ETSU chapter, Iota Omnicron Zeta
 

gets their new house...

http://www.iotaomicron.com/housing.asp

Looks much bigger, but from the web site, I kind of like the front of the old one!

Bigger and hopefully newer is better!:)

Great house!!!

The best thing about it is that it is actually a HOUSE.

I've been in many fraternity houses throughout New England. The one thing I like is that many of them are converted from old mansions or houses. They have a certain "charm" and "home-like" characteristic to them.

The one type of house that I cannot stand is the dorm style, concrete walls, 10 x 10 square room that looks more like an institution than a home.

A fraternity house should have character, history, most important, flaws. You want brothers to carve initials into a closet door. You want the memory of some stain on the ceiling. It is so tough to get that type of history and memory from a dorm style house. Not that it can't be done, but it is so difficult.

Oh Do I agree with you on that point!

Cement Block Building with names or letters, GAG!:eek:

Quaintness is a big part of a Chapter house, not like a dorm or prison!;)

I agree that big, old, ramshackled wood houses are quaint, but they're also expensive to maintain, sometimes impractical, and can be fire traps.

My mom was in a nursing home - a very nice place with an entry foyer, large dining room, offices. It was built in a horseshoe shape with a nice courtyard, and had lots of semi-private rooms. I looked around one day and thought, "Damn. This would make a pretty good fraternity house!"

And if the chapter ever closes, you could sell it as a nursing home. :)

Welcome to ohio state home, of the 4 story brick shoe box, ugliest building on 15th. Ill be damned if someone can knock it down though. Solid concrete, perfect for them damn buckeye kids.

Yeah, Jono is right. The classic fraternity houses are a thing of the past. That kind of detail and craftsmanship is just not feasible in today's society, ESPECIALLY not for a fraternity house.

In Amherst, right by the town green/common, there are HUGE mansions that used to belong to the Amherst College fraternities before they were banned some 40 years ago.

I'm talking beautiful, turn of the century architecture, with detail like you wouldn't believe.

They've been hollowed out and are dorms now. But the outsides remain.

That is so damn sad as We as Greeks were known for the fantastic houses.

But as Jono mentioned the upkeep is out of friggen sight! Money pits!:(

Trying to build the same elevation with new inovations is $$$$.

Our new house was 3/4 Mil and we owned the three lot corner. Normal size for our school size and nothing like the Big Schools homes.

History being lost once again from Greeks doing something important!:o

ZetaPhi, I though LCAP had already had a house for LXA's at your university?

Hey Gamma.....yes the UTC chapter does have a house here in Chattanooga. The link I posted was for the ETSU chapter up in Johnson City TN.

Well, depends on the situation and what state you are in.

If you have a strong enough chapter, you can go about it in several ways.

I think the most commonly used approached to actually purchasing a house for chapter purposes would be to form an organization or a corporation that would hold title.

Really, a zeta (or chapter) is a more complex version of a college club. You just wouldn't have an organization with revolving membership say one day "let's buy a house" and actually go out and buy one.

Well, I guess you technically could and each member would hold a tenancy in common with the other brothers, but the legal mess would make it almost impossible and definately not worth it.

So once you establish some entity (and how that entity will run) to purchase, and hopefully maintain the property, you need some financing.

This depends on what part of the country and what state you are in.

The basic structure would be: Zeta Corporation purchases property with funds from a mortgage (and hopefully alumni contributions). Zeta Corporation either leases or rents the property to the chapter as a whole or individual members. Chapter or individual members pay rent to the corporation. Zeta Corporation pays the debts and upkeep.

J, what state are you in? My very first piece of advice would be to look in your alumni directory and find an alumni who is admitted to practice law in your state. That should be step one.

One thing about LXA, we produce A LOT of lawyers. There's probably a dozen of us on this board. Out of 30 brothers when I was an active, 6 of us went to law school.

Find an alumni lawyer willing to donate some time to the cause. The main purpose is to set up the controlling organization. It's not hard or expensive work and almost every lawyer should be able to do it.

We're located in North Carolina. You see our chapter is currently being re-colonized because we were kicked off campus in 2001. A few bad apples ruin it for everyone. We were a pillar on campus. At the time we had a 30 room home, which was the biggest and nicest looking house on fraternity row. We'll after we were shut down the house was sold, gutted, and turned into an apartment complex. We are not a strong enough chapter currently, but getting a house is one of our goals.

There is a on campus Greek facility called the village. It was built by the university in hopes Greeks would live there. For the price I would need to pay to live in a house down there, I could have a nice apartment, water and utilities included. I would also not have every person in the village in my business. Many organizations are going in debt because they cannot afford to live there, or they have better opportunities.

How's your alumni support?

You hit the nail on the head!

First thing, form a House Corporation.

Second try renting a house and save money! From what I am seeing, the College Greek living is way over priced and can kill a GLO!:rolleyes: Try and make sure that the price of living in the house is equal to apartments and dorm living.
I t may not be fancy as the New Greek Living, but you will last they may not!
As you Brothers are just coming back, you need to grow first and then put money backin the coffers!

Yes, I know Joe Clary, small world isn't it!:D

Good Luck!!!!