![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/navigating-first-time-home-buying-process.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The first-time homebuyers<\/a>\u2019 jubilance can be infectious. Everything is new, from the space surrounding them to their feelings inside.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re so happy \u2014 very, very pleased,\u201d says Amanda O\u2019Brien, who, with her husband, Evan, recently purchased their first home in South Burlington, just off Dorset Street.<\/p>\n Like the O\u2019Briens, Matt and Katie Campbell recently bought a home in South Burlington<\/a>. \u201cEverything about this house just fit all of our criteria,\u201d says Matt Campbell, an insurance professional. \u201cThe price was right, and the neighborhood was excellent. The house is a great fit for us, and it allows us the extra space that our growing family needs. We love the cape style and the convenient location.\u201d<\/p>\n The Campbells and the O\u2019Briens are all in their thirties \u2014 the so-called \u201cMillennials\u201d \u2014 and their generation still accounts for the largest share of homebuyers in the U.S., at 26 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.<\/p>\n In 2017, the share of first-time homebuyers was 34 percent \u2014 a slight dip from 35 percent in 2016. Overall, this bucks the historical norm of 40 percent of the market.<\/p>\n As first-time homebuyers, Millennials face challenges in the current housing market, where inventory is tight nationwide, causing the prices of homes to jump; and many Millennials carry unprecedented amounts of student debt, which can delay plans to buy a home.<\/p>\n In northwestern Vermont, though, opportunities exist to settle into that first home, but it\u2019s vital to tap into a professional first, such as a knowledgeable and creative Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman (CBHB) agent, especially in the current market, according to the Campbells and O\u2019Briens.<\/p>\n Matt Campbell had owned a home prior to the one that he and Katie bought together, so he knew about some the preparations necessary, but he and Katie still sought the advice of CBHB Agent, Michaela Quinlan<\/a>. Katie and Michaela have known each other since childhood, and Matt grew up near Michaela\u2019s father, in South Burlington.<\/p>\n \u201cMichaela was excellent to work with, though we had a long prior relationship as friends,\u201d Matt says. \u201cShe was the ultimate professional in dealing with us and really knew her stuff. I walked away from this experience holding her in higher regard for her professionalism and market knowledge, as well as her unquestioned support of her friends and clients.\u201d<\/p>\n The Campbells knew what they wanted: four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two floors, a basement, and a decent-sized yard for their dogs and children: Dennis, who is 19 months old, and a daughter expected at the end of this June. They have been married for 2 1\/2 years and together for five. Matt bought his previous home in 2009, after moving back to Vermont from Boston. He and Katie lived there together for three years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started looking for our new home a full year prior, because I wanted to get a good handle on what the market was in the Burlington area<\/a> and to be able to identify good opportunities,\u201d Matt says. \u201cWith our growing family, we knew we would eventually need more space, and we had strict criteria on where we wanted to live, so when the right opportunity presented itself we wanted to feel confident in our decision and offer.\u201d<\/p>\n The whole purchasing process took about 12 to 15 months, from the first search online to the closing date. The Campbells physically looked at 10-plus homes and viewed hundreds online. Matt saw \u201cthe one\u201d (property) early on a Saturday morning, and they were in a multiple-offer situation by midweek \u2014 another common scenario in the current housing market.<\/p>\n The O\u2019Briens also rose to the top of a multiple-offer situation. They saw their home listed late on a Friday afternoon. They toured it on Sunday. Multiple offers<\/a> came in on Monday; the sellers made a decision by the end of that day, and the O\u2019Briens closed on the property less than two months later, with the assistance of CBHB Agent, Betsy Forrester<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore beginning their home search, Amanda and Evan had met with a mortgage lender and had gotten a pre-approval, so they knew how much they were qualified to finance,\u201d Forrester says. \u201cAs a couple, they had also discussed areas where they wanted to live and the style and type of home that suited them both, so we were able to start with more targeted search parameters.\u201d<\/p>\n Be prepared: It\u2019s the advice that Forrester, Quinlan and all our agents offer most to first-time homebuyers, who should look at their finances and meet with a mortgage lender to first determine a comfortable mortgage payment. Also, Forrester says, realize that finding a home involves compromise of the \u201cmust haves\u201d and the \u201clike to haves.\u201d Finally, she and Quinlan say it is important to be patient, and not take the bidding process personally.<\/p>\n \u201cPurchasing a home is a process, and sometimes it takes a while for everything to come together just right,\u201d Forrester says.<\/p>\n The O\u2019Briens rented before buying their first home, as did 73 percent of other first-time homebuyers in 2017, according to the NAR. Evan, who is an attorney, is a Manhattan native. He and Amanda, a Rutland native, met in college and had rented in pricy New York City before deciding it would be more cost-effective \u2014 and better to be closer to family \u2014 if they settled back in Vermont and bought a home.<\/p>\n They, too, had a checklist of \u201cwants\u201d and \u201cneeds\u201d that is typical for first-time homebuyers in their generation: lots of efficiencies, little maintenance and renovation, and proximity to an urban area with several amenities. They started saving for a house and preparing for their purchase even before returning to Vermont.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made things quite a bit easier,\u201d Evan says.<\/p>\n Forrester educates first-time homebuyers with no home maintenance experience \u2014 especially those that have rented first \u2014 to \u201clook beyond the sparking new kitchen or Pottery Barn-style living room\u201d and consider the overall structural quality of the home, from the roof to the furnace.<\/p>\n \u201cIf buyers are stretching to be able to afford a home and the roof needs imminent replacement, then they need to be prepared for that expense soon after purchase or move on to find a home that likely won\u2019t need major repairs until further into the future,\u201d Forrester says.<\/p>\n Younger generations are renting longer, even though renting is expensive, but buying a home is still a better long-term investment.<\/p>\n \u201cOwning property is a forced savings account,\u201d says Michaela Quinlan. \u201cI work with a lot of millennials that have a hard time putting away money into a traditional savings account. When you pay your landlord, the money disappears. When you pay a mortgage, you are building equity that will be there for you in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Both the Campbells and the O\u2019Briens tend to stay in their homes for several years, which is another growing trend in the current housing market: More people are staying put longer \u2014 about 10 years in their home, as opposed to the traditional average of seven.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work and life balance in Vermont seems to be more in line with what we want for our lives than more urban or metropolitan areas,\u201d Matt Campbell says. \u201cWhen comparing other options, it became clear that Vermont, and more specifically Chittenden County<\/a>, is an excellent place to raise a family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first-time homebuyers\u2019 jubilance can be infectious. Everything is new, from the space surrounding them to their feelings inside. \u201cWe\u2019re so happy \u2014 very, very pleased,\u201d says Amanda O\u2019Brien, who, with her husband, Evan, recently purchased their first home in South Burlington, just off Dorset Street. Like the O\u2019Briens, Matt and Katie Campbell recently … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1947,"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions\/1947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hickokandboardman.com\/vermont-market-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}