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[deleted] OP t1_j5n87wp wrote

You moved somewhere because it reminded you of a time before people started moving to where you used to live…irony is absolutely dead.

On a real note, Vermont is absolutely, incredibly overpriced for housing. My house has doubled in value since I bought it a mere 9 years ago. It’s bonkers. I hope your situation gets better.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5n8cu4 wrote

Right? I realize that now. Thanks, I appreciate the support.

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Outrageous-Outside61 t1_j5nf0vm wrote

Honestly look down south, there’s some great areas. Fuck renting the rest of your life.

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user-name-1985 t1_j5o0ixo wrote

Property is cheaper over the bridge in NY. Plenty of people commute to Middlebury (and Vergennes and Burlington) from Port Henry/Crown Point/Ticonderoga.

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No-Ganache7168 t1_j5owlwr wrote

Yes. We drive through those towns to visit family in NY and they are rural but much more affordable

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Northwoods01 t1_j5p6enc wrote

It pains me to see people who's family's lived here for literally hundreds of years get priced out. Will Vermont have a "serf" class who can't afford to live here? Will they commute in from other states to work for the people who bought the neighborhoods they were born in? If our lords and ladies in Montpelier can offer money for tech workers to relocate here, why can't they first help the locals?

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cjrecordvt t1_j5pe5lo wrote

"will"? Already happening, in Rutland, Bennington, Brattleboro, WRJ...

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Trajikbpm t1_j5pecy0 wrote

And who did their family take the land from?

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Beardly_Smith t1_j5nenet wrote

You were tired of people moving to your state so you decided to move to another state

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SubversiveIntentions t1_j5nefoc wrote

I was in a pretty similar spot when I moved to VT 9 years ago. After looking at housing prices it seemed like we would never own, or have to move somewhere else. Then my partner found an ad from Habitat for Humanity. I didn't think we would qualify, but we did. I don't know what Habitat looks like down in Middlebury, but I would reach out to them see if they have any projects in your area.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5omvtd wrote

Oh nice! I'll look into it, thanks :)

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Corey307 t1_j5p193g wrote

Check out the Champlain housing trust, I know a few people who bought homes through them and well you don’t own the entire home it does make homeownership a lot more affordable.

https://www.getahome.org/

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NevilleTheCactus t1_j5p2hos wrote

You own the entire home, but you lease the land it is on. For all intents and purposes, you own it all and can do whatever you want with it within reason. They set it up this way so that you are legally required to sell it back to them if you ever wish to sell. If you do sell, you only receive 25% of the net market increase, and 75% goes back into the program to help keep homeownership affordable.

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RamaSchneider t1_j5nr59j wrote

Vermont is not unique. We are a state populated by the members of the same human race that populates Montana, Texas or anywhere else.

To stay on your point: Vermont is much smaller then Montana and much closer to major urban areas such as Boston, New York and Montreal. We are much more susceptible to what you described as having happened to Montana's housing market; and we are having a huge issue with too much money buying up places that people need to live in.

I hope it works out for you folks wherever you end up.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5onifm wrote

Thank you. I guess that's one thing the two states have in common.

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Jerry_Williams69 t1_j5p9gbs wrote

Same thing is happening in Southern Michigan. When we sold our house in Michigan, we had 41 walkthroughs and 14 offers in 36 hours. Sold our house for $50,000 over $300,000 list. We paid $224,000 for the place in 2015 and did not do a ton to the place. It listed again last year for $405,000. Oh, and the ground water was polluted with PFAS.

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H0weeezy t1_j5o2ltr wrote

It’s not Vermont, it’s your apartment

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Jerry_Williams69 t1_j5ndarg wrote

Was in the same boat a year ago. We ended up paying too much for a POS townhouse. A year later, things are good. Might try looking for a POS that you can fix up. I think my family was in exactly the right place at the right time too.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5omz1z wrote

I'm glad it worked out for you in the end 😊

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Jerry_Williams69 t1_j5opwcu wrote

Check out townhouses! There are actually a ton of them in the area and a lot of people overlook them because they are filtering searches for single family homes.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5oth58 wrote

I really didn't want to live in town but we have accepted that we'll probably have to. We've been keeping townhouses on our radar, along with anything else within driving distance.

