Moving to Burlington--rent or buy, house, condo, apartment?!! (Milton: real estate, rental)

[Quebecoise30]

Hello,
my husband and I just found out two days ago that we're moving to Burlington for his medical residency. We have about three weeks to find a place to live because of our circumstances. We will be in Burlington for a period of at least 3 years. We don't have an endless flow of cash and are wondering if we should rent or buy. Also, should we get an apartment, a condo or a house?
There's only the two of us but we're planning on expanding the family within the next three years. We want at least 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. We have been searching craigslist and other sites online for housing and the process is a bit overwhelming.
Any tips on how to go about with the process?
Should we get an apartment or a rental unit for the first year and buy later?
Any suggestion is very welcomed our way.
(We're moving from Chicago)
Thanks!

[rem31708]

A friend who lives (rents) in Burlington just gave me this pointer which I have not yet checked out, FWIW: getahome.org. He says it helps people find lower cost apts, condos and homes, with the caveat that when you sell, you sell back to them and can't turn a high profit. He says he found a 2 bedroom apt to rent in Burlington for $650.

I have always found it worked well to rent first for a year or two to really get to know a new area. If you're planning to have a family, you'll want to choose a location with a good school district. We are going thru the same process of researching a move, but with older kids. Good luck!

[Mary77]

We have a small Burlington newspaper called 7 days where most landlords in Burlington advertise. Here is the email address 7Days Classified

I personally think it's better to buy a house rather than rent because rent is very expensive here. Do you want to live in the city? Have you ever been to Burlington? We moved to Vermont about seven years ago and had to rent for awhile. We had planned to live in Burlington until we saw what that was going to be like. We ended up renting in a small town called Milton instead. The rent was a lot cheaper and the beautiful country atmosphere was so much nicer than the hussle and bussle of Burlington. Good luck with your search. The link above should provide you with what your looking for.

[arctichomesteader]

Property is expensive, taxes are high, heating is expensive, renting is expensive...anything you do will be rather expensive in VT, especially near certain popular areas which includes Burlington. If you think you can just barely afford something, whether it's an apt. or home (condos are a waste of money IMHO), and heat will not be included if it's rented, get something cheaper. You'll be glad you did. Cost of living in VT is high and good paying jobs aren't too common. Good luck. I'd stay out of the actual city of Burlington, too busy/crowded, and more expensive than outside the city.

[Quebecoise30]

Sounds like it's wiser to buy than to rent... we were really hoping to buy our first home/condo in the area, but from the posts I read, it's not such a good idea. Anyone actually prefers buying over renting for 3+ years?

[Mary77]

If you have the ability to buy right now instead of rent, then why throw away money on rent? Property values in Vermont don't fluctuate very much like they do in other parts of the country. If you sell in three years you will most likely at least get your money back out of it, if not make a profit.

[harry chickpea]

Three years is simply too short a time span for making any safe significant profit on home ownership. Closing costs, immediate needs for upgrades and unexpected repairs, taxes and insurance all take their toll. Finding a home that will increase in value over three years, when coming into an area cold and spending all of a couple weeks in research is about as smart as removing an appendix based on skills learned in pre-med classes.

Rent small for one year, look for something larger to rent after about six months. Yeah, there will be two moves, but you'll have much more time to find a place you like.

[rem31708]

Well another thing to think about is, that many people love living in this area. Are you totally certain you might not want to stay and settle after residency? You might be offered a fellowship to stay longer, or an attending position. It happens. Unless you are dead set on returning. Also, real estate home prices are depressed now, so it's a good time to buy, especially if you don't also have to sell a home at a low price. But no one could guess whether prices will be up again in 3 years, or still low or even lower.

I am glad I bought in Vermont 10 years ago, because the home has gone way up in value making up for the money we had to spend. But I think those days of huge real estate increases are likely gone - people simply can't afford to pay so much, which is why I guess we had the mortgage crisis and now a drop in prices. Incomes didn't rise to match all these huge real estate increases.

[Quebecoise30]

you make a good point. We really have no idea how long we'll be there. He may want to continue with a fellowship. We'll have to talk more about it...