Potentially Moving to NH

Submitted by fallenelf t3_ziczf3 in newhampshire

My wife and I are potentially moving to NH for work in a month or so. We currently live in DC (I've been here for almost 20 years) and have an 8-month-old. Neither of us are from New England (I'm from just north of NYC), so this will be a big change for us.

The position will be in Concord and is hybrid (1-2 days in the office). I'm looking for recommendations on where to be looking at housing. I've done some browsing for homes in Concord (and 20-40 minutes in the surrounding area), and home prices are all over the place.

We're looking for a community with a nice downtown, good schools for our son, etc. Any advice on where we should be looking?

Concord seems nice, as do Nashua and Londonderry, but I'm at a loss. I'll be flying up for a final interview in a week or so and would also appreciate some thoughts on places to check out in Concord and the surrounding area.

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FTheOldWest t1_izsbixb wrote

I sent you a dm!!

I live in concord and absolutely love it. My daughter is 11 and loves the schools

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fallenelf OP t1_izsfe16 wrote

Thanks! We're excited at the prospect of moving (I'll find out about my job in the next 2 weeks. It's hard trying to figure out where to move since neither my wife nor I are from NH.

The position is hybrid (1-2 days in the office), but they want me to live in NH as I'll have to travel throughout the state at times. After looking around and seeing some comments, we're increasing our budget to 700k and that's opening a lot of possibilities in areas with good schools (Concord, Amherst, etc.).

We're trying to find something that is more New England charm, but drivable to something we're more familiar with (DMV/upstate NY).

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FTheOldWest t1_izsfnse wrote

Will you need to travel to DC or like boston?? Check out the dm I shot you!

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fallenelf OP t1_izsfvrg wrote

The position is in Concord. Ill be in the office a couple of days a week, but need to drive through the state every few weeks for events and other items.

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FTheOldWest t1_izsg2a9 wrote

Ah ok. Honestly, Concord is one of the most central locations in the state - I highly recommend it. I can get to the border of vt and the coast within an hour. I can get to Boston in 1 hour and about 15 mins. It's reallt one of the best locations in the state in my opinion

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MommaGuy t1_iztg1nv wrote

If you live in the state and work here no income tax! Plus you can enjoy places like Boston, on occasion.

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Ill_Athlete3019 t1_izvefhw wrote

Amherst is great if the commute works for you.

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fallenelf OP t1_izvj6dt wrote

It's top of our list now. I've only heard good things and the schools are fantastic.

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Annual_Champion_1555 t1_izvsrva wrote

I live near Amherst. It’s certainly ideal. Schools are great. Only problem is you’re going to pay $1,000,000 for a $300,000 house.

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futureygoodness t1_izs2n0t wrote

Love how everyone is downvoted in this thread because other people are so automatic in their response to the idea of people moving here

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fallenelf OP t1_izs5fx4 wrote

I was so confused. I thought maybe my post was against the subs rules?

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WHOLLY_GUACAMOLE t1_izvjm6w wrote

I’m moving from Los Angeles and posted something similar, and there was a lot of gate keeping and weird hostility in this sub. Hope you have fun looking for a place; we decided on southern NH (closer to Portsmouth and Manchester) and we’re excited to be in a different setting!

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fallenelf OP t1_izvk55x wrote

I got some of that. We're mainly looking in Amherst now.

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WHOLLY_GUACAMOLE t1_izvkys7 wrote

My advice is to stay relatively away from Nashua; when I went for house hunting, the city just really gave me weird and uncomfortable vibes. Areas like Salem, Atkinson, and Londonderry were pretty nice. Didn’t really venture much west of Nashua since we wanted to be closer to the coast.

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sweetnsalty24 t1_izss9yn wrote

Parts of Amherst and Bedford are a 35 minute commute to Concord. It's a reverse NB commute. North of Concord can be nightmare to commute home on Fridays.