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Jerry_Williams69 t1_j5ouzks wrote

Our townhouse is on the line between Essex and Jericho. Not all of the townhouses are actually in a town.

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hotpieismyking t1_j5o9y8l wrote

You are in one of the most expensive towns in the state... Look further out in the small rural towns for a house that needs fixing up.

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Trajikbpm t1_j5ofowp wrote

Seems eveyone like OP comes here and wants to live in the most expensive populated area and cries when they can't find anything and would rather move back than look in cheaper areas. It's getting old.

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greeneyedbandit82 t1_j5oqmye wrote

The rural areas are now unaffordable as well. I also would like to live out in the sticks and have some land and get out of SB but along with the OP, anywhere within an hour commute is way out of our price range. The only 'affordable' areas I see when on Zillow is like Springfield/southern Vermont.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5on723 wrote

I have actually been wanting to live in the middle of nowhere, like back home in Montana. Don't want to live in a city. But it seems nothing is ever available except town homes.

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Trajikbpm t1_j5oez6e wrote

Shouldn't of had the baby...

Sorry I'm not taking these posts serious anymore.

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Corey307 t1_j5p0qqw wrote

While it’s a cruel thing to say it’s also honest. People in their 20s and 30s aren’t having a lot of kids these days because they are flat out unaffordable and because they spend so much time working and commuting the thought of having a family just doesn’t make sense. It seems like they are a single paycheck household and likewise isn’t really a thing anymore.

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Ket406 t1_j5nda2t wrote

Hey! I am in Montana too, and have been looking since 2018 in Vermont, but finally got the ok with work to make it happen in fall of ‘21. I have also given up at this point. I was turned away twice (not even allowed to look) from properties because we did not have all cash.

The greed run up is exactly what happened in Montana in the early 00s. Have you been back to MT recently? It’s basically a whole population turnover. White fundie Christian flight is real and I swear they all came here.

Hope you find your spot. No place is perfect but Vermont is pretty great. We have started looking in other areas. Kid starts kindergarten in the fall, so I don’t have the luxury of waiting out the real estate bubble.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5op000 wrote

Hey! I'm sorry to hear you weren't able to make it out here, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise because financially you might not have done any better here. I guess you never know what the future holds though.

No, we haven't been back since we left because it's too expensive to travel. I was born and raised outside of Helena and everytime we went to visit it broke my heart to see how different it was from when I was a kid. Bozeman is basically unrecognizable now. Seems like only the rich could afford to live in the country like we wanted so we decided there was nothing left for us there and left.

All I ever wanted was a little house in the country, with chickens and a garden so we could grow some of our own food and live a quiet life. I thought we could have that here but I guess not.

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FunkyOldMayo t1_j5oa9pq wrote

Rutland is within an hour of Middlebury and inexpensive compared to other parts of the state.

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Trajikbpm t1_j5ofzjb wrote

People that makes these posts never wanna move to a cheaper area...

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Nostalchiq t1_j5op83e wrote

:/ I have been looking in Rutland and all the cheaper areas.

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RZRPRINCESS t1_j5onwrw wrote

This is really unfortunate. However, people are right Middlebury is a very expensive tourist/college town. Always has been always will be. It's like Stowe but not as obnoxious.

Advice from a native that works in an overpriced tourist town (Stowe): If you want to buy or rent something cheaper and bigger, you are going to have to commute. It sucks but the majority of my co-workers and I that work at Stowe mountain live about 45-60 mins away from work or they have roommates to be able to afford to live semi-closer. I live 60 minutes away, but the pay makes it worth the commute.

You also are going have to take your expectations of finding a turn key home with a reasonable price out of the equation. At this point a fixer upper, mobile home or modular home may be your best bet but don't take that commute out of the equation.

