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Thanks for reviving this post! I'm the original poster and I'm happy to say we're now situated here in New Hampshire and we love it! We looked at over 50 houses between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, put in 4 offers, 2 were rejected and we pulled 2 and are now renting in the beautiful town of Windham. I have to say there was a big difference in property tax between the two states, but you could get more house and land in NH and the absence of state and sales tax is a nice plus. In Mass, we were looking in the Marlborough, Milford, Bellingham, Hopkinton areas. In NH, we looked at houses in Pelham, Salem, Hudson, and Windham. We decided that we would really like to settle in Windham or Londonderry but we're going to spend the next year or so renting and checking out other areas and just generally exploring to see if there're any other towns we'd be happy in. I've found that the drive to Logan from Windham is not too painful and when I'm able to find a good flight, it's nice to be able to fly out of Manchester. All in all, we're extremely happy with our decision to come to New Hampshire!!
Congrats, and you sound like us. We moved here 18 months ago, but did not rent (good idea BTW). We checked the same towns as you and ended up in Windham (bought a house here). I work in Andover and my wife works from home full time, but both of our work addresses are in MA.
She ends up paying no MA income taxes because she doesn't spend a single day at the office in MA, and I only pay for the days I work in MA. When you do your STATE (MA) income tax return be sure to get 'credit' for the days you worked at home in NH or elsewhere (don't forget the snow days when you couldn't drive in). I did it last year after talking to some other in the same situation. I saved a couple of grand in state taxes that way.
And yes, driving to Logan is not too difficult when not in rush hour, but flying out of Manchester is soooo much nicer.
Our November property taxes went up $1000 so there was some sticker shock there. But I also think the new High School is going to increase the value of the properties in Windham so in the end it might not be too bad (fingers crossed).
Good luck on the house search. Not sure if you're familiar with the area, but Windham does do a good job of plowing the roads. Be sure to get some snow melting salt soon because if we get hit with a storm, it disappears from the stores quickly. I just bought some today at Costco in Nashua...
HOWEVER, if you only work part time in MA, you can recoup taxes for the days you worked out of state. For example, for years, my husband has been a telecommuter 75% of the time: working in MA for only 25% of his total working days and in NH for the other 75%. He was able to get a (large) tax refund from the state of MA for the days he did not work in MA. Granted, we had to wait to get the refund till taxes were filed each year but it made for a nice tax season bonus.
Congrats, and you sound like us. We moved here 18 months ago, but did not rent (good idea BTW). We checked the same towns as you and ended up in Windham (bought a house here). I work in Andover and my wife works from home full time, but both of our work addresses are in MA.
She ends up paying no MA income taxes because she doesn't spend a single day at the office in MA, and I only pay for the days I work in MA. When you do your STATE (MA) income tax return be sure to get 'credit' for the days you worked at home in NH or elsewhere (don't forget the snow days when you couldn't drive in). I did it last year after talking to some other in the same situation. I saved a couple of grand in state taxes that way.
And yes, driving to Logan is not too difficult when not in rush hour, but flying out of Manchester is soooo much nicer.
Our November property taxes went up $1000 so there was some sticker shock there. But I also think the new High School is going to increase the value of the properties in Windham so in the end it might not be too bad (fingers crossed).
Good luck on the house search. Not sure if you're familiar with the area, but Windham does do a good job of plowing the roads. Be sure to get some snow melting salt soon because if we get hit with a storm, it disappears from the stores quickly. I just bought some today at Costco in Nashua...
Thanks for the advice! We finally lined up someone to plow the driveway and we'll be getting our snow equipment soon (just bought the kids' snow gear). Yes, we're very happy with our decision to rent, especially considering the economic situation these days. We had actually put in an offer on a house on the same road we're renting and we're SO glad we pulled it b/c we realized the road was actually busier than we we thought. The house is still on the market (we put an offer in 5 months ago, before we moved here) and it's now listed for $30,000 below the asking price back in June.
We live in Methuen, MA which is on the NH border. In general, I'd say it's a better value to live in NH. You get more house & land for your money. Yes, the property taxes are $$$ in NH, but like pp have stated - all your other expenses are less - house & car insurance, and I believe even health insurance is cheaper in NH. You would still have to pay income tax to MA if you worked in MA though, it might be less than if you worked AND lived in MA.
MA just enacted a law that everyone has to have health insurance. Low income & poverty level folks get subsidized (or free!) coverage. Business & the rest of us are paying for it!! We have TONS of 'illegals' living (and driving without insurance) in MA, very few live in NH because the state offers less 'handouts'...
Also, registration & license fees for driving are cheaper in NH, along with gasoline. And NH has no sales tax.
In general schools in MA are better, but Salem & Windham, NH have very good schools. Some of the nice towns in MA have had HUGE budget cuts recently, and their schols are really hurting (like No. Andover, MA).
HTH.
We live in Methuen, MA which is on the NH border. In general, I'd say it's a better value to live in NH. You get more house & land for your money. Yes, the property taxes are $$$ in NH, but like pp have stated - all your other expenses are less - house & car insurance, and I believe even health insurance is cheaper in NH. You would still have to pay income tax to MA if you worked in MA though, it might be less than if you worked AND lived in MA.
MA just enacted a law that everyone has to have health insurance. Low income & poverty level folks get subsidized (or free!) coverage. Business & the rest of us are paying for it!! We have TONS of 'illegals' living (and driving without insurance) in MA, very few live in NH because the state offers less 'handouts'...
Also, registration & license fees for driving are cheaper in NH, along with gasoline. And NH has no sales tax.
In general schools in MA are better, but Salem & Windham, NH have very good schools. Some of the nice towns in MA have had HUGE budget cuts recently, and their schols are really hurting (like No. Andover, MA).
HTH.
I agree with everything you said......but in general schools are better in most of NH, by far. We also have NO capital gains taxes, and NO death taxes.
the general rule of thumb is that nh has minimum tax burden on payroll taxes, there is no federal income tax. also no sales tax, but they get ya with the property taxes.
Some other great towns to consider are Hollis, Bedford, & Amherst, they all have high ratings for their schools. Bedford has lots to offer kids (if you have any kids)
If you live AND work in NH, it's definitely cheaper. If you live in NH and work in MA (especially if you have 2-household incomes from MA), it would be really bad though - you'll pay MA income tax AND high property tax in NH. i figure in a 2-household income, if one person works in NH it'd even off, b/c the person who works in NH wouldn't have to pay income tax, which would be about equal to the extra property tax you'd have to pay. HTH.
I live in NH and work in MA. If I moved to MA, I would not save much on property tax as an equivalent house in a town with good public schools would cost 50% more than what I have now. The $/thousand rate would be lower in MA but the valuation would be much higher and I'd still pay just as much $$ per year on real estate taxes.
This house is similar to mine and would cost me more in $$$ than my house in NH: 4 Eagle's Nest Road WESTFORD, MA 01886 - #70825306 , $714,900 - RealEstate.com
Other considerations are capital gains tax, sales tax, car insurance rates, etc....
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We've lived in NH and been taxed in MA....
