From Dallas, Texas to New Hampshire? (Manchester, Keene: apartment, new home, transfer)
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Valerie, we were planning on renting for at least six months just to make sure it will be a good fit. It may take us a while to find out exactly where we want to be anyway in NH and I don't think a couple of visits would be enough before knowing where to buy a house.
Excellent plan! that will give you time to drive around and see what the different areas are like (every town is different!) and how you feel about the drive times.
I know everyone pushes for towns in the southeast, so I feel I have to promote towns in the southwest New Ipswich is a little town that alwasy gets skipped over. It's right on the western edge of Hillsboro county and on the Mass line. It's a nice little town, DH was very surprised, when I took him there, to see that it didn't feel like Mass at all, actually felt more like an smaller upstate town we were looking at! Yet, for all its' under 6k population, it has a bank, a couple gas stations, a couple little markets, even a hardware store. I believe I heard there was a dentist in town as well. That's not bad for amenities for a little town! Ok, groceries you need to drive either to Rindge or Milford (depending which side of town you're on).
It doesn't seem to do well in the school stats, yet I know their elementary school has one of those robotics club programs - being sponsored by NASA. The middle school won best middle school in the state last year and it's principal has twice won best principal (last year tied with Londonderry). The high school has blue ribbon programs in automotive repair (my agent always takes her van there any time it needs anything) and in house building. They are working on building a brand new elementary school beside the high school.
And the textile mill (second oldest in the state) actually wove the fabric for the Mars Rover airbags! crime is low, the PD is actually online. It's a nice town. But I guess it doesn't rate high on test taking, and being on the edge of the 'west' it's 1.5hour from Boston so no one takes any notice of it.
I'm just sayin': there's more to the state, even the southern part of the state, than the southeast. k:
Unless you live in Hawaii or some of the beach communities of Ca I would say that just about any place in the country will have a share of negative attributes to it.
Let us know how those long Oklahoma summers are when your sweating like a pig from brutal May to October humidity just from walking to the mailbox, or when you let your kids in the backyard to play and they get eaten alive by fire ants and mosquitoes. Or perhaps you want to go fishing only to have to worry about where your stepping because of the numerous snakes around the area.
At least in NH you have/had 3-4 months of "payoff" where you could enjoy the scenery and nature; mountains, lakes that you can use, ocean/beaches close, foliage in fall, culture etc... OK has none of that...
Actually I moved from Oklahoma to New Hampshire after high school. I do have to differ with you on a few points. Eastern Oklahoma has what I like to call modified mountains (or hills) surrounding some of the most beautiful lakes I've seen. We have foliage, more culture than NH will ever see and about the only thing we are missing is the beach. My kids played in their playground all last summer and didn't see a fireant, though we did step on many lawn stickers!
I will gladly sweat like a pig and jump into the nice warm pool every chance I get. I would rather be homebound for two months in the summer than six months in the winter.
Like you said, no place is perfect, especially New Hampshire. I think change is good for all of us and I also think that listening to all of the positive and negative aspects are good for critical thinking.
Thank you for your response and remember, "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee!!!"
I don't know much about Concord, but I love New Hampshire. I have been a Texan all of my life. I love the people, I love the culture of Texas. I have been a traveling Med Tech for the last 8 years. I have done contracts all over the united states. My favorite place has be in New Hampshire. Breath taking is all I can say about NH. I worked in Littleton, and I have never stopped in Concord.
The people are very nice in NH (of coarse there is always an exception to a rule) Texans fit in very well here. I think you are making a good choice on your location. You just have to get used to places closing early. Very few 24 businesses in New England.
I think the quality of the schools is proportional to the property tax rate. In NH you do get what you pay for. I would contact ValC (your go to real estate person) and ask if there are any homes for rent (I have seen some) in Londonderry. My wife and I have lived here for almost 30 years and have found it to be a nice place to live. Spring is wonderful most years, summer hot and muggy, Fall is astounding and Winter is a PIA.
Londonderry is about an hour from Boston and the surrounding high tech belt so networking and personal contracts are feasible. We even have our own Home Despot and three grocery stores as well as an apple farm that has been in the same family since 1732.
I lived in Frisco for about 12+ years. Fire ants buh bye. Tarantulas, see ya. 106 degree August nights, no thanks.
If you get claustrophobic around the forests and trees, climb a mountain up here and take a big ol' breath. You'll see some fantastic landscapes of pure nature and it's a wonder to take it all in.
