Will be relocating to southern Maine soon, where should we live? (Portland: sales, daycare)

[klaviernista]

Hi all,

Finally, after 9 years of trying, my wife and I will be relocating to southern Maine late this year or early next year!

We are generally familiar with the Portland area (my wife's family is in the area and we have been visiting Maine 10+ times a year as a result). However, my new job is in Portsmouth, NH, so we are trying to stay a bit south of Portland in order to make my commute more reasonable.

That being said, we would appreciate any advice as to where we should look for houses. We have some exposure to Kittery, York, Biddeford, and Saco (mainly shopping), but have never really considered them as a place to live, per se. Ideally, we would love to be in Scarborough (for family reasons), but we think it might be a bit too far for me to commute). Are there any towns/communities with a similar feel as Scarborough and which have Scarborough's great school system?

FYI, our budget is ~350-400k for a house. Our son is 6 months old so recommendations for daycare would be nice too. And the longest I am willing to commute is 30-35 minutes 1 way.

Thanks in advance,

-Klav

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by klaviernista

Hi all,

Finally, after 9 years of trying, my wife and I will be relocating to southern Maine late this year or early next year!

We are generally familiar with the Portland area (my wife's family is in the area and we have been visiting Maine 10+ times a year as a result). However, my new job is in Portsmouth, NH, so we are trying to stay a bit south of Portland in order to make my commute more reasonable.

That being said, we would appreciate any advice as to where we should look for houses. We have some exposure to Kittery, York, Biddeford, and Saco (mainly shopping), but have never really considered them as a place to live, per se. Ideally, we would love to be in Scarborough (for family reasons), but we think it might be a bit too far for me to commute). Are there any towns/communities with a similar feel as Scarborough and which have Scarborough's great school system?

FYI, our budget is ~350-400k for a house. Our son is 6 months old so recommendations for daycare would be nice too. And the longest I am willing to commute is 30-35 minutes 1 way.

Thanks in advance,

-Klav

Look carefully at your total cost of living. If you live in Maine you will pay Maine income taxes. While property taxes will probably be quite a lot higher in New Hampshire than in Maine, you may find the overall cost of living to be less if you can find a good home within a short distance of where you will work.

As I said, look at ALL the costs associated with living in both states, THEN make a decision based on your realities, not on the "feel" of some town or village.

[Coaster]

I second Acadianlion's post. The tax burden in Maine is much higher than NH, without a corresponding increase in services. NH always ranks in the top two or three in a list of states with the smallest tax burden. Maine always ranks much lower. NH has higher property taxes to pay for the local schools (there is very little state aid to education there), but it does not have sales or income taxes, which makes a huge difference.

[lrfox]

Tough call. While the tax burden of Maine is higher than NH, that translates to better services including schools which are obviously important. However, you can't commute from Scarborough to Portsmouth in 30-35 minutes... it's going to be closer to 50-60 door to door on average.

I understand your desire to want to be close to your family and live your dream of making Maine your home. However, to do that in THIS scenario is tough. You may find the commute/ overall cost of living to be burdensome.

That being said, I would look VERY hard at Rye, New Hampshire. The school district there is very good. Like Scarborough, Rye has great coastline and excellent beaches. There are also many great neighborhoods. It has a lot of what you want in Maine but in a better location for work. You're still not far from the family.

York, Kittery, and Ogunquit may work, but you do face the issue of paying income taxes and property taxes in Maine which is part of the problem. Those three towns are lovely though and they do have good schools.

Portsmouth itself may not be a bad idea. It has a charming downtown, a great historic housing stock, some excellent newer and older suburban neighborhoods and decent schools (a really good high school). It's worth considering. Some towns that are near Portsmouth like Newmarket, Rockingham and Durham may provide what you're looking for too.

Good luck

[klaviernista]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

As I said, look at ALL the costs associated with living in both states, THEN make a decision based on your realities, not on the "feel" of some town or village.

Thanks for the input. Not sure I agree that a decision on where to live should be based entirely on tangibles such as the overall tax burden imposed by a state. Put simply, home is home. If people decided where they should live based solely on cost of living, no one would live in New York city, or any city for that matter. Rather, everyone would be dispersed out in the country side where land is cheap, food is plentiful, and amenities are non-existant.

That being said, my wife and I really like Maine, and to us, the "feel" of the town is an equally important consideration as how cheap or expensive it might be to live in a particular location.

Furthermore, it is my understanding that in 2010, Maine is moving to a flat 6.5% income tax rate, with an exception for families with incomes $250k/year (more than we will make). Since that is only 0.5% more than what we pay in Massachusetts, it is less of a consideration to me than it might be had we been paying significanltly less tax. Now, would I like to live in a place that has no income tax? Sure! But not if that place is not home.

So I will reiterate my initial question. Are there any towns/neighborhoods with a similar feel to Scarborough, but which are further south? We are currently looking hard at Eliot, York, and the Biddeford/Saco area.

[klaviernista]

Originally Posted by lrfox

T
I understand your desire to want to be close to your family and live your dream of making Maine your home. However, to do that in THIS scenario is tough. You may find the commute/ overall cost of living to be burdensome.

Cost of living is likely not going to be an issue for us. We currently live in the Boston area, which is one of the most expensive places to live in the entire country. So, regardless of whether we move to Maine or New Hampshire, we are looking at a 40-50% reduction in cost of living. I know for a fact that I can buy the exact same house we have now for less than 50% of the price we paid in Massachusetts.

Also, if our realtors can be believed, we should be able to sell our current home at a significant profit (we bought before the housing bubble even started blowing up). As a result, we are expecting to put a 40-50% downpayment on our next home. Combine that with the fact that we have 0 other debt, we are looking at having total expenses that are less than 20% of our net income per month. Not many families in the U.S. can say that.