Burlington Investment Properties

The Burlington Vermont Multi-Family Market has seen a pretty active 2010 so far. I have had the pleasure to work with Steve Lipkin in our office at Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman. He has been a Realtor for 11 years and this past year was the number one agent in the state of Vermont for multi-family properties. Investment Properties can be very profitable in the city of Burlington with a vacancy rate under 2%. These opportunities can be ideal for someone looking to owner occupy one side of a duplex and rent out the other of someone looking to get additional rental income. Check out all of Steve's current listings here.

This property is our most current listing at 45 Grant Street, a 4 unit building in Burlington's Downtown. If you have any questions about the benefits of owning a multi-family property or would like to see any listings please let me know.

Burlington Named Top 10 Best City for Next Decade

Just another article showing why Burlington is one of the best cities in United States. Accolades include healthiest city, top 10 greenest city, kidfriendly city, top 10 family city and named by A&E #1 "City To Have It All." This recent story is from Kiplingers Top 10 Cities for the next Decade.

The article talks about the local food movement and environmentalism in Burlington. While talking about the Intervale and the city producing local foods the article says Burlington VT is "30 years ahead of the country with the local-food movement."

Sounds to be like a good place to buy a home.

Why Now is a Great Time to Buy A Home!!

Things are picking up in the area regarding home sales in Chittenden County. Here are a couple reasons and links to why now might be a good time to buy a home.

1. Tax Credit - yes the time to get this is running out. You must be under contract by April 30th but it is not too late. There is a first time homeowner credit for up to $8,000 as well as a repeat homeowner credit of up to $6,500.

WCAX- Clock Ticks Down on Homeowner Tax Credit

2. Rise of home sales in Vermont. This Burlington Free Press Article shows the recent rise of real estate sales in Chittenden County. This article is a month old and action has increased since then.

3. Mortgage Rates are Beginning to Rise. We saw a record low for mortgage rates in December but rates have begun to rise. 1/2 a point can make a big difference, get locked in at a good rate now.



Let Me Know if you or someone you know might be in the market for buying a new home and taking advantage of these reasons to buy now. Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman is a great company and here is one of our most recent marketing opportunities through Seven Days as we appear on their main page.

First LIsting - 17 Whitney Street Winooski

I promise that I will not post every listing on the Blog but I had to post the first one. This is a nice 3 Br house on a quiet street in a desirable location. The house has a nice open back yard and three different porches, a screened in front porch and a covered and enclosed porches off the back. Click here for more info. My father grew up two houses down and I have some early memories running around the neighborhood with my cousins. This is a great time for this house to hit the market with the tax credits out there and low interest rates. If you know of anyone interested in this house please have them contact me.

Vermont and the Olympics

The Olympics have been a joy to watch and it was great to see the United States beat Canada in Hockey last night. One of the best parts of the Olympics has been the success of our state of Vermont both from a medal standpoint as well as some of the work athletes have done away from their sport. The state of Vermont already leads over 70 countries in the medal count. Freestyle skier Hannah Kearney won a gold and Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark picked up silver and bronze in the snowboard halfpipe. Our state still has some cross country and alpine skiers to compete.


Maybe more impressive than the medals is the charitable work Hannah Teter has done. All her prize winnings at events is given to charity but she has also started a her own charity, Hannah’s Gold after winning a gold medal in Torino in 2006. The charity focuses on the community of Kirindon in Kenya. It raises money from the sale of maple syrup and her own Ben and Jerry’s ice cream “Maple Blondie” to help pay for children's school fees, provide safe drinking water, help with local agriculture, and anything else the community needs. Teter attributes some of the morals and beliefs instilled in her working on her parents land in Vermont to her charitable work today. Great to see our state shine both on the podium and with regards to social awareness and helping those less fortunate.

Why Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman

Upon becoming a real estate agent I had the task of finding a company to work at where I could succeed and one that would be a good fit for both sides. I interviewed with a couple companies and am very satisfied with my choice of Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman. The following chart shows the success the company has in Chittenden being involved in the most buying and selling sides of home sales in the entire state of Vermont.

This success is achieved through the innovative tools and support team provided by Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman. The company has a dedicated full service staff team devoted to agents like myself helping to provide a level a service to clients that is second to none. I am also fortunate to have been partnered up with a great mentor in Steve Lipkin who brings over 10 successful years of real estate working at Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman. While I have only been with the company a month and a half I have no regrets about my decision and can’t imagine working elsewhere.

About this Blog

This will not be a generic Realtor blog where I post all of my listings or reiterate a talk or presentation I attended. Of course this blog will contain some of that but it will be more or less a stream of conscience in writing. My goal is to take into account what is going on in the community for prospective buyers and past customers – after all buying a house is not just the home but also the community it is located in. As you can see in my bio I also enjoy sports and so some posts will be totally unrelated to real estate. Some posts may be boring or irrelevant to some and I apologize for that but check back in a few days for updated content. Please forgive any spelling or grammar errors, as it has never been my strong suit. Feel free to email me at lclavelle@hickokandboardman.com . Any thoughts, advice, criticism or compliments would be greatly appreciated.