Vermont Bad Credit Mortgage Lenders

In the past ten years, Vermont has been in the grip of a housing crisis. The challenge of developing and building housing that is affordable to Vermonters has become more and more difficult. People in Vermont who are of low, middle and upper middle income are having an increasingly difficult time finding appropriate homes that they are able to afford in communities that they would like to live or are near to where they work.

With a predicted shortfall of 21,000 affordable apartments by 2010 and with the average price for a house expected to climb well above what most would consider affordable, Vermonters need to address the housing crisis if they hope to be able to afford to live in Vermont. The Governor of Vermont has proposed a comprehensive initiative to address price of land, effect on employers, homelessness, special needs, permitting, and other factors involved in this complex issue.

The administration, through the Department of Housing & Community Affairs and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, has now presented its draft legislative proposal to the House General, Housing, and Military Affairs Committee.

In the meantime, a useful tool in avoiding getting burned in the housing crisis is to get assistance through an organization like the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. In their own words,

“Since 1974, VHFA has assisted approximately 25,000 Vermonters through homeownership loans. The current portfolio of single family loans is 4,758, with a loan balance of approximately $324.7 million. VHFA provided home financing on 13% of all homes purchased within VHFA price guidelines during calendar year 2004. In fiscal year 2005, 93% of loans made by VHFA were made to households at or below 100% of median income and 72% of its borrowers were at or below 80% of median income. VHFA's typical borrower has an average household income of $43,100, borrowed an average loan amount of just over $114,000 and purchased homes with an average purchase price of $124,300. Comparatively, the average purchase price of homes in Vermont, based on transfer tax returns for 2004, was $191,400.”

With the help of a housing assistance organization, and education about home prices and mortgage options, buying an affordable home in Vermont is easily possible. The housing crisis, while it is affecting house prices adversely, is not something that should discourage anyone from their dream of owning a home.