Job in Burlington MA. Need more info about living in NH. (Nashua: for sale, rentals)

[maxie.maverick]

Hello

I recently accepted a job position with a company located in Burlington MA. I've been actively looking for places to rent as well as buy.

I live in Lebanon NH area and believed (until now) that the rents in the Upper Valley NH region are extremely high. That is until I started looking for a rental in the Northern MA area and I'm shocked at the prices ($2600 for a 2bd/2.5ba townhome with 1 car garage) for comparable rentals.

I've almost made up my mind to purchase a home and since everything on the MA side of the border is pretty much out of my budget reach, I'm leaning towards the 03062 area.

I am married and my wife also works for a company in Burlington MA (office will move to Concord MA in a few months). We don't have kids but I would still like to purchase in a location with good/great schools to aid in selling 5-7 years down the line (if need be).

My wife is really particular about newish homes only (condos/townhomes are okay also). So a quick search showed a community in the Diamondback Avenue of Nashua NH. I wanted to see if you could provide more info about this builder/community etc.

Also, could you provide info about living in NH and working in MA. I think I already have a good idea of what this entails but would like to see if I missed something.

We are from India and would like to stay in a location that safe, easy-ish drive to MA and prefer neighbors who are open and not racist.

Appreciate any and all help regarding this matter.

Thanks
Max

[rizzo0904]

Nashua has a large Indian population. You should have no issue with racism. For some reason, the Indian population in Nashua seems concentrated in the southern portion of the city.

The drive to Burlington is about 35-40 minutes. You will want to leave before 6am or after 9am, unless you want to sit in traffic.

I'm off to figure out where that neighborhood is now...

[rizzo0904]

Main Dunstable school district is very good. Looks like a neighborhood of newer homes seling as detached condos, if I'm correct. You would be near the Nashua river trail where you can walk/jog/bike.

[maxie.maverick]

Originally Posted by rizzo0904

Main Dunstable school district is very good. Looks like a neighborhood of newer homes seling as detached condos, if I'm correct. You would be near the Nashua river trail where you can walk/jog/bike.

Thank you Rizzo. I appreciate your time and effort.

Could someone chime in regarding the "Living/Buying in NH, Working in MA" arrangement. Here are the factors I've already considered:

1. Drive can be challenging on daily basis. Is it really going to be a 45-minute drive to Burlington? I usually prefer to work 8:30 to 5:30 and assumed starting at 8:10'ish would be good enough... Am I wrong here?

2. My wife's company (also my previous employer) has an office in Burlington. It's only a mile away from my new office. But they're planning to move to Concord MA in a few months... So after a few months, would we need to drive out in two different cars? Or is it possible to do a one car setup, where I drop her off and get to work around 9:00'ish? Would this be too much?

3. My wife is particular about a brand new home & a community. We might consider homes made after 2005 and our budget is between $350k-$400k. Unfortunately, there is nothing on the MA side for this price range (not even townhomes). I was pleasantly surprised at the difference on the NH side of the border.

4. Although I understand that the property taxes are higher in NH, if I'm getting 2 times the house in NH... It just seems like a no brainer to me. For $400k in Tewksbury and Chelmsford area, I cannot even get a decent size condo for which property taxes are about $5k. For the same price, 03062 has big houses for which property taxes are in the range of $9k. This is something I'm okay with as long as I'm not stuck with the property. Are houses easily sold in this area?

5. The number of new homes frightens me. Would it easy to sell a home? I'm open to a condo/townhome (for similar price, my wife is not) because I think it can be easily rented, sold compared to a single family home. Am I thinking straight here?
With so many new houses available to buyers, do people even consider an older home?

6. Since both of us will work in MA, 5.3% of our money is gone in tax anyway. While I understand that people suggest renting for a few months, I just don't feel like like paying $2600 in MA for rentals and I'd rather buy in the 03062 area instead of renting.

I'll add more to the discussion. I just don't want it to become a very long post...

Thanks for any help.
Max

[bler144]

It's going to be roughly a 30 minute drive even with no traffic imo, depending on precisely where you'd be getting on 3 and where in Burlington you're going. During rush, yeah, I'd probably assume 45 minutes as well as a baseline.

I'd be wary of trying to carpool if one of you is heading to Concord and the other Burlington - I suppose it's doable, but whoever is doing the dropoff is likely to be adding 20-30 minutes each way. It looks close, but 128/95 can be a slog, and the alternative is cutting cross-country on 62, which is prettier but not exactly fast either.

[newenglandbetch]

45 minutes from Nashua to Burlington is forgiving, in my opinion. I travel from the Merrimack Valley to Woburn every day and what would normally be a 20 minute ride with no traffic is generally a 30-45 minute ride for me when the weather conditions are good. Keep in mind when it rains (not even to mention when it snows) things are going to slow down even more. I don't think the carpooling is going to be very beneficial for you either, especially with the hours that you said that you generally work. It will end up being the you are commuting a few hours out of the day, which usually doesn't end up being fun for anyone. ( Unless you enjoy sitting in jammed up traffic on 128 or 93, in which case - have a blast!! )

[rizzo0904]

You will hit traffic from 495 in Chelmsford all the way to Burlington. I would not carpool with your wife.

[Alfheim]

Yeah, traffic or back roads will definitely eat up a lot of time in commute, and remember this means that this time of year you will get up to drive in the dark, and drive home in the dark, so a good three months of maybe twenty minutes of sunshine in the AM is your future. Remember to add in wear and tear on your car as well, you'll end up doing a lot of oil changes if you want to keep your car, and tires will need to be replaced more regularly.

It's probably going to be difficult to sell a home compared to pre-bubble, but depending on pricingvand location. Had a house down the street sell in under a month, a comparable looking one further on has been up for sale for maybe a year? Hard to say, lots of things go into making a sellable house.

Don't car pool. You'll have a happy first week or so, then want to kill each other as you spend an extra hour in the car every day hitting traffic on 93, and your commute doubles. You'll end up eating in the car and other unhealthy stuff, getting more stressed, really not worth it.

[wxjay]

What is a "decent sized" condo/townhome in your book? There surely are MA towns within 45 minute drive of Burlington that have a $400K < 10 year old townhome.

Also, I agree with those that state the drive could exceed 45 minutes to 1 hour, especially during peak travel times. Longer for your wife in Concord who has to wind through 62/Rte 4 to get to Rte 3. That is something to consider for sure.

[bolehboleh]

For $400,000, you can find plenty of decent size homes on the Mass side of the border with lower property taxes. You're going to pay mass income tax anyway, you might as well get the benefits of living there as well.