared land, common in adaptive reuse projects.
• Mobile or manufactured homes. Resident-owned manufactured housing.
• Rural land with scattered homes. Homes spread across acreage with shared resources.
• Retreat center or lodge. Primary dwelling structure with cabins, cottages, or accessory units.
• Adaptive reuse of existing property. Converted school, warehouse, church, hotel, or hospital.
• New build or planned development. Community designed and constructed from the ground up.
• College campus redevelopment. Entire former campus converted to mixed-use community housing.

How property is owned varies widely. Common structures include:

• Condominium association. Each member owns their unit; common areas are jointly owned and managed.
• Homeowners association (HOA). Each member owns their home and lot; shared amenities and rules are managed by the HOA.
• Tenancy in common (TIC). Multiple owners hold an undivided interest in the same property; often used for buildings being shared.
• Member cooperative. Members own shares in a corporation that owns the building or land; the share entitles them to occupy a unit.
• Limited equity cooperative. Cooperative with capped resale prices to keep housing permanently affordable.
• Community Land Trust (CLT). A nonprofit trust owns the land; members own the homes and lease the land long-term.
• Mutual housing association. Nonprofit-owned multi-family housing where residents hold long-term occupancy rights.
• Income-sharing commune. No individual ownership; the community as a whole owns assets and shares income.
• Property management company. Community owned by an LLC or corporation, with members as residents or shareholders.
• Foundation-owned. Property held by a foundation with members as beneficiaries or residents.
• Rental community. Members rent units; ownership is held by the community entity, a developer, or another party.

How decisions get made varies as widely as ownership. Common structures include:

• Owner-led or founder-led. The community’s founder or owner makes decisions, often during early stages.
• Manager-led. A hired or appointed manager handles day-to-day decisions.
• Developer-controlled, transitioning to resident control. Common in new-build communities; control transfers as the community matures.
• Elected board. Members elect representatives who make decisions on their behalf.
• Council of elders. Long-standing or respected members serve as decision-making council.
• Rotating leadership. Leadership roles rotate among members on a schedule.
• Committee-based. Different committees handle different domains (finance, hospitality, land, conflict).
• Working groups with autonomy. Small teams have authority to act within their area without full-community approval.
• Consensus. Every member must agree (or formally stand aside) for a decision to pass.
• Modified consensus. Consensus with a fallback (e.g., supermajority vote if consensus fails after multiple attempts).
• Consent-based decision-making. Decisions pass when no member has a principled objection (lower bar than consensus).
• Sociocracy. A structured system based on consent, circles, and double-linked governance roles.
• Sociocracy 3.0. Open-source evolution of sociocracy with patterns adaptable to any group.
• Holacracy. Structured self-governance system with defined roles and tactical meetings.
• Democratic majority vote. Majority rules.
• Supermajority vote. Requires more than 50% (typically 2/3 or 3/4) for major decisions.
• Weighted voting. Votes count differently based on equity, tenure, or other factors.
• Direct democracy. Every member votes on every significant decision.
• Hybrid models. Most real communities combine consensus, elected boards, and committees.
• DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). Blockchain-based governance where decisions are made and recorded on-chain.
• Self-managed. Informal decision-making with no formal governance structure.

The corporate wrapper around the community matters for taxes, liability, and how decisions are legally binding. Common entity types include:

• LLC (Limited Liability Company). Flexible structure, common for community-owned real estate.
• Cooperative corporation. Owned by its members, structured for collective ownership.
• Cooperative nonprofit. Combines cooperative ownership with nonprofit purpose.
• 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Charitable nonprofit; useful for educational or service-oriented communities.
• Foundation. A foundation can hold land or assets for community benefit.
• Condominium association. Required for condo-structured communities.
• HOA (Homeowners Association). Required for many planned developments.
• Land Trust. Nonprofit trust holding land in perpetuity, often paired with long-term member leases.
• Religious or monastic order. For monasteries, ashrams, and faith-based communities.
• Kibbutz-style collective. Collective ownership with shared work and resources.
• Other incorporated entity. Benefit corporations, B-Corps, or jurisdiction-specific structures.

Compliance note: Choosing the right legal structure has tax, liability, and resale implications. Always work with a lawyer who understands cooperative and shared-ownership real estate. ALOHA can connect communities with legal partners who specialize in these structures.

An English auction is a transparent bidding process where participants bid openly against each other with each successive bid higher than the previous one. In real estate, it can be used to allocate units fairly when demand exceeds supply, with the highest bidder winning.

A priority selection process assigns selection order based on a predefined ranking, often the order members joined or committed. It ensures an equitable, organized approach to allocating limited resources like housing units.

Tiered pricing is a strategy where early adopters receive lower prices to compensate for higher risk. As more participants join and the project progresses, prices increase to reflect reduced risk and higher demand.

Priority incentives are benefits offered based on commitment level or order of joining. These can include early access to unit selection, discounted pricing, premium upgrades, or exclusive amenities.

Communities listed on ALOHA agree to a basic code of conduct. Members can leave at any time without losing their money or relationships. Money flows are transparent. There is no single unquestionable leader. We verify basic information before listing. We do not, and cannot, verify every internal dynamic of every community. Visit before you commit, always.

Fair Housing law in the United States protects against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, family status, national origin, and disability. ALOHA doesn’t filter housing options by these traits, even when users ask us to. Communities describe themselves in their own profiles. If a community has lawful membership criteria (such as 55+ housing under HOPA, or single-sex shared housing under specific conditions), they explain it themselves. We respect your search, and we respect the law.

Yes by default. You control whether any of your answers, story, or skills become part of a public profile. You can edit, export, or delete your data at any time.

Through a mix of community listings, premium founder tools, real estate services, advisor referrals, and tour partnerships. We disclose referral relationships when they apply. We do not sell user data. We do not use the fit quiz to filter housing access.

We offer educational materials, templates for governance, mentorship opportunities, and access to trusted professionals to support every stage of community development.

Reach out at Contact. A real person reads every message.

Commons is the private workspace inside every ALOHA community. Once you are accepted into a community, you enter that community’s Commons, where you meet other members, see updates from the founder, attend events, discuss places, review resources, and prepare to build something real together.

Every Commons member is identity-verified. Discussions are organized into clear modules like Feed, Chat, Events, Places, Decisions, Progress, Resources, and Handbook instead of an endless scroll. Every community also has clear boundaries: legal, financial, real estate, and contractual steps happen off-platform with qualified professionals, not inside ALOHA.

You can post in the Feed, coordinate in Chat, RSVP to events, discuss potential places, respond to non-binding decisions, follow the community’s progress, read the Handbook, browse resources, and join working groups.

Find a community that fits you, apply, and wait for the founder to review your application. Once accepted, you’ll receive access to that community’s Commons.

It doesn’t. ALOHA does not handle deposits, escrow, member fund pooling, or contract signing for project commitments. Formal legal, financial, real estate, and contractual steps happen off-platform with qualified professionals.