If you had to leave Mass and move north...

[headednorth]

If you’re looking at places to live in nh here’s a pro tip. Keep driving north until you no longer see graffiti on the soundproofing walls on the highway. That’s when you know that you’re away from the “equitable housing” areas setup by HUD, at least for a few years.

LMAO, good to know. In the city/suburbs the give away is the number of satellite dishes hanging off the houses.

 

[DW357]

Actual fires seem to be pretty rare here as well but you'd know better than me.

I dunno. Just from what I deal with at work it seems like there’s constant building fires in Lawrence, Lynn, and Boston. All those triple deckers lol.
Not an every day occurrence of course.

 

[headednorth]

I dunno. Just from what I deal with at work it seems like there’s constant building fires in Lawrence, Lynn, and Boston. All those triple deckers lol.

Maybe. Ive been working in Chelsea for 20+ years. 2 miles square, prob close to 50k people in what is prob the triple decker capital of the world. Doesnt seem like there are all that many actual structure fires.

eta- just out of curiosity did some googling. Chelsea had 181 fires (structure, cars, brush etc) while Lynn had 438. Lynn is obviously larger both in area and population. I was surprised to see that Revere had more fires than Chelsea at 293. Still 181 fires a year averages a fire every couple days, although the vast majority seem to be cooking related and contained to the kitchen. (my "food on the stove" comment seems to be relatively accurate) I guess when I hear "structure fire" I think "Holy shit, that house is engulfed in flames", not abuelita burned lunch again.

https://www.mass.gov/doc/2020-county-profiles/download

 

[upcountry]

Left MA for NM. Then NM started getting hinky.
Now in AZ, safe so far. Just gotta keep the CA's out.
It's been awhile since, but I'm not shoveling MA snow and BS.

 

[LittleCalm]

I prefer to be someplace that I like and that has a relatively lower COL as compared to surrounding Boston. Plus, more balanced politics. I can understand why folks move to TN. But NH has been nice so far.

 

[Dench]

Not a ff but that seems like it would be the case in MA as well. (maybe more structure fires up here due to the typical building construction?) Id think ff's in MA spend most of their time on alarm malfunctions, food on the stove, chest pains and minor car accidents. Actual fires seem to be pretty rare here as well but you'd know better than me.

I don't think we're talking about the same thing necessarily. My NFPA 1710 comment was more geared towards most NH departments not being able to handle anything above trivial/routine calls solo. This is also a problem in MA, but not nearly so much as NH, ME, VT, etc.

Fires are pretty rare now. Fire safety knowhow is a lot higher among people these days, shit in peoples houses is in general safer (less candles, etc) and the construction is usually less flammable.

That said, when there are fires they are hotter and faster moving now compared to decades past due to the contents in the house being more flammable. The shit part is staffing for the fire service was gutted hard in the 90's. So now we have much smaller departments dealing with less fires that are considerably harder to put out.

Few NH departments can respond with enough people in a timely manner. It saves a TON of cash, but if you need help, well, you're looking at a wait.

With all that said Berlin NH probably has the most salty and experience man for man firefighters in all of New England. They went from 3 stations to 1, and they have like ~5 guys on duty at any given time. They catch a lot of fires (poorer urban areas tend to have this problem) and they work like animals.

having a fire department should be like having a military. It's a thing. It's there. When it's not doing fire fighting work, it should be training so it's not idle. However, instead we have a skeleton crew being run ragged with bullshit EMS all day and night, next to no time for training and few fires to satisfy the itch that firefighters have when they become firefighters. The industry is in a rough spot and it's due to EMS and shit lords defending the broken system.

 

[Broc]

You could not have paid me enough to live in Boston or at present, move back to Mass.

Understood. But everyone seems to focus only on RE taxes rather than total cost of living.

Remember, RE taxes are perpetual rent to the government.

 

[Broc]

My point is: it's only money. Why would you live in a place you hate just because of money?

NES, bruh! ... People buy guns they hate to save $100.

 

[Asaltweapon]

Understood. But everyone seems to focus only on RE taxes rather than total cost of living.

Remember, RE taxes are perpetual rent to the government.

And that is exactly why I planned and performed our plan. I did not want big .gov to live in. No school, cop, fire or dpw worker on the towns payroll. Carry excellent insurance and pay attention to all the burning going on in the house.

 

[Dench]

Understood. But everyone seems to focus only on RE taxes rather than total cost of living.

