As many states including Vermont begin to award millions in financial assistance to homeowners impacted by the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued warnings of predatory fraud schemes targeting desperate homeowners looking to avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. 

A new program from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has funding for low and moderate income Vermont homeowners to replace their home water or wastewater systems. Applications for the first round of funding are open through April 15, 2022.

The mission of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) is to finance and promote affordable, safe, and decent housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters.

Embedded in that mission is the need to consider the holistic cost of renting and owning, meaning not just the upfront cost of housing, but also the cost of living in it long term.

Heating inefficient homes is a significant expense. This particularly hurts the most vulnerable Vermonters since very low-income households spend 23% of their total income on heating costs, on average. Add to that unexpected shifts in fossil fuel costs like we are now seeing as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, and even more pressure is put on limited Vermont budgets.

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) is recruiting for a Senior Finance and Accounting Analyst. Named one of the “Best Small/Medium Places to Work in Vermont” several times over the last few years, VHFA offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits. 

The median Vermont non-vacation home sold for $270,000 in 2021, a 10.2% increase from the prior year, and a 19% overall increase from prices in 2019, before the pandemic. This is the largest home price increase seen since 2005. 

The median single family primary home sold for $280,000, the median condominium sold for $247,250 and the median mobile home with land sold for $115,000, according to Property Transfer Tax (PTT) records from the Vermont Department of Taxes*.