Have you tried looking in Brandon? Bristol? Pittsford? areas

You are not alone the housing crisis is real and we are all waiting for these second homeowners, Airbnb owners and people that can't hack the Vermont lifestyle to get sick of it and leave. So we can finally buy again!

Don't give up.....Part of living in Vermont is overcoming adversity and becoming stronger for it.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p0k35 wrote

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement, I really appreciate it. Yes, we had to commute quite a bit back home to in order to make money. With my husband being a chef, we have to live within driving distance of larger cities, so we're used to it. We really don't want to live farther out than an hour though, that would just be too much unless the pay was incredible, which rarely is the case for kitchen workers.

We have been looking at mobile homes as well as fixer uppers that don't require too much work because my husband doesn't have time to work on a house between his job and school and I don't know anything about DIY and have a baby to watch all day. If it just looks shabby and needs a paint job though that's no problem.

We will do our best to keep our heads up and find a way out of this. Just the waiting is the hard part.

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Cobdain t1_j5nfnem wrote

What’s your rental price range? Might be able to send you to a friend who has a rental

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Nostalchiq t1_j5onqs0 wrote

That would be great! Right now the very most we can probably afford is $1,500. It's almost half our monthly take home pay but that seems to be unavoidable now.

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zombienutz1 t1_j5o8ltw wrote

Try looking into buying a fixer upper duplex. I did that (fortunately not in the current market), fixed up one half of the house to rent immediately, then worked on the half I live in.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5onzrs wrote

My husband works almost constantly and I don't know how to do DIY so that would be really tough. But I'm happy it worked out for you :)

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K9Marz919 t1_j5ofjb0 wrote

You live in Middlebury, what do you expect?

you moved to one of the most expensive areas of the state outside of Chittenden county

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Nostalchiq t1_j5omphl wrote

We actually live in Whitehall. My husband drives to Middlebury for work.

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K9Marz919 t1_j5onqz4 wrote

Whitehall NY? i can't imagine the housing market there is overpriced

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Nostalchiq t1_j5oujy4 wrote

It's not bad, but interest rates are high to buy right now and nothing is available to buy or rent in our price range. Also it would be nice to live closer to Middlebury for my husband's work so he doesn't have to drive almost two hours every day. He keeps saying that no one can get help out there because no one can afford to live there, like us. If Middlebury wants services they really need to have housing. :(

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K9Marz919 t1_j5owbyl wrote

it's a terrible time to buy with interest rates. no one is going to move right now either if they have a lower rate, no one is going to sell a home with a 2.25% mortgage to sign a new one with 7%.

try looking from rutland north, you might find something. renting/buying in middlebury is probably out of most VTer's range, especially buying

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Nostalchiq t1_j5oyafc wrote

Very true. Yes, we are definitely keeping Rutland on our radar.

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darcy1805 t1_j5p6v8j wrote

It will be a while before these are built (I think they're not breaking ground until 2024) but this will help ease the shortage in Middlebury! https://vtdigger.org/2023/01/20/up-to-250-units-planned-to-help-address-middleburys-affordable-housing-shortage/

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p8kwo wrote

My husband did mention that recently, but he said he's pretty sure most of it is reserved for students and healthcare workers.

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Ciderinsider86 t1_j5p7gmr wrote

Maybe we should all take Reddit's suggestion, and move to West Virginia. Coal country is calling!

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Check_Affectionate t1_j5o6awq wrote

I'm obsessed with this MCM stunner in Cornwall https://www.redfin.com/VT/Cornwall/687-VT-30-05753/home/91204166

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darcy1805 t1_j5opo1e wrote

You can see how great it *could* be. But the amount of work this place needs... at today's borrowing rates, it's not a great deal.

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JoeKnotbush t1_j5pebn7 wrote

And, Cornwall is like the rich suburb of Middlebury... Nothing in Addison County is gonna be cheap unless it's falling over. Look into outskirt towns on the edge of Rutland County, Leicester, Whiting, Brandon... but even then, we rented in Benson for 7 years before we found something affordable in Sudbury.