Remember, RE taxes are perpetual rent to the government.

It is a fact that NH has a very low overall tax burden.

It was a fact when I was in the search that NH also has poorer pay, to the point where the tax savings end up being a significant net loss on a persons finances when they compare where they are moving from.

That might of changed. I'd assume that since NH is going full retard with home values it's dragging up incomes. It was a real kick in the nuts when I was looking there though. I'm facing a similar problem here in FL. The pay here is a joke, coming up on patronizing levels. However, the cost of living didnt start going crazy until mid 2021.

 

[TLB]

What you are not mentioning is what happens when you die in MA. MA has one of the worst estate taxes in the country. Kicks in at $1 million and is variable up to 16%. (There are ways to avoid this with non-revocable trusts etc. but I'm going to speak from the perspective of the average person who does not do this.) I know you will be dead but you don't want the state to grab what you leave behind instead of your kids or other family members getting it.

In general if you own a house inside of 495 and have a modest 401k you will hit a $1 million and the state will grab its chunk. Not much pissed me off more than when both my Mom died and the estate settled the state of MA grabbed almost $200k in estate taxes. That is totally BS. Make sure you go someplace with no estate tax.

Estate taxes=government theft, pure and simple.

 

[Mountain]

I did some calculations and your right.....1400 is low. I forgot about my disabled vet tax credit......that gets me down to 1400. My town is $12.72 per $1000 assessed value.....so I'd be at about $2200 per year without the disabled vet credit. Still dirt cheap.

The property tax thing is what's keeping my wife and I from selling and moving to NH. We could do it and be mortgage free.......but any place we've looked (and we have) I'd be paying $1k a month in taxes. Yes I could easily afford it......but we just don't want to impact our savings plan to pay a tax bill just yet. I'll stick with my piece of crap ranch and retire affordably.....and while I'm relatively young.

Our first house (in Tennessee) was a total POS ranch, but it was on over an acre within 20 minutes of the center of downtown Nashville and in the next county south with best schools in the state. Put tons of sweat equity into it and sold for nearly 3X when we came here.

Hope your house doesn't get re-assessed. Values are way up all over the state and you have a pretty good deal now.

 

[AFAR/PFAR]

What state is not listed here:

 

[vickers]

I am looking now. I would love to move south, TN, maybe even TX to be close to my brother who lives north of Dallas. A friend just sold his house and is moving his family to eastern TN. But I can't leave New England while my mom is still here and she won't leave her house now that my step dad is in a nursing home close by. Southern NH is the only thing that would work for me so I can be well within an hour of my mom's house in Burlington, and closer to the Seacoast would be better for the rest of my family as they would have to commute over the border for work in the short term unless they can find work in NH. I am 100% WFH so I can work anywhere.

 

[kerryman71]

I am looking now. I would love to move south, TN, maybe even TX to be close to my brother who lives north of Dallas. A friend just sold his house and is moving his family to eastern TN. But I can't leave New England while my mom is still here and she won't leave her house now that my step dad is in a nursing home close by. Southern NH is the only thing that would work for me so I can be well within an hour of my mom's house in Burlington, and closer to the Seacoast would be better for the rest of my family as they would have to commute over the border for work in the short term unless they can find work in NH. I am 100% WFH so I can work anywhere.

Northeast TN is in my plans for retirement, which is in about six years. Depends on what my son is doing. He'll be just getting out of college at that time, so we'll see.

 

[SS1]

Need to move to a place with No snow, 2 growing seasons, and you can ride all year.
I'd say I'd visit, But last time I visited Laconia was in 2009

 

[garandman]

Find it funny that all the Yankee transplants down South brag about no snow: I want more snow!

Not trying to avoid the question, but I’m not giving out detailed info on the inter webs. I’ll just note that our RE taxes went from 1.1% of home value to 0.7% so that’s like a 36% reduction.

Than stop saying it, it’s sophistry.

This thread caused me to look at Goshen NH: up 13% 2021-2022. THEY'RE ALL BANDITS.

You can look up taxes paid on most properties online whether you own it or not. Worth knowing the history before buying. And as mentioned previously in many threads, assessments and taxes in NH can vary dramatically by town.

 

[LittleCalm]

Again, as other folks in this thread have stated, you need to look at the greater tax burden and not just for RE taxes. But the sophistry that is often repeated is that NH property taxes are some great burden. As I noted, mine went down 36% and I know many others with a similar experience. MA in contrast is a high COL state. I don’t think there’s much argument about that. And of course there are pockets in all states that are high and low in comparison to other in-state and ex-state locations. No big deal to agree to disagree.

