Burlington Vermont Events for September 30 - October 3

Below are a few upcoming events coming up in the Burlington Vermont area...

State of Craft Showcase -- Burlington, VT - Now through September 30, 2010. Frog Hollow State Craft Center was the first designated state craft center and has served as a leader in the field. This exhibit chronicles trends in Vermont’s contemporary studio craft movement and the evolution of a state craft center through representative artists’ work. Location: 85 Church Street. Time: Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Sunday, noon - 2 p.m. Cost: free. Information: visit www.froghollow.org.

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The Khmer Arts Ensemble -- Burlington, VT - October 1, 2010. The Khmer Arts Ensemble—a 30-member company with 18 dancers, four singers, and eight musicians—upholds Cambodia’s profoundly moving and aesthetically complex dance tradition, an art form that was almost eliminated by the brutal purge of artists by the Khmer Rouge. The Lives of Giants is a testament to the human spirit and the universal urgency of art that tells the story of Reap, a 10-headed giant king of the Reamker Epic (the Cambodian version of the Ramayana). Location: Flynn Center, 153 Main Street. Time: 8 p.m. Cost: $23 - $38. Information: 802-863-5966 or visit www.flynntix.org.

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Built to Spill -- South Burlington, VT - October 3, 2010. Built to Spill were one of the most popular indie rock acts of the '90s, finding the middle ground between postmodern, Pavement-style pop and the loose, spacious jamming of Neil Young. Location: Higher Ground Ballroom, 1214 Williston Road. Time: 7 p.m. Cost: $17 - $20. Information: 802-652-0777 or visit www.highergroundmusic.com.

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If you are considering buying Burlington Vermont real estate (or surrounding areas), please give me a call on my cell at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss our real estate market and your options.

Burlington Vermont Events for September

Below are a few upcoming events for September happening in the Burlington Vermont area...

National Street Rod Association Northeast Nationals

Date: Sept. 17-19, Friday 8:30 am - 5 pm, Saturday 8:00 am - 5 pm, Sunday 8:30 am - 2 pm

Admission: $14 Adults, $5 Children 6-12, Under 6 Free ($12 for NSRA members, Military Personnel w/ID and Seniors 60+)

More than 1600 rods, customs and collector cars will be on hand for the 17th Annual Northeast Street Rod Nationals Plus Sept. 17-19. In addition to the collection of vehicles, several commercial vendors and automotive experts will be on hand. Also, enjoy a trade show, arts & crafts fair, vintage auto parts swap, and daily entertainment. For more information about the NSRA, visit www.nsra-usa.com.

More Information: http://cvexpo.org/

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Mayhem 4 MMA & Thai Boxing

Date: Sep 18 Time: 7pm to

Location: Memorial Auditorium Price: $25-$50

United Fighting Arts Institute, LLC Presents Mayhem 4 MMA & Thai Boxing Premium Ringside $50.00 Back Ringside $35.00 Front Balcony $35.00 General Admission Bleachers $25.00 General Admission Balcony $25.00 (General Admission Balcony seats are the last 3 rows only). Prices Include 9% Tax, $1.00 Facility Fee, and $2.00-3.25 BO Surcharge Note: There will be no East Ringside Section at this event. Instead – there will be a beer garden right there by the ring! Vermont's premiere MMA & Thai Kickboxing event is back! Live, Sept. 18th, 2010 @ the Burlington Memorial Auditorium. Doors open at 6pm, fights start at 7pm. This event will feature an action packed split MMA & Thai Boxing Fight Card with the VMTA 155lb Title on the line! Fight fans, for the 1st time; this event will also feature the "Ringside Beer Garden"! Just what is the Mayhem all about? Answer: Fast paced, exciting, non-stop, full contact Mixed Martial Arts & Muay Thai action! The best MMA & Muay Thai fighters from across the U.S. will compete in this exciting event!– Doors open at 6:00pm, event starts at 7:00. Mixed martial arts: (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of both striking as well as grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete. With the recent notoriety of MMA in the U.S. and it’s growing fan base around the globe it has earned the title of the fastest growing sport in the world today! Thai Boxing: (Muay Thai) is has long been the premiere form of stand up martial art. From its fierce roots as a battlefield martial art in Thailand, today it has bloomed into the country’s National Sport. Today Thai Boxing is practiced around the globe and attracts a huge fan base, it enjoys the title of the most exciting “stand up” ring sport in the world. It’s hard hitting, fast paced, action that no one should miss out on…come witness the Mayhem! Mayhem 4 is presented by United Fighting Arts Institute, LLC and all bouts fall under the direction of the Vermont Muay Thai Association. This event is Sanctioned by the USMTA. For More Information: http://www.mayhemvt.com

