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I agree with the criticisms on housing costs. You have to REALLY want to be in NH for the beauty, mountains, lakes, seasons and the small towns. And want to pay for that. The housing stock is older, expensive, in short supply, needs a ton of work, and most have astronomical property taxes. Rents are very high too, supply low, and quality can be average.
A older house in NH for $300k that is a money pit of repairs and upkeep could have $7,000 a year in property taxes. A new built house for $300k in much of say the southeast will have less than $1,000 a year in property taxes. Then you have the costs with heating, plowing, snow tires, rust, higher food costs, etc...
The no sales tax is good if you buy a lot of high ticket consumer items which I do not. So I get little benefit from no sales tax. And you don't save on most folks biggest consumer purchase, a car, because they make it up at registration. There is no w-2 income tax and that is a really nice for w-2 folks. But the state of NH taxes interest and dividend income (when ALL the other "no income tax" states do not tax this....this bugs me!). Very retiree unfriendly state with high property taxes and interest and div tax.
The annual car inspections are a total racket most states have eliminated.
VT has a lot of these same problems with high housing costs. But its the price you pay for living in smaller towns with charm. They wouldn't have the charm with massive 500 unit apartment buildings and sprawling cookie cutter new home developments.
But with all that said I still like the state of NH a lot for the beauty and small towns. Excluding most of the southeast corner of NH that is more densely populated and close to MA...do not like that part of NH much personally, although would still probably take that part of it over MA, RI, CT, NY...(and most of the rest of the US).
And I like the seasons except for March and April, first part of May.... when I'm done with winter, yet the trees are still bald, can be very chilly, and summer doesn't start until Mem Day.
I just read this out loud to my husband and he said “i don’t disagree with a single thing in that post. NH is a beautiful state filled with unfriendly people who think time in state gives them more right”.. this is coming from a guy who grew up in a town of 400 in northern Maine. Talk about exclusivity. Even he could see it in NH.
I’ve been reamed on for the better part of 13 years for saying the same EXACT
Things you have. But those who grew up there, even those that left and came back don’t see those things. They live in a complete bubble and have no clue. Is anywhere perfect? No. We deal with typical of city issues here in NC that honestly took us 3 years to get use to. I won’t lie about that it was a hard pill to swallow on that front. But I don’t have snow up to my roof come Jan, I can buy a mansion for $250,000 (new build) in a gated community with $1100 a year property taxes and be 15 mins from any amenity I need. Winters are BRUTAL in NH. Every time we ever thought about going back, and also got transferred back to NE we remember those weeks where it was -22 and forget it. We can’t do it again. Waking up Christmas am to take an ax to the drive way in shin deep slush to break up the ice dams.. ugh. It was hard at 25. We are nearly 40 with an 11 year old now. I just couldn’t.
You forgot most homes don’t have a/c and it’s extremely hot in the summer. Most homes even in the $400,000 range are still old as dirt with $6000+ a year property tax and in need of a complete gut job. Our heat for our Teeny tiny 600Ish sqft 1 bedroom apt back in 2007 was $500 a month on a good month. Our electric could be over $200 a month easy plus delivery fee. NH KPH is 3rd highest in the US. No sales tax doesn’t mean there’s no taxes. They still get them in every other way that counts.
We often got “why’d you move here” and “I haven’t left this town in 30
years”.. we had the lady at the Chamber of Commerce ask us why were moving to Keene and when we told her (my husband was hired as a cop) she started asking us questions about what we thought or the Captain of the PD. We said nice things and she told us something to th effect of “good thing you had nice things to say. He’s my cousin and I wouldn’t want you to start off on the wrong foot”.. Ican’t remember her exact words but we felt unwelcomed after that. My husbands first day on patrol “this is where the black family lives, the Mexican family, etc”.. in his school they joked to my husband (knowing we came from Fla) that the cops get killed in the south more because they’re just stupid... I have stood by all of these events since 2008.. they absolutely happened and those who have continually denied them, say I’m exaggerating etc are probably part of the problem without even realizing it. We left after only 11 months and haven’t returned to the state. It feels very unwelcoming to outsiders there.
NH Has a delivery fee on your electric which is usually equal to your electric bill! My gf who lives in Manchester was JUST complaining about her delivery fee the other day to me on the phone when I told her my electric for my 2000 sqft place in NC is $78 a month to cool and $85 a month to heat and we are are often as cold as Boston. Oh, and it didn’t cost me $500+ to register my car like it did in NH. Also, get ready to lose access to tons of amenities close by. Depending on where you are a lot of towns are scattered far apart with minimal amenities such as big stores, sports complexes, malls, shopping etc. don’t forget a lot of places in NH don’t even have access to high speed internet yet.. some are still on dial up. Keene was JUST getting higher speed internet in 2007. Long after wed had it for years in Fla.
. No sales tax means nothing to me when I have to drive a 45 mins to the next large town to find what I need. Portsmouth is infact the only place worth while for families and young people and homes there start at like $600,000. They want good schools? Get ready to pay premium taxes on your home and rent. $8000+ a year.
Come on where are the bad things about NH ? Keeps the rif raf out, -22 is not cold , come up north of the Whites youll see cold.
I find it comical when someone bashes the people of NH for being this way or that way. Must be something in the water because two-thirds of adults who live in NH are not even from here.
I just read this out loud to my husband and he said “i don’t disagree with a single thing in that post. NH is a beautiful state filled with unfriendly people who think time in state gives them more right”.. this is coming from a guy who grew up in a town of 400 in northern Maine. Talk about exclusivity. Even he could see it in NH.
Claims the state is filled with unfriendly people and goes on her own unfriendly rant.
Electricity is pricey though. You're right about that. I just started my service with NHEC and the previous tenant was paying between 200-400 a month. Apparently he didn't use the wood stove in the house for heat at all and solely relied on electric baseboards.
Not for me. My big box store is Walmart. I'm a proud Walmartian, but I don't look like the "people of walmart" website pictures. As long as I'm within 15-20 minutes of a Walmart and/or a grocery store, I am good.
I find it comical when someone bashes the people of NH for being this way or that way. Must be something in the water because two-thirds of adults who live in NH are not even from here.
She's been ranting about NH for years. She doesn't even live here anymore but keeps coming back to this forum to complain because we don't have malls and it's cold here.
I did the opposite. Born & raised in OH. Then moved to NH for husband's job. Lived in Lebanon, NH, for 8 years and absolutely loved it. Then we moved to Amarillo, Tx, again for husband's job. Since we are now divorced, I should have cut him loose the first time he cheated and stayed in NH. I miss it every day. Yes, winters can be rough at times, but the sun is out and skies are blue--unlike the Texas Panhandle where the wind rages. I hate it here. I didn't find the winters in NH any worse than OH except for a bit more snow. But they know how to handle it up there, roads are plowed regularly and with studded snow tires, I got around quite well. People enjoy winter activities like ice skating, x-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowmobiling, and nothing like riding your horse in the snow. Cost of housing is higher, and oil heat was high in the winter. Lebanon is a great location--close to Lake Sunapee and several ski areas, right on the border of VT, Dartmouth College and the amenities it has to offer, great hospitals and health care. Housing is probably higher in that area, though, and property taxes are high. You might look into Keene and the southeast areas as well.
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go for it
