Looking to buy or sell real estate in Vermont?
For years I used to say, “In another life, I’d like to become a Vermont Realtor.”
My love for Vermont runs deep.
Long before I became a Vermont Realtor, I was the person telling anyone who would listen why they should come here, where they should eat, what town they needed to explore and why this little state offers a quality of life that’s increasingly hard to find.
Vermont isn’t simply where I live. It has shaped the way I live.
It taught me the value of community, the importance of supporting small businesses and the pleasure of knowing where your food comes from. It taught me to appreciate the backroad instead of always taking the fastest route and to recognize that a really good life doesn’t necessarily require more. Sometimes it requires slowing down enough to appreciate what you already have.
That love eventually became Travel Like a Local®: Vermont, my platform dedicated to exploring and sharing the best of the state.
And, perhaps inevitably, it also became a career in Vermont real estate.
Because there’s a difference between helping someone buy a house and helping someone understand what it means to build a life in Vermont.
I want to do both.
I’ve Always Loved Homes
What’s your first memory of home? I have a few.
There’s the primary-colored balloon border running around my childhood bedroom. My first neighbor and friend, Connor, whom I somehow convinced to eat dog food. Christmas mornings when the cookies we’d left for Santa had disappeared and the carrots on the front porch had very convincing reindeer bites taken out of them.
That’s the thing about home. We rarely remember it because of the square footage. We remember what happened there. Home is where you raise your kids, invite friends for dinner, celebrate holidays, deal with whatever life throws at you and occasionally hide from the rest of the world. It’s where routines become traditions and ordinary days eventually become memories.
I’ve been fascinated by houses for as long as I can remember. On family vacations, one of the first things my dad would do was pick up the local real estate guide and start browsing properties. Naturally, I did the same.
In college, my interests in homes, architecture and people led me to study the history of art and architecture along with psychology. At the time, I couldn’t have predicted that those interests would eventually converge with marketing, writing, negotiation, design, storytelling and my love of Vermont into one career.
Looking back, it makes perfect sense.
My First Vermont Home Taught Me A Lot
I bought my first home in Middlebury at 22. It was a roughly 1,500-square-foot ranch on more than two and a half acres with a huge garden, mature trees, woods and a creek running alongside the property. I had a rescue dog who needed a yard, a first-time homebuyer incentive providing a little extra motivation and, as usual, an appetite for a new challenge.
I loved making that house mine. I also made some mistakes.
I chose an agent primarily because the agent was a friend rather than thinking about expertise, experience or who would best advocate for me. I was young, working with a just-out-of-college budget and decided to save a few hundred dollars by skimping on inspections.
Years later, when it was finally time to sell, those decisions came back to haunt me.
There were roofing issues I hadn’t known about. Mold appeared during the transaction. A water test initially found lead. I lost serious buyers and spent thousands addressing problems before the property ultimately sold.
It was stressful, expensive and incredibly educational.
Today, I think about that experience frequently when I’m advising clients.
I know what it’s like to be emotionally attached to a transaction. I know what it’s like to wait anxiously for showing feedback, lose a buyer, discover an unexpected property issue and wonder whether you’re ever going to get to the closing table.
Those experiences made me a better Realtor because I’ve sat on the other side of the table.
From Corporate Leadership to Vermont Real Estate
Real estate wasn’t my first career.
I spent years building a career in marketing, business and leadership, eventually holding executive leadership roles within some of the country’s largest real estate organizations. I’ve worked in marketing and publishing, built brands, led teams, coached businesses and consulted with real estate companies and agents across the country.
Becoming licensed as a Vermont Realtor was initially another way to learn, grow and become more deeply involved in an industry in which I was already building my career.
It quickly became much more than that.
Real estate gave me an opportunity to combine almost everything I love: homes, architecture, marketing, storytelling, problem solving, negotiation, people and Vermont.
Today, I work with buyers, sellers and investors throughout the state while continuing my work as a marketer, consultant, writer and founder of Travel Like a Local®: Vermont.
And all of those roles make me better at this one.
Today, I’m One of Vermont’s Top-Producing Real Estate Agents
What began as another step in my professional evolution has grown into a significant part of my business.
In the past several years, I’ve become one of the top-producing agents within Keller Williams Vermont, representing buyers and sellers across the state and working with everything from first-time homebuyers and traditional Vermont homes to investment properties, new construction, land, second homes and distinctive luxury properties.
My business isn’t confined to one neighborhood or even one region of Vermont.
