johnnylc3470
NES Member
Thanks I will check out those areas as well
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White Mountains Real Estate
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johnnylc3470
NES Member
Awesome, thank you.
johnnylc3470
NES Member
Thanks I will look at the Twin Mountain area. That listing is already under contract. Like I said I would love to work with someone local but cant even get a call backYeah, just NH Mountains
Dcdr's Dad has a place a 1/4 mile South of mine in Twin Mtn up for sale.
290 Route 3 North, Carroll, NH 03595 - MLS ID 4884345 - Peabody & Smith Realty, Inc.
Can't say enough about Carroll aka Twin Mtn/Bretton Woods. My wife and I started scouring the North Country in 2005ish. Ten years we looked at property in Pittsburg, Clarksville, Stewartstown, Columbia, Colebrook, Northumberland, Stark, Stratford, Groveton, Lancaster, Whitefield & Jefferson. After a decade of searching my Dad found our place in Twin Mtn. I'd never considered going that far South fearing I couldn't afford it. I was wrong.
I can't say enough about Current Use. If you're looking in a rural area in NH, Eleven Acres or more is the key to low property taxes. House on One Acre, the rest in Current Use.
![[hmmm]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/009.gif "Hmm [hmmm]")
johnnylc3470
NES Member
Awesome, thank you.
BigGreen2000
NES Member
Orford is awesome! Given a choice, I would go with Piermont: CT river forms the western border, White MTN national forest and Moosilauke on the eastern border.
I've got Town water in Carroll, 1,300' off of the road. I asked the folks we bought the house from how they got the Town to bring water out that far. The said the original owner worked on the Town DPW/Water Department.
It is still Columbus Day here (for now)
Best way to go about it is to find listings on realtor.com and set up a profile with a real estate broker that is listed for a property you like. Most of them have websites where you can create a profile, along with preferences on the types of property you're interested in (e.g. towns, house vs condo, price range, etc) and you will get email alerts when a house that fits your profile hits the market. THis is how we recently found a house in the Sunapee area.
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The Mrs. and I have been slowly getting more serious about having some land up there. Prices are starting to cool off too... a lot we were watching just dropped 30k, but to the point someone else made, you don't know if you can get a septic plan or a good well until you try, so it's kind of a gamble unless a plan is already approved. The cost of making a lot "buildable" is what has me holding off to do more research.
My family has a lake house on Burns Lake in Whitefield that has been in the family for several generations now so I have an attachment to the area. We want more land of our own because we want more land, and we want to eventually transition to full time up there.
It's just... different up there. Not for everyone, but it's very peaceful and quiet. The way the world is going, having a secluded homestead in the mountains sounds so much more attractive.
My family has a lake house on Burns Lake in Whitefield that has been in the family for several generations now so I have an attachment to the area. We want more land of our own because we want more land, and we want to eventually transition to full time up there.
It's just... different up there. Not for everyone, but it's very peaceful and quiet. The way the world is going, having a secluded homestead in the mountains sounds so much more attractive.
There isn't much in Twin, but that is an advantage to me. They just built a new townhall/police/fire department which consolidated 3 separate buildings and put them all into one location. Twin uses regional schools so the school taxes are not crazy, so far. It's convenient to 93 and all the things the White Mountains offer which works out great for us. Hiking, Snowmobiling, Skiing, Santa's Village is 15 min away if you have little kids in your orbit. Between Bethlehem and Littleton, you have access to Reklis and Schilling breweries plus some decent eating establishments and even fancy stuff like the Mt Washington Hotel and The Mountain View Grand hotel. If I need to "go into town" in Littleton there is HD, Lowes, Walmart, Shaws, Tractor Supply, Harbor freight 25 minutes away.
I wish I could live here full time but my wife is a city gal, but I try to get up as much as I can. I've been researching building a new house as we have a small cottage that doesn't have "good bones" but it works great for how we use it. Building a house is expensive, using contractors who don't suck is even more expensive. Unless you want to spend some serious money, I would for sure find something you can live with and see if you like it before buying empty land and attempting to build. You want to use the property now, not 2 years from now.
