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A lot of folks will be leaving CA in the coming months due to many factors but especially the drought situation, which will only get worse as I understand it. I would suggest putting your property on the market now before strict water rationing takes effect and while you can still get a pretty good price. Selling your house 2 years from now will be more difficult.
Very true. We will consider putting the house up for sale sooner than later. Thanks Wells!
hate to break it to you but you WILL be spending almost double that to heat your house in the winter months, and the heat Will be on from October to April especially if your used to SoCal temps. You will want to consider a house with alternative Heat source such as a wood stove, pellet stove or geo-thermal. if possible get a house with natural gas at the street. they are rare but DO exist.
We've been researching alternative heat sources a lot recently. Natural gas would be great because it's really cheap (at least out here it is). It'll probably be difficult to find a house with natural gas in a rural setting though
[/QUOTE=chris410;35995831]be prepared for a polor opposite of everything. culture, landscape, weather. I travel to Socal/LA area often for work. I enjoy it because it is SO completely different then NH. but I still prefer NH because it is home to me and I Enjoy winter! if you don't enjoy the winter season you will be miserable here most of the year. definitely become passionate about a winter activity.[/quote]
Yes, polar opposite is what we desire
One of our favorite things to do is snowboard so at least we already have one winter activity going for us. Snowmobiling seems like it would be a blast as well. Perhaps we can take that up.
I remember the fall/winter holidays feeling much more traditional on the east coast. That's what I like because that's how I grew up. Halloween and Thanksgiving with the fall foliage, white Christmas, smaller towns being more in the spirit and all decorated. Those holidays out here are a just another day. Nothing special. Holidays don't even feel like holidays.
I agree and even December, January, and February are not that cold. You get many days in the 40's compare to Canada where I grew up, I find the winter in Southern NH pretty mild. I think northern NH is probably closer to what I am use to. Actually, I wish winter was a lil colder and longer.
Update: Here is a link to daily temps in 2013-2014 and this was a cold winter. On average we get like 10 days (a third) a month in the 40's or close to the 40's.
What 6+ months are you talking about? IMO the only cold months are December, January, February, and maybe half of March. The shoulder months are just "crisp".
Of course, I grew up in New England and have spent lots of time in ND, so maybe I'm not the best judge of what's really cold.
Last edited by 4RunnerDude; 08-08-2014 at 08:03 AM..
I'm thinking to live rural and still have a mall/movies/restaurants around we're going to have to live on the outskirts of a bigger city.. The lakes region seems like a place we'd really love though. Either that or somewhere in between the lakes region and the ocean as we enjoy lake and beach equally. I forgot to mention our max budget is probably going to be about 225-250K. If we can find a new(er) home that's energy efficient and well insulated we might be able to save on the wintertime heating costs. My wife is strictly opposed to a home over 20 years old.
Finding a house with natural gas will probably be difficult, unless maybe you settle in Southern NH. We use two woodstoves in the winter to supplement our oil heat. We moved out here from the west coast as well. I thought oil heat was a thing from the past because everyone was either on natural gas, propane or electric out there. Electric only would cost you a small fortune here. Oil's not cheap either.
When you say you are in the medical field, which part are you referring to? Do your research on potential employers. If you are in the acute care setting, there are not many hospitals in NH and in some areas they are spaced quite a distance apart. Expect the salary to be considerably less here than CA. I did my hospital orientation with a nurse from your area. She took a considerable pay cut to come out this way. None of the hospitals are union (that I know of) so many things that you think are standard in the industry are not here.
Property taxes vary from town to town. The rates can be found easily online. You mentioned the lakes region - there are a number of lower tax towns in the area but probably due to the number of second homes in the area. Some of these areas come with the annoyances of trying to shop and do business with a large seasonal tourist population who tend to forget that people actually live in the area.
I am in central NH, we had several nights where is was below zero this past winter. It was a cold winter. Anything above 20 degrees was beginning to feel quite balmy by the end of winter. It will be an adjustment. I lived in mild climate Western Washington and have a friend from your neck of the woods. When she first moved to Washington, she was freezing in September and running her gas fireplace.
You mention that you are both liberal minded and appreciate the state motto. If you are liberal in the sense of personal freedoms, you'll find this a nice place. If you are more politically liberal leaning, you probably will find this a more conservative area than what you are accustomed to. I can't imagine two more polar opposite states.
