I was still actively listing and selling real estate in New Jersey about nine and a half years ago but thinking about retirement and where I wanted to be. I knew that I wanted to leave NJ, with the highest property taxes in the United States, but was not sure where I wanted to be. Initially I looked into Portsmouth New Hampshire because I like what I read about it and there was no state tax. I found a an agent I liked a lot and began refining my search. Portsmouth and Rye (a beach town in that area) were lovely but expensive. I stayed with it and even went to look at some things but it became clear that I wouldn't be able to afford anything that would suit me.
I then decided to explore the Berkshires in Massachusetts again, where I had spent numerous years attending Tanglewood concerts. Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony, and any number of popular artists appeared there too. I like the area a lot but visiting somewhere is often very different than living there.
I had looked there off and on for about ten years, but since it is a resort area the prices were just to high for me to handle, and any number of homes stayed on the market for years in the hopes that someone from outside the area would would want it enough to pay their inflated price eventually.
That said, there was still a strong pull and so I decided to look again. My first agent had already retired so I found one who had listed a home that I offered on years before but did not prevail. My new agent was different than I had experienced before: no nonsense and all business. She suited me and so my search began again.
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