We actually live in Belmont, and my husband is a work at home IT as well. We are moving closer to Milford, NH because he will need to network for more contract business and there are not many jobs this far north of Concord for me either. He commutes from Belmont to Milford 3 times a week, and with snow and ice, its enough in the winter time to save gas and move closer.
I wish you luck!
Hello Katlakat,
I came across your note and figured I should respond. I moved to Frisco from LA a couple of years ago for my job and have to say I don't belong here. I am quite outdoorsy and the long, hot summers here and lack of nature has gotten into me big time. I have to say I do enjoy much lower cost of living and no state income tax but that's not enough. I have been thinking about moving more seriously and NH comes to mind. Seems like it would fit my requirements perfectly.
I've been reading related threads and seems like the biggest concern in NH is cold. I don't particularly mind the cold and in fact I do like snow. I'm a big hiker and occasional skier. I do enjoy water sports as well. I'm in IT too and now with Covid have been WFH for months and who knows it may become more of a permanent thing for jobs like mine. I know this thread is from a few years back but hopefully you still see it.
I'm a recently-single mid-40's female with no kids. Which city would you recommend? Portsmouth perhaps?
Hello Katlakat,
Which city would you recommend? Portsmouth perhaps?
Thanks!
Laleh,
If you can, visit NH for a week and drive around the state. This will give you a feel for the area.
Laleh,
I can't emphasize this enough. Take a week or so to get a "feel" for the different areas in the state. Go back home and further research those areas before making your move.
I am from New England, have family in NH, and have known I wanted to move to NH probably since I was in 3rd grade in the 80s. I spent the last two summers simply driving around NH and eliminating places from consideration. I did this even though my plan was to rent for awhile, get a feel for the area, and then buy something. Having moved around all over the country/world I can be picky about where I live. Now I'm less than 3 weeks from moving and have lucked into a rental(for a premium) just about exactly where I want to buy(boundary between Lakes and Mountains). Hopefully my home search/maybe build over the next couple years will go smoothly.
It just so happens that we moved last July from New Hampshire to Oklahoma. We were sick of the winters (and I'm an outdoors person!) and the very high price of heating our home in the winter. Then in the summer we were constantly eaten alive by mosquitos and black flies!!!!
I will say the the best of what NH has to offer is in the Portsmouth area. North of that and you're begging for trouble. I lived in NH for twenty years working for the state. I have seen NH from north to south, east and west and Portsmouth is your best option.
As for what you're about to give up??? You can say hello to about seven months of cold dreary weather, one month of pure mud season, two months of black fly and mosquito season and hopefully two months of nice summer, if you're lucky!!! I did the research on sunny days in New Hampshire as well. NH has on average 90 sunny days per year compared to 140 in Oklahoma!!!!! Think about that!
Hello to the massive heating bill!!!! We lived in NH when the price of oil went above four dollars a gallon. To fill our tank cost over $1000 dollars!!!!! It absolutely broke our backs. It was amazing to see all the people at the gas stations with diesel gas cans buying six to twelve gallons at a time to heat their homes with because they couldnt afford any more!!!!
Electric in NH is also much more expensive than the midwest. Groceries are somewhat the same to more expensive, gas more expensive and ahhhh the exception, Booze!!!! Alcohol in NH is a lot cheaper than anywhere else I have ever been. Also, no sales tax in NH. Ahhh the exception again. Property tax in NH is so high you will have to just see it for yourself. Also the price to register a car is very high as well.
NH is not all bad but I urge you to really think about the move you might be making. It is another world up there. The towns north of Concord are so cliqueish and backwards it is suffocating!!! You will be referred to as a "Flatlander" and will only be judged by the number of years you have logged in as a NH resident! I would laugh at town meeting when people would get up to speak and say, "My name is John Jones and I have lived in this town for twenty years." He qualifies his time in NH as right to speak with his peers, give me a break!!!! Oh yes, and the locals love to say, "Welcome to NH, now go home!"
NH is a beautiful place to visit and that's that. I wish you the best of luck.....
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.
Last edited by Sweetbottoms; 08-02-2020 at 09:12 PM..
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New Ipswich is a little town that alwasy gets skipped over. It's right on the western edge of Hillsboro county and on the Mass line. It's a nice little town, DH was very surprised, when I took him there, to see that it didn't feel like Mass at all, actually felt more like an smaller upstate town we were looking at! Yet, for all its' under 6k population, it has a bank, a couple gas stations, a couple little markets, even a hardware store. I believe I heard there was a dentist in town as well. That's not bad for amenities for a little town! Ok, groceries you need to drive either to Rindge or Milford (depending which side of town you're on). 
k:
Texans in NH