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BudsKind802 t1_j5q15va wrote

That kitchen! Original cabinets, weird layouts, linoleum floor.

This whole place is a "handyman special".

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Nostalchiq t1_j5op5ak wrote

It's really cute bute way out of our price range :(

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darcy1805 t1_j5opbxg wrote

Have you considered Brandon? It's a relatively short commute to Middlebury, has some nice downtown businesses, and seems to have more affordable housing inventory, particularly if you're open to putting in some work.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5oq1va wrote

We are looking literally anywhere within an hour if Middlebury, so yes. 👍

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Ok-Mycologist9515 t1_j5orjxa wrote

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5-Burr-Pond-Road-Sudbury-VT-05733/115805251_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

It's been on the market a long time - offer 220. With a 20% down payment your monthly payment could be under 1,500.

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JoeKnotbush t1_j5perau wrote

This is my neighbors house... It's not a bad house necessarily, the new "owners" are looking for a flip. They cleaned up the yard from the previous owner, a mason who had piles of rock and brick everywhere. It's a nice spot but right on Route 30 and kind of loud. I think a year ago that house was listing for over 325,000...

​

edit: I moved to Whitefish, MT in 2001 lived for a year and couldn't afford it being a ski bum, moved back to VT in 2004, took 12 years before we could really find anything affordable, and my salary increased enough to buy anything around Addison County. Good Luck! (and i don't mean that sarcastically!)

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Nostalchiq t1_j5osbr5 wrote

We haven't been able to save much money since food and the cost of living is so high, so we'd be lucky to be able to put down 3% :( But it's really nice! We'll keep it on my mind, thank you.

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Ok-Mycologist9515 t1_j5otdbz wrote

Have you looked into down payment assistance?

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Nostalchiq t1_j5ottxw wrote

I haven't heard of that before, but I do know we don't qualify for a lot of things because we're not first time home buyers and because my husband "makes too much". Of course they don't factor in taxes or food or insurance or anything else that leaves us with barely anything at the end of the month :(

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NevilleTheCactus t1_j5p9p3v wrote

I mean this nicely, but it does not sound like you are financially ready to purchase a home. You should work on increasing your savings, and either making more money or budgeting in a way that you aren't left with "barely anything" at the end of the month before you think about buying. Highly recommend checking out r/personalfinance

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YouthEducational7043 t1_j5ovjs1 wrote

There are several homes for sale in Port Henry that need work but are very affordable.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5oy4lf wrote

We were actually just looking in that area yesterday online! Will definitely be keeping it in mind, thanks. 😊

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Natnew11 t1_j5p5i46 wrote

Are you me? My husband grew up in Middlebury and we just moved back in Aug from Idaho. We had a baby over the summer, right before we moved. We searched for a home for over a year and caught a break when my husbands coworker knew someone selling so we were able to buy before going to market. I miss Idaho like no other… scary politics, insane housing market (it’s cooling now) but I don’t feel connected to Vermont as home yet. If you need someone to grab coffee with or a beer, let me know. We go to Middlebury to see my husbands family fairly often. You are not alone!

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p7104 wrote

Aw, thank you! That's really great that you were able to find a home :) It's tough out there right now. I spent a little over a year in Idaho and loved it, because it really didn't feel that different from Montana. We've considered moving there but I hear it's pretty expensive too these days.

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brothermuffin t1_j5p6qd9 wrote

I bought a home for 150k. It’s a mobile, with land. I don’t wish to generalize, but it’s my suspicion that most people would find something affordable if they lowered their standards a bit. My home isn’t shiny but it’s liveable. Not in the area I desired most, but damn near. Widen your net. Put in some sweat equity. Vermont is always gonna be Vermont. People everywhere have always been people. Stories shape our lives, so take a more authorial approach and don’t believe everything you read.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p7mbu wrote

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. We are definitely keeping our eyes open for mobile homes and have been since we moved here. We just don't want my husband driving more than 2 hours a day for work is all.

