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My husband and I have been in the Metro Boston area for the last several years, and are looking for suggestions on good New Hampshire or Western MA locations. Here are the big considerations for us:
1- Affordable cost of living: Our income is around $85k/yr and we're looking to spend about $250k on our home
2- Low crime and great public schools
3- Close proximity to an airport: I travel a lot for my job, so it's important to not be within 30 miles or so of a decent airport (Logan or Bradley would be ideal, but especially Logan feels like a long shot)
Any suggestions for towns that you feel would meet those criteria would be much appreciated!
I'd say Any NH town from the border up to Manchester. Love it up there. Western MA can be nice too, but it's still MA so why live in a place where the state government will always try everything they can do to bankrupt you? LIVE FREE OR DIE! I wish I was born in NH so I could have that crap tattooed across my back! If I were to live in Western MA West Springfield is nice (separate town, not part of the City of Springfield) or East Longmeadow are nice. I used to do a lot of work in the Metro Spfld area.
I'd start by looking at Manchester adjoining towns, if only to get an idea of what's available so you can narrow down your choices further. Do you want to live in a large town, near a small town, or out in the boonies? Are you okay with driving 20 minutes to find the nearest big box grocery/department store?
Quote:
Originally Posted by natmatt7
Close proximity to an airport: I travel a lot for my job, so it's important to not be within 30 miles or so of a decent airport (Logan or Bradley would be ideal, but especially Logan feels like a long shot)
Logan is 30 miles from the NH border, at best. You might want to take a closer look at MHT. I've found that 95% of my business travel needs are fulfilled by flying out of Manchester. The Portland, Maine airport is also an option if you find a home north of Manchester.
Compared to the rest of the country, all of New Hampshire is a "low crime" area. But school quality varies greatly from town-to-town, so you'd want to look at each available home independently, or make a list towns by proximity to airports, then narrow that to "quality schools" and then start searching NNEREN.
If you sign up for a NNEREN (Northern New England Real Estate Network) account via a realtor's website, you can create saved searches that will automatically email you when matching houses come on the market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snatale1
I'd say Any NH town from the border up to Manchester.
Unless you truly need quick access to Logan, I'd say avoid any NH town from the border up to Manchester and then East to the coast. In my experience, housing prices and property taxes are higher in that zone, in part because commuters and MA transplants drive up the numbers.
I'd say Any NH town from the border up to Manchester. Love it up there. Western MA can be nice too, but it's still MA so why live in a place where the state government will always try everything they can do to bankrupt you? LIVE FREE OR DIE! I wish I was born in NH so I could have that crap tattooed across my back! If I were to live in Western MA West Springfield is nice (separate town, not part of the City of Springfield) or East Longmeadow are nice. I used to do a lot of work in the Metro Spfld area.
Thanks very much for the reply back. I hear you about the taxes and will definitely start looking at NH. Great suggestions about West Springfield and East Longmeadow, in case NH doesn't work out. Thanks again!
I'd start by looking at Manchester adjoining towns, if only to get an idea of what's available so you can narrow down your choices further. Do you want to live in a large town, near a small town, or out in the boonies? Are you okay with driving 20 minutes to find the nearest big box grocery/department store?
Logan is 30 miles from the NH border, at best. You might want to take a closer look at MHT. I've found that 95% of my business travel needs are fulfilled by flying out of Manchester. The Portland, Maine airport is also an option if you find a home north of Manchester.
Compared to the rest of the country, all of New Hampshire is a "low crime" area. But school quality varies greatly from town-to-town, so you'd want to look at each available home independently, or make a list towns by proximity to airports, then narrow that to "quality schools" and then start searching NNEREN.
If you sign up for a NNEREN (Northern New England Real Estate Network) account via a realtor's website, you can create saved searches that will automatically email you when matching houses come on the market.
Unless you truly need quick access to Logan, I'd say avoid any NH town from the border up to Manchester and then East to the coast. In my experience, housing prices and property taxes are higher in that zone, in part because commuters and MA transplants drive up the numbers.
Thanks so much! This is great background and info. I don't need to be near Logan, and that's really great to hear that Manchester and Portland are both viable options for business travel. I'll definitely check out NNEREN too and see what I can dig up.
As for type of location, we're definitely leaning towards a small town and we're definitely ok with needing to drive about 20 minutes to get to the nearest big box grocery or department store. We've loved our time in Somerville, MA but ideally we'd like some peace and quiet that is not out in the boonies (i.e. still has a town square and maybe even close to a smaller city than Boston).
As I posted in your other moving advice thread in the MA forum...
1. How old are you and your husband?
2. How much do you have saved for a down payment?
Making $85K a year isn't all that much income. You ask about good school systems, so we know that you plan to start a family at some point. So at some point, your collective income will drop when you become pregnant and you attend to the toddlers, and your expenses will actually increase.
So my thoughts would be to continue to save money as renters for a while longer. And then rent where you think you want to buy before making that real estate purchase. Buying a house is a huge commitment and if it turns out to be a mistake, selling a house quickly can be difficult unless you are willing to take a loss on the original purchase price.
Don't forget to factor in property taxes and house maintenance costs. Expect to pay much higher heating bills for a house than the apartment you are living in now.
Making "only" $85K is a perfectly respectable income in NH
miu makes some good points. Heating will definitely be higher, most towns have a lower cost of living than Somerville (don't rely on the COL Index on City-data per-town pages right now, it's broken).
Assuming you have a solid down payment (and savings beyond that for unexpected costs), I wouldn't be concerned about your income or about jumping into real estate ownership before having kids. NH median family income is about $80K, but that is skewed by high-density high-income DINKs living Rockingham and Hillsborough counties.
Quote:
Originally Posted by natmatt7
As for type of location, we're definitely leaning towards a small town and we're definitely ok with needing to drive about 20 minutes to get to the nearest big box grocery or department store. We've loved our time in Somerville, MA but ideally we'd like some peace and quiet that is not out in the boonies (i.e. still has a town square and maybe even close to a smaller city than Boston).
If you have no need to go south (MA, etc), I would consider the towns surrounding Concord and Manchester. This gives you good access to Manchester (and the airport) and about an hour (without traffic) drive to Boston-Logan.
Many towns around Concord and Manchester still have the traditional small town look and feel, including a town square, general store, spaghetti supper fundraisers, etc. You'd still want to make a list of towns, then cross off the ones with poorly-rated schools, or the ones with great schools funded by insanely high property taxes.
I suggest you try renting in the Manchester NH area for a couple of more years. By then you will know the area and be able to select a place that fits your budget.
Get a copy of the DeLorme "New Hampshire Atlas and Gazetteer" for detailed maps and a wealth of additional information.
You save a lot more by living in NH; property taxes are higher but state income taxes are nonexistent. You also save a lot of money on gas because traffic isn't stop and go pretty much always. Towns that might fit your criteria are Concord, Contoocook (part of Hopkinton), Goffstown, Amherst, New Boston, Henniker, Warner and Canterbury. They're all 20-30 minutes from the Manchester airport (Warner, Henniker and New Boston might be slightly more, but definitely check them out).
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