Also, you have mentioned malls, Walmarts and the movies. In the Lakes Region, there is the outlet mall in Tilton. Compared to what you are accustomed to, this is a strip mall with a handful of stores. I only lived in that area briefly, but I do not believe there is a true mall. Concord has a small mall and the next one that I am aware of is in Manchester. I've never been to that one, but coworkers I know from other states say it is small and usually drive to Mass for that sort of shopping. Most cities have a Walmart. But as you probably know, there are only 13 cities in NH.
Last edited by lady fern; 08-08-2014 at 08:22 AM..
Finding a house with natural gas will probably be difficult, unless maybe you settle in Southern NH. We use two woodstoves in the winter to supplement our oil heat. We moved out here from the west coast as well. I thought oil heat was a thing from the past because everyone was either on natural gas, propane or electric out there. Electric only would cost you a small fortune here. Oil's not cheap either.
When you say you are in the medical field, which part are you referring to? Do your research on potential employers. If you are in the acute care setting, there are not many hospitals in NH and in some areas they are spaced quite a distance apart. Expect the salary to be considerably less here than CA. I did my hospital orientation with a nurse from your area. She took a considerable pay cut to come out this way. None of the hospitals are union (that I know of) so many things that you think are standard in the industry are not here.
Property taxes vary from town to town. The rates can be found easily online. You mentioned the lakes region - there are a number of lower tax towns in the area but probably due to the number of second homes in the area. Some of these areas come with the annoyances of trying to shop and do business with a large seasonal tourist population who tend to forget that people actually live in the area.
I am in central NH, we had several nights where is was below zero this past winter. It was a cold winter. Anything above 20 degrees was beginning to feel quite balmy by the end of winter. It will be an adjustment. I lived in mild climate Western Washington and have a friend from your neck of the woods. When she first moved to Washington, she was freezing in September and running her gas fireplace.
You mention that you are both liberal minded and appreciate the state motto. If you are liberal in the sense of personal freedoms, you'll find this a nice place. If you are more politically liberal leaning, you probably will find this a more conservative area than what you are accustomed to. I can't imagine two more polar opposite states.
We're so used to our natural gas heating out here that maybe costs us $70-80 per month in the winter. Wood burning or pellet seems like it will be the cheapest. Otherwise we'll be stocking up on blankets and snuggies
Job wise we both do acute inpatient care. I'm a respiratory therapist and she's a phlebotomist. I'm about to go back to school very soon to (hopefully) become a physicians assistant. From the research I've done on RT it doesn't seem like the pay is much different out there. Never know though..
I do much better with the cold than the heat but I'm more worried about my wife as she's a native southern Californian. As far as politics go, neither one of us is big on it. I think they're all crooks. But we'll do whatever we can to help preserve the personal freedom and minimum government standard that NH is known for. We want to live by the state motto.
CA is ridiculous. The gun laws are way to strict, police are militant and will straight beat you for even questioning them, fishing license is $50 per year, you can only ride your dirt bikes/quads in designated areas, forced to pay outrageous parking to go to an overcrowded beach, pay $20 to go to a lake that is almost dried up, have to buy a permit to enjoy a "forest area" which isn't even a forest and is littered with trash and graffiti on every rock and boulder.. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I mean it's totally disgusting and sad. We want out of this place ASAP!
CA is ridiculous. The gun laws are way to strict, police are militant and will straight beat you for even questioning them, fishing license is $50 per year, you can only ride your dirt bikes/quads in designated areas, forced to pay outrageous parking to go to an overcrowded beach, pay $20 to go to a lake that is almost dried up, have to buy a permit to enjoy a "forest area" which isn't even a forest and is littered with trash and graffiti on every rock and boulder.. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I mean it's totally disgusting and sad. We want out of this place ASAP!
Well, you have some of the same problems here, dirtbikes and quads are going to be limited to where you can ride. I actually think there may be more areas to ride in the desert then there is here out east.
Lakes are definitely more plentiful out here in NH and definitely full of water. but every time I go to Cali im jealous of house nice the weather is and almost every day of the year is a boat day. Here in NH boating season is like 3-4 months at best and your lucky if a the weekend weather is nice enough to go out. makes planning anything extremely difficult. even when the weather is forecasted to be Nice that doesn't mean jack cause it could end up being cloudy and rainy.
last time I was in LA (about a month ago) I hiked up in the Los Angelos National forest, yeah I had to buy a 5$ parking permit but I was actually amazed at how beautiful it was, how void it was of people ( I see more people in the NH forest hiking) and the lack of bugs was a major PLUS. My entire hike was higher then Mt Washington (highest mtn in NH)
Not trying to dissuade you, but the grass always isn't greener
I read a trivia question once that said a hunting license was required to set a mouse trap in CA. I thought it was a joke but now I wonder....
