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Hello everyone,
First off, thanks to all the posters on the board, I've learned quite a bit about NH over the past few days. My hubby, two kids (2&5) and I currently live in the Boston area (I'm hesitant to say... seems we are all 'left wing nutjobs... which we're not). My hubby has been commuting to Merrimack for about 2 years now and we're thinking of making a move north in the next year or so. I'm naturally a planner and a researcher so I've started seeking out info. early on. We've looked at Amherst and Bedford and both seem very nice. All of our family is here in the Boston area (Andover, Arlington, Winthrop and Plymouth) so I feel like those two towns are just a bit too far from everyone. So we've narrowed it down to Hollis and Windham. Since we have two children we are mostly concerned with the school systems being top-notch. Hollis seems wonderful, although the 'fuzzy math' program has me concerned and the properties are sooo much more expensive than Windham. Windham's new HS just opened, so that remains to be seen on how it will do. I lean towards Hollis because of the school but then I decide that Windham would be better because of the proximity to Boston and family. I'm really stuck. Any thoughts to sway me one way or the other? We're going to visit both towns and check out open houses, library, stores etc. very soon. Also, I have to say, the property taxes do worry us. We currently pay just under $5k in income tax and just under $4k for property taxes so I'm confused on where the savings are going to come from with $10k in NH prop. taxes. Am I missing something? Are insurances (car and home) that much cheaper? I already do alot of shopping in NH anyway (not much of a shopper overall)...We're probably looking at houses in the $350k to $500k range. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and any information would be greatly appreciate.
Hollis to Boston is about an hour not-in-rushour; in my experience 3 is generally less busy than 93 is (north of 95/128) even during off-rush hour times. I do this A LOT to Logan. Even at the "edges" of rush hour it takes me just a hair over an hour to get to the airport or get home.
Be aware your husbands commute west to Merrimack from Windham will be longer (there aren't that many river crossings)...whereas it will be 10-20 minutes from Hollis.
As for education, Hollis has excellent schools. Windham supposedly does as well. I generally think Hollis's are considered better overall (we looked at both towns as well). The math thing is a national trend, I wouldn't expect to be "free" of it in Windham necessarily...and it will change as well (these "hot ideas" tend to shift every few years). Also had a Hollis HS student as a summer employee in a finance office...he wasn't using any weird math that I saw/did just fine.
As for taxes and expenses I compared both states:
NH tends to have higher property taxes...but car insurance is around 20-50% cheaper, no sales tax (so extra 6.25% saved on purchases there), no income tax (another 5.3% saved on any income earned in NH), and its missing a lot of little miscelleneous taxes/fees you have in MA currently.
I work in MA and therefore pay the 5.3% MA income tax; and it was still financially beneficial to live in NH when I did the math.
Lastly, I find having my major mall shopping in Nashua is A LOT more pleasant than doing my major mall shopping in Salem...
Any thoughts to sway me one way or the other? We're going to visit both towns and check out open houses, library, stores etc. very soon.
Planning is a good thing, and definitely check out both towns. And if you have the opportunity, check out your husband's commute route (maybe on a second visit). Also check http://nerren.com (broken link) for both towns and see what's available. If you settle on one town and there isn't anything you like in your price range......
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income tax and just under $4k for property taxes so I'm confused on where the savings are going to come from with $10k in NH prop. taxes. Am I missing something?
yup, you're missing that it offsets the state income tax. Right now you may be paying less property tax, but you're also paying for the joy of living in Mass; NH doesn't do that.
Does your husband work in Merrimack, NH? If so, then Amherst or Hollis are the better choice. It is not easy to go east/west in NH across the Merrimack river as there are limited crossings. As for Hollis and Amherst, closeness to MA depends on where you are in each town. To get to Hollis, you have to get off 3 at either exit 1 or exit 6. Most of Hollis would be off exit 6. To get to Amherst, you get off at exit 11. Either way, you head west for 5 miles and you hit the town border. So, the difference may be the extra 5 miles on Rt 3 which is usually 5 minutes....
