Archive for the 'Real Estate News' Category

Without question the most common question we get several times a day is, ” how is the real estate market?’. Well, we live in Vermont and that is not an simple question to answer. We certainly can’t refer to Standard and Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices to track how the residential housing market is doing in Vermont. There is simply not enough data available even in the best of times. In the market we have been in over the last 24 months, data needs to be generated and analyzed by brokers wishing to have a handle on the current conditions. Here at Vermont Country Real Estate, we work throughout the entire state of Vermont which allows us to keep a pretty good handle on just how the market is doing.

So, how is the real estate market in Vermont?

Glad you asked, the last few months have shown some very interesting trends statewide. The 2008 and 2009 real estate market in Vermont was by and large very flat. Most all sectors of the marketplace experienced a very strong slowdown. Curiously, here in Vermont this does not necessarily mean that the prices have gotten too high, but rather that the buyers are very few and hence what sales do occur do not offer enough data to draw conclusions. The usual response nation wide to a slow market is to lower the pricing and trigger a response from the marketplace. But again, we have not had sufficient buyers statewide to guage if that is going to elicit an upswing in the market. Fortunately, the marketplace here in Vermont is showing a very strong resurgence. Discussions with brokers statewide confirms that inquiries on properties by way of phone calls, emails and appointments for showings are definitely improved over what it has been over the last couple of years. And yes, this is translating into properties going into contract and closing.

What about pricing?

Clearly there has been a need for many properties to have a price adjustment to reflect current conditions. Many properties have been on the market for a very long time. A property that has been on the market for over a year does not necessarily mean that it is over priced. However, the effect is that many of the newer listings coming on the market are taking into account the fact that to be competitive they must be priced well. This is where experience and understanding of the market come into play. As the marketplace is gaining strength, the pricing is still reflective of a slower time. Now is the time to be looking if you are seriously considering buying in Vermont. The properties that have been on the market in many cases have had price adjustments that make them very attractively priced. New listings tend to be what I can only term “reactionary”.  The listing brokers want to create market interest and the sellers are usually only too aware that a correct listing price is the only way to gain that.

So in short, we seem to be having a marketplace where interest and sales are taking place while listings are reacting to a slower recent past. This is creating a condition that will only exist for a short period of time. Given the activity we are experiencing so far this spring, we should see a much stronger real estate market through this spring/summer season than we have seen in a long time.

Posted by Wade I. Treadway

The most common comment I hear from people looking at real estate in Vermont is how Vermont looks and  feels so special and unique. There are many reasons for this beyond the obvious beauty of the State, the friendliness of its people and the varied cultural and recreational opportunities. Many of the reasons are a bit subliminal such as no billboards, the cleanliness and it’s iconic small villages. But there is also a solid foundation of legislative tools that have been implemented over the years to make sure that Vermont doesn’t make the mistakes of other once pristine regions and states.

In my opinion, there are three legislative acts that have been instrumental in preserving that which we hold dear in Vermont. They are Land Gains Tax, Act 250 and Current Use Program. All were established in response to conditions that were seen to be detrimental to the health of Vermont. In essence they all are closely linked to land development  in Vermont.

The Land Gains Tax

The Land Gains Tax was established at a time that development was rapidly growing in response to the need for second homes for primarily the ski industry. In essence, it is a fairly simple principal that makes it very difficult for anyone to buy a parcel of land, subdivide it and quickly sell off the individual lots at a large profit. It is a digressive tax that expires after six years. It is based on the length of time the property is owned and on the percentage of profit. This has stopped the quick exploitative speculation that has ruined vast amounts of land throughout the country.

Act 250 is the permitting process that is triggered by subdivisions and development in the state. when first enacted in the 1980’s, it was a very daunting process. However, over the years it has been streamlined to not overly burden a developer and to carefully review all development to protect Vermont’s water resources and environment.