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Brief-Boysenberry-41 t1_izu7rjc wrote

Check out 03229 (Hopkinton/Contoocook). Exits 4/5/6 off I-89. Approximately 20 minutes northwest of Concord. The taxes are high because it has the best public schools for it’s proximity to Concord, Manchester, & Lebanon. It allows privacy, yet it’s close to civilization (relative for NH). It has two different quaint downtown areas; Hopkinton and Contoocook. The community is friendly and welcoming for families with children. Great sports programs, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, etc. and every Labor Day weekend it hosts one of the state’s best fairs. The Hopkinton Fair is different from the other fairs in NH as it is less agricultural and more entertaining. You can purchase beer/wine and they have the only demolition derby/motocross/monster truck rally. There are still plenty of animals for kids to see but it’s nothing like the Sandwich Fair which is primarily agricultural.

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fallenelf OP t1_izue34e wrote

Will check both out. Thanks for all the details!

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zeeke42 t1_j026qje wrote

Granite State Fair in Rochester has demo derby, school bus demo derby, trailer derby, and motocross.

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1976dave t1_izxmwli wrote

When you say a nice downtown, what are you picturing OP? You want to go for a walk down mainstreet with your fam every night? Cafe, bookstore, bars, restaurants? Or you want to drive 15 minutes and park and walk around somewhere quaint?

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fallenelf OP t1_izxq86r wrote

That's a great question. Something like the former, an area where we can walk around and dip into restaurants/shops/cafes.

It seems like no matter where we are (mainly looking at Concord, Amherst and Bow now) we'll be 15-20 min from someplace quaint.

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1976dave t1_izxr9xx wrote

Yeah, depending on how far away you're willing to live from Concord, Exeter and Newmarket might be options. Goffstown has a little bit of quaintness to it and is closer to Concord

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fallenelf OP t1_izxxxy9 wrote

Right now, my max commute time is around 35-40 min. I'd like it be a little less than my current DC commute haha.

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dashrendarrr t1_j002w2t wrote

If you can handle the extra 5 minutes added to your commute max, Dover is worth looking into. Dover has a nice downtown area, good schools, and nice neighborhoods. It’s also 10 mins from Portsmouth for more downtown options.

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gman2391 t1_izqsqrb wrote

This may be obvious but the closer you are to the highways(especially 93/293/Everett turnpike) the more expensive houses will be. Not sure what you're budget is but expect to pay at least $400k.

The further away from the highways you can get, and especially north of concord the prices will start to drop with some exceptions.

Whats more important to you, accessibility to the lakes and mountains or Boston?

You should be able to find some school rankings online to give you an idea of what's good or not

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fallenelf OP t1_izqtfr9 wrote

This is really helpful. Our price range is 500-650k. We're more interested in lakes and mountains than Boston. We're already 35-40 min from DC and we rarely go into the city. Someplace where I can commute easily (i.e. less than an hour each way) and has a nice downtown area.

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gman2391 t1_izu4cs7 wrote

650k is a healthy budget. You should be able to find a pretty nice place for that

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powpowpowpowpowp t1_izs5vvv wrote

The New London and Sunapee area has great schools and downtown areas. It’s within 40 minutes or so of Concord.

The most obvious downside is they are two of the most expensive housing markets in the state.

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Loosh_03062 t1_izs8rmz wrote

Well, 40 minutes in good weather. I've found the stretch of I-89 around Warner to be "interesting" at times during the winter.

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ekob711 t1_izs6e2f wrote

If you want a downtown area and you want sort of an old-fashioned town (meaning some rich, some avg, some poor, some conservatives, some liberals) that’s concord. Ports out of your range, manch and Nashua depending on your own background and expectations you might be a little uncomfortable sending your son to the public schools. If you want quaint old NE small town but lacking diversity maybe Amherst, Milford, Hopkinton. If you want relatively high-driving transient suburban-type get-ahead lifestyle but lacking diversity that’s Bedford (but tough to stay below $500-600k. Re-reading your post I’m thinking you should be comparing Keene with Concord. Keene is a little wealthier probably and there’s a small college.

