Downtown Burlington rental questions (apartments, rentals, good credit)

[jakesmth]

We are considering relocating to Burlington. My wife and I made it up there this past weekend to look for rentals. I was amazed how many rental opportunities there are with most people never replying to our inquiries. But that's another rant.

We did look at a place directly downtown. It's a house rental off of a dead end street. We did notice quite a bit of college apartments close by though. We aren't turned off by some 'liveliness' of college kids, but my question is does anyone know how nuts it can get generally? I know anything can happen, but anyone have experience living in a neighborhood with Burlington students?

Oh and if anyone knows of a good rental place for a small family that's not a dump and is ok with cats, please let me know, we're still looking and running out of time.

Thanks

[Evan_Lanctot]

it's very difficult to find a rental in Burlington that is not a dump. Most stock is very old. Plus they know they'll rent it out no matter what, so most landlords don't care about fixing their property up. No offense, but I would not bother with Burlingon.

[Vermonr]

I rent directly downtown in Burlington. Do make sure to see all apartments in person before you sign a lease because you need to check for support issues, rodents, leaky ceilings, and warped floors. There are plenty of places that are structurally sound and plenty that are absolutely horrible, and landlords have such a high demand that even the worst places will get rented.

At my last place on Adsit Court I had no issues with noise. Our neighbors were all older adults or families with children. If you as well live on a dead end street you might have a little bit of noise on weekends, but it shouldn't be bad at all. In fact, the only noise that bothered me was my neighbor's kid pogo-sticking at 8am!

However my current location is another story. I'm on a road that leads right into Pearl, so all the drunken college students flow down my street to get to the bars. Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes Thursdays can get very loud. I'm a night owl, so by the time I go to bed (1 or 2 am) most of the noise has subsided. But it does get loud between 10pm-1am and sometimes there's a second wave of noise around 2-2:30 when everyone come back from the bars. Overall it's really not that bad though. I'm a very light sleeper and I just keep a fan on during these nights to cancel out any shouting on the street.

As a tenant, you have a right to a certain level of quiet and if someone is throwing a raging party with incredibly loud music well into the morning you should alert the police. But I find that often it's just an occasional guy shouting "Duuude!" down the road and nothing more.

[VTLiving]

As a former UVM college student living downtown, I would say if I was going to rent in Burlington with my family I would try to stay on the hill side if thats possible, so South Willard, Williams, etc...Do not go north of Main street. Thats just my take on it.

College students in Burlington get ROWDY. Kids will be cutting thru yards to get to the closest keg party, peeing in bushes, puking on the streets. And generally making lots of noise.

If you can find a house or apt on the hill side (but perhaps not too close to Champlain College) you might be OK. But generally I dont think there are as many parties and what not south of Main street. And Champlain College is small.

[68vette]

The UVM Student Government Association, UVM and the city of Burlington will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the noise issue downtown. The student population has grown 42% since 2002 and the number of housing units available in the city have remained the same. UVM is a dry campus and that means many students move off campus where there is little to no regulation (outside of BPD for underage drinkers). A quote from the Vermont SYNIC (UVM newspaper), Paul Volk, a local criminal defense attorney and counsel to Student Legal Services, said Burlington noise ordinances are “highly suspect,” and confirmed the parents’ hunches that there are unconstitutional applications “hidden” in them.“The city, from my perspective, has dramatically overstepped its bounds when it attempts to state that any discernable noise after 10 p.m. is deemed to be unreasonable,” Volk said. Noise ordinances are frequently used as an excuse to gain access to other things, such as gaining entry into the apartment he said. The meeting I believe is due to several parents feeling their children's civil rights were violated. As VTLiving pointed out, if you want to avoid the noise or the complex situations dealing with collage students, avoid the areas the majority of the students live.

[LisaMc46]

I'd start looking asap. Thousands of students will be leaving this month when the spring semester ends. That will free up the rentals. It's tough to find housing during the school year. You're competing with students whose parents will fork over whatever they need for rent.

[jakesmth]

Thanks for the advice.

It's been very difficult to coordinate an apartment search remotely. Most of the listing I email get no replies. Not sure if it's the high demand or people are scared off when I say I'm out-of-state. I mainly look on CL and padmapper which is a great site.

[VTLiving]

I think Burlington rentals are in such high demand that they dont need to call people back. Either that or the place is already rented and they havent taken down the ad yet?

[angelo129]

Originally Posted by jakesmth

Thanks for the advice.

It's been very difficult to coordinate an apartment search remotely. Most of the listing I email get no replies. Not sure if it's the high demand or people are scared off when I say I'm out-of-state. I mainly look on CL and padmapper which is a great site.

I feel your pain. We had the same experience, and not just in Burlington. People frequently 1) don't bother to take down the ad if the apartment has been rented, 2) don't bother to reply to people who email them 3) reply only to those who meet their criteria and ignore the rest. It might help if, when you email, you state when you will be in the area and anything at all that might make you a good prospect as a tenant. I got a better response by including the information that my husband and I had good credit, good references, were quiet and responsible mature adult tenants without children or pets. Any of these things that applies to you might help. Good luck.