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My family and I planning to move from OH to the New England area. We are considering South NH and Coastal - Middlesex County MA. The cost of living is the hardest difference for us to swallow at this time but we are making the changes for a number of reasons: great schools for our children, less crime (OH is becoming and armpit), culture, and of course the ocean. We have made this area a vacation spot for several years and always feel like we are leaving home when the trip is over.
Lots of questions - great towns with great schools? strong community for families with children? buy existing house or buy land and build (this seems scarce in MA), if the latter - good builders and where? Commuting (have seen several posts on this) how bad are the winters?? (we like the change of seasons and snow)
Ideally, we would like a house with a larger yard for privacy (pets/kids) we don't want to be able to lean out the window and touch our neighbors house. We like living in a community that has certain amenities within walking distance yet, we want the yard. We want to be close to lots of fun things to do (a 30 minute drive is not a big deal for us though). Commuting for work is not a big deal, we have made such a commute of 45+minutes before. We want to be around good, fun people that are also family oriented.
Most importantly, $$$$!!!! Our home is probably worth $250k and is very nice...$250k in NH and MA would get me something close to the size of a shack (not big enough for our family) or in a not so desirable area. How much money do you have to make to afford a $400-500k house? We are both job searching and the cost of living and employment market are so different. Not sure where we stand on negiotiating salary.
OK - we obviously need a lot of help. Have done lots of internet research and have talked to realtors, but I want to hear from you out there that do this, live there and how much do you like it? Is it worth the life changing move and will we be able to make it?
You didn't mention what type of jobs you will be looking for (healthcare, manufacturing, etc.) or where you think you may want to work. A commute to Boston, for example, would change the view considerably as to where you would want to live.
I'd be more than happy to offer what insights my husband and I have, as both of us are Northshore/Essex county MA transplants to the Seacoast of NH.
My husband is in management, currently in retail/grocery and previously in restaurant management (over 25 years of experience). We have been hitting all the major grocery retailers and pharmacy's (in his current position he is over the pharmacy) in the upper New England states.
I am an executive administrative assistant. I enjoy what I do but wouldn't mind a career change into the arts of some sort. My job/career can be determined after he gets established and we see what salary he is earning first.
Neither of us mind a commute, though we do have children and strongly prefer not to utilize daycare so flexible hours is a must. Our preference as far as homes is concerned is to have a yard that is close to 1 acre and we are leaning towards building a home...because of this we have found that there is more land sales in NH than MA.
Regarding negotiating salary. We are getting close to this for my husband. In researching on the internet, it appears he could earn $80 - $95k to start (not sure if this is realistic/high/low) but we also want to negotiate benefits such as vacation, stock options and/or 401K, perhaps a signing bonus or moving package if necessary. How much room do you think we have?
We are in the same boat my friend. Cleveland, OH here and we are also moving to NE. We had initially targeted CT but from a financial perspective (taxes both property and state), you cannot beat NH, plus no sales tax.
You and I are looking for the exact same thing, not suprising. We live in Medina, OH currently. We have been looking at homes priced in the $400-$500K range as well, which should buy you about anything from 2400SQFT to 3000SQFT depending on location/city. It appears your money will go farther in NH than what I've observed from the CT realestate market and there is an abundance of new homes still being built in NH, unlike CT. My guess is that people are flocking from Northern Mass/Boston for the tax benefits.
We will be moving this summer as soon as we can unload this house and I can drop postings here as we get deeper into this search in NH.
Good luck to you too! We looked at CT also and found a few existing homes in areas that we liked but we want beach access and the beaches there were not as nice as NH and MA.
Have you found a job or are you moving first then looking? We don't have our house up for sale just yet but plan on doing so soon. The market is so terrible for selling right now...hope that helps us though out in new england.
Eastern Connecticut has many new homes. Being halfway between Hartford and Providence in the states historic and celebrated 'Quiet Corner' is like a piece of paradise.
Housing in eastern CT is in fact cheaper then southern New Hampshire.
Just east of Hartford in a bedroom community like Ellington a new 1800 square foot home on 1 acre 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths, double garage family room fireplace wood floors for 289K
In towns like Willington, Coventry a new Colonial 2000 square feet, 1 acre or more 3 bedrooms fireplace 2 baths wooded private lot 300-315K
Just wanted to bring to your attention this information.
Southern CT coastal areas east of New Haven- are very pleasant- Madison, Clinton, Guilford, Mystic, Lyme, North Stonington.
Plus the winters are milder in CT-
Last edited by Yac; 04-18-2007 at 01:05 PM..
Reason: Realtor site link removed. Advertising not allowed.
Sorry it took a few to respond...we've had a busy, wet weekend here!
In the immediate seacoast area of NH, the amount of land you are loooking for puts you in a much higher price range. Newer construction in Portsmouth, Exeter, Stratham, or even Dover (where we are from) on an acre +/- lot will more than likely put you at $500k plus. You may have better luck further north, or in some of the growing areas (ie: New Durham, Barnstead, etc.)
If schools are a concern, check out www.greatschools.net, as well as state/local websites for comparison purposes. The first four cities/towns I mentioned have good public schools; the further out you get, I really can't tell you.
I can tell you in this area (Dover / Seacoast) there should be plenty of opportunity for your husband. We live near what is known as the "Miracle Mile" in Dover / Somersworth: Shaws, Hannaford, Market Basket, Super WalMart, Target, and a new Walgreens being built, all within a couple of miles. Also, many large national restaurant chains (Chili's, Applebees, Unos, 99, etc.)
Hope this helps...let me know if I can help with any specifics!
Having grown up in s.eastern CT near Mystic, I can tell you overall that the cost of living still is excessive compared to NH. Yes property taxes have become a major issue in NH, but factoring all things, your same income will take you alot further in a median priced market in NH as opposed to eastern CT. All my years spent in CT also and still visiting family, I just never really warmed up to the region either. Too slow and not nearly the quality of outdoor activities and places to explore in an hour's radius as opposed to much of northern New England.
You may want to look at Blue Hill, Maine. Job pools could include Bar Harbor, Ellsworth, even Bangor within an hour commute. There's a whole bunch of nature , the schools are small and good, and there seems to be a lot of family-oriented community offerings. Not sure about property, but compared to what you might be used to, I would guess that the options would be plentiful whether you wanted to buy or build, and far below that $500,00 mark.
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East Coast
, the schools are small and good, and there seems to be a lot of family-oriented community offerings. Not sure about property, but compared to what you might be used to, I would guess that the options would be plentiful whether you wanted to buy or build, and far below that $500,00 mark.