If you are looking at the Lakes Region, LRGH is the largest hospital. Franklin Hospital is part of the same system so they share staff. I have not heard great things about the RT department as far as staff satisfaction goes. From what I hear the phlebotomists are not treated all that well. Concord Hospital is commutable depending on where you are in the area. The pay is lower there but people seem to really like working there. If you want to DM me about specifics, feel free. My husband and I are both medical and have worked in several hospitals in NH.
Well, you have some of the same problems here, dirtbikes and quads are going to be limited to where you can ride. I actually think there may be more areas to ride in the desert then there is here out east.
Lakes are definitely more plentiful out here in NH and definitely full of water. but every time I go to Cali im jealous of house nice the weather is and almost every day of the year is a boat day. Here in NH boating season is like 3-4 months at best and your lucky if a the weekend weather is nice enough to go out. makes planning anything extremely difficult. even when the weather is forecasted to be Nice that doesn't mean jack cause it could end up being cloudy and rainy.
last time I was in LA (about a month ago) I hiked up in the Los Angelos National forest, yeah I had to buy a 5$ parking permit but I was actually amazed at how beautiful it was, how void it was of people ( I see more people in the NH forest hiking) and the lack of bugs was a major PLUS. My entire hike was higher then Mt Washington (highest mtn in NH)
Not trying to dissuade you, but the grass always isn't greener
Yes, but the predictable weather does get old. Hot and sunny every day. Never rains, no snow, and no thunderstorms
The lakes out here are crowded and traffic jams on the launch ramp can get hectic. Even IF they allow you to launch your boat after being quarantined and/or inspected for literally even a drop of water or moisture due to these invasive quagga muscles that have even caused lake closures in the past few years. We have 2-3 man made canyon lakes (small compared to the rest of the country) here in the LA area that 99% of the time get so windy and treacherous to navigate not to mention are always infested with what we call "lake lice". Rude, obnoxious, steroid intoxicated meat heads that are holier than thou speeding around like bats outta hell on the lake blasting 3 doors down 'Kryptonite' on their skank boats that mommy & daddy bought them totally ignoring no wake zones and having no courteously for others. Most times it's more stressful than pleasurable to take your boat to the lake. It's not fun or peaceful. Too much commotion. Here it's all hustle bustle. We want peace and quiet!
The lack of bugs IS nice. I think mosquitoes and the humidity are going to be the biggest downsides to moving out there. There is one bug I'm looking forward to though... Lightning bugs!! Hopefully those little guys are still around
It's not a problem if the mountains in NH aren't as tall as the ones here as long as we're able to snowboard on them
The Angeles national forest really isn't all that great to us. Hiking in the oven hot, dry, dusty desert scrub with a really good chance of running into a bear, mountain lion, illegal marijuana grow or a dumped corpse isn't too appealing, especially since we're not allowed to carry a firearm for protection around these parts. We want to be in a REAL forest!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lady fern
I read a trivia question once that said a hunting license was required to set a mouse trap in CA. I thought it was a joke but now I wonder....
If you are looking at the Lakes Region, LRGH is the largest hospital. Franklin Hospital is part of the same system so they share staff. I have not heard great things about the RT department as far as staff satisfaction goes. From what I hear the phlebotomists are not treated all that well. Concord Hospital is commutable depending on where you are in the area. The pay is lower there but people seem to really like working there. If you want to DM me about specifics, feel free. My husband and I are both medical and have worked in several hospitals in NH.
Thanks lady fern. If we have questions on the healthcare industry I'll be sure to PM you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chris410
hate to break it to you but you WILL be spending almost double that to heat your house in the winter months, and the heat Will be on from October to April especially if your used to SoCal temps. You will want to consider a house with alternative Heat source such as a wood stove, pellet stove or geo-thermal. if possible get a house with natural gas at the street. they are rare but DO exist.
be prepared for a polor opposite of everything. culture, landscape, weather. I travel to Socal/LA area often for work. I enjoy it because it is SO completely different then NH. but I still prefer NH because it is home to me and I Enjoy winter! if you don't enjoy the winter season you will be miserable here most of the year. definitely become passionate about a winter activity.
We'd be spending almost double that if we're using oil, wood, propane or what?
In your opinion what's the cheapest heating solution?
Last edited by Yac; 08-11-2014 at 03:57 AM..
Reason: 3 posts in a row merged
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