Are You Savvy About Smart Homes?

Are You Smart Home Smart?

Let me start off by saying I am not particularly savvy about Smart Homes…yet. But I’m learning. How about you?

I was at the annual CRS meetings in Chicago a week ago and there was a lot of talk about Smart Homes. Not just the different features we are increasingly finding but also about the issues these homes increasingly raise for real estate professionals, as well as our buyer and seller clients.

There are more and more features all the time, it seems, that are part of being a Smart Home:

The HVAC system (e.g., a Nest Thermostat); lighting; security; appliances; window coverings; garage doors and front door locks; electronics (TVs, stereo); voice command devices like the Amazon Echo, Alexa, and Google Home; robot vacuums; Smart Meters for gas and electricity utilities; pools and spas; and the list goes on.

Ideally these features are all Internet- linked, and controllable by an app on your phone or via the computer, or by voice.

There is more and more online discussing Smart Home features and devices, as well as the issues of security and hacking. Someone potentially could hack into the system and open your garage door, as one example.  There are already courses for Realtors to learn about this technology (CRS is developing one such course with the help of CRT Labs) and no doubt we will hear more and more all the time.

Here are some informational handouts from CRT Labs to learn more about Smart Home technology, e.g., Smart locks, doorbells, leak detectors, lighting, speakers thermostats.

In terms of real estate transactions, Smart Home technology raises some interesting questions, and the need to changes certain practices about disclosures and conveyance. Here are some things to ponder:

1. What Smart Home devices in a home for sale should be disclosed as equipment in the home. A Nest thermostat? Home security? Electronics that might include a whole house audio system? Smart technology appliances?

2. How about the need to disclose the use of video and/or audio monitoring taking place during showings? What are the laws in your state governing this? What should be disclosed, how, and when (e.g., notice in the MLS? posted at the home?) What should buyers be told about talking about the home, etc. while touring?

4. What Smart Home technology/devices will convey with the home vs. devices that won’t (i.e., personal property).

5. What security is in place to protect the technology?

6. What about passwords for the Smart Home technology? Are there codes that need to be changed when the property sells?

7. How about a Smart Home Checklist for a seller?

8. What impact does Smart Home technology have on market value?

There was a humorous anecdote floating around at the conference about a seller who had a Smart Home and moved to a new Smart Home, and new owners moved in.

The seller neglected to change the settings on the original home and kept trying to change the thermostat settings on the heat in his new home. Problem was, he was changing the settings on the old home, raising the temperature thereby frustrating the new owners who kept trying to lower it.

You can, of course, imagine the things that could happen with all the different devices and features if passwords are not changed, and the prior owner still has access...not unlike not changing the locks on the doors when taking possession but perhaps more dangerous.

Like it or not, Smart Home technology is here and growing in leaps and bounds, and we need to be prepared in terms of understanding it, knowing what questions to ask, preparing sellers, educating buyers, and more.

Anyone have experience with Smart Homes and other issues to consider?

What Smart Home technology do you have at YOUR home?