Current Use Program

Current Use Program was developed in the late 1970’s to help farmers and land owners with their property taxes by basing the valuation of the land on its productive value versus it’s traditional highest and best use value. To qualify, a landowner must own a minimum of 25 acres of forest or farm land, and in some cases, less farmland is required. A management plan is developed by a forester and then approved by the county forester. By keeping land in Current Use, a landowner gets a substantially reduced tax burden. The landowner cannot develop land in Current Use. It can be withdrawn from the program, but doing so requires payment of  a penalty. What this program has accomplished, is the betterment of Vermont forest land through proper management, and it lessens the need for a landowner to sell off bits of their land to pay for property taxes.

Unfortunately, during these economic times, the Current Use Program has come under scrutiny as a way of generating more revenue for the state by changing the valuation and availability of Current Use. To do so would be to tamper with the very foundation that makes Vermont what it is today. There is a very strong movement underway to keep Current Use intact and by properly educating the citizens of Vermont as to  just how important this seminal program is the future of Vermont.

View Vermont Country Real Estate’s Land opportunities

Posted by Wade I. Treadway

Barnard, Vermont is located directly north of Woodstock, Vermont and has always enjoyed being Woodstocks quiet neighbor. It has a rich heritage and a wonderful cross section of citizens. For many years Barnard was the quiet retreat for Sinclair Lewis and his wife Dorothy Thompson. They lived on a hill side farm that after their death became Sonnenberg Farms. Sonnenberg was a private ski hill with a tasteful second development. The Lewis homestead became an Inn and excellent restaurant. At present the property is known as Twin Farms, a world class resort that prides itself in outstanding accommodations and hospitality services. World figures and celebrities can relax and enjoy the Vermont at its best without any fanfare or recognition. Ah, quiet Barnard.

The focal center of Barnard is the Barnard General Store. Here citizens enjoy excellent foods prepared on site and catch up on the latest news after strolling over from the Post Office. For much of the year one can enjoy looking over Silver Lake form the covered porch and the comfort of the Adirondack chairs.

Less luxurious than Twin Farms but very impressive are the Barnard Inn and the Inn at Chelsea Farm. Comfortable lodgings with excellent meals.

With all of this going for it, Barnard sounds like an unknown, undiscovered community in the hills of Vermont. Quite the contrary, as recent articles in two local newspapers, The Valley News and The Vermont Standard,  have reported. A wonderful Barnard property, the old Fraunces Farm, has recently been sold and has shattered the Vermont state record for a residential sale. The Fraunces Farm, comprised of 292 acres,  has undergone a complete rebuild including a new 12000 sq ft stone residence. It has just sold for $18 mil, way beyond the prevous state record of $8.4 mil for a ca 1910 stone manse on Lake Champlain with 423 acres.  Being at state record and by such a huge margin has drawn much attention to Barnard. But this is not the only state record that Barnard real estate has set. In 2001 Stonegate, a magnificent colonial reproduction on 81 acres sold for $3.9mil a short lived state record. Yet consistently Barnard properties have achieved prices that tend to buck the trends. In the current economic climate, there is some reassurance that Vermont real estate is still viewed by the rest of the world as a good value.

So what about Barnard? Is it now going be exploited, developed and destroyed? It never has previously and just like the rest of Vermont, its citizens will continue to value and preserve their wonderful haven. Ah, quiet Barnard.

Posted by Wade I. Treadway

I have previously recommended Northern Woodlands magazine as an excellent resource for information relative to proper land stewardship. Developed by a land owner who did many naive mistakes with his land, it is consistently a very valuable tool for the landowner.  Not only to learn about proper stewardship, but to stay current with relative conservation issues.

The latest offering from Northern Woodlands is a wonderful compilation of articles entitled “A Place You Call Home: A Guide to Caring for Your Land in Vermont” . The title pretty well sums it up.

Now here comes the good part, by going to their website, you will note on the left sidebar an ad for the publication. By clicking on it, you can sign up for a free copy to be sent to you. Hard to pass that up. Well worth doing, and I’m sure that by the time you finish perusing “A Place You Call Home” you will be signing for a subscription to Northern Woodlands. You’ll be glad you did and your land will also thank you.

