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According to a recent article in Forbes; NH's Merrimack County has the 19th HIGHEST property taxes in America...all the other counties higher on the list are in NY and NJ (of course). I notice you use the word 'offset'...you're exactly right...you are just stepping sideways, expense-wise. When you roll in the tolls and car registration taxes (hundreds to register a car, then there are inspection fees, and expenses that are incurred when they 'find' something), you are NOT going to save money. Then there is heating oil...unless you enjoy chopping wood.
You haven't told us yet where you are moving to? please enlighten us? all 5 posts you have made since you have been a registered user are negativity towards New England. I really would love to know where your moving to.
The cost of propane and the ticks are two things to really think over. With those two dogs, you'll be spending half your spring and summer protecting your family, your dogs, and your yard from ticks. The other half will be pulling the ticks off that get past all your preventative measures. Of course I am kidding about the time spent, but it is a legitimate issue you don't have out west. Once you see a tick or pull one off you, you then spend the rest of that day on high alert anytime you feel something on your skin.
New England is beautiful, has all kinds of wonderful charm you won't find anywhere out west (we're from Washington State), and there is a wonderful quality of life that comes from the small and quiet towns. You can't reproduce it anywhere else in the country. But like anything, it comes at a cost.
If you are a skier or snowboarder, the snow and conditions are better out west. I've heard people here tell me the New England skiing/snowboarding is the best in the country. I think to myself that they have probably never been out West to check it out. Which is fine, people like what they like.
If you could, I suggest you come out for a year or two and take New Hampshire for a "test drive" to be sure you like it. The wife and I committed to two years. At this moment in time, eight months in, we are 50/50 on staying long term. Our house in Washington is rented now and we are renting here as we find out if NH is really for us.
The cost of propane and the ticks are two things to really think over. With those two dogs, you'll be spending half your spring and summer protecting your family, your dogs, and your yard from ticks. The other half will be pulling the ticks off that get past all your preventative measures. Of course I am kidding about the time spent, but it is a legitimate issue you don't have out west. Once you see a tick or pull one off you, you then spend the rest of that day on high alert anytime you feel something on your skin.
New England is beautiful, has all kinds of wonderful charm you won't find anywhere out west (we're from Washington State), and there is a wonderful quality of life that comes from the small and quiet towns. You can't reproduce it anywhere else in the country. But like anything, it comes at a cost.
If you are a skier or snowboarder, the snow and conditions are better out west. I've heard people here tell me the New England skiing/snowboarding is the best in the country. I think to myself that they have probably never been out West to check it out. Which is fine, people like what they like.
If you could, I suggest you come out for a year or two and take New Hampshire for a "test drive" to be sure you like it. The wife and I committed to two years. At this moment in time, eight months in, we are 50/50 on staying long term. Our house in Washington is rented now and we are renting here as we find out if NH is really for us.
-Mike
I used to live in MN and I forgot all about wood ticks. Those buggers are sneaky. I like the 'test drive' idea. Agree to two years and re-evaluate after that. I do like snowboarding and you can snowboard in NV, I know Cali is better but I never get out there anyway.
There really isn't enough bandwidth here to go thru all the reasons...cost of living and rude people the primary reasons. Of course; most of the people that move here are from NY, NJ, and California, so you are essentially just playing '3-card monty' with your living situation. That is why the 'old time' NH residents have left.
Plenty of rude people here in Vegas. Been here over 20 years.
It is a different kind of people here in NH, but I'm not so sure I'd use the word rude now that I have had more time here. At first, I thought they were all rude and cold. I think a better way to describe it is cautious. For whatever reasons, people here are just a tad more cautious when opening up to outsiders or newcomers. People here seem more protective of what they have, and I can see why. There is a tremendous quality of life here that is missing from many other parts of the USA. Once you hang around a while, people here open up and you can make friends with some really honest and down to earth people.
