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.

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.

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

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

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

Will check both out. Thanks for all the details!

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.

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

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.

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).

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for!

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

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

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

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.

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.

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