Amherst/Hollis vs Seacoast - Where to Live?

[kelleybell00]

This a very helpful 10 step guide to home ownership..There is a great worksheet that you can print out to keep track of the houses that you look at and a wishlist for the home you are looking for. I have it bookmarked so that when I do start my hunt I can easily narrow down my selections and I don't have to rely on my memory. It's just not what it used to be 10 Steps to Home Ownership! : Step 4 - Look at Homes

[kelleybell00]

Sorry, I started you out on Step 4...Put the cart before the horse This is the beginning 10 Steps to Home Ownership!

[Valerie C]

LOL Kelley, that's how most people want to start their home search--by looking first. The only problem with that is that sometimes they start looking at homes priced WAY above their qualified price, and after that, well, nothing looks quite as nice... Thanks for posting that link

[NH2008]

Thanks! After two kids and so many moves, I am very excited to be nearing the point where we'll be in one place long enough to buy a house and settle down. And, to live someplace relatively affordable! When I said something to my husband about living in 1200 sq feet, the realtor started laughing...then we started laughing because that actually is the size of our current rental!

[HikerLT]

We live in Brookline, just next to Hollis. It is in the same school system as Hollis, but the house prices are a little bit lower. We moved here 6 years ago from central Massachusetts.
It's a nice quiet small town, but as anywhere in NH the real estate taxes are high. And if you work in Mass., you pay the Mass income tax, and also the high NH real estate tax ( because NH has no income tax). My neighbor works in Cambridge. Logan Airport would be a do-able commute, just have to time it right to avoid the crunch rush hour times.


There is a lot of conservation land for hiking, cross country skiing, etc. - Called Beaver Brook Association, in Hollis. Brookline has also invested and purchased some large tracts of land in the past few years to preserve the rural character.

Welcome to Beaver Brook Association!

[NH2008]

Kelleybell - thanks for the link!

Hiker, do you have kids in the schools? Do you find them as good as people say?

My husband actually owns his own (small) business so we wouldn't be commuting into Boston or paying MA income tax. But, he'd be traveling at least one week/month so we need a reasonable commute to Logan (he wants direct flights that he can't get from Manchester.) When you say distance to Logan is OK, how long would you say it usually takes?

If you wanted to go out to dinner or just have fun on a rainy day, do you stay in Hollis or go to Nashua or?

Thanks again!

[penandpaper]

I wonder about the commute to Logan also. I would like to move back to New England but my husband travels quite a bit. Would traveling from NH to Logan often be too much?

[WannaComeHome]

Hi there,

I can tell you that the schools in Hollis are very good. They get top marks in the rating programs and they are considered to be excellent schools. I went there, my niece and nephews went there (one still does), my ex-sister-in-law works at the high school. Pretty much anything the schools want, they get - which is why the taxes in Hollis and Brookline are high. But... as with Oyster River district, that's why they're good schools.

Beaver Brook and the Town Forest are lovely. Great hiking trails!

Depending on the traffic/time of day, you can get from Hollis to Logan in a little under an hour. But frankly.. I'd really suggest Manchester, it's a lot nicer and faster.

As to what to do... pretty much the only restaurant in town is the Country Kupboard (or whatever alliterative variation they're using these days. It's been around a very long time) which is your basic small town diner type. Activities and main shopping is all in Nashua. Better restaurants are in Merrimack. Oh, and for summer swimming Hollis has Silver Lake (and used to have Wallace's Grove, but apparently it's up for sale) as well as assorted ponds around town, but that's usually private swimming.
so... what sort of things do you do for fun on a rainy day? If you like to hike in the rain, you're all set. If you want to be out and about, you'll probably end up in Nashua or Merrimack, or Bedford - all are pretty close.

[GregW]

Try Londonderry if you want a really nice town in southern NH. Logan is an hour away by bus if you do not want to store your car at thw airport. Manchester airport is only about 15 minutes from anyplace in town.

[NH2008]

Thank you all for the feedback. I really loved Amherst. We're waiting to make final decisions until early 2008, and I'm hoping we can go spend a week or so in Amherst then to see what living there would be like. What a great resource this board has been. Thanks again!