A smart home is a home that can take care of itself when you’re not there, and that makes it a better choice for investing.
Since being smart is a good thing, it is becoming more common for homebuyers, real estate investors, and tenants to prefer smart homes over the good old-fashioned manually operated homes.
Home automation is becoming an inseparable part of every residential property due to its ability to make the lives of people living in a smart home much easier and giving them the ability to control different aspects of their home remotely or optimizing them for home automation.
So, what exactly is a smart home? And how can you use smart home devices and home automation to your advantage as a real estate investor? Let’s find out.
What Is a Smart Home and How Does It Work?
A smart home is a house that has been upgraded with tools, technologies, gadgets, and smart home devices that are used for home automation.
These smart home devices can play different roles in your home automation. Some of these smart home devices can be used to set the temperature of your home remotely, while other smart home devices can be used for security and surveillance.
No matter what use you find or what smart home devices you decide to get, home automation through smart home devices and technologies is becoming very common, and a large portion of residential properties in the US have been undergoing home automation upgrades in order to facilitate the lives of the home’s residents, or as perks and attractions to increase the value of a home and attract more tenants to it.
Smart home devices are generally devices and tools that can be controlled remotely using a smartphone or through smart home apps. On the basic level, any device in your home that uses electricity can be turned into a smart home device or programmed for home automation.
This is usually done through a technology that is commonly known as “the internet of things”, which is a phrase that is used to refer to objects and products that are interconnected through digital networks.
This means that, virtually, any electrical device in your home can be turned into a smart home device and/or optimized for home automation.
For example, you can program your coffee pot to brew a fresh pot of coffee for you every morning at 7 am before you even get out of bed. Or, you could use your smartphone in the morning to turn on the AC in the living room without having to get out of bed for it.
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How Can Smart Home Devices and Home Automation Be Used in an Investment Property?
Since the concept of a smart home and home automation is becoming more popular, and the smart home is expected to become the new standard in real estate, any real estate investor can expect to increase the value of his/her investment property exponentially by installing smart home devices in the property and optimizing it for home automation.
There are several uses for smart home devices that can substantially increase the value of an investment property, especially rental properties.
One of the main hassles of renting out your home to tenants is the responsibility of having to get the keys from the tenants or handing the key to new tenants upon turnover.
Using smart home devices and home automation technologies, a real estate investor could easily rid him/herself of this task by installing a smart lock on the rental property, allowing him/her to control who has access to the property remotely.
Additionally, there are several smart home devices that can add value to your investment property. For example, it is far more likely for someone to purchase your investment property or rent your rental property if it is fully equipped for home automation, as this would greatly improve the quality of life for anyone living in the property by allowing him/her to control most aspects of the home remotely using nothing but a smartphone.
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What Are the Best Smart Home Devices to Use in 2018?
With the increasing number of smart home devices and the rising popularity of home automation, it comes as no surprise that a large number of the greatest innovators and tech companies have been creating smart home devices for every need possible.
With a great variety of tools and gadgets, these are the best smart home devices to keep an eye on and consider using in your investment property in 2018:
Virtual Assistant
Amazon’s Echo is a virtual assistant that is used in smart homes and controlled by voice commands.
When installed in your smart home, the Echo device can be connected to other devices and will act as a HUB or a controller. Whenever you have a question or a demand, you can speak up with a clear voice and Echo will oblige.
Temperature Control
“Nest” is one of the new smart home devices that can be used to control the temperature of your home.
Whether you want to control the temperature of a room, or heat up the water while you’re on your way back from work, these smart home devices can be used to control the air and water temperatures of your home remotely.
Lighting
The Philips Hue Ambiance is a smart home device that can be used to control the lighting of your home.
These special smart light bulbs can be controlled remotely to adjust their level of lighting or the color of their light using a wireless bridge unit.
Other Smart Home Devices
These are only a few of the smart home devices that are available right now. There are several other types of devices, such as Nest Protect, which is a smart smoke alarm, or Elgato Eve Energy, which is a smart power switch.
Basically, whatever device or use that you would like to have in your home, there will probably be one to serve it out there, or there will be one that is currently being made.
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To Sum Up
Smart home devices are a new factor that needs to be taken into consideration in real estate investing.
An investment property’s value is increased by its installations, and most tenants or potential buyers might base their decisions about your investment property on the technologies and the level of home automation that your investment property has.
Installing smarthome devices and optimizing your investment property for home automation can be a sure way to greatly increase your chances of selling the investment property or renting it out to tenants, which can effectively increase the profit that you can make.
Finally, if you’re interested in new technologies and innovations and their use in real estate investing, make sure to check out Mashvisor, an online platform that was designed to help real estate investors with several aspects of their investments in order for them to make the optimal investment decisions and find the best investment properties anywhere in the US.