From Massachusetts to Lake Life: How We Found the Right Fit in Harrisville, NH
From Massachusetts to Lake Life: How We Found the Right Fit in Harrisville, NH
My clients weren't necessarily looking for a house in Harrisville.
They were looking for a different way of living.
They were relocating from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and wanted a slower pace, more time outside, and easy access to the things they actually wanted to spend their weekends doing: hiking, kayaking, paddleboarding, and being on the water.
They also needed to stay within a reasonable commute of their daughter's school.
So before we could figure out which house to buy, we had to figure out where their life actually worked.
Finding the right town came first
We considered and toured multiple towns in the Monadnock Region rather than limiting the search to one ZIP code from the beginning.
Eventually, Harrisville emerged as the best fit.
It gave them the manageable school commute they needed while delivering much more of the New Hampshire lifestyle they were moving for: a small-town setting, access to the outdoors, and the possibility of living on or near the water.
Once we knew Harrisville worked, the home search became much more focused.
Then came a very specific wish list
They weren't looking for just any house.
They wanted:
Move-in-ready condition
Water access
Water views
A reasonable commute to school
A location that supported the outdoor lifestyle they wanted
That combination narrowed an already limited inventory considerably.
And that's an important part of relocating to New Hampshire: sometimes the more specific your lifestyle goals become, the fewer properties will actually fit.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. It just means you need to know which compromises you're willing to make—and be prepared when the house that checks the important boxes finally appears.
When the right house appeared, we were ready
Because we'd already done the work of figuring out the location and priorities, we didn't have to start debating whether Harrisville was right when a strong property came on the market.
We could focus on the house itself.
We moved quickly and put together a competitive offer while still protecting the buyers with their inspection contingencies.
The property ultimately appraised above the contract price, giving my clients additional confidence that we'd struck the right balance between writing an offer strong enough to win and not simply overpaying to get the house.
There was another moving piece: their Massachusetts sale
At the same time we were buying in New Hampshire, my clients were selling their home in Massachusetts.
That meant this wasn't really one transaction. It was two transactions in two states that needed to function like one.
I stayed in close communication with their Massachusetts agent so we could coordinate timelines, anticipate potential issues, and make sure a delay on one side didn't unnecessarily derail the other.
It's one of the less glamorous parts of relocation, but it's also one of the places where having experienced agents on both sides of the move matters most.
The result: a summer on the lake before their new life began
We closed before the start of the new school year, giving the family the summer to settle into Harrisville—and actually enjoy the lifestyle they'd made the move for.
More time outside. More time on the water. And a home that worked with their everyday life rather than just looking good on a listing page.
And that's really the point.
A relocation search shouldn't start with, “Which house do you like?”
It should start with:
“What do you want your life to look like when you get here?”
The town, the property, and the strategy get much easier to figure out from there.