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gman2391 t1_izu3u4n wrote

Driving from Keene to concord sounds awful, even only 2x per week

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fallenelf OP t1_izs6p5j wrote

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for!

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ekob711 t1_izs7kp8 wrote

DM me with questions glad to help. I raised our boys here after growing up in/around NYC and then spending some years in Boston and suburbs.

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tilsonwsc71 t1_iztv22i wrote

Stay away from Manchester. Concord isn't great either. A small town outside of these cities would benefit you better.

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Crazy_Hick_in_NH t1_izv9908 wrote

You could combine the worst of the worst places in NH and it would still be better than DC.

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quaffee t1_izyc1bt wrote

Depends which part of DC. NW and SE/NE might as well be on 2 different planets.

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thezysus t1_izv61p4 wrote

Been in Southern NH for about 12 years now. Lived in a number of towns from Manchester to Nashua and been in Windham for 9 of those 12 years.

I highly recommend renting for a year and driving around a bunch to learn the towns.

Given that you are from NYC and now DC, you really need to get a sense of what it will be like. NH has a lot of variety and a lot to offer in a relative small area. It's also a lot easier to go North South along 93 or 89 or 3 than it is to go east-west. Those are the kinds of things you'll learn.

One thing is that we get a lot more snow than DC and the NYC area, so priorities, like off-street parking vs a garage vs carport become worth thinking about.
Other things will be... How on grid vs off grid do you want to be? Closer to the cities you'll find natural gas and city water. Surrounding towns may be well, septic, oil heat, etc.

Feel free to DM if you have specific questions.

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fallenelf OP t1_izveick wrote

The plan was to rent first, but it's been extremely difficult finding a place big enough for my wife, my son, our two dogs, and me. buying seems to be the only real option

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corduroyyy t1_izqs0to wrote

I have friends in the Epping, Exeter, and Portsmouth areas who love it. Northfield is closer and very quiet compared to DMV.

Also living in the DMV, I’d recommend Portsmouth. A little farther, but more for your family to do.

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fallenelf OP t1_izqt79g wrote

I've looked around Portsmouth and can't really find any homes available. Might be out of our price range.

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borninthe617 t1_izr0m7t wrote

Most likely, you’d be lucky to get a 1 bedroom apt for that price in Portsmouth. I’d be curious to see the ratings for just north of Concord schools, or in concord. The downtown there is adorable & great food etc. Certainly moving here from the DMV changes the demographics- the diversity is lacking here- so keep that in mind.

Londonderry is a great town too- closer to Boston but not too far from Concord (30ish minutes on Hwy), very busy and growing rapidly. Will be pricier than Concord.

Nashua will be a haul from concord but more diverse and right on the Mass border. Great shopping & cute downtown.

Good luck, NH is a great place to land.

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Few-Afternoon-6276 t1_izr7d7v wrote

Portsmouth to concord commute is about an hour. Fyi

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fallenelf OP t1_izr8kwf wrote

Yeah, seems a little far. Best places to look seem to be Concord, Manchester, and Londonderry.

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Few-Afternoon-6276 t1_izrz65d wrote

Just remember if you live south of concord, traffic northbound on weekends starts .. Thursday and Friday is insane. The world plays on weekends here and everyone heads north. Lakes, mountains..

Manchester sucks. Crime drugs… I would buy in concord .. bow… dunbarton before Manchester and Londonderry is nicer than Manchester, but the traffic is nuts again.

After38 years here and I moved from Nashua to Epsom….now there’s a nice town..Epsom…. The value is excellent… and if you are centrally located… Manchester is 30 minutes.. Concord is about 20 minutes..beach, mountains, lake .. between 40 minutes to a bit over an hour away….

It’s beautiful landscape here…hope it all works out for you.

