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Gilashot t1_jdftbc2 wrote

I love how the echo chamber works here. “Ooh! Air BnB bad! Rent is high! Houses are hard to find!”. Bullshit. Interest rates are high.

Sort term rentals make up 3% of the housing in VT. Vacation homes are 17%. I personally know a farmer and a heavy equipment operator who own Air BnB’s that they bought and built with blue collar money and sweat.

You all should be complaining about the 1% lawyers and dentists from CT who own second homes here. Don’t punish native entrepreneurs.

And before you scream housing crisis, look at some of the short term rentals around you. They’re not all exactly suitable for long term rentals.

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Macbookaroniandchez t1_jdgzwov wrote

Second homeowner chiming in. Inherited the house.

Not a lawyer, a dentist, or from Connecticut.

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amhais OP t1_jdh3xn3 wrote

I don’t know about everyone else but I’ve got no issue with most second home owners. I get that it also represents housing stock “taken away from locals”, but generally they’re around the resorts or tourist-centric towns like Manchester, Woodstock, etc. On top of that they presumably bought a vacation home here because they love the area, plan to spend time here, and care about the community while spending money at our local businesses.

My issue is with buying single family homes, particularly those in regular-ass neighborhoods, as part of some get rich quick scheme or as “an investment”.

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[deleted] t1_jdi59sa wrote

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amhais OP t1_jdiyxy3 wrote

That’s a very fair proposal.

I don’t agree that second home ownership is immoral, as someone who regularly encounters homeless folks traveling for work I sincerely doubt that most of them would be buying homes even if they were cheap. Mental health care is the major need there.

But yeah, having them pay more to support the area is certainly fair. The counterargument is that they don’t consume local services like schools, EMS, fire, etc. but meh, I still think it makes sense to pay a bit more. Maybe to subsidize small businesses in the area or something, I don’t know what the right answer is.

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purged6 t1_jdqs9b3 wrote

Does VT not have a homestead tax law? Where I live you get a tax break if your property is your primary residence. Granted I doubt it is a big enough burden for it to be a deterrent to multiple property owners but at least it's something.

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Gilashot t1_jdn8qce wrote

Yeah, no offense. I’m just generalizing.

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_jdhmvip wrote

The real problem in VT is neither, it's the work from home crowd that showed up during covid that is really ruining Vermont.

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hippiepotluck t1_jditq5m wrote

If their actual home is in Vermont I am happy that they are here!

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meinblown t1_jdfubbc wrote

Why are people not allowed second homes? The homes they are building are waaaaaaay out of your price range anyways. Guaranteed.

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Gilashot t1_jdfvqu1 wrote

Yeah I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be allowed. However, lots of second homes in my area are just pretty standard sized houses. 2 or 3 bedrooms. Not out of everyones price rangeZ. No one is screaming about them though, just the Air BnB’s.

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