UK Nurse in MA??? (Boston, Worcester: apartment, rent, condo)

[mattpark19]

Hi Everyone,
My wife and myself are both nurses in Manchester, UK and are looking to move to the US, in particular New England - we were firlstly looking at Vermont but from what people have told us cost of living is a little on the high side although it is a beuatiful place. we have been recommended to look at MA as there are some good hospitals. My background is medical emergencies and my wife is a Neonatal Nurse.
We have a 3yr old girl and another on the way so somewhere good to bring up the kids is essential. We were hoping for more of a rural setting hence firstly looking at Vt but we have now realised we may have to compromise!
Our max buget for a home would be approx $200,000.

Has anyone (maybe even a nurse) got any advice on where we may be best suited??
All advice is greatly appreciated!!
Matt!!!!

[pondhopper]

I would check out Worcester, MA there are many hospitals there and you can easily commute from the suburbs which will have your rural feel, especially the further west you go.

[mattpark19]

Thanks pondhopper!
A few people have suggested west MA, is it more rural that way on?
Where are there, examples of west MA towns for me to research??

[Baltic_Celt]

Hey Matt -

Congrats on your soon-to-come new addition to your family! New Englanders are very fond of the Brits (most Americans are, in fact), so you'll find any area you choose to be home away from home, I'm sure.

I'm unsure why someone told you VT is expensive, but there are many lovely areas in VT, all with the country setting you'll both love. I suppose each state has it's financially out-of-reach places for the average working class, but with a 200K housing desire, you'll find most N.E. places suitable/comfortable. That's more than the majority of Americans can afford. Check out Montpelier, the capital (middle northern part of state) complete with cow crossings in the town square. I have a friend with a lovely home there with several bedrooms/bathrooms, which he bought for $80K. It's modest, but very nice & if he were inclined to paint/polyurethane, he could have a lovely B&B. It's also only a 3.5-hrs drive to Montreal, which would be a lovely weekend trip with the kids, although Montreal is very expensive. Also, Burlington is an option (northwest part of state) & is right on Lake Champlain where you might catch a glimpse of "Champ", our Lock Ness Monster. Lastly, Rutland (mid-state) & Brattleboro (south, right onver the MA/NH border) are other options. The latter may be more expensive as it's close to the MA border, but if you check out "realtor dot com" then you can find out housing costs first-hand. Check out "yahoo dot com" for the yellow pages to pull up hospitals in each area you research.

Also, have you considered New Hampshire? It's the state consistently given the highest quality of living/best place to raise families, due to clean air, low crime, low cost of living, low property taxes & no state income tax (there are only 4-5 U.S. states with that status). It's a low populated state, so everyplace could be considered "rural" to a city-dweller, even in Morrissey-ville Manchester! Check into Portsmouth (right on the Atlantic Ocean, bit higher property values, very artsy), Nashua (45-mi from Boston & many folks work in Boston), Derry/Concord/Manchester (50-80 mi from the MA border). You'd have no problem finding a $200K lovely house in NH.

MA is known as Tax-achusetts - extraordinarily high property values & city/state taxes. Where I live (near downtown Boston), a 600/square foot, 1b/1b condo is $350K+ minimum! Homes, at least $500K. Way out in western MA you may find lower values, but taxes are still high. Each year 10K people move into MA & 10K move out, because our cost of living is so high. Boston has some of the best hospitals in the world & although your salary will be high, so will a home, food, clothing & private schools. It's the most expensive American city, per capita. I can't help you with western MA, but I know the city & it's surrounding suburbs very well, should you have any questions. I will say, however, that Boston does have a population of Brits/Irish, should that be comforting to you. In fact, Starbucks in Boston (perhaps other stores?) takes British pounds, Irish punts & Francs, due to that high particular faction of tourists. You won't find rural here, obviously, but outlying suburbs do have trees/mountains/less congested parks/friendlier people/less crime. But, with the high cost of living/traffic, why live in MA when there are much more attractive options?

I suggest you pick up a copy of a "Rand McNally Road Atlas". You may purchase one online at "amazon dot com" for less than $20 & some folks ship internationally. It will show you the entire country, state by state & give you a great feel for all the regions/states. Also, a MUST is a wonderful book called "Places Rated Almanac", less than $2/used at the aforementioned site. The last version was in 2000 (but it's info is not obsolete), it is invaluable (I use it first thing, EVERY time I relocate) & gives the most useful breakdown of education (primary/secondary), climate, cost of living, recreation, the arts, transportation, jobs, crime, housing costs, population breakdown (race/religion/sex/age), health care (invaluable for you/your wife including how many hospitals/beds/physicians/teaching hospitals in each area & hospital names).