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fallenelf OP t1_izs5ek9 wrote

This is very helpful thank you. I'll cross Manchester off the list and take a look at Epsom!

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TianamenHomer t1_iztjv9c wrote

Thank you, kind person. I cancelled that negative down vote with my mighty thumb of an upvote!

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interweb_gangsta t1_izur3cg wrote

Concord is great, love it. Penacook is also decent so you can find some more affordable housing accommodation. Nashua/Manchester/Derry is terrible. Don't go down there.

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chipach1 t1_izvhafb wrote

Consider Franklin. I have 0 clue about schools, but the city is making a turnaround overall. About 45 minutes to Concord, and easy to get to 93.

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TianamenHomer t1_izqsv4n wrote

I am kind of doing the identical thing but from another state. Reading ALLLLLL ABOUT New Hampshire. Concord and Nashua and their out lying areas are what we will be checking out. Not sure about driving to Manch from Portsmouth. Is that done by the locals? Seems like winter could dissuade a reasonable person from driving that far ever my day?

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fearlessjf t1_izrw0b9 wrote

My husband and I live on the seacoast and love it. We’re in Newmarket (near Portsmouth). He works in concord a few times a week - the commute is an hour, but it’s worth it to live out this way to us! I work in MA (Newburyport) about half hour away. Id check out both the areas when you visit. See what you like better! When we house hunt, we’re hoping for Exeter.

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TianamenHomer t1_iztjijr wrote

This is very helpful. I liked Exeter too with all the research. All you others.. Please don’t downvote a regular guy stressed already with a life change. The choices will affect my 4 kids and generations. Being a thoughtful father should not be a bad thing. Life is hard, yo.

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TianamenHomer t1_izv0paq wrote

Very helpful. Thank you. Saw some nice places all over the sea coast too!

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BathtubJennn t1_izrpnz2 wrote

I drive from wakefield to Boston everyday for work. It's a company car though. As long as you're cautious driving & have good snow tires & whatnot I don't think that's a horrible commute to Manchester from portsmouth. Portsmouth is beautiful, too!

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MommaGuy t1_iztgrml wrote

Unless it’s a crazy blizzard, the state does a pretty good job of keeping highways clear. In my 29 yrs of living here (transplant from MA) the only place I really had issues was Nashua. They never seem to clear the sidewalks.

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Happy_Confection90 t1_izxzdek wrote

Depends on the highway, or what passes for highways in New Hampshire. I worked in Concord for 8 years and at least twice a winter every year got trapped near the Epsom traffic circle for 45-75 minutes due to poor plowing making traffic grind to a complete halt. People would ask why I didn't stay home, and it was always the case that roads were fine until I hit Epsom.

And these weren't blizzard days, because the university closed then, just typical, a few inches of snow storms.

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fallenelf OP t1_izqtjfc wrote

Exactly! Driving from Portsmouth to Concord in the winter seems brutal! When I get flown up we're going to look at a few homes in Concord and Londonderry, but the public schools don't seem great.

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SarahSuckaDSanders t1_izrf9af wrote

Have you looked into Keene? It’s about an hour from Concord, but has a nice downtown and relatively affordable housing.

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K3CAN t1_izsq88f wrote

Housing prices are pretty average... But the taxes are nuts.

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Private_Part t1_izsg084 wrote

It's really cold here with nothing to do. Also expensive.

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fallenelf OP t1_izsg350 wrote

Great, I like the cold. That just means good skiing! My dogs also love the snow.

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notsurethisisfunny t1_izu8sxe wrote

If you are from DC. You should really check out Vermont. You will like it much more

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fallenelf OP t1_izue1r9 wrote

What are the biggest differences between VT and NH? My job wants me to live in NH, buts it's not a requirement. I'll have to be in Concord weekly and travel around the state.

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notsurethisisfunny t1_izuhi93 wrote

VT is more liberal from a political stance. We are full here in NH. Ha

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