Towns in southern NH to check out when planning to stay long term

Submitted by archipelago314 t3_zjewy0 in newhampshire

Wife and I moved from CT and fell in love with NH. We won’t be going back.

What are some towns to look into? We would like to buy a house in the next year or so. Looking anywhere 30 minutes or less from Manchester, preferably on the south side of that range for closer access to Boston or CT.

We plan on having kids some day, so decent schools are important.

We’d like a basic / modest house 2000 sq. ft. or under with a reasonable amount of land for gardening / basic farming. Ideally closer to 1500 sq. ft. with a good layout.

We’d like to avoid higher end / somewhat ‘keep up with the Jones’s’ areas if that makes sense.

We currently rent in Merrimack. It does seem to fit some of these preferences and it’s close to everything.

Thanks for your help!

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sonarblips t1_izuoidj wrote

I personally would not buy in Merrimack due to the Saint Gobain water poisoning debacle. I most likely would choose Auburn, Hampstead and Chester for their affiliation with Pinkerton Academy.

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archipelago314 OP t1_izuzft3 wrote

I’ve investigated the water poisoning thing and it’s okay with me to live in Merrimack if the house is on public water or if there’s a well purification upgrade system at the house.

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thezysus t1_izv56qs wrote

My wife and I went through that exact same situation about 9 years ago.

I highly recommend looking around at a large number of towns. We looked at everywhere from Nashua, Hollis, Merrimack, Hudson, Windham, Amherst, Salem, Manch. I wish we had looked a bit more east of 93 into Derry, Atkinson, Sanbornton.

Ultimately, we settled into Windham. One thing to note about schools is that there are _charter_ schools in the state and are open to all residents of the state. Buses are only for in-town kids, but parents drop from surrounding towns.

Also note that the character of the towns can vary a bit within the towns. It's a quirk I've found in Southern NH. Neighborhoods matter I guess is how I'd say it.

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paraplegic_T_Rex t1_izypnot wrote

I’d say Londonderry seems to meet your criteria. We just moved here in September because we have a young family and the schools and community are great. Also very close to Manchester and right on 93 for easy access to Boston.

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gman2391 t1_izuq24h wrote

Whats your budget?

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archipelago314 OP t1_izuzmvd wrote

Estimated at $600k but I’d strongly prefer in the $300-$450k range. We don’t want a large mortgage payment

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gman2391 t1_izv2087 wrote

Honestly, just draw a circle 30 min around Manchester and look at all the houses under 450k. There won't be many(I wouldn't include Manchester itself). Find the houses for sale and then research the town from there.

We had similar criteria and ended up in Bow and are very happy with our decision. Definitely not a low tax town though

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archipelago314 OP t1_izv3bpc wrote

Bow seems to have some decent small houses and I’ve heard good things about the area. Thanks.

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OkLime8702 t1_izv1dac wrote

I live in CT and have been researching move for a while. If you are looking for a smaller house in the 1500-2000 sq ft range I think you should be able to find something in Hollis / Windham but just have to patiently wait for something of that size to hit market and schools are pretty good. Amherst is less convenient but we thought it was beautiful and more affordable and schools also seem pretty good. May be worth looking at areas that share good school districts but are less convenient/more rural too like Brookline/Mt Vernon etc

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archipelago314 OP t1_izv36pa wrote

Get out of CT as fast as you reasonably can. The grass IS greener here in NH.

Thanks for the info.

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OkLime8702 t1_izv3ybh wrote

Haha we are ASAP and won’t be looking back…

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Proper_Procedure_377 t1_izvkdxl wrote

My mom lives in CT and we've lived in and raised our daughter in Nashua -- love the neighborhood we live in (southwest Nashua) and overall had a good experience with the schools (and we liked the diverse student population for NH) -- she's thriving in a top college now. It's also convenient to Boston and has so many great restaurants, shopping, etc. and a cute downtown. Haven't experienced keeping up with the Jones' here.

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doobette t1_izutk9y wrote

Hudson or Litchfield would be worth looking at, I think.

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kyguylal t1_izuu433 wrote

Got to be careful with school districts. More expensive towns typically have better schools.

We're in Windham and it's great. Parks, lakes, great schools.

Merrimack, Bedford, Londonderry are all good too.

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archipelago314 OP t1_izuzwmj wrote

From a limited look at RE in Bedford so far the houses that go up for sale are larger and unaffordable. We want a smaller house. Londonderry and Merrimack seem to have a mix of smaller homes.

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Dependent_Bill9499 t1_izuymcr wrote

My wife and I moved from CT to NH too! We ended up near Killington but decided VT was not for us. We bought a house in Newbury (south end of Lake Sunapee). We love it here! The rich houses on the lakes offsets the taxes for our house nestled in the woods to be nice and low.

We got our home 2200 sq ft for under $300k and pay just around $3k annually for taxes. The schools near us are good. Not great or phenomenal, but above average. Although good schools are important, i think more importantly for having kids, is what's around for them to do outside of school. As kids and young adults. Good playgrounds, hiking, lakes, rivers, fishing, kayaking, swimming, skiing and snowboarding, sports... all that being 10 minutes away is worth more in the long run for development and staying away from drugs than a school system that's a few points higher but you have to drive an hour to any activity for your kids to do.

We commute an hour to work in West Lebanon/WRJ Vermont daily. It's not ideal but it's worth it if we're saving money on taxes and our kids have activities nearby. The highway is still close by and Boston is still very reachable.

I'd recommend doing some daily drives in areas of interest. You're gonna find what feels right when you see it.

Some areas I enjoy or would consider are: New Boston, Peterborough, Walpole, Washington, Wilmont, New London, Sunapee, Newbury.

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archipelago314 OP t1_izuz77a wrote

Thanks, this is very informative

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Dependent_Bill9499 t1_izv0d2c wrote

You're welcome. You might also want to google a list of least and highest towns for taxes. For example, a house we were interested in in Grantham (I think it was), was $320k home.and the taxes were $12k a year. So maybe cross off some high rate towns if that's a concern of yours.

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archipelago314 OP t1_izv0zxv wrote

High tax rates are ok if they don’t come with a ‘keep up with the Joneses’ type of feel

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Dependent_Bill9499 t1_izv0j1s wrote

Also, the playgrounds around here are just great. Don't forget you can get a state park registration on your vehicle allowing you access to state parks and beaches. This saves a ton of money if you plan to go hiking, to parks and swim at beaches regularly.

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FTheOldWest t1_izwp334 wrote

Hi! I sent you a dm!

I would suggest looking at areas such as concord, henniker, hopkinton, boscawen, and so others that I'm drawing a blank on right now

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