Smart Moves With Smart Homes

Smart home technology has brought the future into the present, and has evolved almost exponentially in the past decade. As interest and innovation continue to grow, current and prospective homeowners must remain on the cutting edge of these developments in order to secure an optimal real estate experience. The need for continued awareness of this topic is slowly becoming more plain to agents and clients alike.

While smart home technology may seem ubiquitous in television and web advertisements, and developments are constantly celebrated and highlighted by those who produce them (with Amazon being one of the most salient contributors), more than half of REALTOR® clients are unfamiliar with what is available to them as buyers and homeowners in terms of this technology.

This lack of awareness represents an untapped information market, and in the twenty-first century, information is a powerful currency, and becomes even more valuable in the face of increasing demand. Almost half of REALTORS® stated that clients were interested in smart home technology. The disparity in these statistics means that although many clients remain uninformed, they want to learn. There is a high demand for this information, and providing it can increase client satisfaction, agent reputation, home value, and much more.

As an agent, you can be a resource to every type of residential client. For sellers, being apprised of smart home technology can have a major impact on everything from listings and showings to final closing prices. Technology can become a major accent piece in the advertisement of a property; if the technology already exists, sellers can be advised to update it to the most current iteration. This represents an investment with a high probability and rate of return, as smart technology installation can boost final closing prices by three to five percent.

Buyers, on the other hand, will be reassured by an agent who is well-versed not only in the available technologies, but why they are important. Safety and security represent top issues discussed by clients, and smart home technology plays an integral role in the sense and reality of safety. The technology has been developed for a reason: threats to one’s home and security have evolved along with the safety technology aimed at preventing them. This is one of the areas where clients are interested in remaining, and paying more to be, as up-to-date as possible.

The effect of smart home technology is also contagious. Of course, it increases the value of the home, which affects the property values of the entire neighborhood. More importantly, however, 81% of homeowners who currently employ this technology would be more willing to choose another smart home as their next residential purchase, and 91% would recommend it to others. And with nearly half of the millennial demographic already hooked on smart technology, these features invite the potential of even more investment in such homes in the coming years.

The effects of this culture will continue to build upon each other through the efforts of real estate agents. As the number of smart-homeowners increases, so will the number of future smart home buyers. As the demand increases, so will the advances in the technology. You as an agent have the unique opportunity to drive an emerging dynamic that will bolster home values, homeowner safety, and client confidence in engaging with a rapidly developing world.