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Long time reader, first time poster. I know there's probably a million other posts just like mine, but figured I'd give it a shot anyways.
My wife and I have just begun exploring purchasing our first home, but we are having a very difficult time deciding on a town. We currently live in an apartment in Nashua. We've lived in Nashua our entire lives, except during our college years, and we really love it. We love being close to a downtown with lots of restaurants and we love the convenience of living in a bigger city - being close to the bank, grocery store, mall, etc.
With that being said, we're looking for something different. It's not that we don't like Nashua, we just want to move somewhere new since we've been here virtually our entire lives. Unfortunately, we're having a very hard time deciding where. After driving through a couple of rural towns (Auburn, Epping, etc.), we've decided that we don't think these smaller, more rural towns are for us. We're looking for something with the conveniences of Nashua, but just not Nashua.
We'd like to stay in the Hillsborough/Rockingham county areas, but are open to towns slightly north of that and slightly south (aka Massachusetts, but we'd prefer to stay in NH). We plan on driving through some more towns over the next couple of weeks, but figured we'd see if any posters had any ideas. We love the Seacoast (Hampton, N. Hampton, etc.), but home prices are so high. We plan on driving through Exeter/Stratham, Londonderry, Hooksett, Bedford and maybe a few more. Any suggestions would be great.
As a side note, we prefer new/newer construction and would like to stay between $350K-$450K. We would like to be in a safe area and have lots of dining options. Thanks in advance!!
We've been in Amherst for the past 19 years and love it. Been a great place to raise a family. Halfway between Nashua and Manchester. Lots of shopping on 101A.
Knowing that you want a change, but also realizing that the rural towns like nearby Auburn & Chester are a bit too sleepy for you is half of the equation. Some people think they that want to get away from it all, only to realize (too late) that they only wanted to get away from some of it...
All of the towns that you mentioned in your post could work. You might also consider Merrimack. Also Pelham, perhaps Windham. Amherst is beautiful and your budget would get you in town but at a lower level than the other towns mentioned. You mentioned the seacoast-have typy consisted Dover along with Exeter /Stratham? You are priced out of some of the neighborhoods, but low 400s can get you in. Lots of restaurants in town, and easy to Portsmouth too!
You didn't mention any commute factor, just that you prefer to stay in NH. Does a commute figure into any of your plan?
Knowing your own tolerance for things like city pick-up for trash vs. taking it to the dump/transfer station yourself, public water & sewer vs. private well and septic, availability of natural gas vs. heating oil/propane delivered tob your home tanks via private delivery. All of these choices are personal, no right or wrong, but something that is likely permanent. Don't go thinking that maybe someday, your choice will come along--changecomes show, if at all. And sometimes when things like natural has or a city sewer line comes along, it could be just a street away from your home. ..
Thank you for your responses! I think Amherst is a beautiful town, but it might be a tad rural for us. In reality, it's really not all that rural being so close to Nashua, but for us it is. As we've begun searching, I think we're learning that we are more city-folk than we thought.
As for a commute, I have my own business and work throughout Rockingham County, so a commute isn't much of a factor for me. My wife is a teacher, so that would be of importance to her. She wouldn't mind changing districts, pending there's an opening elsewhere.
And good advice about not hoping that someday something will change, or we'll get used to it. I guess we'll just have to do some more driving around until we find something that fits our preferences!
Have you considered Manchester or Concord? I know Manchester gets a bad rap but there are actually some nice neighborhoods that might meet your criteria- in particular in the north end, or one of the "newer" developed areas like Megan's Meadow or Wellington Hill. I don't know Concord as well but there are certainly parts of it with more of an urban feel near downtown. You would easily be able to find a house within your budget in both of these areas as well.
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