Contact: http://www.flynntix.org

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Latino Festival Boat Cruise

Date: Sep 18 Time: 9:30pm to 12am

Location: Spirit of Ethan Allen III at the Boathouse Price: $15.50/adult, $11.25/children 10 & under Burlington Parks & Recs/Hermanos Productions Presents the Latino Festival Boat Cruise. Boarding Begins at 9:30 PM, Boat Departs at 10 PM and returns at Midnight. Every individual regardless of age requires a ticket - Open Seating Caribbean Cruise with 3 Decks - 3 djs dj Craig Mitchell/dj Papo Lopez/dj Hector Salsa* Merengue*Bachata*Reggaeton*Caribbean Mix*Latin Mix

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If you are considering buying Burlington Vermont real estate (or surrounding areas), please give me a call on my cell at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss our real estate market and your options.

Burlington Vermont Fireworks - July 3, 2010

The Fireworks show in Burlington Vermont this year were spectacular!

Earlier in the evening (around 8:20) there was a special stunt air plane show which ended with some daylight fireworks. The stunt pilot dived repeatedly while releasing bright-colored smoke and the fireworks went up in the smoke.

As usual the main Burlington fireworks show started at around 9:30 and it was quite a show. I think the Burlington Fireworks show gets better each year.

Apparently they cost $40,000 for this year's show, $5,000 more than last year. The good news is that it doesn't cost Burlington Vermont taxpayers a dime as it's sponsored by 3 major sponsors: Pomerleau Real Estate, Price Chopper and Chittenden Bank. A big thanks to them for an excellent show!

As usual, there were many possible places to watch this year's show. Some places are:

• Waterfront park
• North Beach
• Perkins Pier
• The Boathouse
• Oakledge Park
• Battery Park

I personally prefer the Boat House in order to get as close as possible to get the best view, but you can get a good view at any of these Burlington locations.

Below are 2 videos of Burlington Vermont's 2010 Fireworks show...



Burlington Vermont Fireworks 2010

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If you are considering buying Burlington Vermont real estate (or surrounding areas), please give me a call on my cell at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss our real estate market and your options.

Top Ten List for Burlington Vermont

A purely personal list subject to change (guaranteed!) of my favorite things to do in Burlington Vermont throughout the year:

10. Summer picnic pilgrammage to enjoy a sunset at Waterfront Park on Lake Champlain,

9. A show at the Flynn Theater followed by profiteroles for dessert at the "Trat",

8. An evening stroll down Church Street,

7. Finding a parking spot,

6. JazzFest in June,

5. First Night,

4. Burlington Bike Path,

3. Coming in by boat to the Community Boat House to hang out on the docks for a sunset, dinner, drinks or all 3,

2. Christmas Lighting Ceremony on Church Street,

1. 4th of July fireworks on the waterfront.

If you would like to add a comment or add your favorite Top Ten list, please do so by posting a comment here

If you are considering buying Burlington Vermont real estate (or surrounding areas), please give me a call on my cell at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss our real estate market and your options.

10 Steps To Hunting for Burlington Vermont Real Estate With A Well Trained Eye

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Burlington VT Real Estate

It sounds like a great listing – in your price range – in a good neighborhood – with features you’re looking for. First impressions mean a lot – but you find the bushes are overgrown, the front hallway is covered with tacky foil wallpaper, the kitchen cabinets are painted dark brown, the living room rug smells musty, and the hardwood floors have black water marks on them.

Should you head back out the door? Maybe. But to fully determine whether you should cross this house off of your list you’ll need to gather more information, and perhaps look past the blemishes to get a full picture of this house’s potential. How do you do that? Follow these 10 steps.

Keep them straight

Looking at a bunch of houses? With digital photography making it easy and inexpensive to record images, be sure to take a digital camera along, first taking a picture of the listing sheet so you can remember which pictures go with which home, and then key elements of each home.

Also, make a checklist before you visit the first house so that you can keep each of them straight. Here is a list of items you’ll want to include (rank each as either excellent, good, fair, needs repair soon, needs repair now).

• Kitchen
• Bathroom(s)
• Roof
• Windows
• Furnace
• Air conditioning
• Floors (rate by each level of home)
• Closet/storage space
• Plumbing
• Electrical (does it have 60, 100 or 200 amp service?)
• Basement
• Master bedroom
• Siding
• Garage

Then customize the list with your own “must haves,” for example, fireplace, master bath, walk-in closet, two (or three) car garage, dining room, open floor plan, eat-in kitchen, screened-in porch, large (or small) yard.

