Variations on communal living

What it costs: About $300 a month.

What is shared: Meals (for those on the $45-a-month meal plan), chores, common spaces, some rooms are doubles.

Who owns it: A corporation made up of the members; ownership ends when they leave the co-op.

Decision-making: By majority with quorum. House meetings held every other Sunday.

Current openings: Filled with 29 members, but spots often open up.

What it costs: $400 per month, on average.

What is shared: Two dinners per week and periodic potlucks. They have several teams that do chores and periodically have a "chore fair" where people can choose what they want to work on.

Decision-making: Major community decisions are made by group consensus.

Current openings: Two three-bedroom condos priced at $135,000 and $139,000, a studio condo priced at $78,000 and a three-bedroom townhouse priced at $222,000.

What it costs: About $560 a month, which includes money to take each member out to dinner on his or her birthday.

What is shared: All common space in the house, chores. Each member cooks dinner and does the dishes twice a week.

Who owns it: Two members own the house; the rest pay rent.