We’re happy to announce that for the 2nd quarter in a row Element Real Estate is the #2 RE/MAX team in Vermont.  That’s right, the whole darn state!  That’s big stuff and we owe thanks to our friends and clients for helping us make that happen.

As for #1, the Condo Guy (Bill Desautels) takes the top spot (again).  Congratulations to Bill and his team.  We appreciate your mentorship…just don’t let your guard down

I padded my trip out west with extra days so I would have time to spend time with friends who had transplanted themselves in the Bay area in recent years. The folks I stayed with had recently purchased. Other friends I visited were moving back to the east coast, mostly because of real estate prices. Another friend who is a software developer was doing very well financially and was preparing to renovate his already posh home. Others that I visited were simply trying to make sense of the market and doubted that they would ever be able to afford to live in this city that they were now calling home.

Although real estate prices are considered by the locals to be high in Burlington Vermont they do not compare to the prices in San Francisco. It seemed to me that unless you come from wealth or are making well into six figures, you will not be able to own in the city. On average I would say that comparable homes in San Francisco are 2-3 times more expensive than what you would find with homes in Burlington. Although, salaries are higher out there they are not 2-3 times as high. I heard a story of a one bedroom apartment selling for over $600k in San Francisco…and it didn’t even have a kitchen!

Many young professionals are moving out of the city in order to own. The friends that I stayed with were living in the Oakland Hills, in a very desirable neighborhood just a short commute from SF. I loved the architecture that I saw in this little neighborhood. Little mid-century tract houses built on hillsides overlooking canyons. Very cool homes, but they weren’t cheap and neither were the property taxes. My friend claimed to be paying about $12k in property taxes for his modest home.

My friends are not only recent homeowners but also recent parents. Even further frustrating for them is that despite the lovely neighborhood that they live in, they claim that they will not be sending their son to public schools. They are opting for private options. As a product of public schools I was immediately turned off by this. I grew up in a household of public school teachers and ingrained view that private schools were for the elite. While I acknowledge that this is a narrow worldview, I also understand better now.  In California, despite the high property taxes, the public school systems were failing the children.

My friends described  that their public school systems did not have an art program or a science program. Yes, no arts or science program. I didn’t say no sculpture or physics class, I said no art or science programs. What the heck will they be teaching these kids?  How can they be expected to get one of these high paid jobs which will allow them to one day purchase a home in an affluent neighborhood like their parents did before them?

The friends that are moving back to Vermont just purchased (with my assistance) a modest home in the Five Sister’s neighborhood of Burlington.  Yes, their mid century cape will require some updating but the price they paid was just a fraction of the cost of a similar home would cost in the Bay Area…and they will even be able to send their child to public school.

As I get used to life back in Vermont I am reminded by what attracted me here in the first place.  While we may not have the excitement and choices of big city living, we also do not have the dizzying highs and lows.  A much simpler landscape and way of life makes living easier.  It also makes our choices more affordable and sustainable.

-Dan Cypress

Recently I attended Inman News’ Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco.  The event put together the best minds in real estate – new and old companies, start ups and innovators – for three days of collaborating, networking and planning for a new future in the real estate industry.

I have been to many real estate conferences and I have to say that this was the best one that I have been to (or at least the most interesting).  I highly recommend it to any realtor that wants to keep current with technology trends and improvements in our industry.

I came away from Inman inspired to innovate myself.  I met others in new technologies that will help me explore new business practices which will ultimately serve to improve my clients’ experiences both online and in person. I also met other techie realtors that were more like me.

Some of the featured speakers included Craig Newmark of Craigslist, Alexis Ohanian founder of Reddit.com, Robert Scoble, Bradley Inman founder of Inman News and Kara Swisher technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Representatives from Microsoft and Google were also there to showcase some of their new products.  Inasmuch as I’m not a champion of those tech giants, I must say that I was impressed by the innovations that they showed off including Microsoft Pivot, Sea Dragon and Photosynth.  Google claimed not to have aspirations for getting into the real estate business, however, their actions seem to indicate otherwise.  Some in the audience were a bit fearful of the the power Google would yield if they were able to aggregate data and make a uniformed/ nationwide/ worldwide(?) MLS system while others welcomed that possibility.

It was an extensive conference with workshops and breakout sessions for Realtors, brokers and techies.  Coming from a small market like Vermont it was a great opportunity to see what others are doing who are employing technologies to improve their business models, ROI and customer satisfaction.  As one successful Realtor from Los Angeles California told me, “If you aren’t a well endowed blond your not selling real estate in L.A.  Unless, however, you are embracing these new technologies”.

I’m looking forward to pushing my business in new directions.  Hopefully, these new tools will help me to connect with and serve more clients in new and exciting ways.

