Rethinking Vermont- Cost of Living? (Burlington, Colchester: extended stay, for sale, 2013)

[Melmo]

My husband and I have both accepted jobs in Williston, we are supposed to be moving up there in November. We currently live in the DC/Baltimore area (husband works in DC, I work in B'more). We have young children, and decided we wanted to move to a more laid back, family friendly environment with less crime and more outdoor opportunities. With our new jobs, we will be making almost exactly HALF what we have been making in the DC/Baltimore area.

I thought I was prepared and willing to sacrifice the $$ for the improved quality of life, but now I'm starting to worry. A big part of this is that we are having an IMPOSSIBLE time finding a place to rent. Our house here is on the market, but hasn't sold yet, so we will need to rent until it sells. We also don't know the Burlington area that well, so we'd prefer to rent for a while until we decide where we want to buy. We have 2 children, 2 dogs and 6 chickens (which we'd like to bring, but don't HAVE to bring), and it just seems like any place that would work for us to rent is more than $2500 a month! Our mortgage payment here is a lot less than that, and as I mentioned, we are going to be making HALF the amount of money. I am starting to wonder if we can even AFFORD to move to Vermont?

Does anyone have any suggestions for where to find affordable rentals that allow dogs and possibly other animals? Or does some place like this exist? My husband has said he is fine with living up to an hour from Williston (he currently commutes more than an hour to his job in DC), but I'd like to live closer, as I'm worried about being too far away from daycare (one of our children is in school, the other in daycare, and I've been at my job long enough that if the school or daycare calls me to pick up a kid, I can leave at the drop of a hat and be there in 20 minutes).

Thanks for any suggestions!

[timberline742]

The Burlington area is expensive compared to wages, as is much of VT. It's long been that way. I lived in Burlington for 4 years, and I've lived in Chicago and the Boston area (Somerville, JP, etc) and honestly, I paid as much for a place in Burlington as I did Chicago and it was close to what I paid in Somerville. That is the reality.

I'm hopeful that there are others here that can give you suggestions on places further out that may be more affordable. Good luck.

[Soup Nazi]

The two dogs are going to make finding a rental difficult. I don't think you would want to be an hour away from Williston, since commuting in winter could be a real hassle. An hour away could be as far as 60 miles. You might want to look into Colchester and Essex Junction. When my son went to college in Burlington, some of the more reasonable rentals were located in those towns and the commute wasn't bad at all. What kind of dogs do you have?

[Melmo]

They are both mixed breeds- one is lab/shepherd of some sort, other is lab/mastiff maybe? I've been scouring Craiglist for rentals, and there just does not seem to be much selection. When we first started looking at the jobs, we searched houses for SALE, since in our area there is a correlation between the sales prices of houses and the rent for similar houses. The housing prices we saw were actually a lot less than in our area, so we figured rents would be a lot less as well. Guess we were really wrong on that front, it definitely seems like it is cheaper to buy than to rent in that area!

[Soup Nazi]

Yes it is an expensive area to live, for sure. I have a house in the Upper Valley, in Windsor, VT. A house similar to mine would only sell for around $115k but it would cost around $1050 to rent it. Crazy. The housing stock in Vermont is very old as well, so a lot of the cheaper rentals are in places that may be more costly to heat, etc. I only bought a house because of the great difficulty I had in finding a rental that would allow my dog and three cats.

Maybe you should contact a realtor in the area and explain your situation. You may be able to rent a house that is up for sale. My neighbor has a house like that. He has been trying to sell it for a couple of years and from time to time, people rent it for a short term.

Beware of Craigslist scams. It is obvious to someone from the area that a 3 bedroom, 2 bath immaculate ranch that allows pets for only $400 a month is a scam, but people looking from out of town may think it is a good deal. Also try this local paper:

Seven Days Classifieds > Vermont Jobs, Apartments, Cars, Services and Stuff

Don't give up. I left a better-paying job in NYC twenty-four years ago in order to raise my son in Vermont (well, we started in New Hampshire, across the river). It wasn't easy but my son grew up to be a fine young man and I never had to worry about the kind of crazy stuff happening back in the city. You can't put a price on quality of life. I wish you luck.

[vter]

Vermonters With Pets Struggle to Rent Housing | Seven Days

Renting with animals is going to be TOUGH. See article above.
You may want to check some more rural areas outside of Burlington for rentals - Huntington, Hinesburg, Monkton, Ferrisburg, Richmond. Try the classifieds in the Burlington Free Press or Seven Days. There is also the Front Porch Forum - you can see if you would be allowed to create account and ask this question across multiple towns. Front Porch Forum
Does your new employer offer any assistance in finding a place to live? Not necessarily $$$ but guidance? You may want to settle in an extended stay hotel for a few weeks while you look.
I bet you could find someone up here locally to take your chickens temporarily - again ask on the Front Porch Forum if you can get on there.

[68vette]

Is there any way one of you can come to the area ASAP? I'm only saying this because my son is currently looking for a new apartment right now as well. They are having a difficult time without a pet. The landlords have the pick of the litter. There aren't many rental units available compared to people looking. If one of you could be in the area, it will make it much easier to find a place. It is also much easier to rent a place to someone who is here. Otherwise you can do what was mentioned already, stay at an extended stay hotel. It's not that affordable, but you would at least have a place to stay for the short term.

[Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by 68vette

Is there any way one of you can come to the area ASAP?

I agree. Many rental ads only allow you to come to a scheduled viewing. I suppose then you are in competition to get the rental if it suits you. And you really need to see a rental before you commit. There are some really awful places out there. But there are good ones as well; the trick is to find them. Being here and able to respond to ads would be ideal.

[joe moving]

You could always rent further away until your house sells, the move closer. 1 hour from Williston is a world away.

Duxbury is like 5 minutes or 10 minutes from i89 at which point its 20 or 25 to Williston exit. I'm only mentioning Duxbury because we live near-ish to there so I know it better than other directions away from Williston. Just randomly google this:

Flex Lease - Country Home 15 Min. to Interstate

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by Melmo

With our new jobs, we will be making almost exactly HALF what we have been making in the DC/Baltimore area.


I am starting to wonder if we can even AFFORD to move to Vermont?

I don't know much about Vermont, but IMHO cost of living on the northern half of the East Coast tends to be roughly the same (excepting perhaps NYC area and rural Maine at each end). Unless you fit perfectly within what that community has you are unlikely to save. You may save on housing, but spend more on groceries or entertainment or gas because that is your lifestyle.

So, yes may be content most of the year to be raising chickens and doing farm stuff and living in a small town, but if twice a year you feel the urge to get the kids to a broadway play and experience some cultural events not available in your community your long weekends will blow your budget.

Also, IMHO big ticket items like cars, TVs, sun-surf vacations, cost more or less the same whether they are in Manhattan or in rural Vermont.

I hope you find the answer that suits you best.