Minimalist living is a Besting Trend, here’s a cool post from NewsDay.com:
“BY LAURA KOSS-FEDER | Special to Newsday
While The Hamptons will always be known for sprawling summer houses for the rich and famous, the more typical second home buyer on the South Fork is scaling back these days. Real estate agents say they don’t want large houses but smaller homes that are energy-efficient, but loaded with top-of-the-line extras.
“Showy is out,” says Franz Muster, master licensee and a partner with the Southampton office of Engel & Volkers, a Hamburg, Germany-based real estate firm with 340 locations worldwide. “There is more of an awareness of energy use and the costs of heating and cooling homes, and buyers are realizing that they don’t need all that space to have to maintain in a second home. But, at the same time, they want homes with everything, like nice bathrooms, updated kitchens, stereo systems, iPod stations.”
For instance, buyers now prefer 2,500- to 4,500-square-foot homes with maybe three or four bedrooms, versus the 7,000-square-foot or more homes with six or seven bedrooms that were more in demand five years ago, Muster notes.
“Buyers want smaller homes, but done to the nines - with a more modern look and feel,” says Michael Daly, principal-broker with Re/Max Beach Properties in Southampton and secretary ofThe Hamptons and North Fork Realtors Association. “They want homes that have lots of glass, great views and fully wired for everything - easier and less pricey to maintain and all ready for them when they move in.”
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