[NEKOUT]

I've been offered a job in Williston, VT for $63,000. With the sale of my current home before moving, at closing I will walk away with about $40,000 to put down on a home/townhouse in the greater Williston area. Is this doable ? My dream would be a house in the country, but I see that houses in that area are up around $300,000 and I don't think my $63,000 salary is going to cut it. What are my options for housing ? Particulars: 2 adults in their late 40's, cat, dog, and surprise, we are politically conservative !!

[harry chickpea]

Used to live there. Back in the 1970s had a 3 bedroom house that cost $30,000, but that was a different time. Used to be the further you got from Burlington and Essex Jct., the better the possibilities were. Look on the Richmond and Hinesburg side. Jericho is also not too far a commute if you know how to drive in snow. Don't even consider buying land and building new. The regulations and environmental stuff will eat you alive.

Your friends can be the town clerk office, a well-connected realtor, local gas station and store owners. Oh yeah, you might be able to find slighly less expensive property under the airport flight pattern.

[nhyrnut]

Check out (broken link) there you will find houses in that area alot cheaper than $300000. It will also give you the tax rate and other towns in the area with a map of them as well. GOOD LUCK and Merry Christmas.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Used to live there. Back in the 1970s had a 3 bedroom house that cost $30,000, but that was a different time. Used to be the further you got from Burlington and Essex Jct., the better the possibilities were. Look on the Richmond and Hinesburg side. Jericho is also not too far a commute if you know how to drive in snow. Don't even consider buying land and building new. The regulations and environmental stuff will eat you alive.

Your friends can be the town clerk office, a well-connected realtor, local gas station and store owners. Oh yeah, you might be able to find slighly less expensive property under the airport flight pattern.

harry chickpea, sorry to read your statement about buying land and building. I'd like to build a monolithic dome and power it with a battery bank, solar and perhaps a windmill. I'm not willing to fight bureaucrats for a year or two in order to build a very efficient house because the legislature/county is out of control.
Seems odd you'd have trouble building something that you'd read about in Mother Earth News in a greenie state like Vermont...

[vter]

Rabbit - lot's of NIMBYism up here. Especially those who have moved here from somewhere else. It's the "now that I have mine you can't have your's" attitude. Unfortunate.
Regarding housing...Williston is a growing community with lots of newer subdivisions with single family homes and condos. South Burlington as well. As noted above, you may want to check out Hinesburg. It's 15 minutes south of Williston. There is a new "quadplex" on the corner of 116 and Silver Street that looks really nice from the outside. There is a sign outside indicating that there are a few units left. There is also a new devleopment called "Creekside" that has a mixture of single familys and duplex condos.
I'd suggest calling a realtor in Williston to get some feedback.
Good luck and welcome to Vermont!

[harry chickpea]

I agree with VTER, that a lot of the takeover of "accepted" land use is by outsiders that are swimming in the deep end of the ecology pool. Some of my family has stuck it out in VT, and these folks drive 'em nuts. There are other newcomers that would like nothing better than to have Vermont become California east, and some that are so out of touch with reality that they see all animals as cutsie-wutsie babies that need petting and protection.

Dwatted Wabbit, going solar in Vermont is about the least efficient way you could go. Yeah, I know there are a couple of alt-energy companies in Vt., but VT has a miserable insolation record, and IMO solar panels can't give an acceptible ROI, or sufficient power when you most need them. (I have had some solar in FL for over 15 years and even here I'm dissappointed in the actual power output over an average week.) You can add solar to an existing structure in VT and few people will complain, but expect the liberals to come a-knocking at your door when they see that flag (LOL). You might even get a dome approved if you play your cards right - although Lincoln would be a more likely place for such a structure than Williston, and there might even be an abandoned one down there. Earth sheltered might work, or you can do what a neighbor of mine up there did. He built his cellar, and lived in in until he could afford to build the main story of his house. Bottom line though, at $63K/yr you don't have enough income to play housing games. If you get a house, you'll get to heat with wood, have a garden if you plant to match the short season, explore, and dream.

FWIW, If you read TMEN carefully, you'll realize that a lot of the ideas promoted in that magazine were poorly thought out and some were even e-coli-logical nightmares.