I'll compare it to where I used to live, an hour south of Seattle. People in general were more open, friendlier, quicker to welcome new people into town and roll out the red carpet for people. In the last 20 years, the city we lived in went from a small quiet town where everyone knew each other to a land of concrete, strip malls, urban sprawl, and people too busy to stop and smell the coffee anymore. It felt more like a suburb of Seattle than the small town it once was. Part of it is just natural growth, but part of it in my opinion was people not being as careful to protect the community they had.
That, in my opinion, is what makes people here in NH different and causes them to come off as rude or cold.
My wife is from NH and we (wife, myself, 8 month old, 2 dogs) are considering moving to NH. We haven't picked a town yet but are looking at rye, portsmouth, exiter, newfields, dover, etc.
I recently lost my 2nd career in LV over the past 6 years. I now have an opportunity to work for her families sheet metal company in NH. I would be able to make around 30.00 per hour after 4 years. She is a massage therapist.
I am asking for some outside opinions on my current situation.
Here are the PROS and CONS I can think of:
PROs of moving to NH -
A career with my families company.
Closer to her family.
Better school for my son.
Less crime.
More culture.
Fenway park.
No 120 degree heat.
Less transient people.
She has wanted to move for 5+ years. Happy Wife.
CONs of moving to NH.
No free daycare.
Home taxes are higher.
We would have to short sale our house which kills your credit for 1.5 years.
(If we do not short sale the house this year, a new law comes into effect in 2013 which would cause us to pay 10k or more in taxes if we sold it then. We are upside down 90k so selling the house for a profit will probably never happen.)
When we buy another home its like 100 years old.
Moving away from my family and friends.
Winter.
Bugs.
Cost of living may be higher?
Its going to cost a lot to relocate.
These are just a few things to consider. Thanks for any advice and I will try to answer any questions that come up.
You forgot to add no income or sales taxes to your list of pros.
And maybe being closer to the ocean is a pro, depending on where in NH
If we do it now we hurt our credit. If we do it later we hurt our credit and then owe 10k or more in taxes the next year. We do not have to short sale the home to stay in Nevada, however if a move is in the future then doing it later will cost us significantly more.
NH is closer to her family, and LV is closer to your family. Something of a dilemma. I can commiserate with your wife, since she was probably happy to leave NH at the time, but natives tend to eventually realize that no place is quite like home. It would be easier if one side of the family or the other were loopier.
You might have a difficulty renting an apartment or house with 2 dogs.
Why people get two dogs is beyond me. But that is for another posting.
Sheetmetal work?
Is this a company that manufactures sheet metal? Or an installer of sheet metal?
If this is an installer job I just don't see the work here. There is little new construction that requires sheet metal work. Might be some commercial rehabs as more companies convert to natural gas. Very little residential sheet metal required here.
Working for the wife's family. There is not enough time to go into all of the pitfalls of that equation. Whatever you do, leave the dogs home when visiting relatives if you do come to NH.
You might have a difficulty renting an apartment or house with 2 dogs.
Why people get two dogs is beyond me. But that is for another posting.
Sheetmetal work?
Is this a company that manufactures sheet metal? Or an installer of sheet metal?
If this is an installer job I just don't see the work here. There is little new construction that requires sheet metal work. Might be some commercial rehabs as more companies convert to natural gas. Very little residential sheet metal required here.
Working for the wife's family. There is not enough time to go into all of the pitfalls of that equation. Whatever you do, leave the dogs home when visiting relatives if you do come to NH.
"Why people get two dogs is beyond me. But that is for another posting."
I say the same thing about kids.
"Is this a company that manufactures sheet metal? Or an installer of sheet metal?"
Both. All I know is the family business has been around forever and the wifes brother is a foreman. He has seen little problems with working in the industry.
"Working for the wife's family. There is not enough time to go into all of the pitfalls of that equation.
I have seriously thought of that. The company is partially owned by my wife as well, however it still has pitfalls so I agree.
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