I travel this state constantly through both real estate and Travel Like a Local®: Vermont. I’m continually learning its towns, backroads, businesses, recreation, housing stock and communities. That statewide perspective is particularly valuable in a place where moving 30 miles can mean a completely different real estate market and a very different way of life.
I’ve sold homes across Vermont, and I’ve given myself an admittedly ambitious long-term goal:
I want to sell a home in every one of Vermont’s 252 towns.
For me, it’s more than a sales goal. It’s another way to continue understanding the state I represent.
Marketing a Vermont Home Requires More Than Putting It in the MLS
This is where my background becomes one of my clients’ biggest advantages.
I’m a marketer who happens to sell real estate, not simply a Realtor who learned how to market listings.
I’ve spent my career thinking about positioning, storytelling, audience, digital marketing, social media, copywriting, branding and what makes people pay attention. Through Travel Like a Local®: Vermont, I’ve also built an audience around Vermont itself and spent more than a decade learning how to tell stories that make people want to experience this state.
When I’m selling a property, I don’t want to simply describe bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage. I want to understand why someone would want to live there.
Maybe it’s waking up to a view of the Green Mountains. Walking into town for coffee. Having enough acreage for the horses you’ve always wanted. Being minutes from a ski mountain. Owning a historic home with a story behind it. Swimming in the lake after work. Operating a short-term rental. Finally having enough space for the people you love to visit.
Every property has a buyer. Good marketing helps the right buyer understand why that particular property could matter to them.
That means thoughtful positioning, strong copy, professional photography and visual presentation, strategic digital and social exposure and a marketing plan built around the property rather than simply checking boxes.
Buying in Vermont Requires Local Knowledge, Too
Buying Vermont real estate can be complicated. Properties here aren’t always cookie-cutter. We have private roads, shared driveways, wells, springs, septic systems, old housing stock, unusual acreage, seasonal access, flood considerations, zoning differences, land-use regulations and properties that may have been added onto or modified over generations. Then there’s the lifestyle component.
If you’re relocating to Vermont, choosing the right town can be just as important as choosing the right house. What does everyday life look like there? How far are you from groceries? Where do you go for dinner? What’s the commute actually like in February? Is this the Vermont experience you’ve been picturing?
I’ve spent years exploring these communities both personally and professionally.
My job isn’t to tell you where you should live. It’s to ask the right questions, give you the information you need and help you make a confident decision for yourself.
And if you’re already a Vermonter? There’s a pretty good chance I’m willing to drive wherever you’re taking me.
Communication Shouldn’t Be an Afterthought
My background in marketing taught me the importance of communication. My own experience buying and selling a home taught me how awful a lack of communication can feel. So I probably over-communicate.
I don’t want sellers wondering whether anyone followed up after a showing. I don’t want buyers sitting around trying to figure out what’s happening with an inspection issue. And I don’t believe you should have to chase down your Realtor to understand what’s happening with one of the largest financial transactions of your life.
Real estate can be emotional. It can also be complicated, frustrating, exciting, stressful and occasionally all of those things within the same 24 hours.
My role is to help you navigate it.
That means answering questions, anticipating problems, explaining what’s happening, negotiating strategically and being willing to tell you what I actually think rather than simply what you want to hear.
Real Estate Is About More Than a Transaction
I believe homeownership can transform lives.
A home can create stability. It can become an investment. It can change your financial future. It can give you room to build a family, launch a business, create community or simply live differently.
Selling a home can be equally transformational. It might mean moving across the country, downsizing after decades in one place, buying the home you’ve always wanted, ending one chapter of your life or finally beginning another.
That’s why I’ve never thought of this work as simply opening doors and writing contracts.
I’m helping people make decisions that affect what their lives look like next.
That’s a responsibility I take seriously.
Let’s Find Your Place in Vermont
I still get excited driving Vermont roads I’ve never traveled before. I still browse new listings because I genuinely want to see what’s out there. I still find myself falling in love with old houses, unusual properties, incredible views and towns I thought I already knew.
And I still believe Vermont is one of the best places in the world to call home.
Whether you’re buying your first Vermont home, selling one you’ve loved for decades, relocating here, searching for a second home, investing in Vermont real estate or simply beginning to wonder what your next move could look like, I’d love to be part of the conversation.
My goal isn’t simply to help you buy or sell a property.
It’s to help you make a really good decision about what comes next.
Interested in buying, selling or investing in Vermont real estate? Get in touch and let’s start the conversation.