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My wife was raised in Merrimack, NH, and we took the kids (13 & 15) on a road trip up there over a two week span. At different points, we all fell in love with it (well, my wife was already in love with it), and it kind of organically came about that this was our home. She works remotely, and I stay home with the kids, so job prospects are not a problem.
We're currently looking in Peterborough, as we love the way it's centered largely on the arts and has such a wonderfully rich history and culture. I'm visiting there to view a house next week.
Of course we're very aware that the weather is vastly different, which is actually a plus for us. Both of us suffer from nerve pain due to injuries/surgeries, and it is much better in the cooler weather. I am not a stupid woman, however, and am fully ready to admit I know nothing about surviving and thriving in a NH winter. So any information you can impart in that area would be extremely welcome.
Also, any other facts/issues you guys might think we should know would be appreciated, too. We're not moving to try to change NH at all. In fact, the culture and behaviors of 'live and let live' in NH align much more closely with ours, so we're very excited about that part. We just want to be somewhere that feels like home, and have a safe place to raise our kids in their formative years.
The advice I always give is, see if you can rent for a year or so before committing to a buying something. Even if you love, love, love the state, you'll want to know the nuance of different places during each season (especially Winter) and to get a feel for what you are willing to tolerate as far as town services, icy roads, distance to stores, septic vs town sewer, kids' activities (and distance to/from), etc. What you think you love in the Summer, you might not so much in the Winter.
Since you're going to be relying heavily on internet for work, you'll also want to be careful to find a place that has very reliable high speed availability. It's not a given everywhere.
I'm sure there will be some along shortly who can tell you specifics about living in Peterborough. It's a lovely town, that's all I can offer.
Welcome! Similar to you, my husband is from Texas and I am from New Hampshire. I eventually persuaded him to move up here and we are very happy here. He tends to grouse about the weather in the middle of winter, but otherwise he loves it (and he would be complaining just as much about summer weather if he were still in Houston). The key to handling the weather is just making sure that you are prepared with the appropriate winter gear and equipment.
I would second DebNashua's suggestion of renting for at least a year before buying if possible. I know it can be tricky with kids, but it might help you find the best suited spot for you. We almost bought right away, but ended up renting for three years before we bought. I am so happy that we did. The area we rented in was okay for us and on paper it was great, but it wasn't the best fit for us. We ended up moving somewhere that wasn't even on our radar initially and I am absolutely in love, we are so much happier up here in Littleton than in the area where we used to rent.
Since Peterborough is in a regional school district (if you are planning to use the public schools and concerned about the kids having to switch schools), if you rented for a year, you would still have a choice of towns to buy in without even needing to change your kids' school. That was our initial idea renting in the Kearsarge Regional district, although we ended up choosing to buy in a different part of the state entirely.
I would also second Deb's advice with regards to internet. The southwestern part of the state is notorious for having pockets of very poor internet availability, even more so than the far northern part of the state (most of the North Country actually has fantastic high speed internet). I don't know what the internet is like in Peterborough, but it is something to check into before moving. Hopefully someone more familiar with the Peterborough area will chime in with more information.
The best way to know if you can get reliable internet is that the house you're considering already has it. Don't believe coverage maps and claims by ISP's that they can and will provide service.
As far as surviving winter...
Warm clothing, to include thermal underwear, sweaters, fleece, coats, jackets, socks, boots, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Be aware that we get cold and wet weather with sleet and freezing rain, so some waterproof outerwear is necessary. Layering is good. LL Bean is your friend.
You'll have to deal with snow removal. Make sure to ask your landlord who is responsible for plowing, shoveling, sanding the walks, shoveling roofs, and any recurrent issues with frozen pipes. Make friends with your plow guy.
What will your heat source be in your rental? Are you ambitious enough to heat with wood? How frequent are power failures? (Probably not too many in Peterborough.) Is there a generator?
Your car needs to be ready for winter, with adequate antifreeze concentrations and cold weather washer fluid. Here's a lengthy discussion about the merits of all-season vs snow tires that hopefully won't be beaten to death again in this thread. Best all weather tires vs snow tires? A garage is very desirable.
Ask your school about their "snow days" policies.
Does your family ski? Skate? Snowshoe? Find some fun stuff to do if you're stuck indoors because it's too cold to enjoy the outdoors for a couple of days. And find things that will get you out of the house. Besides the cold, people new to the region tend to underestimate the length and darkness of winter, which even the natives find difficult, and it can be tempting to self-medicate with alcohol or something else.
Wow, thanks, you guys! I had not thought about making sure the cars were ready. All I knew about that was that every time it starts to get cold here, my wife makes me go fill up the cars at least halfway. Apparently that keeps the gas from freezing? I tried to remind her that this is TX, but I do it anyway.
