While a few years ago smart home features were considered a luxury for the wealthy, they’re now becoming a major consideration for homebuyers. In fact, a recent Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey found that two-thirds of real estate agents reported that buyers now expect smart home features when shopping for a home. According to Travis Gray, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, the trend of smart home features is growing among homebuyers.
The latest smart home technology allows homeowners to control various functions of their home, including lighting, garage doors, and climate control. You can also control your home entertainment systems, such as your television and stereo, by voice. Many of these features can be controlled by a smartphone or other smart device. Ultimately, these smart features can increase the value of your home. In addition to being convenient, smart homes are also energy efficient. You can even control these features with a voice assistant, such as Amazon’s Alexa.
Another important feature of a smart home is a mobile phone capability. Many people prefer to control their thermostat from their phones, and a mobile phone that can initiate an alarm is a great feature. Some systems also have the ability to activate a security system when it senses a break-in. This way, you can prevent burglars from breaking into your home. And if you’re a busy working professional, a smart home that lets you turn off lights, lock doors, and more is an ideal solution for your business.
Some homes are already equipped with automatic thermostats, which are programmable to control temperatures and turn off the heat at night or turn up the heat during the day. A newer category of smart thermostats connects to the Internet, and they learn when you’re at home or not. A programmable irrigation system is another common smart home feature. And you can even control the lights remotely and even schedule when you want to turn off the water or turn it off.
With an array of benefits, smart home technology is a great way to reduce the stress of caregiving. It can be easy to install and use, and some devices have even become voice-activated! Google Home and Amazon Echo are two popular smart home technologies that have voice control capabilities. The ability to interact with a device by voice, such as a computer or an Alexa, helps the caregiver do everything with a single voice command.
Using Bluetooth LE, smart home devices can be controlled remotely through one app or by using a voice-activated speaker. The technology also allows for remote control through an app, universal remote control, or smartphone. Geofencing enables smart home devices to detect when a user is near their home. And because of the newest technologies like GPS and RFID, they can be integrated into smart cities. There’s really no end to the possibilities.
