Randolph, Vermont

Randolph is where my office is, where I’ve lived since 1999, and where most of my sales are. It’s the commercial center of the White River Valley: a real downtown on Main Street with restaurants, shops, the Chandler Center for the Arts and Gifford Medical Center, plus I-89 at Exit 4 and an Amtrak stop on the Vermonter line. For a town of roughly 4,700 people, there’s a lot going on.

The three Randolphs

Buyers hear “Randolph” and picture one place; there are really three. The village (ZIP 05060) has the walkable streets, the older homes on Pleasant, Highland and School Streets, and most of the in-town housing. Randolph Center, up the hill on Route 66, is the original town center around the Vermont State University campus — more open land, longer views, a few more minutes from the interstate. East Randolph (ZIP 05041), along Route 14 and the Second Branch, is quieter and more rural; that’s where my own place is. Prices, taxes and plowing differ between them, so tell me which one you mean.

What sells here

Village homes in the middle of the market move fastest when they’re priced right. Hillside properties with acreage draw buyers from Massachusetts and Connecticut looking for a second home or a move north. Multi-family houses near downtown sell to people who want to live in one unit and rent the other. Commercial space on Main Street comes up rarely, and I’ve handled those sales too.

Before you buy

Most homes outside the village are on private wells and septic systems; a septic inspection is money well spent. Many older village homes have slate roofs and hot-water heat — both fine, both worth having looked at. Randolph is in the Orange Southwest School District, with Randolph Union High School in the village. Property taxes depend on the town’s assessment and the state education rate; I can pull the current figure for any listing.