The New ‘Beckoning Country’? City Buyers Eye Vermont Property As COVID Sanctuary

A screenshot of some South Burlington properties listed on the Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty website. Vermont Realtors report a surge in interest from out-of-state, city buyers.
(Screenshot/Four Seasons Sotheby’s) International Realty

Vermont has one of the lowest rates of coronavirus infections in the country. People from more urban and more infected areas have noticed, and real estate agents report a surge in interest in Vermont property.

Out-of-state buyers are looking for a safe and relatively disease-free place to live, a trend spurred in part because many more people can now work from home.

But to actually walk through a house you want to buy these days, you have to live here, or self-quarantine for two weeks before you can physically check out the kitchen and closets.

So realtors are using promotional videos, FaceTime to show property, even 3-D digital displays that allow prospective buyers to “walk though” rooms.

Even with the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, real estate agents say they’re getting more inquiries about Vermont property from out-of-staters.

“Definite interest, yes,” said Gayle Oberg, who owns Little River Realty in Stowe. “People are calling and asking if they can’t just drive up for the day to look at real estate.”

In fact, rules imposed under the state of emergency bar customers from a making a day trip to shop for real estate. So Oberg said some buyers have signed purchase contracts without seeing the property.

Read the rest of this story at VPR’s website.