Lakes Region living (Concord, Dover, Laconia: sale, cheap apartments, rentals) - New Hampshire (NH) - City-Data Forum

slw21 · 04-22-2008, 07:03 AM

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I will be moving up to the Lakes region and are looking for a pet friendly house to rent. Does anyone in the area know of anything that is open or could point us in the right direction? We are looking to move mid-May.

Also, what would those who live in the Lakes Region say is a comfortable living wage there? We both live pretty simple live and don't need too many extras. My boyfriend already has a job lined up there but is concerned that the prices of homes may be too high when we go to look to buy in the future. Could two people who make between $60,000-70,000 combined live well up there?

All that aside, we absolutely love the area and are very excited to be moving there soon! Everyone that we encountered when we went to visit seemed so nice and the pace of life was definitely much slower than here in New Haven. When I lived in Maine it was very similar. I can't wait to get back to that.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Sharon

nicolem · 04-22-2008, 09:46 AM

I currently live in the Lakes Region-Laconia and I enjoy living here. We purchased our condo in October and we used to live in Penacook-part of Concord. IMHO-it is 1000 times better here than in Penacook.

Housing is expensive here-that is why we opted for a condo. However I would think you would be able to afford some type of condo or small home-just not on the water. There are a lot of condos going up in my area. Good paying jobs do exist-but are not plentiful and many commute. My husband commutes an hour each way to Dover. He knows quite a few people at work that commute from the Lakes Region to Dover/seacoast area.

As far as renting with pets, Katlakat who posts here found a house to rent for all her furbabies-she may have more input on that. It is hard-however not impossible- to rent with animals. When we rented our apt in Penacook-there were many places that we could not look at because of our kitty.

Feel free to ask me anything about my experiences so far living here-you may send me a DM if you like. We are gearing up towards busy season here so lifestyles will be changing. It has been quiet the past few months however last weekend was very busy since the weather has been warm and most of the snow is gone.

Good Luck-Nicolem

Tarastomsgirl · 04-22-2008, 02:57 PM

Finding a place to rent that allowed pets was one of the hardest parts we had about moving to NH. Most places are private rentals and landlords just dont want the hassel. It took us 3 months to find a place that would allow pets, and when we did (we have an 8lb toy poodle) we had to pay a ridiculous pet deposit of $500. Thats double of anywhere else I've ever had to pay. They're out there, just harder to find. Good luck with your searching

buck naked · 04-22-2008, 03:06 PM

When we built this house, it wasn't going to be ready before the final sale of our previous house. We were homeless for about 6 weeks...LOL

We found a beautiful antique home in Dover that allowed pets and had a month to month lease. It worked out great.

slw21 · 04-23-2008, 06:03 AM

Thanks to everyone for the great responses! We are currently working with a realtor who is helping us in our search for a place to live. So far I've been very happy with the prices of rents. Here in CT we are used to paying around $1400 for a one bedroom apartment. Not including utilities. We are finding that in New Hampshire you can rent a house for as much.

Thanks again everyone. It's nice to know I can come here to get my questions answered honestly by a group of what seem to be really nice people.

Sharon

nicolem · 04-23-2008, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slw21

Thanks to everyone for the great responses! We are currently working with a realtor who is helping us in our search for a place to live. So far I've been very happy with the prices of rents. Here in CT we are used to paying around $1400 for a one bedroom apartment. Not including utilities. We are finding that in New Hampshire you can rent a house for as much.

Thanks again everyone. It's nice to know I can come here to get my questions answered honestly by a group of what seem to be really nice people.

Sharon

Just be careful about very cheap apartments/homes for rent. I do not know where in the Lakes Region you are looking but if you were to look in Laconia- I would avoid Union Ave and some of it's side streets. Take a look at the NH Sex Offender registry. In Laconia a lot of the Sex Offenders are on Union Ave or a sidestreet. I am not saying that Laconia has a lot of crime-it really does not-but it seems when you hear something happened-a lot of times it is on or around Union Ave.

Good Luck

Nicolem