There's a start & best of luck with your research. Please keep us posted on your status... Baltic_Celt

[pondhopper]

Sterling MA, Sturbridge MA, most places just west of Worcester are rural and relatively inexpensive (relative to East of Worcester). I have to agree with the above poster, Vermont isn't that expensive and if you go to Newport Vt there is a large regional hospital that would love to have you all and the houses are VERY inexpensive and there is also a large lake; Montreal is 1 hr away, Boston, MA is 3 hours and Burlington, St. Johnsbury are 1 hour away (great nearby skiing too). For example I was looking at a piece of land last week in Newport 100 acres (yes that much land) with house (small house) that was on for $200,000. Also New Hampshire or Maine. Basically once you get out of commuting distance to Boston prices drop hugely (but you might be surprised how far out "commuting distance to Boston" is considered!).

[mattpark19]

Thanks Guys - Guess I've got a lot of research to do!!!
I suppose it all depends on the nursing agency which I have registered with over here, I think they predominantly work with Vt hospitals but do place RNs else where.
On a completely different subject - my other love in life is fishing, particularly Pike fishing (I think you guys call them Musky!). I understand some of the lakes around New England are packed with them. Does anyone outhere know much about the Musky fishing scene in New England???

[pondhopper]

Pike are mostly a northern fish and there are many in Vermont, NH, and some in MA. The northern lakes in VT are the best place to get 'em (lake Hosmer, Crystal, etc). I used to live in Northern Vermont (Craftsbury) moved to MA ('burb of Boston) and now live in Winchester UK. If you want details on any of the info let me know. (Cost of living in US is generally cheaper and VT has always been fairly low - I'm still confused on those who said it was expensive!)

I don't recall which post it was from but someone moving from UK was worried about establishing credit history - and ALL aspects of AMerican life is based on credit history! - so contact your bank and ask them for affiliations in the US and if they will transport your credit file! HSBC has that program for those relocating to foreign countries! Good Luck.

[mattpark19]

Thanks pondhopper!
It was actually on the Vt forum where someone told me about the high cost of living there - although saying that, if the pike fishings good then i'm there!!!!! Do you do a bit yourself?
Good advice about the banks by the way - I'm with the Halifax Bank, have been for quite some time so I will ask them about transferring my history

[pondhopper]

Did some pike fishing but more into brook trout, more scenic and lots of fun, lots of good rivers/brooks in Vermont. Best of luck. My uncle helped start the hospital up in Newport so thats why I know a bit about it and think the services you and your partner offer would be most welcome there - both highly sought after skills. I've moved a few Brits to the USA for my company there and they swear they'll never leave.

[winnie]

If you want to keep housing costs under 200K but still get a bigger house, I would look at Pelham, Sunderland, Athol, Chester, Cummington,and Orange, MA.
I really think that with the salary you would be making in MA (assuming you work FT and wife works PT) in the hospitals I already mentioned, that you could easily stretch your housing budget up to 300K and stil be comfortable. Especially if you look in some of the towns with cheaper taxes, or build your house and save $$$.

Many people like Otis, MA because it has fishing, jetskiing and is cheap. Only issue is there is low inventory of housing so you would have to buy land and have a house built. And it is a hike to Springfield - about an hour. But when you are working only 3 days a week....not so terrible.

And finally, I lived in Ware, about 35 minutes from Springfield. We had a big, beautiful community lake, we were across the road from the Quabbin (more fishing) and 300K would buy you a very nice newer home out there. Excellent schools too. Do a search on realtor.com and type in Belchertown and select nearby areas. Should give you a good idea as to what type of house you can afford.

MA has a lot of rivers and lakes. If you look up close on a map you will see. I just don't know what kind of fish they have LOL! But on our lake (beaver lake in ware) we had bald eagles flying around, crystal clean waters, and our own little slice of heaven. New England is stunning in the fall BTW! Nothing like riding down a quiet backroad looking at the stunning fall foliage. And the fruit stands and farmer markets out here cannot be beat. While you are up here, be sure to check out the butterfly conservatory - Magic Wings- up in Deerfield. It is a wonderful experience for kids.

If I might make a final suggestion..why not come over here and rent a nice apartment for 6-12 months??? I would suggest doing that and really getting to learn this area and what your quality of life is like, understand how things work in the states. In the meanwhile you could househunt, even build your own house and learn the roads and school districts and do all the little things you need to do to acclimate to an area. And if you decide that you do like VT or northern MA better, you are not stuck trying to sell a house or kicking yourself for moving too quickly.