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johnnylc3470
NES Member
Thanks for insight, much appreciated. Mountain View Grand is where we have been staying the last few years. I have a 6 year old daughter so Santa’s Village is always on the to-do list when we get up there. My wife is a city girl as well so full time would never be an option but I think if we had a place I could convince her to go up more than a few times a year
Asaltweapon
NES Member
Don’t buy land without soils testing and approved septic.
Problem solved.
Snowmobiling straight from the garage! Can't beat that!I've visited your backyard several several times.
It's funny... We bought the house because of the amazing garage. I'm restoring a 67 Mustang in my "spare" time and the garage is great for that. When we bought the place, the realtor said, you are right on the snowmachine trails. I said "Oh yea, I've never ridden one" to this is what my garage looks like 6 years later and the Mustang is still not done. Being able to ride out of the garage is so awesome and I'm addicted to winter now! My 4 riding buddies just leave their sleds here for the season.
KBCraig
NES Member
Longer, as long as those plates stay Mass and they go home after vacation.
"Welcome to the White Mountains! Spend your money, then go home!"
gws1063
NES Member
Go a bit north from Twin Mountain to Randolph, Jefferson, Lancaster, Groveton, Berlin, Milan and the prices are more reasonable. We wound up picking up a place in Berlin in 2007. I thought it would be seasonal (i.e. NOT winter) use, but damn, it's beautiful. I can't believe I enjoy snowshoeing at -20!
Berlin is a weird place. You can still pick up a three bedroom house on a tiny lot for well under $100K, but there are also larger properties that have depressed prices because they are in Berlin. Old mill towns just don't have the cachet of the more the more trendy places. But I can still see Wildcat from my house.
Take a look at Northern Edge Realty Northern NH Real Estate, Berlin NH Homes, Coos County Homes for sale Teamner . If you see anything you like, Matt Martel is a decent guy.
-Gary
Berlin is a weird place. You can still pick up a three bedroom house on a tiny lot for well under $100K, but there are also larger properties that have depressed prices because they are in Berlin. Old mill towns just don't have the cachet of the more the more trendy places. But I can still see Wildcat from my house.
Take a look at Northern Edge Realty Northern NH Real Estate, Berlin NH Homes, Coos County Homes for sale Teamner . If you see anything you like, Matt Martel is a decent guy.
-Gary
My $0.02 of advice is to avoid purchasing raw land that's never been developed. I built my home on raw land in NH and greatly underestimated all the line item costs that add up: septic, well, driveway, road cut, propane tanks, erosion protection, stormwater management, certified wetlands crossings (basically anywhere that grows ferns...actual standing water isn't necessary), waterfront setbacks, and archeological surveys (yes, literally paying a bunch of college kids to dig test pits and look for arrowheads). Even though I did much of the sitework myself, I still wound up paying a certified environmental engineer to join me at every town meeting (planning board, conservation committee) for the better part of a year.
I really wanted to build a cabin from scratch, but I paid dearly for it. In hindsight, I should have found a teardown instead, a mobile home, or at least started with an existing structure. And definitely check out current use taxes: I pay <$100/year in property taxes for 100+ acres of waterfront land in full current use (not posted, open to the public on foot), but the tradeoff is large one-time tax bills anytime I want to build anything new (shed, barn, etc.) on current use land.
I really wanted to build a cabin from scratch, but I paid dearly for it. In hindsight, I should have found a teardown instead, a mobile home, or at least started with an existing structure. And definitely check out current use taxes: I pay <$100/year in property taxes for 100+ acres of waterfront land in full current use (not posted, open to the public on foot), but the tradeoff is large one-time tax bills anytime I want to build anything new (shed, barn, etc.) on current use land.
IMO, unless you are doing the whole thing yourself, everyone should go into a raw land purchase-develop-build with the impression that it will cost more money and time. The teardown-build is a great way to save a bunch of money with driveways/grading, but you'll often want a new well/septic.
A lot of the problems in the first paragraph can be mitigated somewhat with the research into the property. I learned early on in my land purchase that if I would have to cross or come near a wetland for the build site, it was an automatic no go for me. I had no desire to deal with the state for wetlands permits or even town specific requirements for wetlands. There is a wetland on my property on the NWI, but it is a few hundred feet behind my build site. Other towns get goofy on their own pet peeves-see Campton's super restrictive Class VI road building policy. I also wanted nothing to do with waterfront.
