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My wife and I live in Texas and want to move to New Hampshire. The summers are just getting to unbearable because of the heat. We have visited the northeast many times however, all in the summer. I understand the winters are really bad as far as the weather.
What areas of the state would you suggest we look in regards to housing prices and smaller communities. We are both retired teachers and would love to be involved with the local schools in some campacity. We thought about renting during the winter but not sure what area or community we should reach out to.
First buy a DeLorme Map and Recreation Atlas for New Hampshire and Maine. They are available through the DeLorme company or Amazon. also contact the NH Dept. of Tourism website for more maps and information. Look at them to familiarize your self with the New Hampshire geography. Easton and Epsom are nowhere near each other for instance.
As you are not familiar with a New England winter I suggest you look into a three to six month winter rental along or just inland from our sea coast. After the summer and Fall leaf peeper season I have heard rentals are pretty reasonable.
The last few winters have been relatively mild with more cold rain than snow. Last winter was a curve buster. It was cold, snowy and lasted through April. Most of the state had a severe case of the winter grumpiness by the time Spring arrived one weekend.
This summer has so far been relatively cool and dry (as I write this it is raining very heavily) with only a few days of hot (<95 deg.) and muggy weather. It has been a good summer so far.
Come on up and visit. PM me when you get here and I'll show you around.
Winter in New Hampshire is no joke and many transplants suffer from seasonal depression as a result of it. Besides the brutal cold and snow, winter is very DARK here as well (sundown at 4:20 pm in December.) Winter lasts a good 5 months here and you need to take that seriously. The mildest parts of the state are on the coast. Summer here is mild, with a mix of dry cooler days and hot, humid ones (thanks to our seacoast location.) It's a tough call, but if you can stand the winter, it's a beautiful state with a lot to offer (good schools, beautiful land, rural environment, etc.)
NOTE: NH is politically more conservative than the rest of New England, but much more liberal than Texas. The culture is worlds apart and the cost-of-living much higher. Just something to keep in mind.
Do a Zillow search of Hillsborough County. This county borders Massachusetts and contains two of the biggest metropolitan areas in the state but also has many picturesque rural and semi-rural towns and many bargain priced properties sitting on a few acres. If you favor proximity to metro Boston and the ocean, look into Rockingham County. These counties have milder winters than the rest of the state, but "mild" is a relative term. North and west Texas can get very cold in the winter, but big snowfalls are not that common. Sleet is more common in Texas and is more treacherous to navigate than snow.
It can also get very hot and humid in NH during the summer and most homes lack central air conditioning.
If you are thinking about "getting your feet wet" and testing out how NH winters suit you, you might look into Eastman Village for a rental. It is a community mostly in Grantham, NH but also spans into parts of Enfield and Springfield. There are homes as well as condos and only about 50% of the owners live there year round so you generally can find winter rentals for a reasonable rate. I suggest this because at least for the condos, all of the plowing, shoveling, de-icing and garbage pickup is taken care of for you. We did this our first year as we arrived in December and really didn't have time to gear up before all of the winter storms hit. It was a good gauge for us to see what we needed to buy and do to be prepared for the following year after we purchased our home. There are also a lot of community events tied to Eastman as well as xcountry ski trails and a rec center.
Grantham is a nice little town and I hear the elementary school there is good. Personally I couldn't deal with it in the summer with all of the second home owners that come up from out of state, but we met plenty of people who live there year round and love it. It is close to Dartmouth and gives you a good starting off point if interested in the Upper Valley. The drive down to the Concord area and Manchester isn't too bad either. It is in what is considered the snow belt and surrounds a large lake, so it is a good barometer for your winter tolerance.
It can also get very hot and humid in NH during the summer and most homes lack central air conditioning.
This is true although the age, size, and presumably location of the home are a factor here. I found some data in this report that indicates that the percentage of homes in NH without any AC is rapidly shrinking.
The typical mechanical cooling equipment in the residential sector includes central air conditioning
(CAC) systems, window or room air conditioning (RAC) units, and heat pump equipment.
Quote:
The percentage of homes with either RAC or CAC cooling systems is increasing. In 2000, only
30% of NHEC homes and less than 60% of PSNH homes used RAC or CAC cooling. Only eight
years later, in 2008, more than 45% of NHEC homes and 70% of PSNH homes had either RAC or
CAC systems.
Quote:
For the 23 surveyed homes built after 2000, 61% had a CAC system, 24% used window/wall units,
and only 5% reported having no cooling system.
Last edited by Mysticeti; 07-29-2014 at 07:51 AM..
Reason: formatting
winter sucks and i would suggest moving north of concord if you can pull that off. southern new hampshire is just awful to drive around....so conjested.
summers can be hit-or-miss. some summers are unbearably hot, while others are mild. i hardly needed to put the AC on at all this summer. overnight summer temps average in the 50's-60's. highs 80-90.
wicked=synonym for very
grinder=submarine sandwich
bubbler=water fountain
i keep a snow shovel, ice scraper, and cat litter in my car year round
get used to alot of rotaries, dunkin donuts, and red sox apparel
hampton beach is a great place to go, so are the white mountains
we drink alot.
the people in general aren't as friendly as you might find in texas. more reserved which is fine with me. except the beggars in manch-vegas are very open about asking for money. i'm like wtf, why don't you sing me a song first?
I've lived here 27 years and only visited ONE house that ever had central air conditions (my in-laws, who moved up here from south Florida. They didn't quite get it.)
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