Relocating to NH (or VT), best cities for our budget? (Peterborough: real estate, brokers)

[Katouuu]

Hello,

My husband and I are currently looking to relocate to NH or VT from Los Angeles. I lived in Montreal for 30years, so before you say anything about living with snow and mud, I know exactly what it is like!

We've been looking at houses on realtor/zillow. It seems hard to find decent/updated houses, are we just not looking well enough? Houses up to 315k. We would like some land, would love living not too far away from good schools for our sons.

We do not have a specific city in mind - we are just looking around at the moment.

Thank you!

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by Katouuu

We've been looking at houses on realtor/zillow. It seems hard to find decent/updated houses, are we just not looking well enough? Houses up to 315k. We would like some land, would love living not too far away from good schools for our sons.

Going to be tough to find decent/updated houses in a town with good schools at anywhere near 315k, even in northern NH.

Prices here are climbing constantly, and available housing stock is scarce at best.

[Wells5]

Look unto Cheshire, Hillsborough and Sullivan Counties in New Hampshire. I've been noticing substantial real estate price cuts lately. Will you need to find work?

[KCZ]

And if you're working from home, you need to be sure that any house you're considering already has existing high speed internet. Don't rely on utility coverage maps.


Your title says "city", then you want "some land." Which is more important? If you have to be in a city, there aren't that many, and you're not going to find any houses with land with your budget.

[cowbell76]

Originally Posted by Wells5

Look unto Cheshire, Hillsborough and Sullivan Counties in New Hampshire. I've been noticing substantial real estate price cuts lately. Will you need to find work?

Interesting. Are you seeing that at all price points?

I’ve been primarily watching the properties in my own town (Peterborough, Hillsborough County bordering Cheshire) but I haven’t seen price cuts for properties in the $300-$350 range. I don’t see very many price cuts at all, but it does seem that some owners (and/or realtors) have imagined that someone would pay pretty much anything for their property, and have listed it for $100,000 or more higher than someone would have paid just last year. Those prices do end up getting slashed (or the house just sits and sits.). But the “inexpensive” houses (which amazingly now means anything under about $350K) are being snapped up almost immediately even if they’re not in great shape. And what is a $300-ish K house this year is nothing like what you could get for that price even last year.

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by KCZ

And if you're working from home, you need to be sure that any house you're considering already has existing high speed internet. Don't rely on utility coverage maps.

Good point.

Also don't trust "prequalification" websites from the providers. The only way to be confident a home can get reliable wired broadband is if that house currently has broadband service. I'm out in the boonies on acreage, but I get fast cable Internet (except after about day 2 of extended power outages).

Eventually the new Starlink satellite service might be an option, but the current beta is giving random outages, so really not suitable for telecommuters, gamers, nor streaming.

[Katouuu]

Originally Posted by KCZ

And if you're working from home, you need to be sure that any house you're considering already has existing high speed internet. Don't rely on utility coverage maps.


Your title says "city", then you want "some land." Which is more important? If you have to be in a city, there aren't that many, and you're not going to find any houses with land with your budget.

We will be working from home yes.

Both are important, something that has an acre or more, not too far from a city since we have 2 little ones that will need to go to school.

Looks like NH might not be our best option then. We also looked at NY state, but the property taxes there are so high... and I thought our taxes were high here in CA lol our 450k house in CA has lower property taxes than most houses around 300k-315k in NY.

[Lucy_C]

Real estate in New Hampshire is booming. Houses are selling in under a week, and for more than asking prices. I work in RE and we are all pulling our hair out trying to keep up with the demand. It is INSANE!

Some houses are ridiculously overpriced, and those stick around for a while. But that's not often the case.

I don't have any suggestions for you, but just wanted to provide the above anecdotal information. If you find something you like, jump on it! Or wait and see what the things look like in a few months. Real estate is cyclical, at some point the bubble will burst. It might be in a month or in a decade, but at some point the cycle always ends.

[KCZ]

In the past week, I've received at least 20 mailings from realtors and brokers asking if I wanted to put my house on the market, plus robo and real person calls to my unlisted home number. Inventories are low...looking at realtor.com, I see mobile homes, 100-year-old dumps, and land.

[squarpeg]

I really do not think you have provided enough specifics for any recommendations. Your request of ...best cities for our budget...really doesn't say enough. I live in Vermont and as far as I am concerned there is only 1 city, Burlington. Everything else I would call a town.