-Dan Cypress

LENDERS

Kelly DeForge Shelter Mortgage kelly.deforge@gbmail.com Mobile: (802) 318-7395

Sue LeDuc / Cheryl LeDuc Mortgage Financial sueleduc@msfloan.com 802.658.5599 x22

Lorene E Butler MetLife Home Loans 302 Mountain View Drive, Suite 201 Colchester, VT 05446 lebutler@metlife.com c. 802.373.8308

Holly Sheltra VSECU 86 Pearl St. Burlington, VT 05403 hsheltra@vsecu.com 1-877-863-0102

Sue Ryan PHH Mortgage sue.ryan@mortgagefamily.com 802.318.0823

ATTORNEYS

Jim Wick / Jeff Wick Wick & Maddocks 308 College St., Burlington 802.658.3037

Lisa Gale Peery / Mark Weiner Wiener & Gale 3 Main St., Burlington 802.863.1836

Fred Peet Fred Peet Law 55 Patchen Rd.,South Burlington 802.860.4767

David W. M. Conard Langrock Sperry and Wool, LLP 210 College Street P.O. Box 721 Burlington, Vermont 05402 802.864.0217

Vincent A. Paradis Bergeron, Paradis and Fitzpatrick, LLP 27 Main Street P.O. Box 925 Burlington, Vermont 05402 802.863.1191

David H. Greenberg 70 South Winooski Avenue P.O. Box 201 Burlington, Vermont 05402 802.862.8165

BUILDING INSPECTORS

THE BRICK KICKER HOME INSPECTION Guy Henning 11 Hunt Street Fairfax, VT 05454 802.849.2807 Phone 802.578.6868 Cell henning@brickkicker.com www.brickkicker.com

RIXON CERTIFIED HOME INSPECTION Roger J. Rixon 802-524-4037 (Office) Toll Free 877.647.496685 Bank Street St. Albans, VT 05478 rixon@together.net

INSPECTION TECHNOLOGIES CO. Mike Schrimer 802.372.9292 or 800-314-1727 (Office) 802.372.5618 (Fax) mschirmer@direcway.com www.inspect-tech.net

1st Choice Home Inspections 61 South Oak Circle Colchester, VT 05446 Greg Kelsey 802-482-4411

Home Wise Inspection Services Bruce A. Raymond 110 Timberlake Dr. Colchester, VT 05446 bruceraymond10@comcast.net

Paul Lyman Advanced Property Investigation 802.879.3117

SPECIAL SERVICES

Waste Removal

1.800.GOT.JUNK

Carpet Cleaning

Jim’s Carpet Cleaning 802.338.8283

Chimney Inspection

Brickliners Jake Loeffler 802.872.0123 jloeffler@brickliners.com

David Schump 802.734.1518

Dylan Hinds 802.655.5647

Above the Rest 802.355.5068

Pest Removal

Pest Pro 802.862.8815

Basements

Tri-State Basements 800.244.0018

Serve-Pro 888.350.5544

Cleaning

Pam Ravey 802.238.7894

Radon

Guy Henning Brick Kicker Home Inspection 802.849.2807

Paul Lyman Advanced Property Investigation 802.879.3117

Construction

Jesse Kofalk Harmonic Design/Build jesse@harmonicdesignbuild.com 802.316.7814

Rob Purvee Grant Builders rgpurvee@comcast.net 802.363.2419

Mold Remediation

S.B. Farley 802.879.4187

Air Testing & Purification, Environmental Testing

KD Associates Inc. 802.862.7490

Painters

Victor Calderon 802.864.7809

Caleb Thomas 802.345.3065

Chris Charuk 802.343.1460

Recently, Lauren Ober of the Seven Days wrote an article about Jessica.  For those of you don’t know Jessica, here is a good introduction…

Not bad considering we only started as team halfway through the year.

Thank you to all of you who helped make our first few months as Element Real Estate, hugely successful ones.  Our entire business depends upon referrals from past clients, associates and friends, and you have answered our call!

Please contact us if you or someone you know is thinking about buying or selling real estate. We are happy to help.

Dan Cypress

Realtor®, EcoBroker®, MBA

Element Real Estate

RE/MAX North Professionals

875 Roosevelt Highway

Colchester, VT 05446

cell.802.598.6219

office.802.861.3262

fax.802.655.0500

www.RealEstateVT.com

Today, Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of research for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), gave the keynote presentation at NVBR’s Membership Meeting.  It was a great presentation.  Dr. Yun was able to communicate his outlook of both the National and Vermont real estate market in a way that was thoughtful yet easy to understand.

He spent most of the presentation communicating one simple point: As the real estate market stabilizes, so will the overall economy…and there are several reasons to believe that things are going in the right direction.

