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My husband and I (I'm American, he's British) are looking to move from the UK to New Hampshire with our two year old twin sons sometime in the next year or so. Because of the insane housing market in the UK and the exchange rate, we will be fortunate enough to be able to buy a house outright in NH once we have sold our property here. We will be looking in the $150-300k range, which would leave us significant savings. We'd like to live in a smallish town in NH with a reasonable commute to an area with good work prospects. It's the job market that has us the most worried. The bulk of our savings is an inheritance that we would like to keep intact for our sons. I haven't lived in the States in several years and am not sure as to what the cost of living is like in NH. What level of income would we need to avoid dipping into our savings? Any suggestions as to areas with good schools and a reasonable commute? Thanks
I used to work in magazine publishing in NYC before moving to England. I've little interest in returning to that field even if there were jobs available in the area, but I'm happy to work in an admin role. My husband was a coal miner before that industry fell apart in the UK; since then he's been a park ranger, a builder and a landscaper.
As far as the size of the town, I think we'd rather be closer to 10,000 than 3,000. We've looked at the areas commutable to Manchester; we'd like to be close to a sizeable city with employment and entertainment, but not in the middle of it. We're not bothered about skiing, but we'd like somewhere we can let our dog have a good gallop in the woods.
Hi! I'm also an American married to a Brit. We live in the White Mountains and my hubby works as a software engineer here in the Valley. I don't have any good suggestions for you since we live pretty far away from Manchester, but I did want to pop on and say hello.
Hi! I'm also an American married to a Brit. We live in the White Mountains and my hubby works as a software engineer here in the Valley. I don't have any good suggestions for you since we live pretty far away from Manchester, but I did want to pop on and say hello.
Hello!
How does your husband find living in VT? Was it a culture shock for him?
I'm a Brit married to an American
I think you have some lists to make. Even buying outright, you're going to spend a good % of your income maintaining your home and property, protecting your investment, your things, and yourselves (insurance, health), and finally on taxes - which in NH are mostly property-value based for most of us (you'll also pay some state and fed taxes on profits from some investments). When looking at towns, you'll be considering the schools as you have kids, and the tax rates. Towns with access to great schools are nearly universally at the upper end of the tax rates or they have insane property prices (e.g. Durham, good schools - high tax rates. Rye, good school access - low tax rates due to sky-high property prices). When considering a towns tax rate, don't just apply that to the property price you see on an interesting home on a real estate site. Current market values are way below towns assessed values and tax is on assessed value. A site like nneren.com will show you the actual taxes paid in a recent year.
So your income level will need to match your town, property, and non-variable expenses (taxes, health) primarily and the standard of living you desire secondarily. Generally speaking, there are fewer opportunities for higher income levels the further north you go. And the more technical your field is, the more likely you'll need to live near the big cities (Manch, Nash, Ports) or our nanny state to the south.
So finally back to your question: what income level is needed? From my own experience here in good school, high-tax Madbury, a household income of around 1/3rd to 1/4th your property valuation will get you a decent middle-class standard of living (I am salaried with health through my company). YMMV.
Thank you for your informative comment, we found a gorgeous house just outside Lee, but it was at the top of our budget and the taxes were $10k, no way!
I had written a long, detailed response to your posts, unfortunately it has disappeared so it goes with children in the house... I'll try to remember what it was that I had to say...
If you are looking an nice town that is commutable to Manchester, some of the closest towns that you might look into are Londonderry, Bedford, Goffstown, perhaps Derry as well. The lower edge of your price points would most likely be foreclosure or short-sale property, while the higher end will likely have property taxes in the $6-$8000 range.
Beavis noted that a property in Lee with a 300K price tag had 10K property tax. That's not a surprise--I had a listing some years back in Lee, cute little 3-bedroom cape, priced well under 300K, and taxes were over $7500/year. Lee's tax rate of $25.28 per thousand are similar to other Oyster River School district towns (Madbury $22.98 and Durham $27) If you are looking in the Oyster River district, you might also consider Exeter, the least rural town in the SAU 16 school district. Exeter would give you the most direct route to Manchester, as well as being closer to the seacoast. Letting the dog gallop on the beach is allowed from September through April
Quote:
Originally Posted by cascader
My husband and I (I'm American, he's British) are looking to move from the UK to New Hampshire with our two year old twin sons sometime in the next year or so. Because of the insane housing market in the UK and the exchange rate, we will be fortunate enough to be able to buy a house outright in NH once we have sold our property here. We will be looking in the $150-300k range, which would leave us significant savings. We'd like to live in a smallish town in NH with a reasonable commute to an area with good work prospects. It's the job market that has us the most worried. The bulk of our savings is an inheritance that we would like to keep intact for our sons. I haven't lived in the States in several years and am not sure as to what the cost of living is like in NH. What level of income would we need to avoid dipping into our savings? Any suggestions as to areas with good schools and a reasonable commute? Thanks
Just about anywhere in southern NH is commutable to some form of urban area....i.e. Nashua, Manchester, Boston, northern MA, or even the seacoast area.
I would suggest finding a job, and then looking at the towns that are commutable to that location. If that's not an option, just about all those areas are within an hour from each other from most places in southern NH. Some are obviously easier to commute to than others however.
Thank you for the replies, we're looking at areas between Concorde and Nashua, based on likely hood of finding work.
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so it goes with children in the house... I'll try to remember what it was that I had to say...
