Real Estate Sales: What does a basic smart house need to be attractive to buyers?

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This one is interesting, not because it’s HomeKit, but because of the use cases that they have included.

This is a national residential builder, and they have decided that for their townhouses, they are going to offer a HomeKit automation package as standard.

There are a couple of other builders offering HomeKit packages, but those are all upgrade options that the buyer pays extra for.

They’ve decided that The standard features will include:

Ubiquiti WiFi
Schlage lock (1)
Honeywell Thermostat (1)
Lutron Caseta switches in “select areas.”

And…that’s it. No sensors. No smart bulbs. No window coverings. No outlets. Big brand names with conventional-looking devices.

By my definition, this is definitely a “limited feature” set up. Very simple scheduling. No stacked conditionals. Devices that everybody knows and understands that are a little bit smarter.

By the way, one of the really interesting things about the decision to make the standard is it addresses the typical townhouse/condo issue with smart locks, which is that now every door looks the same again.

Also, the switches work like regular switches, the thermostat works like a regular thermostat. The lock works as a combination lock. All whether you set it up with HomeKit or not.

The thermostat and light could also work with echo, although they don’t mention that.

No security features, which is also interesting. I haven’t looked to see if the development has other security options built-in, they may because of the common space issue.

Of course if the individual customer wants to add more devices, they can – – there’s no installer code required and no monthly fees.

I just think it’s interesting in terms of what they included. It’s the first time I’ve seen a national offering real estate automation package which didn’t have cameras and security sensors. So in a sense this is a new phase for home automation in this niche.

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I’m curious to see how long it lasts. Lennar did something similar with Nexia. Here’s a YouTube video circa 2012 with what they included:

By the time we moved into our new Lennar home in 2015, they still included a Schlage z-wave door lock and Trane z-wave thermostat, but no more wall wart, camera, Nexia hub and free year of service. I got lucky and asked the sales agent about it and he happened to have a used Nexia hub laying around his office. That’s what got me hooked on home automation. I quickly outgrew Nexia and ended up here.

What’s funny is of the ~60 houses in our neighborhood, I think only ~5 of us even know that the lock and thermostat are “smart home” capable. Since they dropped the Nexia hub, they never thought to tell homeowners. The foreman only thought to tell me because he could sense my tech savyness from previous discussions :smirk:

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Four years is a long time in the microprocessor world. That said, I think they would offer only a rudimentary setup because they will be on the hook for support. I certainly would not want to have to minister to an entire development’s worth of battery-powered sensors.

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Thanks For Information Sharing.

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I’ve wondered about selling my house with all this gear in it. Someone might want the ST hub and the Lutron Caseta Hub. I’m not sure how I would hand them over. I guess it would be easiest for a new owner to buy there own hubs and then pair all the switches. Pairing is pretty easy with the Lutron stuff. . . . I think I could simply deregister the Ecobee from my account. . . . I’d just take all the wireless sensor tags and my cameras with me. I guess I’d have to make it clear that the Action Tile displays don’t come with the house. Hmmm.

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There are a couple of active threads on issues around selling a home with a SmartThings setup.

Use the quick browse list in the community – created wiki, and look in the project report section for the “selling a smart Home” list. :sunglasses:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section#Quick_Browse_Links_for_Project_Reports.2FQuestions

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Top of my head says a thermostat controlled from an app would help the client save money on electricity, while making them more comfortable.

Would think that goes a ways in retaining tenants.

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I lived for 25 years in a house built in 1790, then a year and a half ago moved into a newly-constructed house. I have some pretty strong thoughts about this, to the degree that if I knew then what I know now I would certainly have had a discussion with the builder or might have bought a different house.

  • Wiring - there should be ethernet at least to every room
  • Space - there should be a network closet or equivalent where the optical fiber internet enters the house
  • Power - there should be plenty of outlets; any counter space should have them even if no use is obvious. Same goes for toilet rooms.
  • Color - this is a biggie. Outlets and switches should be WHITE. My new house had light almond. Many smart switches and outlets are available only in white, leaving me many less options if I didn’t want to replace tons of dumb switches/outlets as well.

Without those things, it’s hard to build a smart system, and those are (except for color) likely things that would appeal to a majority of buyers who aren’t interest in smart homes.

It might make sense to put in good smart versions of things that are expensive to replace, such as exterior locks, thermostats (ecobee, higher-end Honeywell), garage door openers, and ceiling fans, in the first place. Ideally those would be controllable with either Z-wave/zigbee and a wifi app for people who just aren’t going to use a hub.

Apart from those, I think what you want to sell is possibilities rather than specifics. I have my own (strong) preferences that likely won’t match someone else’s. If a buyer is already familiar with this stuff they’ll probably bring a hub or want to set up their own. If not, you’re probably just asking for limitless phone calls. Maybe work out a deal with a local person/company that involves a credit that would cover a hub and a couple of dimmers to get interested buyers started but would waste less for disinterested ones.

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A decade ago I would have said “Ethernet to every room”. But WiFi is obviating the need for it. What I WOULD do with Ethernet is to run it (along with AC power) to every “far point” of the house, along with a few central points. That way, you or whomever purchases the home could put a wifi switch in any spot that serves them…. which might facilitate, for example, better backyard coverage. Or garage & driveway coverage (one of my cars updates its systems over Ethernet).