Vermont RealEstateRama

Gov. Peter Shumlin today highlighted two major rural economic development investments at Vermont Technical College that will bring 45 jobs to the region and help prepare Vermonters for the hundreds of advanced manufacturing jobs available statewide.

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released an updated policy that gives reverse mortgage servicers the ability to allow a surviving spouse to stay in their home if the mortgage was originated prior to August 4, 2014.

Standing on the shores of Lake Champlain, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and local officials Friday announced the availability of $1.1 million to be provided in small Local Implementation Grants to prevent pollution, support cultural heritage and encourage educational outreach relating to Lake Champlain and its watershed. The Lake Chaplain Basin Program will use the federal funds to distribute grants to up to 100 small watershed groups, schools, towns and others across the Champlain Basin.

Earlier this week, Sarah Carpenter of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency discussed their new program that will provide down-payment assistance to first time homebuyers on VPR

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston is offering an Affordable Housing Program application training session at the Omni Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The training is offered for housing partners, developers, members, and other stakeholders interested in applying for funding in the upcoming 2015 AHP funding round. At the session, you will learn ways to maximize your success in submitting an Affordable Housing Program application

In recent days, several heavy rain events caused several streams and rivers in northern Vermont and Essex county New York to swell to abnormally high levels and present inherent dangers. Although water levels will slowly recede into this weekend, water levels and more importantly flows and currents will be too dangerous for many recreational activities. In addition more rainfall chances through this weekend could exacerbate current conditions

Governor Shumlin signed legislation today that will help Vermonters buying their first home through VHFA by providing up to $5,000 for qualified buyers to cover the costs typically faced at closing due to down payment and closing costs.

Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law today an historic education reform bill to help ensure educational quality for all Vermont students while bending the cost curve on education spending to address Vermonters’ calls for property tax relief.

The City of Burlington will implement the public outreach phase of a plan to improve water quality through a new, integrated planning approach for wastewater and stormwater management in Burlington. The City’s Water Resource Division will be seeking public input on its upcoming water quality efforts by attending Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs) and meeting with nonprofit organizations and other public agencies to learn how Burlingtonians would like to see their stormwater and wastewater utility fees spent in the fight for improved water quality.

Keeping a mortarboard on a 2-year-old graduate can be a challenge, but parents and their toddlers may give it a shot on June 2. Eleven children and their parents from Franklin and Caledonia counties who were among the first to benefit from two-year Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program will graduate.

The Co-op Plaza has revitalized a key area of the city’s downtown and, through a public-private partnership between the co-op grocery store and a local nonprofit, provided 24 affordable apartments.

Smokey House Center recently committed nearly 250 acres to its impressive portfolio of protected lands. The conservation, agriculture, and education nonprofit in Danby, VT stewards approximately 5,000 acres of working forest and farmland while engaging area youth in hands-on education and supporting the regional food and farm economy

Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected six Vermont communities to receive a total of $2 million for grants under the Brownfield Grant Program that will help them assess and clean up contaminated properties to facilitate their redevelopment and reuse

Working Lands Enterprise Board announced this years 36 grant recipients 24 agriculture and 12 forestry projects for just over $1 million in both Working Lands and Local Food Market Development grant funding.

In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent in Vermont, renters need to earn $20.68 per hour, or $43,017 a year.

Secretaries and Commissioners from the agencies of Agriculture, Commerce and Community Development, and Forests, Parks and Recreation will gather to announce the 2015 Working Lands grant recipients at Maple Wind Farm in Richmond, VT.

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos released the following response: At its core, this bill is about protecting one of the most fundamental rights in our democracy, the right to vote. The right to vote is granted and protected by both the Vermont and United States Constitutions.

Eight rural, underserved Vermont communities are getting help to boost broadband internet speeds. The towns of Norwich, Pittsfield, Randolph, Royalton, Jamaica, Rochester, Reading, and Bradford will receive nearly $900,000 for speed improvement upgrades, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced today