[celchlepp]

Hey all, I have read quite an extensive number of posts on this forum, especially last night when I spent at least 5 or 6 hours straight reading most of the "why are people leaving Vermont" thread. My wife and I are very interested in moving to southern VT and I am looking for realistic insight.

I've read repeatedly about the high-cost of living vs. low wages, but just how insufficient are the wages and can a couple with two dogs find a decent place to rent that is fairly priced? We're paying $600 for a little tiny 2 bdrm/1ba place right now out in the "country" of bozeman, mt. bozeman is the land of obnoxiousness. this valley has been for far too long exempt from the housing/building crisis nationwide. It's about time, as another poster stated elsewhere on this site, that that particular market corrects itself.

Anyway, roughly speaking, she averages 35-40k and around 38-45 for me. she is an interpreter for the Deaf, and I am a desktop support specialist for any place needing great quality of service from each of us. I know there is a rather saturated market in her line of work in the NE area, but she is finding work regardless. we've been looking in the Brattleboro & Bennington area for rentals and coming up short due to having two dogs. it would be nice to meet someone and have the opportunity to show them what kind of quality of people we are. we hold ourselves and our critters in high regard and respect everyone around us, as do our two girl dogs. Here in bozopolis, mt, er, I mean bozeman, mt, "respect for your fellow man" has become a pleasant memory.

But I am not here to rant about where we live, but ask about where we'd LIKE to live - VT. can we make it on a relatively small income like I stated? are the winters so bad for so long that it is ice storm after ice storm for several months? I grew up in NE PA and she in Cape Cod, so we are northeasterners by birth, but we love the west. However, the west is being destroyed legally and without consideration or remorse by developers and, as I read last night on this forum, "rubber-stamping town councils" who just don't care if there is YET ANOTHER GRAVEL PIT.

anyway, again I digress.

Bugs. it is no secret that moisture offers the perfect environment for the little things. living in PA I very clearly recall being eaten alive by gnats, mosquitoes, etc. due to the almost always moist climate. Ticks, spiders, so forth and so on. Humidity. someone described the humidity so bad down in the Carolina's as "hard to breathe in." Is it like that in southern VT too? I always thought VT was known for apple orchards, and fresh veggies and such, but how so when the growing season is reportedly only 2 months long?

All the negatives I've read on so many posts here certainly don't seem to be enough to justify a mass exodus out of the state or anything. so I suppose what I'm looking for here is some input as to whether it is realistically financially practical for us to move there this summer or not. I read on this forum that, of course given the current housing market disarray, we'd prefer to rent first to be absolutely sure it is the right thing to do, without having a house that we cannot unload or something like that.

I also read an unanswered post where the question was raised of double taxation if living in VT or NH, and working in another state. As in, state income tax in both or not. Any input on this?


As always, thank you very much in advance for any feedback and helpful input. I know it's expensive, so how do folks make it? we're use to living almost "hand-to-mouth" in heavily overpriced unbalanced areas of the Rockies. We're not trailer trash, don't get me wrong there, we won't do that. But a little place on a few acres somewhere feasibly located near where we will be able to work. yeah, I know, sounds like we're looking for the emerald city, with the lack of a city.

[mustmove]

VT has the lowest rental vacancy in the country. It is expensive to impossible to build new housing here. Hence home prices are relatively stable and the rental market is tight. I haven't shopped the rental market but I'm guessing that any single family house will be at least $1,000 per month. You know the rest about jobs, pay, taxes etc...

[flu189]

SW Vermont could be very tough in terms of combining both housing and decent employment. Three years when we headed back east I briefly checked some areas in the region due to past experience from visits. Mind you, this was when heating oil and gasoline were just a bit over $2.00 p/gall. A friend of mine I was in the service with out west also came back east and actually had a nice job offer with Orvis down near Manchester for a technical position he is skilled in, but after crunching the numbers he and his wife grudgingly came to the conclusion also that you can't eat the scenery and moved closer to family in Ct. However, if you have good assets and can land good stable and steady employment there are some very attractive towns in the region.

[68vette]

The first thing to do is to get an idea of what the rental properties are going for. I rent property in Central(rural area) Vermont and homes rent for as little as $1100 per month. This is a competitive rate with nothing included. It's very hard to find a place that will take pets. I rent to pet owners, but I also require a large pet deposit(I was burned once). I would think that prices in southern Vermont wouldn't be to far off from that. Possibly more in Bratt or Bennington. If the rents seems ok to you then you need to try and find work in you field. This will be the hard part of your research. You also should consider looking into NH and Northern Mass. NH doesn't have a state income tax(YET) so you will only pay income tax in Vermont. My wife worked out of state for a while with residence in Vermont. The state of Vermont wants a piece of your income no matter where you work. Look at everything including utilities. Just as an example, my sister who lives in Manhattan has cheaper cable, phone and internet than I have in Vermont.

I love the weather in Vermont(the summer that is). Winters are long. This year was a very long one. One of my properties had snow for seven months this year. I don't think it gets that humid in the summer. There may be a week or two when the humidity gets up there, but then again I love Florida in July and August. Southern Vermont will also be a bit more mild than Northern Vermont. Not by a large margin, but it's more mild. The weather varies from year to year as well. In Southern Vermont you could get a bunch of snow or you could get freezing rain and ice. The worst part of winter is paying your heating bill. Reports over the last few days are projecting fuel prices hitting 7.00 in a years time. We will see if it goes that high, but it doesn't look good right now. As we all know every day is a new record high for a barrel of oil. The summer growing season is only about three months. With protection you could get another month or a little more depending on what you grow.

If the move looks like a good one for you, rent a place first. If it doesn't work out and you need/want to move, you are only tied down for the time of the lease.
Good luck in your research. I hope you find your emerald city.