Expert: David Beckett - 10/22/2006

Question
My husband and I are thinking of moving to Burlington, Vermont within the next two years.  We are newly married and would like to move out of Las Vegas to a more family-friendly town to raise children.  We are looking for a nice three bedroom home with a small amount of land for no more than $275,000.  Is this a realistic amount for that kind of home near Burlington or surrounding areas?  Any information would be helpful about Vermont lifestyle as well.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Wendy -

Thanks for your question. I love questions I can answer pretty well, like this one! The answer is a resounding Yes.

I belong to the local MLS, which gives me information on every home on the market in VT - regardless of what agent or company has it listed. So I searched Chittenden County (which is essentially the greater Burlington area) and there were 134 single family homes on the market offered for between $175,000 and $275,000. I removed the ones with less than a half acre, and here are the ones remaining:
http://www.vreinmls.com/ver/maildoc/d005Qm7944.html
If this link doesn't come through clickable, try pasting it into a new browser window...

As to Vermont Lifestyle...I'll do my best:
There are several significant differences between VT and Vegas, perhaps starting with the fact that we have 4 distinct seasons here. I wouldn't give up one of them for all the tea in China.

Another very important difference is that we're very much a New England state.

In the Burlington area, there's a real sense of community and neighborliness, and the sense of community involvement possible here is very strong.

From Burlington, it's possible to get to 4 major ski resorts in less than an hour, yet Lake Champlain is right here, a short walk from our downtown. Boston is only a 3.5 hour drive, NYC is a short ride on Jet Blue Airlines, and you can drive to Montreal in an hour and three quarters. I go the pretty back roads, through The Champlain Islands - and still drive it in under 2 hours.

Burlington's also got an astonishing amount of Arts and Culture, particularly for a city it's size, and that's partly due to our location.

I'd be happy to help more with the questions about lifestyle, but I can probably do that better if I have some sense of what your interests are.

Regards,
David Beckett
david@askdavidbeckett.com
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