According to The Washington Post, the latest in an ongoing series of research projects by Coldwell Banker Real Estate found that 71 percent of buyers in a sample of 1,250 American adults want a “move-in ready” house. The key figure here is that 57 percent of those buyers looking at older houses say they would consider the houses “updated,” (and more appealing) if they have smart-home features already in place.
In the same Washington Post article entitled “Buyers say they’re willing to pay extra for ‘smart’ homes,” 54 percent of home buyers say that if they had to choose between otherwise identical houses, one with smart technology, the other without, they’d buy the smart home. And 61% of millennials would favor smart-tech homes, as would 59 percent of parents with children in the home.
These findings essentially prove that equipping your home with “smart home” technology not only makes your everyday life easier and your home safer, it also increases the value of your property. The Post also referenced a “massive survey” of nearly 22,000 home shoppers done by John Burns Real Estate Consulting that found that “not only do prospective buyers rank smart technology high when they evaluate housing options, they’re also prepared to pay thousands of dollars for it.”
In fact, 65 percent of potential home buyers polled said they’d be willing to spend more for smart-home technology packages, and well over half would pay for interior and exterior security cameras and network-connected appliances.
This is great news for those looking to put their home on the market, especially those hoping to put an old home on the market. The best news out of all may very well be that 57 percent of those buyers looking at “older houses” would consider those houses “updated” and “more appealing” if they have smart-home features already in place.
Professionally installed home security and automation systems not only provide homeowners with added peace of mind, but they allow you to have complete control of your home from a smartphone or any other mobile device. Couple that with increasing the value of your home, and it seems like a no-brainer for anyone who may be looking to sell their home anytime in the near or far future.
While DIY home security systems have increased in popularity over the years, they’re not as reliable as a professionally installed security system is. With a professionally installed home automation system, you can put comfort and energy savings at your fingertips. You can also control lighting with vacation timers, dimmers and color schemes. If you realize that you forgot to turn off the living room lights before you left for work, you can easily switch the lights off remotely. On top of all that, you can view live feeds of your property and communicate with people at your front door from your phone by using two-way communication. You could even adjust the temperature of your home remotely with a professionally installed home automation system.
So, the question shouldn’t be “why should I invest in a home automation system?” but rather, “why wouldn’t I invest in a home automation system?” As a homeowners, the facts are in your favor.