BTW, both Hollis and Amherst have excellent school systems. HB high and Souhegan are the only 2 high schools in NH ranked in the top 6% in the recent Newsweek polls.
We looked around a lot in Hollis when we moved here in the mid-1990s. Our kids were small and we could not find many houses in neighborhoods in Hollis. A lot of houses on country roads, but we wanted a neighborhood and found a cul de sac in Amherst...
we could not find many houses in neighborhoods in Hollis. A lot of houses on country roads, but we wanted a neighborhood and found a cul de sac in Amherst...
very true: Hollis is relatively rural, not 'developed' so no 'neighborhoods' other than a handful of houses up and down the street; no cul de sacs or abutting back yard kinda of thing.
very true: Hollis is relatively rural, not 'developed' so no 'neighborhoods' other than a handful of houses up and down the street; no cul de sacs or abutting back yard kinda of thing.
There are a few neighborhoods with cul de sacs actually. But since they are off the road you won't just drive around and see them. The only reason I found the ones by us was walking the dog That said a good Realtor should be able to help.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I drove around Windham and Hollis today (more in Windham). I like the 'feel' of Hollis more. It was definitely more 'rural' feeling but if I'm going to live in NH, I think that is what I want. Very nice farms/apple orchards, horses (used to ride, looking forward to doing that again) etc. Windham felt like just another suburb of Boston although there were some very nice new neighborhoods/developments with cul de sacs which would be nice for the kids and still seeming 'affordable' ie. under $500k. I can see how the commute from Windham to Merrimack would be tough, just the drive today from Windham to Hollis took a bit of time through Nashua and over the river. Windham did not seem to have any center to the town where Hollis was very charming but it would be more isolating for me to be far from my family. I'm happy that we have lots of time to figure this out. My daughter is in an excellent school here (in the top 100 of Newsweeks list!) so its just up to how long my husband wants to drive an hour each way to Merrimack before we make the jump. We'll be checking out real estate and watching this board for opinions/news from folks in the area. Thanks again.
Hollis is definitely more rural than Windham (which I consider more suburban than rural). If you're liking the orchards in Hollis, you need to be aware that about 90 acres of those orchards have been sold to a Massachusetts developer. At this time, a grower has a lease on much (if not all) of the orchards that are producing, but this lease is year-to-year. Once the housing market recovers to the point of being profitable to developers once again, I wouldn't be surprised to see at least some of this area developed. Not trying to scare you off, but just something that you should be aware of...
Hollis does technically have a cap on development though. The zoning laws state(d) that a developer can only build 5 houses per year per 'field'. that's why they built all those McMansions - trying to maximize their profit on what they could do at a time. So they can't buy up a farmer's field and suddenly fill it up with housing. They can.. but not all at once.
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which we're not). My hubby has been commuting to Merrimack for about 2 years now and we're thinking of making a move north in the next year or so. I'm naturally a planner and a researcher so I've started seeking out info. early on. We've looked at Amherst and Bedford and both seem very nice. All of our family is here in the Boston area (Andover, Arlington, Winthrop and Plymouth) so I feel like those two towns are just a bit too far from everyone. So we've narrowed it down to Hollis and Windham. Since we have two children we are mostly concerned with the school systems being top-notch. Hollis seems wonderful, although the 'fuzzy math' program has me concerned and the properties are sooo much more expensive than Windham. Windham's new HS just opened, so that remains to be seen on how it will do. I lean towards Hollis because of the school but then I decide that Windham would be better because of the proximity to Boston and family. I'm really stuck. Any thoughts to sway me one way or the other? We're going to visit both towns and check out open houses, library, stores etc. very soon. Also, I have to say, the property taxes do worry us. We currently pay just under $5k in income tax and just under $4k for property taxes so I'm confused on where the savings are going to come from with $10k in NH prop. taxes. Am I missing something? Are insurances (car and home) that much cheaper? I already do alot of shopping in NH anyway (not much of a shopper overall)...We're probably looking at houses in the $350k to $500k range. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and any information would be greatly appreciate.
That said a good Realtor should be able to help.
