Cost of Living (Londonderry, Keene: rental, homeowners insurance, crime rate)

[athomemom]

Hi! Many people have posted here about different areas of NH having different salary ranges. In general, what salary would make for a comfortable (able to put a little into savings each month) living in middle class NH without a mortgage payment and with three children. I know this is a broad question. Online cost of living calculators do not specifically adress this question. We do not eat out much, mainly spend our money on activities for the kids (soccer, baseball, etc). We know heating is high, property taxes can be high and other utilities vary depending on home size and use. So, what do you think is a "live-able" salary? Thanks!

[Positiveone]

Good question but in my opinion thats too hard to answer. We are also looking to make the move to NH. The only slight concern to me is the property taxes, heard they go up alot yearly. So I only wonder where the taxes will be in Londonderry in lets say 5-10 years. We are in the 280-300,000 range for a house, not sure about you?

But wouldnt it really depend on your debt? How you live, medical issues?

Hope someone from NH helps you out.

Good Luck!!

Originally Posted by athomemom

Hi! Many people have posted here about different areas of NH having different salary ranges. In general, what salary would make for a comfortable (able to put a little into savings each month) living in middle class NH without a mortgage payment and with three children. I know this is a broad question. Online cost of living calculators do not specifically adress this question. We do not eat out much, mainly spend our money on activities for the kids (soccer, baseball, etc). We know heating is high, property taxes can be high and other utilities vary depending on home size and use. So, what do you think is a "live-able" salary? Thanks!

[buck naked]

a minimum of $50k - but with kids, it will probably be more.

and that's assuming there will be an increase in wages every year.

[dinalkulp]

We recently moved south because it was getting hard to keep our heads above water living in Londonderry on a combined income of $72K. Taxes and oil drove us out, not to mention the cold weather, as well as unfriendly neighbors.

[athomemom]

Thank you. My husband would be making 60K, that is quite lower than he makes now in California. I know the cost of living is different but the lower number just scares me. We would not have a mortgage, we can cash out of our house here and buy in NH so that helps. We plan to rent the first year and can cover the rental by renting our current home. Oh what a tough decision. Thank you for your help.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by dinalkulp

We recently moved south because it was getting hard to keep our heads above water living in Londonderry on a combined income of $72K. Taxes and oil drove us out, not to mention the cold weather, as well as unfriendly neighbors.

My husband was making almost close to that and we could barely keep our heads above water also. We were paying almost $400 a month for heating towards the end ($75 a week), our car insurance was higher, and the cost of just maintaining your car, house, and clothes etc in the cold weather was a HUGE expense. The winter up there is way long, snow from early Nov- the day we left last week so May... So that gives you 3 months of summer, and 2 months of fluctuating between really hot, or getting chilly weather.. Its too much.. and yes the unfriendliness we had also.. The neighbors were suspicious and unfriendly, as most of the people we met.

[athomemom]

I am so glad you responded since you lived and left NH. Can I ask you if your husband was making more before you moved to NH? Would things have been easier for you if your landloard had insulated the roof of your apt? I know your NH experince was not the most ideal for you so I am glad you share with us on the board

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by athomemom

I am so glad you responded since you lived and left NH. Can I ask you if your husband was making more before you moved to NH? Would things have been easier for you if your landloard had insulated the roof of your apt? I know your NH experince was not the most ideal for you so I am glad you share with us on the board

my husband was making more in Fla but at the time housing was so high that we thought it'd never come down. However when I look at it now, the housing up there is cheap cause its so old and not updated and all that money to balance it out in a real market would be spent in upgrades and taxes. If we had never left my husband would have been over $100,000 a year. BTW I was mistaken I had to verify with my husband the $72,000 was what he was making before we left to move to NH.. last year in NH he cracked about $35,000 as a police officer. Here starting for a police officer is almot $50,000 . I dunno where they say all these thing about pay being higher up north. Maybe for some fields they do but overall the pay was equal to Fla, if not a bit less for most jobs including LEO. So to show ya how much was lost. He got hired back at the amount he made when he left so we'll make it up this year but that was not fun.
We were told there was so much overtime and never enough to cover etc etc.. All lies. There was NO overtime at all ever! They were so desperate for officers because the turn over rate in Keene is so high. They hired 5 people in the year the hub worked there and 1 stayed.. Most quit within the first two weeks. After spending 3 months living at an academy and were willing to pay the dept back the money to not work there. That says a lot about a dept.. And none of it good They're suffering now as a lot of people had enough of that town/dept and they are now 6 officers down.

Now that we are back we are in the process of trying to buy a house, and I live just a few blocks from the beach compared to the middle of nowhere NH with nothing around for a couple hours. Big difference in quailty of life. We've been able to do more these two weeks being down here than we were abloe to do the entire year living up there. Literally.
We actually had our own inspectors come in and found out that indeed the house was insulated, and we did have new windows.. Its just that gas prices are so high that that was the norm.... The heating bills were getting worse when as we were leaving with the rising prices and we were paying the $75 a week to have the heat barely on and be freezing all the time. Compared to $75 a month to blast a/c in Fla. and never go above 72 .

[skytrekker]

Coastal Florida homes pay a huge premium for homeowners insurance. I have seen folks with average homes in average areas anywhere near the beach pay as much as $5k a year. In more jazzy areas along the coast- I have heard of some people paying as much as $900 a month!

Florida has a very high crime rate as well. Electricity for air conditioning 9 months of the year in a 1800 square foot home at $72.00 a month is pure fantasy.

The price of a single family home in Naples despite the housing bust is well over 350K.
Car insurance in Florida is also far higher- Florida having one of the highest rates of theft, uninsured motorists, car hold ups.

According to Forbes Magazine New Hampshire rates # 2 for quality of life. Florida comes in at number 42.
With climate change, Florida in the future will see more weather extremes, more frequent and increasing powerful hurricanes, sea rise and other problems.

There may be no snow in Florida- but the huge negatives; poor schools, high crime rate, rising living costs, and low quality of life more then offset its hot and humid climate that is very hurricane prone.

[buck naked]

the above poster had a unique position - they moved to an isolated college town area and rented an antique house.

I would recommend staying in the 93 beltway area and renting or purchasing a much newer home so that you won't have the troubles she experienced.

My TOTAL heating bill for this past winter was just under $1,000. I heat with oil and I have a new home that is very well insulated. I just put in a wood pellet stove, so that should take some of the sting out of next year's heating bills.

I know nothing about police jobs. I do know we give our police officers an excellent retirement plan and full health coverage. That has to be taken into consideration as part of the benefits of the job. $30K is what one of my daughters makes working at Wal-Mart.

Another daughter makes $40K working for the Y. And teaching pays more than $30K. So depending on what you do for a living, you should be fine.

$60K will definitely allow you to take a look around and see what you like.