I'll definitely check on the heating aspect. It *says* it's oil heaters supplemented with wood stove, but I'll have to see when I get up there next week to view the house.
As far as renting first, that's sadly not an option for us, as we have a small zoo - five cats, a 60lb goofus dog, and two birds. Even though we're nuts about making our home look and smell like there aren't any animals at all, I can't blame a landlord for not wanting to take the chance without knowing us. But I am going to stay the night in the town we'd be moving to when I go, which will give me at least a tiny, tiny view into what kind of place it is.
Thanks so much for your input. It's totally helping! Keep it coming!
Oil space heaters differ from an oil-fired furnace. Ask about that, how old is the house, how well is it insulated, how is the hot water heated, how much oil did the current owner use for the past 3 years (if a furnace), how much wood, and what temp was the house heated to, and get copies of the electric bills. Heating, particularly in an older house, can get expensive here. Most houses here do not have central AC, since it would only be used for maybe 2-3 weeks/year.
Wow, thanks, you guys! I had not thought about making sure the cars were ready. All I knew about that was that every time it starts to get cold here, my wife makes me go fill up the cars at least halfway. Apparently that keeps the gas from freezing? I tried to remind her that this is TX, but I do it anyway.
I'll definitely check on the heating aspect. It *says* it's oil heaters supplemented with wood stove, but I'll have to see when I get up there next week to view the house.
As far as renting first, that's sadly not an option for us, as we have a small zoo - five cats, a 60lb goofus dog, and two birds. Even though we're nuts about making our home look and smell like there aren't any animals at all, I can't blame a landlord for not wanting to take the chance without knowing us. But I am going to stay the night in the town we'd be moving to when I go, which will give me at least a tiny, tiny view into what kind of place it is.
Thanks so much for your input. It's totally helping! Keep it coming!
In terms of getting cars ready, make sure you have Winter washer fluid rated to at least - 20, if not more. Most washer fluid in cars in Texas will not be good enough to withstand the cold winters here. During my husband's first winter in New England, it didn't occur to him to change the washer fluid and it froze and cracked the washer fluid reservoir.
If your work depends on Internet, I'd also make sure there is good cell coverage there. Most of my work is done from a computer, and when I lose power and/or internet at home due to storms, I can still work on my laptop through my cell's hotspot. In my opinion, Verizon is the best cell service for NH.
You are correct that it will be very difficult to find a rental with all those pets.
I live in Peterborough, and I will second (third?) the advice to check internet access. However, you do not necessarily need to be deterred if DSL is all that is available.
Peterborough is odd, in that it's really quite heavily-developed, and yet high-speed internet is not available in much of the town. There are swaths in which the houses are close together and yet high-speed is not available. It's a problem the local politicians are actually working on.
We were extremely worried about this and it almost kept us from buying in town, and yes - the Comcast coverage map was misleading. It said internet was available at our house, and it wasn't. However, what we found was that with the exception of occasional slow times, DSL is actually very adequate for us even when one of us is surfing, one of us is doing data-intensive work, and we are both watching streaming TV. If it isn't, the local company offering DSL service offers a second line for much less than the first (I think it was about $10.) But definitely, it is best to buy a house for which the internet situation is known. (The previous owner of our house did not have internet at all, so we took a chance.) Honestly I do not know enough about the technology behind DSL to know whether different houses with the same service from the same company could have different internet speeds. I know there are people on here who are much more knowledgeable about that.
Cell phone coverage is another possible problem. We have great service (with Verizon), but we looked at some houses which didn't. You can have your realtor take out their phone and see what service they're getting, and ask what company they use.
It is unfortunate that your situation makes finding a rental so difficult. Peterborough is nice, but you can end up feeling very isolated at times. Even just geographically-speaking, it can feel isolated, hemmed in by hills, and with no interstate highway within about 30 miles. You might end up loving it, or you might end up wishing you lived elsewhere (and, um, a lower-tax town) and could just visit Peterborough.
Peterborough certainly isn't the coldest area of the state, but it is noticeably colder and snowier here than in central NH, where I used to live. Yet, temperature and snow depth varies even within town (often based on elevation.)
Re: power failures, they are actually extremely frequent in Peterborough. MUCH more frequent than in any of the other locations I have lived. I do believe that some areas of towns are more prone to outages than other areas, though. We lose power all the time, though the longest we have experienced so far is about two days, and usually it's under 12 hours. We are aware that neighbors lost power for 2 weeks in the ice storm of 2008. Pretty much every neighbor has an on-demand generator.
If you can give some details on what you're looking for in a town folks may have other ideas for you to try.
What's important to be near ona daily basis: skiing, restaurants, a college, box stores, horse trails, ...
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