Posted by Wade I. Treadway

Sometimes I can’t imagine life without the internet, especially since arriving in Vermont 4 years ago. I had no idea how important, and how much I took for granted, the morning paper outside my front door when I arose at about 5:00. As Inspector Clouseau used to say, “not anymore!”. now I arise at 5:00, (sometimes 4:00 as advancing age hinders the quality of sleep), and I go right to my computer, check email, and then head to cnn.com followed by foxnews.com, (just to make sure I get a balanced perspective on things). I do miss the local news, which in Vermont is typically only available once a week, and usually features stories about lost dogs and rare animal sightings or, god forbid, a gas driveoff from Cumby’s. Even worse is the news of a village proprietors door found unlocked at midnight during “routine patrol”. But I was recently reminded of my first month in Vermont when I resolved to not read or watch news for a month. I viewed this as the initial clensing process I should go through in order to promptly transition to a more relaxed lifestyle. This endeavor was suprisingly effective but I ultimately succumbed to my addiction for information. I vowed to readdress this approach the other day when I made my once a month pilgrimage to see one of the most relaxed and content people I know, Donna @ the Village Barbershop. As often is the case in these bastians for bloviation, the talk turned to current events; the missing child in Orlando, smog at the Olympics, dismembered bus riders, and the general disintegration of morality and common decency. Donna, to our amazement, had absolutely no awareness of any of the terrible news we were discussing, although she did express extreme shock and a sort of naive curiousity that such things could actually be happening. She explained her ignorance on the subjects by saying she never reads a paper or watches the news on t.v. In fact, I don’t think she has a t.v.. (Can you imagine!) She said shes perfectly content to live in the present, (she must have seen a Tony Robbins infomercial at some point), and focus and the good news around her, that being her husband and kids, the outdoors, friends, and her job, which she claims to love. (Can you imagine!) Wow. Noone said anything for a minute. i wanted to cry because I new she meant every word of it. I thought, this woman has found true happiness without putting any particular effort into it! It was that elusive state of contentment the rest of us often take extreme, compicated and expensive measures to find. What’s the moral of the story? Turn off your computers and t.v.’s, spend alot more time with your spouse and kids, and MOVE to VERMONT! (And get your haircut, and some free therapy, from the village barber.)

Ken Felten

Old timer’s in Vermont like to say it takes three generations before one can be characterized as a “Vermonter”. Often, when describing someone’s house or referring to it as a landmark when giving directions, “Vermonters” will call it “the old Treadway property”, even though Treadway may not have lived there for 20 years and it has changed hands 5 times since. Since Treadway was the last “Vermonter” to live there, that’s how it will be known. There’s a certain charm and appeal to this and us new folks don’t get offended when our property is referred to as someone elses. I will say though that a swelling of pride arises when our property is referred to as ”the Felten” property. You know you’ve arrived in at least one persons mind. The harsh reality though is that about 60% of Vermonts current residents are first generation. This is due, in my opinion, in large part to unfortuante events both in state and out. Multi generational Vermonters are being driven out of this great state because the cost of living here has skyrocketed in recent years, particularly for primary residents. The perfect storm of rapidly rising real estate values coupled with tax happy legislators has made living in a home owned by the same family for 100 years or more unaffordable to it’s current residents. Property tax bills numbering well into 5 digit land makes it very challanging for a family who lives off the land. Vermont has never been a mecca for industry which limits job growth and opportunity. It is my sincere hope that our state government worry less about impeaching George Bush and focuses it’s attention on the real crisis at hand, which amounts to the preservation of the old adage, it takes three generations before you are a Vermonter. The out of state forces affecting this condition are self evident; crowds, smog, stress, terrorists and alike have no place and are not welcome in Vermont. Many people, like myself who always had a dream stored in the back of our minds to lead the lifestyle of a gentleman farmer, are making those dreams come true. Rarely are we/they disappointed, except if you came from Florida and it’s 10 below with the windchill and you can’t leave your house because the driveway is iced over. Believe me though, the good days far, far outway the bad.

