Why NH vs. MA ??? (Nashua, Derry: 2009, renting, home)

[sgthoskins]

Your husband will have MA tax taken out. If he wants to track his vacation and days he works from home he can deduct that from his total income for the year when figuring out what he owes MA.

If you do move to NH just don't vote like the rest of the MA residents.

[nhkev]

I have an idea ... look for a job in new hampshire. then you don't pay the ma income tax or have to commute.

[maestramommy]

Originally Posted by DMickey28

Our cap for a mortgage is $325K but in New Hampshire it looks as though we need to keep that down to $290K is many towns (Derry, Londonderry etc) due to the high property taxes where we can afford more towards the $325K mark in towns like Bellingham, MA where the property taxes are much less.

Thanks!

A lot of towns in Southern NH have top school districts, which is a large part of what drives property taxes in BOTH STATES. Now that you have children, I imagine your search for a town will include good schools. In MA all the good school districts have high property tax AND expensive housing.

When Dh first got a job in Manchester we considered living in MA because we have a lot of extended family there. But the total cost of living was much higher once you added up the cost of housing, property tax, income tax, cost of commuting. I think we're better off living in a town close to Dh's work. Yes, we pay pretty high property tax. But we have a low mortgage in a very good school district, and no state income tax. Not even sales tax! We didn't own a home before we got here so it's hard to compare (CA property tax is much lower), but so far it seems to at least break even.

[seamusnh]

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

Like seamusnh said unless you are in a rich Mass town you will wind up sending your kids to private school.....yes, it's that bad.

It is all types of towns, not just the rich towns: Swampscott, Walpole, Hull, Westwood, Hanover....

[nhkev]

my sister lives in westwood and their property taxes are 11,000 per year mine are 7800 (i hope she doesn't read this) my house is a lot nicer.

[DMickey28]

Thanks for the responses.

We are obviously not comparing Apples to Apples when it comes to the $300K house in each state. The $300K house in NH is a house we can grow into over the next 5-10 years. The $300K house in MA is a house we will grow out of in the next 5-10 years. I know I need to look further past just the monthly bills.

As for lifestyle, I do think that NH wins hands down. We are smaller town people. We are slow people. We lived just outside Indianapolis and Chicago for a few years and much prefer the mid-west over Boston. Since we have moved around a lot in the last five years we have just decided to put our foot down, move back to family and make the best of the rest of it. Our family is too important to us and we spend way too much money every July and December to come home for a month!!

Now, can you give me real life suggestions on what towns to look at in NH? I heard that Derry HS has a horrible drug problem, any truth to that? I know my kids won't be in HS anytime soon but the trickle down effect, the babysitters etc would play into that. Do you think up Rt. 3 would be too far from the office in Woburn? It is literally just off 93 north of 128/95. My DH doesn't mind driving upwards of 45 minutes but he would prefer to drive that and not sit in traffic for the 45 minutes. He has a friend in Bedford that commutes past his exit in Woburn and says that the traffic starts right there so DH should be ok.

DH also isn't in the job for the long haul but most companies he is interested in and in his line of work would be in the same area (Burlington/Lexington/Woburn/Waltham) or would be work from home.

[buck naked]

Derry's high school is a private school - Pinkerton Academy. Yes, there are drugs there, but IMO it's no worse than any other town. The NH State Police call it the drug capitol of NH, but you have to
consider that it is the largest high school in the state. It's hard to compare a school with over 3K students to a school with 300 students.


a commute to Woburn is doable, but 128 is a traffic jam at 5:00 and route 3 and 93 are no picnic. Make no mistake, he WILL sit in traffic. When I lived in Derry, I could make Woburn in 45 minutes on a SATURDAY...lol

[buck naked]

also keep in mind that if YOU also work, your income is considered when your husband pays MA state tax. Your income is not taxed, but your husbands deductions are reduced by the percentage of your income.

for example..(I'll try to keep it simple) - if you make $10K in NH and your husband makes $10K in MA, your total income is $20K (MA and ME look at your total income filed on federal taxes) - therefore deductions are reduced to 50% and are not at 100%.

He will not be able to pay taxes on his income alone UNLESS you both file separate. Most couples don't usually pay separate because deductions must be split and you end up paying more taxes.

[DMickey28]

buck naked - That doesn't come into account if I make nothing though right? I don't work!!

[seamusnh]

Your choice is to buy near 93 (Salem area) or near 3 (Nashua area). I know the Nashua side better and the upper end towns are Hollis, Amherst, and Bedford. On the Salem side, I have heard Atkinson is nice. This is mostly based on the schools...