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Corey307 t1_j6v94t3 wrote

I’d like to preface by saying that mortgage rates are extremely high right now, this is not a great time to buy a house. Sure if you’ve got good credit you could always refinance your mortgage later but the extremely high interest rates right now are going to be a limiting factor for most home buyers since so much more mortgage is going to interest these days than it was in 2019. Jobs also pay very little here so unless you’re bringing a remote job with you that’s going to make buying home difficult.

Be forewarned that the housing stock here is very limited, pretty much everything is a fixer upper and houses are routinely selling for over asking price. You’re competing against rich people buying vacation homes and assholes buying homes to rent out for Airbnb. We have high property taxes also so there that in mind. A lot of homes aren’t hooked up to city water, gas or sewer so that’s some thing else to factor in, none of that’s the end of the world bright having to maintain or worse replace a septic system, replace well pumps and stuff like that can pose unexpected expenses.

It’s a lovely place to live but you may be unpleasantly surprised by how little there is to do pretty much anywhere in the state, remember this is a very low population state so if you love the outdoors you’ll be fine but otherwise you might get really bored.

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Ambitious_Ask_1569 t1_j6yjc94 wrote

Vermont is turning into what Maine on the coast has become. Impossible to afford for locals. We are becoming service personnel for the rich.

Vermont was better before Starbucks.

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Corey307 t1_j6z5tnl wrote

Very much so. I came here about four years ago but I’m blue collar and bought a house that had sat on the market. I’m giving serious consideration to moving to Maine myself for lower property taxes and less expensive land. The plan was to buy my house here, fix it up in a year then flip it and get something in the country where I can homestead properly. Plan a huge garden, get fruit and nut trees in the ground, harvest timber, raise animals and all that good stuff. Coronavirus screwed up my plans but I’m working on it. The state is lovely but it’s become unaffordable.

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rufustphish t1_j6w4z25 wrote

You should set up shop at a welcome center to help educate folks, /s

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Doodlesworth t1_j6wioe8 wrote

Sadly, this is only true in Vermont. Housing in the rest of the country isn't affected by our high interest rates and is super easy to find.

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Corey307 t1_j6yb8xf wrote

I know home prices are fucked everywhere but our property taxes are quite high and what you get for the money here ain’t great.

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MontyoftheFuture t1_j6z1fzb wrote

I think our property taxes are pretty reasonable. I have family members in the NYC area who pay $30,000 in property taxes for very average homes. Sure the schools are better, but you pay a lot more.

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Corey307 t1_j6z4nca wrote

That’s because they live in New York City, one of the very highest priced housing markets in the country. I don’t get much for my about $6500 in taxes a year here since I work and don’t have kids but I understand that those taxes are necessary.

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psychicfrequency OP t1_j6vapxn wrote

No problem with a fixer upper. I'm pre-approved for a mortgage and my loan officer knows I'm considering Vermont as my home.

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Vermontess t1_j6wxayg wrote

You’ll probably run into some roadblocks with the condition of houses in your 300k price range. Are you capable of renovating the house by yourself?

It’s really hard to find any tradesmen here that aren’t booked out for a year at least and they are hesitant to take on anything but the largest most lucrative projects.Things have been slowing down a little, but it is still much more expensive to have anything renovated here than in other parts of the country. Contractors are still giving “go away” price quotes as they have more business than they need

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