[pixie20]

Hy,
I have few questiones about Vermont and life there. We are moving there next summer (2009). We are now living in Europe. So I'm interesting about simple facts about VE. For how much money can we buy decent house there. We have 2 small kids, and 3 "big"kids but they are staying in Eu becouse they are already on universtites. So we need house with at least 4 bedrooms. And how much money will we need to spent for life costs (without house- becouse we plan to buy house for cash). So how much mones will we need to spend for family of four.
Any information will help
thnx

[creoena]

How much a house is really depends on where you are moving to. Generally the more northeast you are, the higher the housing costs. For a decent 4 bedroom place you're looking at at least 200k in most of the state (some areas will run you much higher than that). As far as life costs go, Vermont has one of the highest costs of living in the country. Food is very expensive here, property taxes are relatively high, and there's always heating oil/gas. I make $43,000 a year and I'm living in an apartment in the middle of a trailer park because I can't afford anything else (I *could* afford something better if I lived off ramen and didn't save money), if that gives you an idea of how high costs are here

[chaz longue]

Hello pixie20 -

Vermont does have a high cost of living, and high taxes. The taxes are high in part to support the schools, which are generally thought to be of excellent quality. The cost of living is high here too, and in my opinion, that makes sense because VT is a wonderful place to live. This is just my opinion of course - if you look these threads over carefully, you'll see all sorts of opinions.

I live and work in Chittenden County, in the city of Burlington, the largest in the state. We're less than 2 hours from Montreal Canada by car, and roughly 3.5 hours drive from Boston (less if you drive like the folks from Boston you'll be on the road with ;-) . Burlington also has an international airport with good connections to New York. The last time I flew, I took a city bus to the airport, and used it coming home too. The limited public transportation here makes living in Burlington convenient.

Of the homes which sold in September of 08 (the last month I have fairly complete numbers for) in Chittenden County (the Burlington Area) the median sale price was $286,000. This is down from higher prices, but VT has not been as affected by the problems which have been so disruptive in many parts of the country. Having assisted buyers from overseas recently, I can tell you it's a good time to be a cash buyer - and if you believe the economic forecasts we're hearing these days this isn't likely to change quickly...

Do have a look at the rest of the threads here about VT. You'll find a wealth of good information here as well as a wide array of opinions!

Let us know how we can help with specific questions!

David Beckett
Burlington, VT

[creoena]

Originally Posted by chaz longue

Hello pixie20 -

Vermont does have a high cost of living, and high taxes. The taxes are high in part to support the schools, which are generally thought to be of excellent quality. The cost of living is high here too, and in my opinion, that makes sense because VT is a wonderful place to live. This is just my opinion of course - if you look these threads over carefully, you'll see all sorts of opinions.

Some schools are good - I went to Montpelier HS and it'd be hard to have a higher quality school than that. Some like Spaulding however have something to be desired.

[chaz longue]

Here's an excellent starting point for researching schools:

Vermont Department of Education School Report

David Beckett