When narrowing down your home search, consider the following:

1. Start with emotion, but end with facts. Buying a home is an emotional process. You often find yourself trying to determine if this is where you want to spend the next 10, 20, or 30 years of your life (and perhaps raise a family). It’s OK if your initial impression is an emotional one. But because the purchase can be the largest you’ll ever make, it is essential that you gather all of the facts necessary to make an educated decision.


2. Look for good bones. Don’t get hooked on the decorating. The town or towns you are targeting for your home search likely have a handful of builders who have built a majority of the homes. Get to know the reputation of these builders. Then, before going to look at a home, find out who the builder was. You’ll want to be careful when looking at homes built by those with less than stellar reputations. Then, you need to learn to look past the furniture, wall colors, window treatments, and other decorating, and just look at the home layout and flow. New cherry cabinets and granite counters matter little if they are in the galley kitchen and you have a family of five. At the same time a family room with black walls featuring a mural of the moon on one side also matters little if it is big enough for your needs. Aesthetics are relatively inexpensive to fix – major construction is another matter.


3. When looking at room layout, corners are key. Rooms with doorways in the middle of walls flow better than rooms that open in a corner. Remember that when looking for your dream home.


4. Make sure the most expensive stuff works. The two most expensive rooms in a home to renovate are kitchens and bathrooms. If you’re stretching to be able to afford a home and still eat, make sure these two rooms don’t need renovating anytime soon.


5. Take an inventory of what needs fixing. Good news: With more houses on the market than in the past several years, you’ll likely be able to look at more houses before making a decision to put in a bid. Bad news: That means it can get quite confusing to remember the details of each. Develop a list of things you like in the house as you walk through each, and also make a list of things that might need fixing (see "Keep Them Straight", right).


6. Is there room for expansion? You might not be concerned with adding onto the home you’re viewing today, but what about tomorrow? Don’t necessarily exclude those that don’t have the room and a logical place to expand, but do understand that you will be limited in your options down the road.


7. Does the basement leak? If you’ve been lucky enough to live in a house with a dry basement (or perhaps without a basement) it’s hard to imagine the havoc a wet basement can bring to your life. If you’ve ever lived in a house with a leaky basement or hate the thought of a foot of water surrounding your furnace, you’ll likely be sure to check that the basement doesn’t leak, or has a system that automatically removes water from it.


8. What’s the condition of the home’s exterior? Does it need painting, or is it sided? Does it have painted brick that’s peeling? Is the aluminum siding chalking? Improving the exterior can be costly. Check the exterior walls carefully before putting in a bid.


9. Landscaping: Does it look like a park or a landfill? Landscaping not only includes the grass, bushes and any gardens, but also the hardscape – the sidewalk, deck and/or patio. People are spending more time than ever outdoors and you’re likely no different. Landscaping improvements can be costly, but is one area in which homeowners often tackle projects themselves. If you have the time, energy, and expertise you can save money by doing some landscaping improvements. But costs can add up here – be sure to factor that into your decision and/or bid.


10. Check the zoning, nobody likes surprises. Too often homeowners are horrified to learn that their tranquil neighborhood is being invaded by multi-family housing, a big commercial business, or a 24-hour convenience store. Before you put a bid on a house, go to the town hall, city hall, or county register of records and find out the zoning of all contiguous properties.

If you are considering buying Burlington Vermont real estate (or surrounding areas), please give me a call on my cell at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss our real estate market and your options.

As always, post any thoughts and comments here on Hurd's The Word.

Should I Get Prequalified When Buying A Home?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Burlington Vermont

Why get prequalified and then preapproved for a mortgage before you begin your search for a home? Because there are people who will benefit from your preapproval: You, your Agent, and the seller from whom you eventually buy a home!

You: The most important beneficiary, of course, is you. One of the most common questions we get from users of this site goes something along the lines of "Please let us know how much house we can afford." We're stumped! Why? There are simply too many variables--credit history, income, debt, special mortgage programs and variations in qualifying guidelines between different mortgage types--to answer that question. The only sure way of getting the question answered is through prequalification. The mortgage prequalification step is a relatively simple one, but it is an important one. It begins the process of formally applying for a mortgage, and it gives everyone involved--especially you--a clear sense of the direction they should be headed.