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SilverKelpie t1_j5p0the wrote

Maybe start looking for jobs for a chef some place in the NEK? It is significantly cheaper. It was the only place in Vermont we could reasonably afford.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p0y34 wrote

I would love to. The question is whether or not there's anything out there for him to do work-wise.

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SilverKelpie t1_j5p1s72 wrote

Well, there are restaurants out here, so maybe ask around? I just heard yesterday on this subreddit that Dusit Thai is having a staff shortage. I checked their Facebook and they do talk about having a chef shortage.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p9228 wrote

Thanks, we will check around. I doubt anywhere will pay as good as he's getting paid in Middlebury but that's the sacrifice we'll have to make I suppose.

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RZRPRINCESS t1_j5paw6i wrote

There are some pretty nice restaurants in the Newport area, it's a beautiful place and much more affordable than the Middlebury area you could probably find something decent up there to buy or rent. Stowe (for work) is an option Lamoille county might offer some better rental opportunities, they are building apartments in Morrisville.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5pd3w6 wrote

Thanks for the suggestions! That's really helpful 😊

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j5pfty7 wrote

Can he run a saw? If so he's got work haha

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Nostalchiq t1_j5pg7nu wrote

Hmm. Good question 😆

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j5phhes wrote

Honestly we don't need your brand of superficial bull crap out this way. I read your he wont shave crap and good lord. You ever think that you might be his problem? FFS

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j5pfrh4 wrote

Please don't give them ideas. The NEK is a hotbed of racism and bigotry certainly not a place to move to.

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SilverKelpie t1_j5r0574 wrote

These kinds of assessments may have more meaning for me if I hadn’t moved here from Texas.

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j5yva8y wrote

Total sarcasm there bud. The NEK gets stereotyped bad for that shit but really it's pretty quiet out here and most of the crazy shit goes on the northwest side. By far. But at the same time the rep can keep the population down which is kinda why I live here. Nice and quiet:)

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SilverKelpie t1_j5yx3lj wrote

Ha, sorry I missed that. I just hear it said so often in complete seriousness on this subreddit that it boggles my mind.

ETA: Lack of population is a huge draw for me too. I’m going to be pretty sore if we ever get to the point that the population is high enough that the ensuing light pollution blots out the Milky Way. Newport/Derby dims it enough already.

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j64uc0j wrote

NP lol I am with ya on the light pollution we are pretty active stargazers watchers whatever you call it. Fairly decent Meade lx2000 does well out here in what I call the real NEK. We are on the CT River and the Milky Way is always visible. You can hear a mouse shit at 2am in the winter here it's really incredible. I grew up in mass sadly and I am so done with it all. Cheers!

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stockuponlife t1_j5ob35b wrote

Have your tried looking in Bristol, vergenes

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Nostalchiq t1_j5op28u wrote

Yes, we are keeping our eyes open for places to open up there

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bizarre_pencil t1_j5p40ef wrote

Some areas of northern VT are more affordable, Franklin county or the NEK (Caledonia/essex/Orleans county). of course that would likely mean a career change if you’re working in the middlebury area, but sometimes it’s worth doing that. St Albans is a nice up and coming town in Franklin County and the surrounding rural towns are still fairly cheap to live.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p4ht2 wrote

It is really nice up there, I would love to live in a place like that. My husband is working on his degree right now so hopefully someday we could go that way, but while he's working as a chef we have to stick close to more urban areas unfortunately. :(

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bizarre_pencil t1_j5p52fj wrote

I hear you. Does it have to be middlebury? Franklin County can be a reasonable commute to Burlington for instance, which I’m sure has high end restaurants he could Chef at. For instance, my wife and I live in Fairfax in Franklin County and it takes just a little over 30 mins to reach Burlington or Williston areas.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5p7b85 wrote

I suppose we could start looking elsewhere, but the place he's currently at has a lot of growth potential for his career and he's on track to being promoted soon. We would hate to have to leave because of that, but if we have to we will.

