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VT or bust

Tvan

Angel Diva
@Skivt2 - you may already know about this resource, but I'm sharing for others who may not know about it. ThinkVermont is the Vermont State website with resources for people who want to relocate to Vermont.
 

TeleChica

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The real estate situation in a lot of places is crazy. I'm hearing the same thing from family and friends in Ohio, believe it or not. And my colleague who lives in the Atlanta area and her wife have been priced out a couple of times looking for their first home. If you look in the Boston area on Zillow, nearly every decent home listed says, "Under contingency." My question is: Where are people moving FROM?
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Around here we're 2 hours east of Toronto. With so many people working from home and most are not going to be back in downtown Toronto, they are moving out. My City is in 4th place as the most desirous place to move to in Ontario (U-Haul study). Prices are just stupid. PEC is even worst. And as one local said, once these city folk spend a winter here, they'll change their minds. Summers are great, sand, water, wineries, farms. Winter...cold winds off Lake Ontario, lake effect snowstorms, power outages...much like rural New England.
 

Skivt2

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am praying they figure it out fast so we can catch a deal As they give up. I’m a country mouse. Lol. I Already live(? -legally I guess) in a rural northern CT town with only 4,000 residents. But I really like winter and I love my VT community so I want to be there full time. its been hard with the virus and feeling unwelcome as we have to quarantine and stay for a while in each place. We have been in VT since 12/18. But stressing about our house in CT and doctors appointment etc. it used to fine going back and forth every three days. It’s only 150 miles. Now it’s weird. Last year at the World Cup the chamber of commerce had a sign up at a booth where they were advertising the “move to Vermont“ program. The sign said “you can’t get 100 days if you don’t live here”. I told them they were wrong. I skied killington 113 days the winter of 18/19. Lol. Vermont considers me a resident now but my domicile is still CT. I’d love to pay my income tax to VT instead.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
i did already contact the local realtors that deal in seasonal rentals to get on the list and hopefully at least be ahead of that curve. I contacted folks two weeks ago as soon as I knew the condo would eventually be listed. It’s excellent advice to get in early. In the past we have paid half our annual rent as a deposit in March for a lease that did not start until June 1st. And I will have that same chunk of cash sitting waiting for an opportunity to use it this March. But I am getting the impression that there will not be much inventory. i think it looks like we will be lucky to find a seasonal at all and if we do it may cost more for 6 months than we were paying for 12. Everything for sale is being snatched up and turned into Airbnb’s. Most people only rent seasonally if they can’t sell and also can’t make bank with or deal with short term rentals. But the economics have changed. Everyone can sell if they want and those who are buying are either using it themselves Or converting to an STR. My friends are all reaching out to folks they know with rental units to see if they would consider a seasonal with impeccable references from our current landlord. But so far the answer is always the same. They can make more through Airbnb.

i know I’m whining for my situation but for folks reading this and looking for a seasonal next year as well, I think it’s going to be super hard to get in.

I totally get your frustration, you have every reason to be aggravated by what happened so close to your time to reach the goal of the process you both put in place years ago. Hopefully it won't change in any crazy manner in the end. :goodluck:

My advice for those looking for seasonals is to use word of mouth references as much as you possibly can versus rental agencies, unless you can get lucky with them early. Last season a diva put me in contact with a friend who was renting their unit out. Then for this season I had the hardest time getting a seasonal and that was when people were still worried about booking them so far in advance without knowing how Covid might impact the mountain's ability to open. People started really upping the prices because there are few really ever available on mountain especially. I posted all over local Facebook groups (to the Sunday River area) and had a woman who was awesome in trying to get me into her friend's rental but it didn't end up working out since the friend only wanted to do a small part of the season. However, this same woman then came back to me later with another friend's rental who she put me in contact with and I ultimately ended up renting from him. My rental was cheaper this way than through agencies who are making commission off of it and charging taxes etc.. The owner was more concerned with getting a good tenant with great references than maxing out the rental price. I actually offered to buy his unit earlier this season, but he doesn't want to let go of it. Has owned it for 20 years and now has a house in town but uses the ski locker and one of the parking spots that go with having a condo on mountain. He didn't advertise his rental though, so I never would have found it without random networking and a bit of luck. There are a lot of VT divas here, maybe someone knows someone with a rental??
 