Your Agent: By knowing what your financial parameters are, your Agent can spend more time looking for houses that "fit" and less time pursuing dead ends. No matter how much you might want a 4000 square foot home for $275,000, if your qualifications say $125,000, your qualifications say $125,000. When it comes to mortgages, "yes, but" doesn't carry much weight!

The Seller: Want to strengthen your bargaining position? Get prequalified. Want your offer to stand out in a case of multiple offers for the same house? Get prequalified. Look at it from the seller's perspective. If you had 2 offers on the table for your house, one from a fully prequalified buyer and the other from an "I'll get around to that soon" buyer--to which offer would you devote the most attention? Even if the prequalified buyer's offer was $1000 less, would you take the chance on the buyer that perhaps may not be qualified? When it comes to a seller evaluating offers, "a bird in the hand..." definitely applies.It is important to remember that the amount of mortgage you will qualify for is the maximum. It is the amount that the lender feels you can afford, but it is not necessarily the amount that you want to pay. It sometimes is advantageous to be conservative here. For example, if you qualify for a $100,000 mortgage and you have $15,000 available in cash for downpayment and closing costs, you are qualified to buy homes with a maximum selling price of $115,000. So as to not push yourself to the limit, you may want to look at homes that sell in the $100,000 to $110,000 range. Too many buyers simply rush off to the $115,000 level and some find themselves strapped when it comes time to purchase necessary items (such as draperies, additional furniture and lawn and garden tools, for example) or when they forget to factor in increases in monthly expenses (for example utilities and maintenance and repair costs).

If you need a referral to a professional local lender who can prequalify you in preparation for purchasing a home, please call or email me. I would be delighted to assist you. I can be reached on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me at Chris@ChrisHurdVT.com

If you are considering listing your home for sale or buying a home, condominium or other real estate in Burlington, Vermont or in Chittenden County, please give me a call on my cell at 802.238.5256 or email me to discuss our real estate market and your options.

As always, please feel free to post any thoughts and comments right here on Hurd's The Word.

Update: Home and Condo Values in Chittenden County, Vermont

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Burlington Vermont

Tha age old factors of condition, price and location are influencing our market more so now than in recent memory.

Just a few years ago, Sellers were enjoying multiple offers in all price ranges. Today, the part of the market that is humming along is everything essentially under $300,000. That is the sweet spot in the market for sure.

In Burlington, Charlotte, Colchester, Essex Junction, Essex Town, Milton, Shelburne, South Burlington, and Williston sales for all of 2009 show the average sale to list price ratio being at or above 95%. Of course, much depends on the three factors listed at the outset of this article but on average 95%.

Recent data compiled by Vermont Real Estate Information Network (VREIN), shows the condo market on average across all the towns comprising Chittenden County (i.e. Burlington, Bolton, Charlotte, Colchester, Essex Town, Essex Junction, Hinesburg, Huntington, Jericho, Milton, Richmond, St. George, Shelburne, Underhill, Westford, Williston) have shown prices increasing by 10.8% between the period from February 2009 until last month.

Conversely, single family homes on average across all the towns comprising Chittenden County have fallen 6.6%. The data shows that in February of 2009, the average sale price was $319,024. In February 2010, the average sales price had fallen to $297,874 with sales picking up.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the recent surge in activity has come as a result of pent up demand, low interest rates, and the tax credits made available to first time homebuyers ($8,000) and for repeat homebuyers who have not bought or sold their primary residence in the past 5 years ($6,500).

Against the national and regional averages Vermont continues to hold its own.The Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquent Survey found 4.8% of mortgages in Vermont were seriously delinquent or in foreclosure during the last quarter of 2009. Compare that to the national average at 9.7% or the New England region at 8%.

Vermont ranked 46th out of 50 states with fewest delinquencies and foreclosures initiated during the last quarter of 2009.

Of course, location weighs heavily on the average sale price figures. It is important to compare prices in the town and immediate neighborhood you are considering purchasing to best understand what a given house should sell for. The age old adage "all real estate is local" remains the watch word.

If you are considering listing your home for sale or buying a home, condominium or other real estate in Burlington, Vermont or in Chittenden County, please give me a call or email me to discuss representing you, our current market conditions and your needs/wants in a new home and community. I would be delighted to assist you. I can be reached on my direct line at 802.238.5256 or email me at Chris@ChrisHurdVT.com

As always, please feel free to post any thoughts and comments right here on Hurd's The Word

Armed with solid numbers, buyers and sellers alike can manage their expectations and the current realities of our local market.