Are you considering adding smart home technology to your life but aren’t sure what your best choices are? There are many options available these days, and making the right selections can be overwhelming. If selling your property is on the horizon, not knowing how that weighs into the process can be part of the conundrum. Here is important advice from McT Real Estate Group so you can make informed decisions about automating your home.
Budgeting and ROI
When it comes to selecting automated home gadgets, ensuring your investment pays off is one piece of the puzzle. As Kim Komando points out, many smart home upgrades are available, but some are more apt to help with selling a house than others:
- Smart thermostats are particularly attractive to buyers, offering the convenience of altering your home’s temperature when you’re away, as well as learning your habits and making adjustments to keep you comfortable. In this way, they cut energy use and, in turn, lower utility bills. Some integrate with other devices, such as household appliances, which can provide added energy savings.
- Smart locks are another good choice for homeowners, especially if they want a good return on their investment. They provide peace of mind, as well as convenience and security. In order to keep costs down, one recommendation is to install a single smart lock at your main point of entry and stick with traditional locks on the other doors.
- Smart doorbells are another appealing option, and as Digital Trends notes, they can make your property stand out from others on the housing market. Smart doorbells are a boon to home security and range in features somewhat with video and/or audio capability, alerts when someone is at your door, and real-time and recorded feed.
Keeping things simple
When researching tech choices for your home, keep in mind the complexity of the systems you’re considering. If you’re preparing a home for the housing market, it’s important to select options that are reasonably intuitive or you can scare off potential home buyers. There is also a great deal of fragmentation in the market, meaning the variety of options is so broad some of the best details can be lost in the shuffle.
If several devices are used in a single home, a hub within the home might not be able to mesh the various options effectively if they come from different manufacturers. In this way, sticking with major manufacturers and ensuring the gadgets can be integrated can make the most of your purchases. You might want to check recent reviews on various smart home equipment to see which products fared well in lab tests and which ones integrated well together. When it comes time to buy or sell a property, a checklist can help you prepare for the transition and organize your thoughts.
Hitting the market
When buying or selling a home with smart technology in place, there are a few things to keep in mind. USA Today explains if you don’t make the ownership transition properly, there can be inconveniences, or even security concerns, for both buyers and sellers. Resetting devices to their factory settings is vital. Otherwise, all sorts of issues can occur, from someone else controlling your home’s heating and cooling system to strangers being able to see you through your security cameras. It’s important to get the ownership transferred at each manufacturer’s support level along with any existing warranties. Also, ensure remote access, privacy, permissions, and data sharing are updated.
In addition, it’s important to become familiar with the market when deciding which improvements are best for you. Research trends and what is selling locally to help make informed choices. Furthermore, make sure to adapt your home-buying and/or selling efforts to accommodate pandemic restrictions and concerns.
Investing in smart home technology can feel pretty complicated. Select products which offer a good ROI and work together well and ensure you make your transition carefully. With these simple strategies, you can make informed decisions about buying or selling an automated home. Let the McT Real Estate Group help you navigate the process. Contact Mary at 619-736-7003 today.