1. Since least year, there has been a ten percent increase in real estate sales activity.
2. Home prices are stabilizing and delinquency rates are expected to stabilize.
3. Data is showing pent up demand for new home construction.
4. Data also show that there is pent up demand for renters who “could” become home owners.  In 2000 (pre boom) there were 11 million renters with qualifying income to buy a median priced home. In 2009 there were 16 million of these renters.

As a former student of economics, it was a delight to hear him describe the market as “bifurcated”.  Not only did he use that fancy word, but he even defined it in layman’s terms relative to Vermont.  The word “bifurcation” is typically used in the world of biology to describe how a river forks into different tributaries or the point in which a plant divides into different branches. The real estate market has several branches (affordable, moderate-priced, luxury, second home market etc.).

Some segments of the real estate market are doing better than others.  The affordable home or first-time home buyer market is showing increased activity in the double digits and seeing modest gains in prices.  The tax credit has helped encourage firt-time buyers that might have otherwise stayed on the fence.  The inventories of these more affordable homes are coming down and prices are stabilizing.

The second home/ vacation market isn’t doing as well.  People are simply cutting back on discretionary expenses and banks are less likely to make loans on second homes.  Similarly, the market for land has cooled.  Dr. Yun noted indicators showing pent up demand for new construction.  The banks, however, have been unwilling to fund many of these new projects.  Profits in the banking industry are beginning to increase.  As this happens, Dr. Yun explains, the credit market will begin to free up and construction of new homes will increase again.

I left the event impressed by our presenter.  His command of the market research coupled with his comfortable presentation style made this one of the more informational events that I have been to lately.  I feel optimistic that both the real estate market and the larger macro-economy are continuing to improve.

There are plenty of opportunities in this market.  I’m expecting to be busy over the next few months assisting first time buyers and move-up buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit.  For more information about the real estate market and the tax credit, take a look at other articles in this blog or contact me…I’d be happy to help.

–
Dan Cypress
Realtor®, EcoBroker®, MBA
RE/MAX North Professionals
875 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
cell.802.598.6219
office.802.861.3262
fax.802.655.0500

www.RealEstateVT.com

131 Main Street, Burlington VT

The Vermont House

MLS #2913454

$260,000

Fabulous downtown living in the historic Vermont House with french doors overlooking city hall park. Sunlit condo features hardwood floors, updated bathrooms and custom built-ins throughout. The fully remodeled kitchen was designed for maximum functionality and storage space. Secure building with elevator. 1 dog / 1 cat OK. Heat, AC, hot water included. Short waiting list for parking. Seller to contribute $3,000 towards special assessment!

Interested in seeing this condo? I would be happy to show it to you.

Dan Cypress

Realtor®, EcoBroker®, MBA

RE/MAX North Professionals

875 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446

cell.802.598.6219

office.802.861.3262

fax.802.655.0500

www.RealEstateVT.com

MLS #2908678

$239,000

Relax on the deck and take in the incredible views of the Waterbury Reservoir and the Green Mountains. This hillside ranch is situated on a huge lush lot with tons of gardening potential. Inside you will find new maple flooring, updated kitchen and baths, fresh paint and plenty of sunlight. Located close to route 100 and I89 this home is an easy drive to Stowe or Burlington.

Interested in seeing this house? I would be happy to show it to you.

Dan Cypress
Realtor®, EcoBroker®, MBA
RE/MAX North Professionals
875 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
cell.802.598.6219
office.802.861.3262
fax.802.655.0500

www.RealEstateVT.com

Relax on the deck and take in the incredible views of the Waterbury Reservoir and the Green Mountains. This hillside ranch is situated on a huge lush lot with tons of gardening potential. Inside you will find new maple flooring, updated kitchen and baths, fresh paint and plenty of sunlight. Located close to route 100 and I89 this home is an easy drive to Stowe or Burlington.

Directions: From I89 take Waterbury exit, head north on Rte 100. Make left onto Sunset Dr. Across from Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

MLS# 2913371

$220,000

First-Time Homeowners this one is for you. Adorable bungalow in a convenient location, boasts wood floors, an open floor plan and lots of fine craftsmanship. New roof in 2008, new high efficiency furnace in 2009, updated electrical, windows, front porch and siding! Large, fully fenced lot, great for families, pets and room for your garden too! Bike to town or walk to the lake. One car garage/workshop and your very own pear tree!

Interested in seeing this house? I would be happy to show it to you.

Dan Cypress
Realtor®, EcoBroker®, MBA
RE/MAX North Professionals
875 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
cell.802.598.6219
office.802.861.3262
fax.802.655.0500

www.RealEstateVT.com