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My husband and I are looking for the best of both worlds, and would like to move within 3 years, so I can finish nursing school. He has the opportunity to work from home, or possibly move the whole business (not his but he is manager/asst. director).
We live in NYC and like the city life but it is really getting to me (he could live in NYC forever but is willing to compromise). We have came to a conclusion that we both like the urban feel (walk to grocery, work, cafe, theater, etc) but want to be closer to nature as well (we both like mountains, and lakes, hiking, backpacking, camping, etc). We don't mind scaling the size of our city down..I think that is the idea somethign smaller and less hectic. Yet, still affordable*****. What do I mean by affordable? Well, a 2 family (def. want a mult family) for less than 250k (preferably less). I never realised how expensive NH is! If not NH do you have any other ideas for us to check out? We are racking our brains trying to think of cool places for us. We visited Albany and like it...very nice architecture. Next stop NH! just don't want to go there blindly...any ideas would be helpful. Thanks!
The one main question that I have is that you want a multi-family home? You plan on renting out the other side? You might be hard pressed into finding a duplex for under 250K that doesn't need a boat-load of work. Personally, having neighbors that close would drive me nuts. I would be more inclined to find a smaller two or three bedroom home. It will get you better choices and probably a lot less in repairs.
That said, I think Concord sounds more to your liking. Nice downtown, shop friendly, decent theaters, good food. Being the capital, there is always something going on. A bit on the liberal side, but still fun for everyone. It's close to the mountian and lakes areas so it's only short trips to get what you want. Check it out:
Concord, NH would definitely be what you'd want, if you are considering living in New Hampshire. You'd be in the state capital to boot. They have 2 family homes there too, I've seen quite a few of them. There's a few that you could check out, here's a site below to check out, there was one on it for $279900; a little more than what you're willing to pay, but you could picture some of these that they have here all updated and renovated, well, I could any way! If that's what you have up your sleeve, check them out any way:
Plenty of 2 & 3 families that you could try to get before they hit the condo conversion route in the City of Boston you know, people that live there love it when 2 & 3 families are kept as that instead of selling this type of multi-family down the river to condo conversions! So think about it. Check realtor dot com and you'll see quite a few throughout the various neighborhoods. You'd want either South Boston, East Boston and possibly the outskirts of the city of Boston. Look to see if you can get one in Medford, Malden or Melrose. Further up I-95 is this town called Amesbury in Massachusetts, it's one of the cutest little towns; filled with new englanders, capes and victorians with a nice downtown area that has some neat restaurants and shops now more than ever, it's one of the hot places to live these days! See if you can find any there that might interest you. I know you're really thinking of New Hampshire but in through Concord is probably the only area that I know of that even has multi-families. Tons of areas in Massachusetts have them though. I wanted to make sure you knew where there are quite a lot of them. Another state that you should think about is Rhode Island! When I worked in Boston there were quite a lot of managers that owned 2 & 3 families in Rhode Island, places like Warwick and Providence had quite a large amount of multi-families, you have to know exactly where you're buying though for valuation purposes and all that. These people renovated theres and really lucked out in the end, they saw an area in Warwick and/or Providence and now it's THE place to live down there from all that hard work it paid off for them, because now they have beautiful property and to this day they have there property as income for down the road. It's a smart idea, you just have to know exactly where; so location is important in through the various states of New England when you're looking around.
Good luck, I hope you find exactly what you're looking for! One thing about Concord, NH? You'd be an hour away from the White Mountains and going the other way, you'd be in the City of Boston in no time or Manchester, NH for their Mall of New Hampshire as well as Manchester Airport. So all around it's ideal if that's where you end up wanting to live. You should take a ride some day and scout out these different areas and get your map out so you'll see where we're talking about.
I had jury duty a few years ago in Concord and got to see the city a lot this way. It's definitely small compared to NYC where you guys live or the city of Boston where I'm from, but you'll be able to tell it's still a city just the same, go up there and stay over night for a few days and you'll see for yourself! Talk to some real estate people while you're at it. I'm sure you'll be able to get what you're looking for at your price too because nothing is moving in the real estate market ANY where these days, it's a buyer's market for sure!
For the heck of it I just checked the city of Portsmouth, NH and there's ONE multi-family on it for a little over 300. It's really kind of nice too. But it goes to show you that multi-families aren't very common around this state! Good luck in your search. Portsmouth is along the coast in Rockingham County and it's another city within our state that you possibly should check out for your future residence. It's hip, artsy and very funky, when you see this lovely city you'll see what I mean, plus it's a little over an hour away from the white mountains and the lakes region and just a straight run down I-95 to the city of Boston, a little over an hour and you'd be there in no time.
Good luck!
Last edited by CityGirl52; 11-24-2007 at 10:53 PM..
There is no city life whatsoever in new hampshire, the closest is manchester, which is a little city and still very small. I would think for you the best place would be worcester, or even boston, boston is much slower-paced and doesn't have the hustle-bustle of new york city and it is pretty small. Worcester is cool because it is somewhat big and you got the country, so you have best of both worlds in one city. Plus you could find a higher-paying job down there.
Good points from all... and just shows the various opinions here on this board. Mason, I get the feeling you're college-age, all about the night life and the city life Nothing wrong with that but I can't imagine you'd be very happy in NH, since any of our "cities" (Manchester/Concord/Nashua, or even Portsmouth) must seem a little too quiet by comparison.
GDowler, any of the places I mentioned above might work for your plans of having a multi-family. You would definitely want to take a couple of trips to check these out, as by NY standards, none of them are particularly "urban" in nature. My son makes it a point to get to NYC every 3 or 4 months to experience the funky neighborhood bistros, shops, tea houses, etc. I wish we had some areas that are similar.
Prices here in NH are still somewhat high, but coming down all the time. It's anyones guess as to where prices will be 3 years from now...
I'm going to break with the other posters about Concord. I haven't spent a whole lot of time there, but it doesn't have that urban feel to it, IMO. I think it's too small to be considered urban. I think Manchester or Portsmouth is a better fit for what you're describing.
Also, you might consider Portland, Maine. It has an urban character and there's certainly plenty of nature activities nearby.
Concord sounds nice, and previously I had not though of looking there.
Sounds like a good fit, we are looking for a smaller* city, with a walkable downtown.
The nightlife is not for us. We just like a more city/suburb feel (ex: able to walk everywhere, cafe across the st, nearby park). We like where we live in ny we are near a park can walk everywhere just don't want to be in NYC.
Definetely want a multiple family though. *Personally, I could not live in a single family. Just cannot justify taking on the whole mortgage when I could have a renter help pay it off (esp. for a first time home).
Concord has some great walkable neighborhoods, but I don't find it has the same urban feel as Manchester (that may or may not work for you...) You might find when you get out to this area to take a look that it's not what you were expecting, or you might just fall in love with it!
More importantly, as a first time home buyer (you only get to be one once!) you should know that there are quite a few programs out there that can help you with downpayment options, closing cost grants, etc. and not just for single family. However, there are income limits/purchaser price limits, and both are increased for "targeted areas".
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Nothing wrong with that but I can't imagine you'd be very happy in NH, since any of our "cities" (Manchester/Concord/Nashua, or even Portsmouth) must seem a little too quiet by comparison. 
