New England Relocation (Boston, Haverhill, Andover: how much, house, neighbourhood)

[WinterWonder]

We are moving from New Jersey to New England next year - probably Northern Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire. We visited Groton and loved it. It has been my dream for years to live in a pretty New England town just like it - quaint downtown, excellent schools, old colonial feel and family oriented. Are their any other towns you can recommend similar to Groton or Concord? My husband needs to be in commuting distance to a city (he's a computer programmer).

Some towns in NH were beautiful, but most were very quiet. I feel like coming from NJ I need a little bit of livelihood and bustle ;-) I am expecting with our 2nd child, and definitely want a town that has lots of activities for children. Exeter, NH seemed to have some bustle and was very pretty, but I hear there are flooding problems there?

We would like between 1-2 acres, and at the same time to be in a neighbourhood where you can walk to your neighbours house (a good "trick-or-treat town" persay!)

It would be nice to be in an area that gets snow. Unlike most people, we love it. Would love to have a white Christmas (rarely get that in New Jersey).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[CaseyB]

Groton is nice, isn't it? You could also look at Westford, maybe Littleton.

[capecodcathy]

Ever thought of Cape Cod?

[MovingForward]

What's your budget?

[WinterWonder]

We sold our home in NJ and have about 350K. We are hoping prices will continue to fall and that maybe, just maybe, we won't have much of a mortgage.

[WinterWonder]

I don't know much about Cape Cod. I assumed they don't have too much snow because of the coastal effect, and I heard that when it's not summer, it's very quiet, kind of ghost-townish. Is this wrong?

[smarty]

The odds of a white Christmas for MA is not bad.
USA TODAY Latest news

However, the odds of actually snowing on Christmas day is less than 10%.

[Valerie C]

CapeCodCathy would know more about how much snow the cape gets... I just know what I see on the news when we get a storm roaring up the coast (usually they have people stationed in Scituate, Hull, etc) I'm sure the residents love it when the tourists and summer people go home!

There are so many towns that *might* fit your lifestyle. NH is somewhat quieter than our neighbors to the south and that's a good thing, part of what makes us New Hampshire If you do prefer a busier area, but still north of Boston, consider many smaller towns in Mass, along the border there are several where you can probably find a home in your price range (Amesbury, Newburyport, Andover/North Andover, Haverhill, ) As you get closer to Boston, the price goes up. In Mass., you might find more activities such as little league/PAL, boys & girls clubs, civic activities, after school programs, etc. They're in NH as well, but many towns simply don't offer these type of things...

If you do consider NH, your best bet might be to stick to the higher population towns. You seem to have gotten a good view of many towns while you were here. Most of those are towns that I would recommend, some are much more $$ than others, not sure how much that is an issue for you.

Among the best schools in southern NH are Londonderry, Exeter, North Hampton, Oyster River district. Several towns have recently built new high schools, such as Windham, Bedford, Hampton due to huge increases in student populations, and the shift away from regional to single-town High Schools

Exeter, with the river running right through the center of town, had flooding in the last couple of years. Actually it would be hard to find a town in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts that was NOT affected by the 100-year storms that we've gotten in the last couple of years. NH is quite a watery state, and when we get a foot or so of rain in just a couple of days, there's simply no place for the water to go!

You've got alot of considerations to make, and of course you'll get tons of good information from everyone here on the forum. Moderator cut: realtor soliciting

[capecodcathy]

Originally Posted by WinterWonder

I don't know much about Cape Cod. I assumed they don't have too much snow because of the coastal effect, and I heard that when it's not summer, it's very quiet, kind of ghost-townish. Is this wrong?

We don't get a lot of snow and it melts rather quickly which works for me because I really don't like to shovel. Once or twice a year is fine by me!
I thought it was going to be quiet, too, before I moved here 10 years ago but haven't found it to be any more quiet than other small towns. If you have children there's always plenty to do.
While we welcome the summer visitors, we tend to enjoy the off-season because we get to "take it back" for a while!

[Newdaawn]

My daughter lives in Dover NH and loves it. She teaches 6th grade there. The schools are good and it has a very nice downtown area. Close to Portsmouth and just a short drive to Boston. Mostly they take the car to a subway stop and take that into Boston.