8 Smart Home Technologies that Home Buyers are Looking for

The proliferation of technology is not only changing the way Americans live, it’s also changing their tastes and expectations when shopping for real estate. As smart home technologies and appliances are becoming more mainstream within homes, it’s important to understand how this growing trend impacts you as a home seller. A recent study performed by Coldwell Banker shows that 64% of Realtors® surveyed agreed that buyers today are more interested in homes with smart features compared to two to five years ago. On top of that, 33% of Realtors® noted that homes with smart technologies sell faster than those without them. What’s interesting is that the generation showing the most interest in smart home features is the Gen X group (ages 35 – 49) with 57% of them saying that it’s a desired feature in homes these days. So get ready for some home upgrades because here are the 10 smart home technologies that every home buyer is looking for.

 

 

 

Imagine the feeling of never having to scramble for your keys or lose them ever again. With smart locks, you can control access to your home with just a click of a button on your smartphone. Need to let your babysitter, neighbor, or relative into your home while you’re at work? You can give them access to a specified door for a designated time on your smartphone. Smart locks are a dream come true for any home buyer because it provides safety and convenience at all times. If you’re interested in installing a smart lock, a few interesting options are Goji Access or Kwikset Kevo Smart Locks. Goji Access will even send photos of whoever rings your front door straight to your smartphone.

 

 

 

The Nest Thermostat does away with all that button-pushing you have to do with programmable thermostats by automatically programming itself. The thermostat learns your temperature preferences and routines, turning itself down when you leave the house and prepping your place with warmth before you come home. The idea is to save energy and money without having to think about it. Tell a home buyer that your home comes with a Nest thermostat and watch their ears perk up.

 

 

 

Everyone wants to feel safe in their own home, which makes it worth it to invest in top-notch home security. A high-tech surveillance system is designed with incredible features such as continuous 720p video, crisp night vision, two-way audio, and powerful digital zoom. With a security monitoring system, a homeowner can see activity inside or outside the home and receive alerts when specific sounds and motions are detected. iSmartAlarm is an easy-to-install system that’s great for small homes or apartments. You can now make sure your family and belongings are safe at all times by protecting your home intelligently.

 

 

 

Although some people might think otherwise, we believe technologies that are integrated with your smartphone have greater curb appeal to home buyers. Smartphones are becoming the universal gadget that can control just about anything, even the lights in your home. With smart light technologies, you can control the lights, shades & temperature in a room all through an app on your smartphone. One such technology is Lutron Caseta Wireless if you’re looking for smart lights because it’s an easy DIY system that’s also very affordable.

 

 

 

Many of us live busy lives and can use the reassurance of knowing that our home is protected at all times. And although it’s not every day that a house catches on fire, it’s better to be prepared in the case of an emergency. The makers of the Nest thermostat released a second smart home device, the Nest Protect. The Nest Protect is a combination smoke detector and carbon monoxide alarm. It talks before it starts screeching, a handy feature for those mornings when you’d rather not wake the whole household just because you burned your toast. It also connects to your phone so you can track battery life and get alarms when you aren’t home.

 

 

 

These days we are seeing a growing demand for smart fridges with tablet interfaces for monitoring the fridge’s contents. Both LG and Samsung offer refrigerators that go beyond cooling food. These smart fridges come equipped with a tablet computer in the door, so you can make notes, track your fridges’ contents and check the news and weather while standing in your kitchen. If you spring for a smart oven, too, you can even choose recipes on your fridge and signal the oven to start preheating, because a roast is coming its way.

 

 

 

We’ve all heard about how Roku changed the television game by allowing people to stream online movies & shows right on their TV. Well, they recently released a comprehensive smart TV known as TCL Roku TV that has an easy-to-use interface that gives you a selection of more than 2,000 streaming channels. It’s a favorite amongst most because of its price and features. You’ll never complain about not having anything to do with the number of TV channels this gadget has to offer.

 

 

 

If you think about it, you spend about a third of the day of your sleeping, so why not invest in a gadget that’ll allow you to have a good night’s sleep without any interruptions? The Sleep Number bed tracks your heart rate, breathing, snoring, and movement while recording your ambient environment, including noise and temperature. It’ll then adjust its settings to prevent any distractions from getting in the way of your beauty rest. It also responds to commands through a voice-activated remote, allowing you to stay in control without having to get out of bed. The best command of all? Stop snoring! If your bedmate is sawing logs, you can activate the bed’s anti-snoring feature to gently raise the head of your partner’s half of the bed.