Every time I looked at a lot and I looked at dozens, I also dug into any applicable minutes for the town's boards. There were several long running tales of frustration like yours. A huge red flag for me as I'm neither smart nor patient enough to deal with that crap.
The earlier point about perc tests/test pits on raw land is hugely important. A problem you can run into on large sites is unless you KNOW where you are building/placing septic, and can access that location, your running a perc test on it is simply a feel good notion and reassurance that "yes, I can find at least one place on the land that can be approved". The test pit/perc test must be where the septic system is and sometimes that is hard to access in the second most forested state in the nation. Obviosly there is nothing stopping a buyer from making the purchase contingent about passing perc, but the buyer should have a builder to assess the site and dirt work company lined up ready to do that quickly. That is hard to do right now.
I took a risk and skipped the tests. The parcel was covered in snow when I bought it, I didn't have a builder lined up yet, and knew that any company able to do testing would be a months out wait. I looked at the parcel while guestimating my build site/septic location. I looked at the USDA soils analysis for that site and noted that there was several recent builds in the general area which had similar. I also went with the assumption that SOMEWHERE on this 39 acre parcel I could find a place that worked. My final assumption was that if I couldn't find an ideal place for traditional septic, there are alternate systems available. I may have to donate one or both my lungs to make it work, but they are out there.
I've been lucky so far. Despite my town's recent bent towards NIMBYism, I have all town related permissions knocked out. Of course the town has maybe six employees, so the small town informal workings helped. I should get the septic permissions from the state by the spring as we're doing test pits before the snow hits.
I finally walked the boundary yesterday and found all of the survey markers/put them in as waypoints in my GPS. This will make my construction of the LUCT packet a bit easier. The land is already in current use, so I just have to take the appropriate chunk out of CU before the foundation goes in. On the survey i got with the land, there was a note of "axle found" on the back boundary line. I expected it to be an old car axle or junk. Nope-typical New England never throwing anything out. Need a fence post-have a busted wagon axle-voila, instant fence post.
*None of my above wallotext is professional or even amateur opinion. Just that of a retired artilleryman who has been nerding out on this for awhile.
snax
NES Member
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Yes, on the soils perc, all the soil charts are online, top soil type and what is underneath is most important. Ask any civil engineer in your area of interest, they will know off the top of the of their head what that area will perc at. You can even call Hazen drive and ask, they know too.
Yes, site planning, driveway permit, driveway(key point, scrape all the way down to hard pan), foundation/french drains/septic/well placement, electric hook up. One key element, for seasonal high water line is dig a hole and look for the iron rust line , this shows how high the water has been, and make your plans from there. My rust line was approx 4 feet down, and I dug the standard depth of 6 feet down, Had a good brake out point for drains, and it works great, cellar is and always has been dry as a bone.
One important issue, is if buying raw land, you need to know this information, when looking at any land. This includes reading the land , its topo, and how the water sheds during worst case conditions, such as , snow melt in March / April, and a 2 inch an hour rain storm flood. The leaves and vegetation show these things. How to find water for a dug well, placement.
Yes, site planning, driveway permit, driveway(key point, scrape all the way down to hard pan), foundation/french drains/septic/well placement, electric hook up. One key element, for seasonal high water line is dig a hole and look for the iron rust line , this shows how high the water has been, and make your plans from there. My rust line was approx 4 feet down, and I dug the standard depth of 6 feet down, Had a good brake out point for drains, and it works great, cellar is and always has been dry as a bone.
One important issue, is if buying raw land, you need to know this information, when looking at any land. This includes reading the land , its topo, and how the water sheds during worst case conditions, such as , snow melt in March / April, and a 2 inch an hour rain storm flood. The leaves and vegetation show these things. How to find water for a dug well, placement.
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Yeah, the snow melt is going to be my big one. Depending on how the land is graded, I'm already anticipating the need for a long french drain to take snowmelt away from the driveway and then downhill of the house.
I luckily won't get road runoff due to the berm, but there is enough slightly uphill acreage on my property to make the melt a big deal. The property kinda of runs from 1150' down to 975'.
