Okemo Mountain VT Trivia

Whether you are an Okemo Mountain VT homeowner or a visitor to the area, you’ll find these fun facts interesting:

- There are 624 acres of skiable area and 117 runs on Okemo Mountain
- Lift tickets were 20 cents in 1956, when operations first began
- Okemo is Native American for “All Come Home”
- The summit is 3,344 ft.
- A “Beach House” used to be at the top of the mountain instead of the Summit Lodge that stands now
- The trail Home Stretch used to be named Ugh

To learn more about Okemo Mountain VT or Ludlow VT real estate, please call me at 802-353-1983 or visit ISellVermontRealEstate.com. You may also request a relocation package by clicking here.

Vermont Investment Property

Chester, Vermont Seven Unit Apartment House The house is approx 120 years old, the two back apartments were added about 20 years ago they are 3 bedrooms each with their own furnace and hot water heater tenants pay their own heat and hot water. The main roof of the house is slate The roofs over the porches are asphalt. The foundation is stone - there are 2 basements, one for the front apartments with the main furnace and water heater and one for the back 2 apartments with their own water heaters and furnaces. Each basement has an outside entrance bilko doors. The outside of the house is Clapboard. The outside of the front potion of the house was painted during the renovations. The front of the house has mostly original windows, some storm windows. The house is heated with oil throughout. There is no gas. All the stoves are electric and all the tenants pay their own electricity. There is town water and sewer. The house is on approx 1.5 acres of property with parking for 12+ cars along the side and in the back, it is on a main street (rte 103), across from Chester Town Hall; an ideal location, walking distance to store. Good Numbers! Call or e-mail for more info. Owner/broker
MLS #2801839

Ludlow VT Home Buyers – Why Get A Home Inspection

Buying your Ludlow VT home is one of the most significant decisions and biggest investments you will ever make. A professional home inspection will enable you to learn a great deal about a home, help give you peace of mind and answer some important questions. Whether you are buying or selling, you will have the benefit of knowing the ins and outs of a particular home.

Homebuyer Benefits:
You will gain an education of the home, top to bottom, so that you will know exactly what you are buying.. This information will help you to buy with confidence knowing that a true professional has carefully evaluated and inspected your future home.

Home Seller Benefits:
For sellers, a pre-listing inspection can detect previously unknown problems or potential upgrades that you wish to address prior to selling your home. Being aware of issues in advance will allow for disclosure of problems, which can result in smoother transactions for all parties.

Good Hiring Practices:
1. Hire a Professional.
Confirm your home inspector is a member of American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) – http://www.ashi.org/ and National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI) http://nahi.org/.

2. Obtain a printed report.
Make sure you are given a complete, written report of your inspection results, preferably with photos included.

3. Attend the inspection.There is no substitute for the being at the inspection. The report provided is only a part of the inspection. When you attend the inspection, you can ask questions, and become more familiar with your home, you'll gain greater comfort and confidence in your buying decision.

If you are ready to take advantage of the current Ludlow VT real estate market, please begin by calling me at 802-353-1983 or visit ISellVermontRealEstate.com. You may also begin searching the MLS here.

Ludlow VT Real Estate Update

With the first month of 2008 complete, experts have begun to speculate on how the real estate market will fare for the rest of the year. A continuation of soft market conditions is forecast for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with improvement expected by the second half of this year if loan limits are increased, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said sales activity is expected to remain soft through the first half of the year despite a generational low in mortgage interest rates. “Existing home sales have moved narrowly since last September, but when the full impact of higher loan limits for conventional mortgages begins to impact the market there is likely to be a notable rise in home sales and prices,” he said.

If you are ready to take advantage of the current Ludlow VT real estate market, please begin by calling me at 802-353-1983 or visit ISellVermontRealEstate.com. You may also begin searching the MLS here.

Calling all Farmers and Horse Owners - New Listing

1800's authentic Vermont Farmhouse on 227 acres, in Topsham Vermont, just waiting to be restored (but can be lived in now)! There are mostly new windows and some new wiring - 5 bedrooms, plus extra rooms. There is a 165ft barn, with electric and water and 8 bays, hay storage for about 5000 bales. Some of the land fronts the Waits River, has about 100 acres of hay land, pastures, a pond, apple orchard, trees and views! Close to Snow mobile trails. Included is a newer (2000) 3 bedroom, 2 bath doublewide to live in, while enjoying the beauty, the wildlife and watching the farmhouse come back to life. This land is perfect for organic farming!

Go to: http://isellvermontrealestate.com/ for more info or e-mail Irene at: Irene@isellvermontrealestate.com

In a Buyer’s Market, Seek Incentives!

A “buyer’s market” occurs when there are a lot of homes for sale and they are staying on the market for a long time. During times like this, home buyers are in a great position to negotiate for lower prices and incentives.

The guidelines for buyers' incentives vary among loan options, so make sure to get pre-qualified first so you can ask your loan officer about the allowable incentives for your loan program and down payment.

So, what can you ask for? Here are some ideas:
If you are putting ten percent or more down, you can ask for up to six percent of the price of the home. If you are putting less than ten percent down, you can ask for three percent of the price. This “cash back” could be used to cover your non-recurring closing costs (things like points and mortgage fees that you only pay one time), or to cover the cost of extensive repairs to the home, if they are needed. Most loan programs will only allow you to apply incentives toward non-recurring closing costs. Your Realtor will make sure that the incentive request is spelled out clearly and thoroughly in your offer to purchase the property.

If you are paying cash for a property, you have much more negotiating power when it comes to the selling price if you state in the offer that you will be paying cash. In a buyer’s market, sellers are generally seeking a quick and “painless” sale: i.e., one where they do not have to worry that the deal may fall through due to credit or loan problems.

When asking for incentives in an offer, it is important to make sure you do not get taken advantage of by a lender who may inflate your loan costs to “use up” the incentives you negotiated. An experienced and perceptive Realtor will be able to help make sure you are protected.

It is important to avoid “loading up” your offer with a lot of contingencies (such as offering to purchase the home, but only after your current home has sold), especially when you are pursuing incentives. Doing this makes it less certain you will actually close, so a seller will be less likely to offer financial incentives in hopes of a quick sale. The one contingency you always want to include, especially in a buyer’s market, is that your offer is contingent upon the property appraising at or above the purchase price by the lender's appraiser.

For more information about Ludlow VT real estate, please visit IsellVermontRealEstate.com or call me at 802-353-1983. To receive a complimentary e-book on moving or preparing to sell your home, please click here!