Ken Felten

Unquestionably the major reason people relocate to Vermont is the quality of life. So much is known, written and romanticized about the quality of life here, I will not digress. Many reasons exist as to why the quality of life is so apparent, not the least of which is the relative low population of Vermont. As larger metropolitan areas such as Burlington are growing in population, the more rural areas are actually declining in population. However, demographics aside, the very element that makes Vermont so attractive to visitors and residents is not so attractive to large national and international businesses that supply our basic needs. Vermont has always had a very hard time attracting and keeping health insurers. The fundamental reason is simple, we are not big enough of a marketplace to make operations profitable. And this prevailing corporate attitude extends to all areas of our daily lives.

One of the greatest boons of recent years to the development of Vermont has been the internet. Many people who have bought homes with the hope of retiring here are finding that they can make their permanent move now and continue to work by way of the internet. The diversity of businesses that are conducted out of Vermont homes is staggering.  And what a great economic boost, no impact and the ability to conduct business here. Just as the internet helped to spurn this new growth, it has been proved difficult for internet providers to keep up with the daily changes to internet business. At first we were elated to have dialup, finally we were connected. But it didn’t take long before dailup was inadequate much too slow for most of what people typically need for communications. So, we rent a space in town and drive in the have a DLS connection. A little deflating for the bucolic scene of sitting on the porch with a laptop conducting trades. Yet, a week doesn’t go by that we don’t get a flyer in the mail from Comcast, Verizon among others offering us great broadband access along with bundled phone service and television. A quick phone call confirms what we already knew, “you don’t have service available in your area”. Enter the Vermont State legislature. In a very forward thinking move, they passed an initiative for all of Vermont to have broadband connection. Simply put, they streamlined the regulatory hurdles usually associated with such projects. This has enabled Vermonters to take on the business of developing, installing and managing broadband service on their own. and if we are going to do such a thing, lets replace the existing infrastructure with the very latest, very best, a Fiber-Optic network. What is in essence a grassroots effort, Vermonters are in the process of forming their own community owned, subscriber funded state of the art network. Currently, Burlington, VT is fully connected through Burlington Telecom. East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network , is well on its way to connecting 22 towns and communities in central Vermont. I strongly recommend that you visit their website. It certainly demonstrates the resolve of Vermonters to get the job done on our own. This is not only the way of the future for Vermont in terms of telecommunications but the premise could very well set the stage for other independent projects to benefit Vermonters without needing reluctant out of state corporations.

Posted by Wade I. Treadway

The keyword here is, at the moment. Certainly as we watch the rest of the world dealing with the ups and downs of an unsettled real estate market, here in Vermont I get a strong sense from fellow brokers throughout the state that all is not lost. Indeed, the last twelve months have shown a steady increase in the amount of inquiries and sales have definitely been on the rise. The segment of the market that appears to be the least affected by the events of the last two years is the high end. Of course that is no surprise to seasoned brokers in Vermont. Prices at the high end have in many cases been on a steady increase. Many of the high end listings that have been on the market have had price adjustments. Which I might add many of them needed a reduction as they were priced wrong in the first place.

I have been watching the southern New England real estate marketplace for the last two years and have seen a very steady increase in pricing at the high end. Although inventories are getting high, there are still significant sales that substantiate these increases. This only helps the Vermont marketplace. Time and time again, buyers of Vermont real estate are amazed at how much value they get for their dollar in Vermont.

All things considered, there has never been a better time than now to buy in Vermont. Acreage prices are on the rise and good quality residences with a  good land component are in demand. This could change at any moment, but right now that looks doubtful. As Barbara Corcoran stated in a recent interview on NBC’s  Today Show, buyers waiting for the bottom of the market are going to miss opportunities now.

posted by Wade I. Treadway