Buying a new house!

[CheerLiz]

Yippee!! My husband and I have made an offer on a new house, and we're so excited! We're waiting for the mortgage to go through and we've put our condo on the market, so it's just a waiting game now.

The reason I'm posting on "Healthy Living" is that I'm afraid my healthy habits are going to disappear soon. We'll be moving from a small city (where I get up at 4:30 am to work out at the 24-hour gym and my mega-huge grocery store is 5 minutes away) to a suburb where there is no gym, and the grocery store is a peanut-sized one where I can't even find my favorite Kashi cereal. Yikes! It's only 30 minutes away, but I'm starting to get nervous about this move. I feel like I'll be living in the wilderness...there are 100 acres of conservation land behind the house, and it's pretty isolated, comapratively.

So for those of you who have either bought or sold a house lately, or who have made a similar move, what sage advice can you give me that will help me stay sane over the next 2 months or so? We're buying an "almost-built" house -- we got to pick the cabinets flooring, lighting, etc, but the siding, etc. was already done when we fell in love with it.

ANY advice would be much appreciated. (And I love the new boards!)

Liz

:D

[SusanT]

I live in the midtown area of my city, which I love, but if I were to move to a less developed area I would do a lot more road biking. There's just too much traffic to really ride well. Also, since you have the conservation area, you could also get into trail walking/running.

I don't have any advice about keeping your sanity ;) but buying a new house is definately a good "problem" to have!

Good luck and contragulations on your new home!

[erinl]

Congrats on the new place! DH and I close on our new townhome July 31. Luckily, it's only 4 blocks away, so I can go to the same gym, etc. My advice...keep your normal gym schedule. Otherwise, the stress just builds until all you want to do is cry. Hmm..doesn't sound like I've been there, does it?! Are your current gym & grocery store convenient to work? Just use the peanut store for basics like milk and juice. Stock up on cereal when you are out and about.

Are you selling your old place with a realtor? We're trying to do ours FSBO. It's getting a little stressful, but it has only been a week and a half. We've had some people seem very interested, but no offers yet. :(

Oh well, patience. Good luck with everything!

Erin

[KValley]

Liz,

Congratulations! Our first (and so far, only) house purchase and subsequent sell were so exciting, scary- grand adventures. I can't wait to be homeowners again!

I wish I had great words of advice for you. I've made so many major moves in the past several years and each move, for whatever reason, brought me to a better health routine- an improved gym, a reason to try something new like yoga, running and -maybe it was the challenge of having to start over that knocked me over a plateau and pushed me towards new things.

But it was stressful getting adjusted, moving, settling in. Take it easy on yourself (which is difficult when you are accustomed to- addicted to! your workouts, I know!) and allow for time to acclimate and to create new routines.

Just got a call today from a local school district (the one DH has his heart set on)- an unofficial "just letting him know that we will have openings!" DH is in France, so I have to wait for him to call this weekend to tell him the encouraging news! I'll keep you posted :)

[Kristilyn1]

Well, I just did the opposite! I've always lived in the woods of NH--and we just moved to the world of mega grocery stores and bustle of RI, where everything is close!

The conservation land sounds great--I'm trying to guess what town...hmmmm, either Bedford or New Boston???? LOL.

Living in the sticks of NH is a challenge--but you get one benefit, outside exercise~ definitely plan on getting into something that is outside. Our last house in NH was in a state park--and it was great! Quiet in the winter and not too busy in the summer. The grocery store thing, that's the toughest to deal with. My only advice is to definitely plan ahead--buy extra and plan on stocking your freezer chock full. I think you will find the benefits of having quiet country living will outweigh the disadvantages of not having conveniences near by. I think you will be very surprised at how quickly you will adjust to your new quiet country estate--good luck! DEFINITELY plan on getting a radon test and if well water/ septic--on getting your water tested (including arsenic) and your septic tested. Not to be an alarmist, but these are all things that can be "fixed" but only if you know ahead of time.


Good luck with your new construction--that was what we did here in RI, and while the process drove me absolutely batty--it was well worth the hassle.

