[celchlepp]

Hi all,

I only have one question for you that my wife and I are debating right now. we are moving to the Bennington area next month and am needing to get a good consensus on whether to wait or not on a rental for $975 with no utils included. the owner said that is the cheapest we'll ever find in the benn area. My wife has a job in town to go to. I do not yet but will hopefully find a computer support related position somewhere in the general vicinity.

Anyway, the house. it's a modular 5 miles from town. proximity is HUGE in the northeast U.S.. we both know this as we both grew up in the northeast. Her on the Cape, and me in NE PA. we also know ice storms in the winter, which plays a big role in deciding on this place RIGHT NOW. the owner knows he could have it rented rather immediately, but is willing to give us a little break down to $975. I don't know what the market is like there for any and all rentals available that also allow two 30-40lb dogs.


my question finally is, should we wait any longer than this week to secure a place [albeit sight-unseen]? or hold out for perhaps a different but comparable place nearby?

I am really needing to hear from those who really know the skinny on the rentals in the Bennington area as soon as I can. we're stressing pretty bad on having a place to lay our heads and haven't secured a place yet. wait longer. what would you do? any and all ideas, suggestions, advice, and help here will be immediatly and greatly appreciated!
Thank you VERY much in advance!
Chuck

p.s. we have been scouring craigslist - benn, vt as an indicator. any other/better sources? local newspapers online don't make it a habit to list much rental opportunity. but we do not have time to come visit and check ANYTHING out, as we are coming from Montana.

[celchlepp]

One more question here regarding living in the Bennington area: how feasible/realistic is it to work in the Albany/Troy area and live in Bennington area? There seem to be some opportunities in my technical support profession over there, but I don't know about the drive in the winter.

Thanks, and I sure hope to hear back from some folks soon. we ARE possibly finding other options besides the one I was so concerned about when I posted about the $975 yesterday, so I guess we'll see.

Chuck

[celchlepp]

Is it something I said that a bunch of folks have read my posts here but no replies on Bennington info yet? just curious.

Help is always very much appreciated.
Chuck

[picante]

I'd love to help you, but I'm up here in Chittenden County and don't know the Bennington rental market. That said, I'd recommend looking at craigslist.com. You should be able to compare rental costs by looking at posts on craiglists.com.

Bennington is a cute town and I think you'll enjoy moving there.

Pike

[flu189]

I have been to Bennington numerous times, but just don't have hard facts on the specifics concerning rentals, employment, etc. Based just on reading my impression is that the area, while scenic, has it's difficulties with the economy more so than Burlington and Chittenden County which is starting to strain. If your employment were to be in the NYS capital district, I would personally check rental and lease options in proximity there first. Vermont cost of living coupled with fuel costs could make such a commute stressful. As far as winter travel is concerned, the roads in the region from my winter travels seemed OK in general, but winter extremes can test the capacity of even the best road crews in any part of the state.

[vter]

No way in heck would I want to commute tot he Albany area from Bennington. NY Route 7 is a narrow, windy, slow road and would not be fun in winter. Not to mention gas prices right now. If you're going to be working in the capital district you are way better off living there.

[nhrocky]

Not sure of the rental market in Bennington, but from being in the rental business for almost 30 yrs in SE VT, I'd have to say that $975 for a house is in the ballpark.