 

[JenkkiMike]

Find it funny that all the Yankee transplants down South brag about no snow: I want more snow!

I second this! The past few winters have been huge disappointments in terms of snow. My friends in Finland were sending me pictures last month of the amazing conditions on the cross country skiing trails while I was looking out the window at a thin crust of patchy ice.

 

[LittleCalm]

I second this! The past few winters have been huge disappointments in terms of snow. My friends in Finland were sending me pictures last month of the amazing conditions on the cross country skiing trails while I was looking out the window at a thin crust of patchy ice.

Agree. Need more snow. Keeps the riff raff at bay, too. This winter started late and ended early. Total bummer. And it’s not like the summers have been hot either.

 

[Asaltweapon]

I second this! The past few winters have been huge disappointments in terms of snow. My friends in Finland were sending me pictures last month of the amazing conditions on the cross country skiing trails while I was looking out the window at a thin crust of patchy ice.

Third. Love the snowstorms. The more the betterer. Still over a foot in the woods here, yard is about 6-8 and mud season is warming up fast. Almost went lake riding yesterday with friends.

 

[PatMcD]

Fourth. Snow weeds out the weak.

 

[garandman]

Third. Love the snowstorms. The more the betterer. Still over a foot in the woods here, yard is about 6-8 and mud season is warming up fast. Almost went lake riding yesterday with friends.

I hate you!

Just kidding. Total snowmobile miles last season: 3. This season: 20. We have a couple patches of snow left in the woods. Felled a bunch of trees for firewood and pulled them out of the woods last week because mud season is upon us.

 

[LittleCalm]

I hate you!

Just kidding. Total snowmobile miles last season: 3. This season: 20. We have a couple patches of snow left in the woods. Felled a bunch of trees for firewood and pulled them out of the woods last week because mud season is upon us.

As crappy and short as the snow season was, I did manage decent mileage on the sled this year, for me anyway. I want to say maybe 700mi or so. Between snowmobiles and chainsaws, it doesn't get much better!

 

[Garys]

I can think of half a dozen people I worked with who moved to NH either while still working or shortly thereafter. A few moved to Maine, but only after they retired. NH would be a good place for someone with a good pension to move to. It's last on my list of potential moves, but only because I want somewhere south, which will be warmer and closer to my kids and grandkids.

That's IF I can get my wife to make a decision.

It is a fact that NH has a very low overall tax burden.

It was a fact when I was in the search that NH also has poorer pay, to the point where the tax savings end up being a significant net loss on a persons finances when they compare where they are moving from.

That might of changed. I'd assume that since NH is going full retard with home values it's dragging up incomes. It was a real kick in the nuts when I was looking there though. I'm facing a similar problem here in FL. The pay here is a joke, coming up on patronizing levels. However, the cost of living didnt start going crazy until mid 2021.

 

[allen-1]

Agree. Need more snow. Keeps the riff raff at bay, too. This winter started late and ended early. Total bummer. And it’s not like the summers have been hot either.

 

[Broc]

That's IF I can get my wife to make a decision.

Patience. Mine finally told me yesterday we should start looking in NH and the Carolinas.

Of course, it would have been better when I wanted 5 years ago, every place selling for $600K today was $300K. But oh well.

I am just taking my time, not rushing it now.

 

[Garys]

I'd give you some suggestions for South Carolina, but that might mean we'd end of neighbors!

Patience. Mine finally told me yesterday we should start looking in NH and the Carolinas.

Of course, ir would have been better when I wanted 5 years ago, every place selling for $600K today was $300K. But oh well.

I am just taking my time, not rushing it now.

 

[Broc]

I'd give you some suggestions for South Carolina, but that might mean we'd end of neighbors!

You would be lucky if you had me as your neighbor. I already have some ideas, but PM me a few. Looking at being close to Charlotte, NC.

But open to suggestions.

By the way, I think it was a brilliant strategic move from my father that triggered her interest. He will be retiring and moving South to Florida. My brother and niece are down there. My dad said "when are you going to buy a bigger place so family can visit and you can raise a family?" ... and that did it.

 

[fshalor]

I wouldn’t move to Maine, taxes suck and shits expensive compared to NH

Except for real estate. The taxes due suck, but the WX and coastline made Maine higher on our list.