Smart home technology has been around for a little while now. But, it’s still fairly uncommon in the overall world of real estate and even in luxury homes.
About half of U.S. homes will be considered “smart homes” in some form by 2022. This may seem like a big number, but when you think about how most of us already have a full suite of technology products at our disposal. How come we haven’t added our homes to the arsenal?
If you haven’t already adopted smart home technology as a luxury homeowner. Then you’re missing out on a lot of potential value and convenience.
In this article, we’ll go over the reasons why you should upgrade your luxury home into a luxury smart home and the value you can drive if you decide to sell at some point.
What is a Smart Home?
Just so we’re on the same page, a smart home is a home powered by a suite of devices that are controlled by a central technological network.
That’s a mouthful.
It essentially means that the house is hooked up with all kinds of technology tools that allow you to control features like air temperature, lights, security systems, and more from your phone or a special remote.
That’s a little bit easier to understand.
Why You Should Upgrade or Buy a Smart Home?
Convenience
We as human beings always seek an easier way of doing things. A way to make our lifestyles smooth and automated. It explains much of our history.
Owning a smart home fulfills our lifestyle goals.
There are many abilities smart technology can offer. If it’s an exceptionally cold day outside, tell your house to turn on the heat so that by the time you get home ten minutes later, you enter a defrosted sanctuary.
Forgot to turn off the lights upstairs but don’t want to make the trek again? Turn them off via iPhone.
Want to see inside your refrigerator while you’re at the store because you failed to make a grocery list (again). Turn on a live camera inside the fridge to see what’s missing.
You get the point. It fills the simple gaps in life that we as people need.
Better Safety and Security
Being a luxury homeowner, you’re very aware of the threats that you could possibly face. You probably already have security systems enabled, but wouldn’t you want them to be enhanced?
Of course, you do! And that’s why you’re going to order a smart home system right now! Because you want the best for your home!
But seriously, smart home technology in terms of security is second to none. You can get auto-lock systems, live camera displays right on your phone, motion detection, and all kinds of wild things that scare off the crooks.
Apart from fighting off burglaries, smart home systems can also detect fire, carbon monoxide, dangerous levels of radon, and more.
If security and safety are qualities you value (I would hope everyone does) then you should be installing at a minimum, a smart security system for your luxury home.
Incredibly Cost-Efficient
According to a Coldwell Banker study on smart homes, 45% of homeowners said they saved an average of $1,100 annually on energy costs due to smart home systems.
That’s an amazing number, and I’m sure you’ve seen the absurd numbers you can log on your utility bill every month.
Luxury homes, despite being well designed and built for sustainability, can still use and waste a lot of energy. Lighting alone can be costly, especially if you don’t have an open floor plan and large windows that utilize natural light during the day.
Smart home systems can reduce energy consumption by automatically turning off lights in rooms that are unoccupied, adjusting the thermostat based on the number of bodies currently in the household, and more.
Help maintain your luxury lifestyle by saving money where you can. This is a no-brainer.
The Value It Will Create
Because smart homes are a somewhat rare commodity still. If you’re putting your home up for sale anytime soon, you have something to offer that many others can’t.
But how much can you get out of a luxury home powered by smart technology?
Consumer Reports estimates that you can drive resale value up 5% by investing in smart technology. If you plan on listing your luxury home for $1 million. That’s a $50,000 increase if you turn it into a luxury smart home.
But how much will it cost to install you ask?
HomeAdvisor suggests that the high-end cost of installation would run you roughly $3,000. I don’t know about you but any $3,000 investment that translates to $50,000 is worth it.
HomeAdvisor also has a free tool that allows you to look up the cost of a smart home system installation at your specific address here.
Create value where you can and upgrade to a smart home.
What Are You Waiting For?
You should be reaping the benefits of owning a luxury smart home. I would also suggest outfitting your home with smart technology before putting it on the market.
Any extra selling point will help your broker and plus, you drive up market value with the added uniqueness.
If you don’t have an agent and need to know what to look for in a luxury real estate broker, I wrote an article about that here.
