What’s the best place to dine or drink under the stars in your region?
Westfield has an award-winning downtown with an array of outdoor dining options. Every type of cuisine is available, from family-style Italian, and classic steakhouse, to Mexican and Japanese. If you're a member, there are private country clubs with beautiful patio dining options as well. In addition to our local options, we are only 22 miles from Manhattan, which has endless outdoor opportunities.
What "smart" (or high-tech) features do homebuyers covet the most?
Buyers are becoming more and more tech savvy in how they search for homes and now that mentality is becoming evident in the features that they looking for in their homes. Nest was instrumental in bringing some of the new tech features to the forefront. The ability to regulate your thermostat from anywhere in the world became a cool feature to have in 2014. Now through your local cable company and other sources, you can control lighting, plumbing, alarm systems... the sky's the limit. Video monitoring is also high on the list for young families with nannies or live-in help... this way they can see what's happening at home from anywhere on their smartphone/tablets or computers. For our snow birds, all of these features are becoming more and more in demand. They no longer need to rely on a neighbor or management company to watch their homes during the months that they are at their secondary residences. I feel like we are just at the beginning of what's to come and what buyers will start to expect in homes, especially on the upper end of the market.