Kristi

[CheerLiz]

Kristilyn;
You're close -- we're moving from Manchester to Windham. Very similar to Bedford, but a bit closer to the MA border, since my DH spends a lot of time in Cambridge. Thanks for the advice, and I'll definitely remember the freezer thing!

KValley;
Good luck on the DH's job opportunities -- everything happens for a reason, right?? I hope he's having fun in France -- I can't beleive you let him go without YOU! :)

Erin;
You're right -- I have to keep my regular workout schedule, and I HAVE been slacking lately with all the stress. That's good advice, and I'm determined to get back on track this week. It's so hard -- I keep making excuses like, "I'm going to have to find a new gym anyway so why bother now..." but I know that 's all a bunch of bull.

Susan;
A bike ais a great idea -- I used to mountain bike a lot when I lived in a hilly area west of here, so I think I'll pull my bike out of storage and bring it in to get tuned up. The trails behind the house are perfect for that -- thanks so much for the suggestion!

I appreciate all your advice...thanks so much for your responses. I'm already feeling better about this whole thing!

Liz



:rolleyes: :D

[adb]

Congratulations on your new house, Liz!

Windham is quiet, but very beautiful. DH looked at a job in Windham when we moved back to NH last year, but we ended up in Nashua. I grew up in Goffstown/Manchester and it is nice to be closer to Boston. Nashua has pretty much everything you need and will be close depending on which side of Windham you're on!

We are getting ready to buy a house too in the next month or so. I was wondering if you used a real estate agent that you liked?

Thanks,

Amy

[Kristilyn1]

there is an awesome caterer/deli-type shop in Windham that you must try--of course I am COMPLETELY drawing a blank on the name though!!! Gourmet _______ and that's where it goes kaput. They have the best lasagna. The best chicken sandwiches with roasted red peppers. The cookies. The pasta salads......

Anyway it is in a small strip mall (one of the nicely styled ones) off of the main drag....Indian Rock Rd. (is that it?) Aren't I just offering you all kinds of advice you can use? It really is so good that I have to mention it even though I cannot seem to come up with a bit of useful information about it. It's a terrible thing to lose one's mind or to not have a mind.........

Kristi

[CheerLiz]

Amy;

Yes, I have THE most wonderful Realtor -- her name is Sue Karalis and her comany is Real Estate Results in Hudson. The phone #is 880-7070. She has been phenomenal -- she goes out of her way to make sure we know what's going on, she's available any day of the week, and she is one of the sweetest people I've ever met! Definitely give her a call -- and tell her Liz McGivern recommended her. I love her to death.

I work in Nashua, so I'll be doing the 111-commute every morning when we move in; it's closer to DHs job, but further for me. I love Nashua and wanted to move there, but DH works in Pelham and wanted to be closer to work, so I compromised. What a small world! :)

Kristi;

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about, but I, too, can't remember the name of it! I've never been there, but everyone recommends it to me...is it the kind of place where you can pick something up on the way home from work and warm it up for dinner? I really should just stop in and check it out.

Thanks to both of you -- I truly appreciate your time & comments!

Liz

[adb]

Thanks Liz!

I will give Sue a call as soon as we are ready to start looking seriously. I am waiting to finalize a new job so we need to strategize on commutes - definitely one of the challenges of this area!

If by any chance you are interested, several of us recently started a supper club in the area and would love to have others join. Right now there are about 8 of us and we are from between Lowell, MA and Raymond but most of us are in Nashua, Amherst or Windham. Our next meeting is Monday night in Raymond. Send me an email if you are interested either now or in the future.

Good luck with your move!

Amy

[LGBurns]

Just another thought on where you might be able to get food you're used to getting at your store--on line. I know several people have recommended several on line suppliers of natural, gourmet or ethnic foods. The three that come to mind right now are Ethnic Grocer, Epicurious and Natural Ovens (they make baked goods) but I know there are more.

Personally, I live about 30 minutes from a Trader Joe's but it is somewhat on the way to an appointment I have every Saturday so I stop in on Saturdays and stock up. Some kind of routine like that might be another alternative for you.

Congratulations on your new home!