[mascoma]

Originally Posted by AmandaPDX

Hasn't Springfield been doing a lot to reinvent themselves, with their Downtown renovation plan, etc? I'm just curious to know if and how they have changed over the last 5 years (since that article was from 2015).

It has a rep for drug use and associated property crime.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

It has been doing a lot to reinvent itself, but I have not noticed any big changes other than the repurposing of the old mill.

I have a 2nd home in Chester and at one time was considering moving up year round with my children. The schools were subpar to where I am in NY. More recently, 2018, the Chester Andover Elementary school was forced to close right before the first day of school due to flooding caused by old heating equipment. One has to question what other systems within the supervisory unions buildings are old or have been neglected? The schools merged with another district to 'save costs'. I've yet to see any savings.

I am otherwise happy in Chester.

Can anyone give me some insight as to why houses are so inexpensive in the Chester area? There seems to be a significant number of older, well cared for homes that are steals. Of course, one would have to have an actual look, inspection, etc. But, it doesn't appear to be just the odd one here and there, but from what I am seeing, most of the housing stock.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by EastwardBound

Can anyone give me some insight as to why houses are so inexpensive in the Chester area? There seems to be a significant number of older, well cared for homes that are steals. Of course, one would have to have an actual look, inspection, etc. But, it doesn't appear to be just the odd one here and there, but from what I am seeing, most of the housing stock.

What do you consider inexpensive or a steal?

When we looked for a 2nd home we had several qualifiers: not in town, not on a main road, fixer upper, no 'clunkers' on road.

Some of the homes I see listed on Zillow are on a main road/state highway, are situated adjacent to businesses, or have a clunker nearby. (A clunker is a house with either debris, a mess, an eyesore.) They may be near the railroad. The property may be small.

If it is on 103 or 10 they are both highways (which have low speed limits through town) so you will hear truck traffic at odd hours. Church, Depot are connector streets, Grafton actually runs between Chester and Grafton. River Street runs parallel to the Williams River and 103 -- some homes have a view of the commercial property on 103.

While Chester has 2nd homeowners, there are more Vermonters who own/work/live year round there. That might be the difference. It's not like Ludlow where 2nd homeowners are there because of Okemo. Chester has great access to the VAST trails, though.

My neighbor is a local realtor, nice lady. If you every consider looking in the area, message me for her contact info.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

What do you consider inexpensive or a steal?

When we looked for a 2nd home we had several qualifiers: not in town, not on a main road, fixer upper, no 'clunkers' on road.

Some of the homes I see listed on Zillow are on a main road/state highway, are situated adjacent to businesses, or have a clunker nearby. (A clunker is a house with either debris, a mess, an eyesore.) They may be near the railroad. The property may be small.

If it is on 103 or 10 they are both highways (which have low speed limits through town) so you will hear truck traffic at odd hours. Church, Depot are connector streets, Grafton actually runs between Chester and Grafton. River Street runs parallel to the Williams River and 103 -- some homes have a view of the commercial property on 103.

While Chester has 2nd homeowners, there are more Vermonters who own/work/live year round there. That might be the difference. It's not like Ludlow where 2nd homeowners are there because of Okemo. Chester has great access to the VAST trails, though.

My neighbor is a local realtor, nice lady. If you every consider looking in the area, message me for her contact info.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate the info! Hearing these tips from locals about which roads are busy, etc is of utmost importance. One concern is the sale history, with most of these places having prices that are significantly less than their previous sale prices and none of them really has much history of value growth from what I can see - with very slow growth. We plan to make this our permanent move, so it's not a huge factor, but one never knows.

Below I posted some of the properties that appeal to me and they all seem very reasonably priced, particularly compared to where we're coming from in Colorado. Of course, part of it is supply and demand and slower growth overall, which we find appealing with the constant growth here - strip malls, parking lots, massive tracts of bland housing, etc. These places, particularly those with land and with multiple units would cost in the millions here.

I will certainly get your realtor's info, as we will be putting our places here on the market soon, starting with our investment property very shortly and will be looking to do a 1031 exchange first, then look for a place with 20-40 acres for ourselves and sell our home, not necessarily directly in that area - have our eye on several farms, particularly between there and Brattleboro.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6...88239175_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...17736907_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...96966905_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...83383515_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...15810406_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...82896057_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...35254855_zpid/

[jackmccullough]

I used to drive through Chester regularly when I had to drive from Brattleboro to Rutland to go to court. (Trial in Brattleboro in the morning, trial in Rutland in the afternoon.) Chester strikes me as a nice town. Probably the driver of lower house prices is that it's too far to be in the Hanover commutershed, so the biggest city nearby is Springfield. When Springfield is in decline, as it has been for decades, that likely depresses prices in Chester.

