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I respectfully disagree that 200K is low budget for a home. True, you aren't going to get new construction with granite countertops, etc., but there are homes in the towns outside of the cities that are available for that price range.
You'd be living at the top of your budget when you figure heat, insurance, mortgage, etc., but it could be do-able. You just have to stay realistic that you won't be in a brand new house. ;-)
The trick (as I'm sure you are finding out) is to get a job. The job market is horrible everywhere, no matter where you are in the country. Sure, some places are a little better than others, but you'll have sometimes hundreds of people competing for the same positions.
Here's the thing... people are still moving from one state to the other. People are getting out of state jobs. People haven't stopped having dreams and trying new things because the economy stinks. So, keep on pursuing your dream!
Yes, it is expensive to live here, but you're going to have a cost of living adjustment no matter where you go. If everything was equal where you move to, chances are you wouldn't want to move! :-)
Just curious, what other state in NEW ENGLAND is cheaper then NH??
In my opinion, YES NH is the cheapest NEW ENGLAND state to live in. unless you want to live in the MIDDLE OF NO WHERE maine maybe...
There are houses under 200k, you just have to look a little harder and be willing to do a little bit of work.
Loook at town along 101 inbetween manchester and the seacoast, raymond, epsom, epping, deerfield, etc
I find Southern NH to be more expensive than Southern Maine. We lived in South Portland with city water, and sewer (hardly the middle of nowhere). When we moved a few months ago we had to pony-up another $150K to get anything comparable to what we had. On top of that we have a LOT of updating to do to the house that we got, now that we are here.
Of course the flip side of the equation is that in general, payroll goes up the closer you get to the economic engine of Boston. But then there is that quality of life equation (traffic, crime, etc). I have never heard anyone move to New England because it is "affordable". I have heard many people move here for the quality of life though.
I find Southern NH to be more expensive than Southern Maine. We lived in South Portland with city water, and sewer (hardly the middle of nowhere). When we moved a few months ago we had to pony-up another $150K to get anything comparable to what we had. On top of that we have a LOT of updating to do to the house that we got, now that we are here.
Of course the flip side of the equation is that in general, payroll goes up the closer you get to the economic engine of Boston. But then there is that quality of life equation (traffic, crime, etc). I have never heard anyone move to New England because it is "affordable". I have heard many people move here for the quality of life though.
ME's state taxes have to be taken into consideration. If you make more than $20K, you'll have to fork over 8.5% in income tax. Add in the sales tax of 5.5% for general merchandise and 8% for liquor, lodging and prepared foods, and I don't see much of a savings in ME over NH.
I totally agree, and I much rather see our tax $$$ go directly to the local economy, rather than the state's general fund! All of which figured into our reasons to move to NH.
It seems it is important to you to live within 20 minutes of the ocean. You might check out Somersworth and Rollingsford in NH. The both seem countrified to me.
Rollinsford is very nice (old mill town) that is kind of a bedroom community to Dover/Rochester. Somersworth is an old mill town gone bad IMO. Much like it's neighbor Rochester, a lot of shady stuff happens in Somersworth. If you get out of the downtown area (my in-laws live on the Somersworth/Dover line), then it's OK but you still have to put up with the crappy schools if you're concerned with that.
You know after thinking about it, there is no place I would rather live (okay maybe Hawaii if I had all the money in the world) than Northern New England. Even though it's a hard place to live sometimes, it is totally worth it!
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