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No-Ganache7168 t1_j5pi3fy wrote

When we moved from NY 21 years ago we settled in a small town that was considered the ugly stepsister of the surrounding ski towns. Houses would sit on the market for months or years. We got a good deal on a basic 3 bedroom/ 2 bath farmhouse. Fast forward and now that only the ultra rich can afford to buy in the more expensive towns, our town has been discovered by Airbnb investors and rich second home seekers. There hasn’t been an affordable home on the market in ages and there are fewer than 10 homes listed for sale. It’s crazy how unaffordable working class towns have become.

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Impossible-Bend-7456 t1_j5o872o wrote

My husband, youngest kid and myself lived in Rutland for 3 years, that was too long (2017-2020). We were lucky to take over the oldest kid's lease. Then, a year later it sold. We were lucky again to find another rental on the better side of town and more expensive. I paid them what I am currently paying for a house I purchased in NW Arkansas. It got to where businesses were closing and even trying to find decent paying work was a challenge. We finally decided to go back where life was more accommodating and cheaper cost of living. And, we have improved by leaps and bounds.

Best of luck and I pray you find the place you need to be.

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thunder-cricket t1_j5oyt8k wrote

Why do you dedicate your reddit account to shitting on Vermont? Why not, instead, contribute positively to r/Arkansas, since you love it there so much?

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Impossible-Bend-7456 t1_j5qzpxx wrote

So others won't be deceived like I was. There's 2 sides to a pancake; evidently the truth offends certain people. I am not "shitting on Vermont". I am just sharing the experience I had attempting to live there.

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thunder-cricket t1_j5rfd7w wrote

Imagine you hated, say, I don't know, say.... golf. It could be anything, but let's say, golf.

Someone told you it was a great pastime, way to get exercise, get out into nature, and a fun sport. Told you how much you'd love it. Convinced you to buy a set of expensive golf clubs, get a membership to an expensive fancy golf club.

But then you tried it, and you hated it. You it found boring, overpriced, stupid. The people there, you find pompous, vapid and aristocratic. So now, you're pissed; you spent all that money and time getting involved in something you realize you hate. So, do you move on with your life and focus on things you do enjoy? Do you let the people who enjoy golf alone, to enjoy what they like? No. Not you.

Instead, you start a reddit account, and troll r/golf. You use your account for the primary purpose to find any opportunity to tell to the people there -- people who congregate there to talk about golf, because you know, they are into golf, and they like it -- how stupid their pastime is. How terrible golf is. When you get called out on your negativity, you dishonestly say "I'm just sharing my experience. Some people are just offended by the truth."

It's called shitting on something. It's not altruistic. You're not helping anyone avoid deception. It's toxic, bitter and negative. You've been obsessed with Vermont for almost year. I hope you get over it, and find a more productive hobby, for your own sake.

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BTVwifey t1_j5na37y wrote

Same-ish, actively looking for housing in other states. Moved here for school, stayed for the charm, totally over the stealing, break-ins, and murders. Also tax increases, rent increases, and general vibes.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5opiw2 wrote

:( I hadn't heard about that other stuff.

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Corey307 t1_j5p1lj5 wrote

The other stuff is happening mostly in Burlington which is about an hour from where your husband works and you can’t afford to live in Burlington anyways so that solves that problem.

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[deleted] OP t1_j5nc243 wrote

[removed]

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Corey307 t1_j5p1hp7 wrote

Bruh OP and her husband are working class people, they’re not some lawyer or doctor from Massachusetts buying their sixth vacation home. We have a labor crisis in the state and we need to attract blue collar people to do the jobs that a lot of the recent transplants refused to do.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5opfj5 wrote

My husband is paying your state good money in taxes and getting basically nothing in return for it because we technically live in New York.

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j5ota5h wrote

What??? That's bullshit and you know it. Even if VT taxes are taken out you will get them back when you file. Let me get my boots shits getting deep in here.

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Nostalchiq t1_j5ozb2u wrote

And all of the taxes we pay on goods and services because we do all of our shopping in Vermont? I guess those don't count for anything either.

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