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What the Smart Home Trend Means for Real Estate Agents

How smart is your home? In just a few years, smart home technology has gone from a fantasy of the future to an evolving reality. The ability to control everything in your home, from lights, to security, to even the temperature of your refrigerator, has become as simple as turning on your smartphone.

What’s a Smart Home?

Coldwell Banker recently developed a clear definition of what classifies as a smart home. A smart home is: “A home that is equipped with network-connected products (aka "smart products," connected via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or similar protocols) for controlling, automating and optimizing functions such as temperature, lighting, security, safety or entertainment, either remotely by a phone, tablet, computer or a separate system within the home itself.” Home automation has been a dream for years, but it’s only with the rise of bluetooth, wi-fi, and mobile computers that things really started to take off. Today, there’s a growing trend for buyers to look at potential homes with an eye for smart home upgrades. Being up-to-date on the latest smart home technology and trends can give you an edge when talking to these clients, helping them see the smart home potential in their new property. Let’s take a look at some of the different aspects of a smart home and how they can improve your buyer’s lives:

Lighting

With smart light bulbs, you can dim, brighten, turn on, and turn off every light in your house, right from your phone. You don’t even have to be anywhere near your home to do it. You can also set up your system to change the lighting depending on the time of day and how dark it is outside. With some smart light bulbs, you can even change the color! This kind of system isn’t just cool, it can also save you money on your electric bill, as smart light bulbs tend to be energy efficient and you can preset them to turn off at particular times. If you leave the house and forget to turn off the lights, no worries. Just pull out your phone, hit a button, and your phone will shut them off remotely.

Temperature

Imagine being able to change the temperature in every room in your house, all from the couch. With smart home technology, you can. Smart thermostats can be programmed to be turned off at certain points of the day when no one is home. Imagine the cost savings! As soon as you walk into your home, the system will recognize you and instantly change to your ideal temperature, or you can set it to turn on before you arrive home so that you return to your ideal climate conditions. Smart thermostats can also read the temperature both outside and inside, adjusting to keep everyone in the home as comfortable as possible. If any adjustments are necessary, all you need to do is reach into your pocket for your phone.

Security

Smart security systems can really give homeowners peace of mind when they’re out of the house. Smart components can include webcams, smoke detectors, motion detectors, and automatic locks. Have you ever left your home but wondered later if you left the front door unlocked? That’s not a problem anymore. Just check your phone. It will tell you if the door is locked up tight and if it's not, just hit the button and *click*, your door will lock from miles away. Webcams can also play a huge role in security. If you’re on vacation and want to keep an eye on things, you can check your phone and see a live feed. You can also install a camera right in your door, so if anyone rings your bell, you can check who it is without even looking through a window.

Appliances

Remember when a universal remote used to mean that it controlled both the TV and the DVD player? Now, a universal remote (your phone) can control everything from your washing machine to your fridge! If your buyers are looking for some ideas on how they can incorporate smart home technology into their lives, you could suggest they buy a smart robot vacuum to keep the place tidy, a smart oven that they can turn on and monitor right from their phone, or a smart TV where they can watch whatever they like, whenever they like.

What Will They Think of Next?

Smart homes will keep advancing, with ever more innovative products revolutionizing the way that we live. As a real estate agent, it’s your job to help prospective buyers see the potential of a home and how they can make it their own. Having a working knowledge of smart home technology will show that you’re current and aware of the needs of modern home buyers.