The real key to getting my permits approved was becoming friends with the local neighbors, before filing the permits. Every time I went to town hall for a public hearing, my new neighbors - local farming families since the early 1800's - were there to support me, and argue on my behalf. That made all the difference, especially considering that I was a newbie from the dreaded Commonwealth.
One other unexpected hiccup: if you disturb more than 1 acre of soil (which my driveway excavation easily did), that triggers a federal EPA review, which in turn triggered an archeological survey. Although it's my private driveway, it was long enough that the town required posting a ridiculously expensive "road construction bond" (sadly, it didn't result in a personalized street sign). In hindsight, I owned the land for a few years before starting to build, and I should have "improved" the existing logging road , in advance of filing the building permit.
Has o be more thsn10 acres, and some towns will fight you. We have 12 acres and expect a fight as to whether there is 10 acres unimproved.
There’s a commission looking at helping get broadband internet into small towns. May not matter to people from away but the locals want their kids to have ready access and many local small businesses can’t compete without reliable access. Our electricity provider, NHEC, is looking at establishing service, which made the largely-useless regional provider (Continental) start moving, but right now the only access we have is via a mobile hot spot, not particularly reliable or fast.
Property taxes are no joke and can vary significantly from town to town. There are a few unincorporated areas with low RE taxes. The rate can vary a lot from year to year as small towns have small tax bases.
If you are looking at building or improving, don’t forget the labor and supply shortages are just as acute as the flatlands, if not worse. Our local contractor doesn’t even answer the phone anymore.
Pay attention to where medical facilities are located. Some of the regional facilities are lousy and may be difficult to get to.
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Don’t know where you live but the locals here DGAF. If you pay your bills, you’re in line ahead of plenty of the woodchucks*. The people who make these comments are always immigrants themselves.
When we closed on our place, we asked the real estate agent “You going to make fun of the new people from Boston, once we leave?”
She did not hesitate: “Lord, no! There’s a long list of locals ahead of you!”
* Friend of mine is in the House. Party affiliation aside, you are either a “Flatlander”or a “Woodchuck.”
Luckily it is nicely marked with flagging and stakes(either rebar or pipe). The property is mercifully rectagularish with the left and right being stone walls and the front being the road. The only vague part is the back and that loosely lines up with power lines and a small development. There are a couple real minor angle changes, that are well marked too. Kind of lucked out on this parcel for the simplicity of it.
Speaking of those power lines, I own maybe a quarter acre of them. Finding the stake was NOT easy. Had to go back to the woods and line up the flagging to find it.
Some towns get wierded out when you try to go too far off a Class V road. Most of their reasoning is for emergency services and the long time in the future potenital of them having to take over maintenance for it. Others are cool and say where you live is on you.
I REALLY wanted to buy a parcel in Campton, but it was a good 1000' after the Class V road turned into Class VI. I would have to put approximately $100K into improving the road before I could even ask Campton for a driveway permit. I got a feel for their attitudes towards approvals/denials, and I backed away. If I had bought it, it would have also required a good 1000' rocky uphill driveway which probably should have been paved. Then you add the expense of running electric up there. Was too much of a risk for me.
A shame as it was a nice hilltop parcel with mountain views in a >270 degree arc.
We have properties in Lyman, Lisbon and Landaff and have been up there for weekends for a good part of the last 30 years. It has come a long way in that time and Littleton has really exploded. I would highly recommend the area, it has everything you could possibly need. I would look in the bedroom communities of Littleton like Dalton, Whitefield, Lyman, Lisbon and Landaff. Franconia, Sugar Hill, Bethlehem and Easton will likely be far outside of your price range and are much more touristy anyway.
Take this for what it's worth but I'm told the building project right next to the highway in Littleton is a Starbuck's. Doesn't bother me any and is a big plus for my wife but I know some here may take great offense.
Gratuitous glamor shot of my "slice of paradise" below from a month ago .
Take this for what it's worth but I'm told the building project right next to the highway in Littleton is a Starbuck's. Doesn't bother me any and is a big plus for my wife but I know some here may take great offense.
Gratuitous glamor shot of my "slice of paradise" below from a month ago .
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