There is a member here who's a huge Springfield cheerleader and perhaps he'll chime in.

Reference to property taxes on Zillow or on the MLS listing will be of limited value because Vermont's education tax has an element of income sensitivity, so if your income is below a certain amount ($147,000) your education property tax will be reduced.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by jackmccullough

I used to drive through Chester regularly when I had to drive from Brattleboro to Rutland to go to court. (Trial in Brattleboro in the morning, trial in Rutland in the afternoon.) Chester strikes me as a nice town. Probably the driver of lower house prices is that it's too far to be in the Hanover commutershed, so the biggest city nearby is Springfield. When Springfield is in decline, as it has been for decades, that likely depresses prices in Chester.

There is a member here who's a huge Springfield cheerleader and perhaps he'll chime in.

Reference to property taxes on Zillow or on the MLS listing will be of limited value because Vermont's education tax has an element of income sensitivity, so if your income is below a certain amount ($147,000) your education property tax will be reduced.

Thanks for your input.

With value, I was more so referencing the sale history. A few of these sold for like $400k a few years ago and now are on the market for like $250k. Others sold for maybe $350k 4 to 5 years ago and now on the market for $360k for example. It seems there is not any growth in the prices and in many cases a decline. I guess this partially can be explained by the factors that you cited.

Now that you mentioned property tax, that is an issue we have considered, as they seem MUCH higher than Colorado. We pay about $100 a month on our home valued at about $470k and $80 a month on our vacation property valued at around $270k. It seems the tax burden will increase significantly. I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes and it is nice that it is somewhat means-tested as you suggested. I have also read through the threads here multiple times it seems that many suggest the tax revenue is wasted and not used wisely.
To us, the quality of life is not only about money, but also the environment, local ethics, the built environment, etc. That said, taxes and cost of living are also important, obviously.

[GeoffD]

The state school tax is the majority of your property tax bill. Unless you are making big money, most people are capped at ~2% of their income. There is a correction to that 2% depending on how close the state thinks the town is to 100% valuation on appraisals. If it’s 100% of fair market valuation, you pay 2%. Some towns are closer to 3% since housing prices shot up in a number of towns and appraisals haven’t caught up. The acronym for that is CLA.

So if you make $100k, the school part of your property tax is capped at $2k to $3k depending on the CLA for the town. Most Vermonters don’t pay the full property tax. The system was designed to put the tax burden to support schools on commercial property and vacation home owners who all pay a higher commercial rate.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The state school tax is the majority of your property tax bill. Unless you are making big money, most people are capped at ~2% of their income. There is a correction to that 2% depending on how close the state thinks the town is to 100% valuation on appraisals. If it’s 100% of fair market valuation, you pay 2%. Some towns are closer to 3% since housing prices shot up in a number of towns and appraisals haven’t caught up. The acronym for that is CLA.

So if you make $100k, the school part of your property tax is capped at $2k to $3k depending on the CLA for the town. Most Vermonters don’t pay the full property tax. The system was designed to put the tax burden to support schools on commercial property and vacation home owners who all pay a higher commercial rate.

How's it all evaluated? It seems very different from what I've ever known. Anywhere I've ever lived, property tax is simply evaluated by the value of the home and has no bearing on income. How does the state evaluate the tax? They somehow look at both income and property tax at the same time?

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by EastwardBound

How's it all evaluated? It seems very different from what I've ever known. Anywhere I've ever lived, property tax is simply evaluated by the value of the home and has no bearing on income. How does the state evaluate the tax? They somehow look at both income and property tax at the same time?

They use your Vermont state income tax return. I believe you’re not eligible for any tax break until after you have a full calendar year of homestead declaration. If you bought in November 2020 and moved, you would get the tax break in 2022. You have to send in a declaration of homestead every year by April 15 claiming the tax break. It’s form HS-122. If you didn’t send it in for 2021, you wouldn’t be able to claim the tax break in 2022. You go at least a full year paying the full Act 68 state school tax.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

They use your Vermont state income tax return. I believe you’re not eligible for any tax break until after you have a full calendar year of homestead declaration. If you bought in November 2020 and moved, you would get the tax break in 2022. You have to send in a declaration of homestead every year by April 15 claiming the tax break. It’s form HS-122. If you didn’t send it in for 2021, you wouldn’t be able to claim the tax break in 2022. You go at least a full year paying the full Act 68 state school tax.

All that makes my head heart. My partner is a CPA, so he can deal with that lol. He's kind of a 'money' person as a CFO, but we're excited to get to a place with a quality of life that isn't all about growth like it is here in CO.