Relocating in a month or 2 considering these NH towns, advice please! (Manchester: real estate, rental)

[Ken E]

Thank you very much for keeping the secret.

[maryd1963]

Originally Posted by twinmum

We are moving from Southern California (you can see my original post in the Boston forum) to New England in a month or two. We have narrowed down our search after a recent week long visit, to areas outside of Boston. However, we only traveled to Nashua (which we didnt care for) & Portsmouth (which we LOVED) in NH and spent most of our time exploring the Boston area. We narrowed down our search in MA. but are now being told that we should consider NH and here are the suggestions

We are now considering Manchester, Bedford & Portsmouth....
possibly other towns I don't know about yet.

We are wanting to be within a hour to airport, a place where we can get a nice (read: updated kitchen, hardwood floors, at least 2 car garage, luxurious, 2000 sq ft) house/condo for under $600k.... a place where our children can go to decent schools (although I have a feeling coming from California our perceptions may vary greatly ). Some place that is not too rural, has a walkable downtown, is safe & welcoming and has a Whole Foods type healthy grocery store.... Is there such a place in NH?

tv

[maestramommy]

Originally Posted by twinmum

I have to say that even though we have been told more than a handful of times how rude people in the NE are (and we were even told by former east coasters) we found it quite the contrary again...people were very nice & helpful.... but I will keep it secret (all of the people we know who think we are crazy for leaving California can keep on believing there is no better place & just stay here )

Funny, that was our impression too! All the people we've met going into the move and since are really nice. Course, I've been told it's people from MA that are rude, and NHites are the nice ones, but who knows really? Not that people in CA were not nice (we knew a lot of nice people there), but here there is more common courtesy. Don't know how to explain it, but we noticed it right away.

Congratulations, and good luck on your move! Is our husband's company paying for any of it?

[csw]

Hi Twinmom,

I'm packing up right now here in San Jose, CA to move to Bedford in two weeks. We decided to rent there first, since I hadn't had a chance to check out different places yet. My h. used to live near Bedford for years and he's easier anyhow

Anyway, I got a couple of quotes and ended up with United Van Line.
Very professional, the quote was at the higher end, but does contain an unlimited amount of boxes, paper and even tape. The other three quotes only had 75 boxes included. I have a many books, so that adds up fast...
Also, I only got quotes from vendors that could send somebody out to our house for the estimate. Some companies wanted me to count our stuff and have a guess how many boxes I would need.

Here's the link I used to get the quotes: Moving Companies - Moving Services, Movers by Van Lines.com

Good luck to you!

Originally Posted by twinmum

Update......
So, we just got back last night from our NH house hunting trip.... drove through the snow for 2+ hours to get to Boston yesterday from Portsmouth (that was unlike any snowy weather we ever drove in while living in Colorado as far as the drivers on the highway...yikes!).

We liked Bedford, Amherst was nice too, checked out Exeter, Stratham & other towns (were told to check out Elliot & Kittery in Maine & we did) but we really love Portsmouth & so that is where we are moving!

My husband will be there next week for good & we will follow him shortly.....so anyone know of a reliable cross country mover? I will have to start searching the postings as I am sure there is something out there regarding movers.

Anyway, I just thought I'd update you all & thank you once again for all of your advice & help. It has been very helpful & much appreciated!

I have to say that even though we have been told more than a handful of times how rude people in the NE are (and we were even told by former east coasters) we found it quite the contrary again...people were very nice & helpful.... but I will keep it secret (all of the people we know who think we are crazy for leaving California can keep on believing there is no better place & just stay here )

[twinmum]

Originally Posted by csw

Hi Twinmom,

I'm packing up right now here in San Jose, CA to move to Bedford in two weeks. We decided to rent there first, since I hadn't had a chance to check out different places yet. My h. used to live near Bedford for years and he's easier anyhow

Anyway, I got a couple of quotes and ended up with United Van Line.
Very professional, the quote was at the higher end, but does contain an unlimited amount of boxes, paper and even tape. The other three quotes only had 75 boxes included. I have a many books, so that adds up fast...
Also, I only got quotes from vendors that could send somebody out to our house for the estimate. Some companies wanted me to count our stuff and have a guess how many boxes I would need.

Here's the link I used to get the quotes: Moving Companies - Moving Services, Movers by Van Lines.com

Good luck to you!

hey thanks! WE actually used United to Move from Portland down here & they were great... so far I've gotten a quote from NorthAmerican & MAN is it expensive! Are you shipping cars too?

[twinmum]

Originally Posted by maestramommy

Funny, that was our impression too! All the people we've met going into the move and since are really nice. Course, I've been told it's people from MA that are rude, and NHites are the nice ones, but who knows really? Not that people in CA were not nice (we knew a lot of nice people there), but here there is more common courtesy. Don't know how to explain it, but we noticed it right away.

Congratulations, and good luck on your move! Is our husband's company paying for any of it?

Luckily, yes they are paying for all of it. & thanks!

[csw]

we are shipping one small car $1,295 and still debating back and forth on the second one (all wheel drive, $100 more), packed boxes as of today: 97 and more to come! I move many times before, but never with small children - what an amazing difference! My h. is out and about in Bedford right now trying to look at house and preschools - all closed today...

[twinmum]

Originally Posted by csw

we are shipping one small car $1,295 and still debating back and forth on the second one (all wheel drive, $100 more), packed boxes as of today: 97 and more to come! I move many times before, but never with small children - what an amazing difference! My h. is out and about in Bedford right now trying to look at house and preschools - all closed today...

I know! Our last move was with children (our kids were babies at the time) & it just doesn't seem to move along as easy . I bought boxes today.... called United they are coming next week. When we moved down here (it was 6+ yrs ago we just moved my vehicle in the moving truck, but now they are telling me they might not be able to get someone to do that....the laws in Cal. have changed or something? so I am going to have to resort to finding a shipper (or better yet selling both here) and finding a vehicle when I get out there (minus the sales tax, YAAAA).
Good luck.... keep me posted... I can't wait to swap stories with you

[maestramommy]

Originally Posted by twinmum

I know! Our last move was with children (our kids were babies at the time) & it just doesn't seem to move along as easy . I bought boxes today.... called United they are coming next week. When we moved down here (it was 6+ yrs ago we just moved my vehicle in the moving truck, but now they are telling me they might not be able to get someone to do that....the laws in Cal. have changed or something? so I am going to have to resort to finding a shipper (or better yet selling both here) and finding a vehicle when I get out there (minus the sales tax, YAAAA).
Good luck.... keep me posted... I can't wait to swap stories with you

When we moved my dh's company assigned us to a relocation firm. They contracted United Van Lines for our move, but a different company to move the cars. Someone showed up and took our cars away on a tow, and they delivered it to our temp housing a week later. We didn't move into a house until 1.5 months later, which was when the Van Lines movers showed up. I could ask Dh who moved our cars if you like.

We moved with a 14 months old and a 2.5 year old. Glad we never have to do that again! Although they were very good, it's just a lot of work!

[csw]

So where did you stay in the meantime? We are having trouble to find a house to rent that is in an acceptable condition...

Originally Posted by maestramommy

When we moved my dh's company assigned us to a relocation firm. They contracted United Van Lines for our move, but a different company to move the cars. Someone showed up and took our cars away on a tow, and they delivered it to our temp housing a week later. We didn't move into a house until 1.5 months later, which was when the Van Lines movers showed up. I could ask Dh who moved our cars if you like.

We moved with a 14 months old and a 2.5 year old. Glad we never have to do that again! Although they were very good, it's just a lot of work!