When a building you care about goes up for sale, bring the listing to ChatGPT or Claude with the Community Buyout Kit. Explore ways to buy it, raise the money, and run it, and come away with a brief to share with your neighbors.
When a place your neighborhood depends on goes up for sale, the next owner decides what happens to it. Buying it together puts that decision in your hands. You can own the building, run what’s inside it, or both.
Neighbors buy the property together and become its owners. You share what it costs to keep it standing: the loan payments, property taxes, insurance, and repairs. In return, you decide who uses the space and on what terms, instead of waiting to see what a new owner does with it.
If the building houses a café, a shop, or a community space, your group can run it too. That means taking on the staff, the day-to-day costs, and whatever income it brings in. It’s more work and more risk, but it gives neighbors the most say over what the place becomes.
Or you can own the building and let a separate business run what’s inside. The tenant pays rent, which helps cover what the building costs to own. This is often how a beloved shop stays put: neighbors buy the building, and the shop keeps its home.
Download the kit. Save the kit file to your computer. If it opens as text, use your browser’s Save As.
Open ChatGPT or Claude and attach the kit. Start a new chat and attach the file you downloaded.
Paste the real estate listing. Paste a listing link, or type the address and whatever you know. You’ll get a brief to share with your neighbors.
The kit is a set of instructions you give to an AI. It works in chat apps that can read file attachments, or as a skill in an AI agent. The brief it produces covers:
Milford, New Hampshire
Could neighbors buy this building and keep its two storefronts available to local businesses?
Illustrative figures before fundraising costs.
First step: Find out whether the owner is considering offers, then ask for current leases and operating costs.
No. One person can start with a building they care about. The brief is meant to help you start the conversation with neighbors.
You can start without an asking price or full details. The brief labels what’s unknown and tells you what to find out first.
Any chat app that can read file attachments, or an AI agent that can open the kit’s files. What the AI can look up on its own depends on the app.
No. The brief is a starting point for discussion. Before making commitments, talk to a local lawyer, lender, or other qualified adviser.
The kit is free and open source. You’ll need access to an AI app to use it.
Have a building you’ve wondered about buying with your neighbors, or feedback on the kit? Tell us at @communitybuyout on X.
The kit is a first draft and still in development. Read more about the project or get the kit on GitHub.