Archive for March, 2010

Quite some time ago I posted something about new apartments in Burlington VT that we are going to be building.  At the time of posting I wasn’t sure if they were going to be condos or apartments but I think we have finally settled on condos.  I am proud to announce that we have started building and we should be ready to sell by June or July.  This is a picture showing some of the progress so far.  As a reminder, this is what the building looked like before the renovation.  The building will feature 8 units, each with a generous sized storage locker in the basement.  Two of the units will be town home style meaning they will be two stories with the kitchen and living area on one floor and the bedrooms on another. The rest of the units will be Flats with everything on one level.  We are thinking the prices will range from the $180,000′s to the low $200,00′s depending on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. We are pretty excited to get these on the market.  Condos in Burlington Vermont usually sell very well and this is sort of a unique project for Burlington. Most of the condos on the market in Burlington and surrounding areas fall into two categories. One is the converted apartment (which was most likely converted from a single family house). There are tons of these condos, especially in the downtown area and around the university.  The other is the Condo complex. This is a more common site outside of the downtown area but nonetheless, they make up a good percentage of the condo market. This project is being built as a condo building so your entrance won’t be up some sketchy staircase to the roof where you climb through a window to get in. I’m exaggerating a little but I have seen some crazy things out there. Also this building is a classic example of infill. It is right in a neighborhood so you still have all the conveniences of city life unlike many of the aforementioned condo complexes.  The bus line is just a short walk to the end of the street and there are tons of amenities right across the bridge in Winooski.

I will post more information and photos as it develops.

Today (another Bee-u-t-ful day in Vermont), I went to a class called ‘Vermont property tax prebate/rebate’, presented by a local attorney.  Don’t you just

Let the fun begin!

love the topics this time of year…taxes, taxes, taxes!  This tax issue has to do with all the Vermonters who have lived in a ‘homestead’ for all of 2009 and whose net household income is less than $97,000.  I’m sorry I can’t define the ‘net household’ part for you, but that’s why tax season is so much fun.  We all get to do a whole lot of esoteric figuring and then wait to  hear back from the tax department to see what we got wrong.

First of all, let’s get the terminology straight.  The prebate is formally known as a property tax adjustment.  It came from act 60 in the early part of the 2000’s.  What it attempts to do is redistribute education tax money we all send to the state so that children, no matter what town they live in (property rich vs. property poor), have better access to an equal education.  Now, I don’t know the numbers, but based on the $97,000 threshold and the fact that the average household income in Vermont is way less, many Vermonters get some prebate factored into their tax bill (yea!).  It could be as low as almost nothing, up to $8,000!  Most people would not get the higher amount, but the reason I’m telling you all this is the effect this prebate has on the real estate transaction between 4/1 and July 1.  April 1 of each year, as Vermonters know by now, is the date we establish whether a home is a primary residence which is taxed at a lower rate than if a home is not considered a primary residence, and qualifies us for a possible prebate.  Prebates are received as equally divided credits on our tax bills throughout the year.

"Considering the tax shelter"

In Colchester, for instance, property taxes are due in August, November and March (March 15, to be exact).  If a transaction closes between March 15 and April 1, that’s easy because the seller has already received back all the prebate they are due.  The prebate doesn’t affect the transaction.  Any other time during the year, the prebate is a predetermined cost to negotiate between a seller and buyer.  EXCEPT, between 4/1 and 7/1, every year, the prebate can only be estimated by the seller since the state won’t have the exact number available until 7/1.  Many times, this isn’t a huge deal if the seller’s tax situation hasn’t changed much from the year before (a ball park figure can be helpful).  To be more accurate, it’s best if the seller completes a worksheet, available at the VT Dept. of Taxes website.  You’ll need to have your forms HS 122 and HS 144 completed to fill out the worksheet.  Confused yet?

Why does this matter to anyone anyway?  Well, since I’m a Buyers Agent, I definitely want to know if my buyer is going to have shell out some extra coin to factor into the transaction BEFORE closing (like, way before closing).  And, my buyer would rather not wait until halfway through the closing process to find out, either.  Remember, no surprises before or during a closing is a good thing.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this simplified explanation.  It’s time for another cup of joe.

Working in Williston VT, I have the pleasure of driving by several empty big box stores everyday on my way to and from work. I often wonder what will fill these spaces and when. Maybe it’s because I am in commercial real estate but I’ll bet it’s more because nobody likes to see giant empty voids in the once thriving commercial districts of their town. Williston and Vermont as a whole have fared very well when you consider other towns in the

Williston VT Big Box Reuse...I wish

country. Plattsburgh NY for example has entire shopping centers that are boarded up and plastered with Commercial Space For Lease signs. That is something you just don’t see in Vermont, at least not in Chittenden county which is our area of expertise. Part of the reason Vermont has done so well is because of its ardent support of local business. More locally owned and locally supported businesses means less impact from national chains with unrealistic growth projections and failed business models.  Williston is one of the few places in the state where there is such a large concentration of big box stores so the affects are magnified here.

Here is an idea to fill some of the space. Fill it with small farmers market type users looking for a year round marketplace to sell their goods. Better yet lease small spaces out to start-up retailers looking for a cheap alternative to a traditional storefront.

I’ve recently heard of a place that is doing something similar in Mesa Arizona.  I’m not sure how the business is set up but some real estate developer is converting a vacant Mervyns (like Kohls) store into a year round Marketplace. They are modeling the concept on the Pike Place Market in Seattle; a year round market featuring, art, food, flowers, produce, meat and fish. A huge part of the allure to Pike place Market is the proximity to the water, downtown Seattle and the whole ambiance of the place.   I’m not sure how this concept will work in a strip mall setting with a sea of parking in the front but I give them an A for creativity.

This brings up a lot of zoning issues (especially here in Williston VT) but that is another post altogether.

Here a link to the article in the Arizona Republic. Thanks Tony!