Hi Ginny, Brattleboro has excellent schools, including the new renovations to the middle & high schools along with the Southeastern VT Career Center. There are many private and public elementary, middle & high schools in and surrounding Brattleboro as well. Brattleboro is a lively, artistic, friendly community with many opportunites to participate in art, music, sports, dance etc., for children through adulthood. We've been here since 1978 & raised 2 daughters in their mid-20's now. The housing market in the Brattleboro area is well-priced with a variety of rural & in-town homes for sale. Our home is currently for sale in Brattleboro & we've got it listed far below appraisal value as we are retiring & moving out of state. Hope this info helps some. If you have any questions, please email me at moosefor2&yahoo.com

Hi Ginny,

I am a REALTOR in Manchester, Vermont. Manchester and some of the the surround towns have a good varity of homes for sale. Homes are priced well and the interest rates are still low. Resale in this area is very good. There is a thing called school choice in Manchester and some surrounding towns like Dorset, Winhall, Peru, Londonderry, Sunderland and Danby. If you would like more information on this and homes for sale in the Manchester area, please call me at 802-362-4551 ext. 107. Good luck with the move and please let me know if I can be of more help with your process.

Ginny,

As a real estate professional, you know we can't really speak to the quality of schools in the area. There are a lot of sites with that information.

As far as areas with good resale values, I like both Pownal and Shaftsbury in the Bennington area. Pownal is south of Bennington and Shaftsbury is north.

Pownal is close to Williamstown, MA and the college there, so it can carry values well as an alternative to the home expenses in northwestern MA.

Shaftsbury, being north of Bennington is closer to Arlington and Manchester and the high property values there.

Both towns are more rural with a mixture of large acreage properties and some areas of higher density. I can't speak to local events in either town, but I know that Bennington has events on a more regular basis and is a short commute from either town.

Hopefully that will give you a starting point.