The Boston area real estate market contains a relatively tight supply of homes for sale. During market conditions in which demand exceeds supply, you’d ordinarily assume that the chances of selling your home would be pretty good. However, homeowners selling older or outdated homes are finding it a little more difficult to sell. To combat this, smart sellers are turning to smart technology to attract prospective buyers. Although we never work for sellers or list property for sale, and always represent home buyers only, we know and can recommend the very best listing agents anywhere to help you with selling your home. This article will examine some of the smart home technology available in the Boston area real estate market.
Making Boston Area Real Estate Smarter
Selling your home is a competitive undertaking. No matter whether you’re in a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, the homes that get the most attention are the ones that offer the newest, most up-to-date features. If you’re over the age of, say, 50 you may remember how “cool” it was for the new refrigerator in your home to have a built-in ice-maker. How about a two-car garage with an automatic door opener? Even homes equipped with motion-detector floodlights were considered “in” just a couple of decades ago. That’s why some sellers are electing to ramp up their homes with a little hi-tech to garner attention. They want to show prospective purchasers that their homes are a little more “state-of-the-art” than some homes in the same age range or price range.
According to a survey published in January by Harris Polls for a nationally-known real estate firm, roughly half of all American homeowners either enjoy some type of smart home technology or have plans to invest in it during the remainder of the year. In addition, 70% of survey respondents said they were so satisfied with the purchase or installation of their first smart home product that they were likely to purchase another one.
One of the popular misconceptions about smart home technology is that retrofitting an out-of-date home is too difficult a task or too costly. The truth is, one of the attractive features of some of the technology is the ease of installation and the comparatively affordable cost. More than 50% of current homeowners agreed they would probably install smart home technology because they felt it would help sell their home quicker. To quantify that response in a dollar amount, 65% of respondents surveyed said they would likely pay $1,500 or more to bring their home into the 21st Century. Experts say most homes won’t require that much of a smart home investment.
Real estate professionals say a few hundred dollars is enough to add enough smart home technology to make a difference. Citing the gradual lowering of the prices of some of the technology over the past few years, they say it’s easily affordable for most sellers interested in positioning their homes for sale. Items such as smart door locks or security cameras can be purchased for less than $500. And smart thermostats are popular with buyers that like the “set it and forget it” advantages of saving energy – and money. More complete home automation systems can be a little pricey, but often pays for itself because of the attractiveness to a potential buyer.
Smart home technology experts in the Boston area real estate market suggest these five areas as “smart home starters:”
- A strong Internet connection and Wi-Fi network
- A smart doorbell • Smart door locks
- Smart climate controls
- Smart lighting and lighting controls
Smart technology is no stranger to newer homes and newly built homes. Now, as a result, homeowners choosing to include it into existing homes is becoming increasingly popular, both for the convenience of their owners and in an effort to provide an advantage when the time comes to sell.
Surprisingly, the rate of older American homeowners acquiring some type of smart home technology outpaces younger owners. Forty percent of homeowners aged 65 or older who own smart home products also have smart climate control technology. Comparatively, only 25% of millennials (aged 18-34) have those products.
Real estate agents remind sellers that buying a home is very much an emotional decision. If prospective buyers are able to “connect with the house” through various features that help make the home stand out above the rest, they are more likely to move it to the top of their short list. Smart technology can – and does – give the buyer the impression that the house is modern and is likely well-maintained.
See more articles pertaining to Boston area real estate in the Boston area Real Estate section of our site below Boston area Real Estate Categories in the column to your right. As always, you can find information here on a variety of topics ranging from home buying and home selling tips to home improvements, home inspections, mortgage financing, homeowner’s insurance and of course, all the latest Boston area real estate news that affects all of these categories.
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