Skivt2

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you ski diva!! We are looking for a place near killington/pico. We live at Pico now. We would be fine with Bridgewater, mendon, chittenden, etc etc. of course closer to the mountain is always better. If we can’t find anything by late spring we will start thinking of a house or apartment in Rutland.
 

Skivt2

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I’m so happy I whined to all of you because maybe one of you will hear of something. We have excellent references. Our current landlord loves us but wants to cash out so she can retire early. I don’t blame her.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Thank you ski diva!! We are looking for a place near killington/pico. We live at Pico now. We would be fine with Bridgewater, mendon, chittenden, etc etc. of course closer to the mountain is always better. If we can’t find anything by late spring we will start thinking of a house or apartment in Rutland.

@ride_ski tagging you in case you know of anyone looking for renters in the area as well.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
I’ve had multiple inquiries about moving into my in-law cottage (you know, the one we had to call the cops to get the tenants out)... but my MIL isn’t going anywhere soon. guess you’re moving into my above-garage office @Jenny :laughter:
We’re not retired yet - we can wait, lol!

Selling now would just really help the retirement accounts, but we plan to need a place to live for a good long time. Seasonal rental in a few years, though . . .
 

diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The real estate situation in a lot of places is crazy. I'm hearing the same thing from family and friends in Ohio, believe it or not. And my colleague who lives in the Atlanta area and her wife have been priced out a couple of times looking for their first home. If you look in the Boston area on Zillow, nearly every decent home listed says, "Under contingency." My question is: Where are people moving FROM?
My guess is people who were previously renting. Interest rates are low, so it is a good time to get into the market if you can find a reasonably priced place to buy. I've just spent the better part of a year helping my brother to find a house and navigate the buying process. He had been renting in the same building for over 30 years. If the house we found hadn't been a short sale/estate deal, I don't think we would have been able to find anything in his budget.

@Skivt2 the short sale process was a real pain, and took almost 8 months to close from when his offer was accepted, but if you aren't in a rush to buy it could open up more possibilities for you.
 

Tvan

Angel Diva
IKR?! It would be a great time to sell our house here, too, but we still need a place to live!

The 1950’s upside down ranch house on a vertical lot two houses down from me just listed at $1M. It’s waterfront which is accessed by ~100 stair steps. No garage.

People have lost their minds.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
Man, I'm glad I already have a place to live!

Thank you ski diva!! We are looking for a place near killington/pico. We live at Pico now. We would be fine with Bridgewater, mendon, chittenden, etc etc. of course closer to the mountain is always better. If we can’t find anything by late spring we will start thinking of a house or apartment in Rutland.

BTW, Rutland can be pretty reasonable. It's not the most beautiful spot in Vermont, but it could be doable for you.
 

Tvan

Angel Diva
Rutland has a great bookstore.
 

Skivt2

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Man, I'm glad I already have a place to live!



BTW, Rutland can be pretty reasonable. It's not the most beautiful spot in Vermont, but it could be doable for you.
Yes. We think the area around killington ave stratton ave is ok. And if you turn right at sugar and spice and head towards DMV it’s nice. Hubby will probably end up working in rutvegas. We have lots of friend that live in rutland and chittenden.
 

Skivt2

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The 1950’s upside down ranch house on a vertical lot two houses down from me just listed at $1M. It’s waterfront which is accessed by ~100 stair steps. No garage.

People have lost their minds.
Yes they have! The two condos next to us sold in forclosure for around 40-45k in the past 3 years. The place is a 1 bed room 2 room flat with no storage and no outside private entrance. Only 525 square feet and the HOA is like $500 a month. I saw one sell last month for 150k. People are going to lose their shirts..
 

newboots

Angel Diva
Just a little farther out are less expensive areas. Windsor, Weathersfield, the Springfield area have some far less expensive homes and apartments. Since you are renting, you could put up with the distance for one ski season. (I suppose this is the same issue with Rutland.)

The old animosity about flatlanders had settled down considerably before the pandemic. After the pandemic started, people got frightened. Vermont had, as you know, the lowest rate of infection around. We felt comfortable and safe, for the most part. Mask compliance was pretty good (even compared to going to NH for groceries). Just like some want to blame China, others want to blame anyone who is an "outsider." It will calm down when the pandemic is mostly over.

Now I live in Beacon, NY, about 80 miles from NYC. People here complain about those "New Yorkers" who come up from the city on the weekend, crowd into restaurants, park impolitely, and are sometimes in poor mask compliance. :confused:
 

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