Smart Technology Invades Homebuyers Privacy
Installing and utilizing smart technology in your home can provide many benefits in the long- and short-terms. Residential life not only becomes more convenient, comforting, and manageable—it’s more affordable too.
The upfront cost could be too prohibitive for some. But with lease programs and other payment plans available through some service providers and product manufacturers, smart technology is an intelligent way to enhance your life.
Homeowners and Buyers Use Smart Technology to Raise Investment Value
Connecting your world through a single mobile hub is the centricity of owning smart technology and utilizing the software in home ownership.
Current homeowners have found that adding these technologies in their house, townhome, condo or loft will bring more enjoyment to their day-to-day, putting control and peace-of-mind in hand at the touch of a button.
Benefits of Smart Technology in the Home
As life changes, whether we want it to or not, our needs change as well. For example, remote workers who set up an office at home will dictate different energy requirements than a home left vacant for most of the day. I mean why would you want to pay for electricity use that you didn’t really need?
Smart technology allows you to maximize efficiency.
Here are some of the ways it can improve your residential world no matter where you are:
Set, modify, and manage HVAC thermostat
Turn on and turn off lights, ceiling fans, electronics, appliances, watering systems and more
Automates window coverings
Heat or cool floors
Create in-home notifications of water leaks, smoke detection, or unexpected guests (Samsung SmartThings Sensors)
Secure and check property access points such as gates, doors, windows, garages, alarm systems
Coordinate and monitor product deliveries
Keep an eye on aging parents, children, and pets
Insurance companies will also cut the rate of coverage when a homeowner has a smart technology system in place because it helps minimize the risk of property loss and injury in the home.
The monetary accolades are something to boast about. According to a 2012 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study, participants who used smart technology for their thermostat resulted in an energy bill savings of 10 to 30 percent.
And just as you see value in smart technology as a homeowner, the benefits can be passed down to the buyers who purchase your home in the future.
It is in the transition of going from seller to buyer that may have you looking at smart technology differently.
Here’s why.
Smart Technology Makes the Seller All the Wiser
Back to the original thought here… modern conveniences in the home are great until they turn on you.
Let’s say that you are scheduled to view a home this afternoon. As you enter, you wander from room to room, making observations about the layout, flow, décor, and overall functionality. Most likely, you don’t do this in silence. And there’s the tipping point.
Why Mum’s the Word
While you’re pining over the midnight-blue, leatherette-granite, floor-to-ceiling, fireplace accent, someone’s watching and can hear everything you say.
Smart technology allows the homeowner to peek in on your coveted conversations during property showings. While this can be invasive to your privacy, it is allowable with visible notification that there are audio technologies active in the home. Alexa’s always listening…
Insults get you nowhere.
Nothing can set Sellers off more than to hear buyers’ opinions and judgments about personal property or their choice in flooring, level of cleanliness (maybe lack of) or workmanship of home updates.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The exuberance you get when finding that right home is hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it yourself. It’s hard to tone down that kind of joy. It’s easy to see by the smile on your face, maybe even a happy dance in the living room. Add an “Oh my Gawd, I have to have it!” and your real estate agent will know that the next steps are likely going to be drafting an offer to purchase.
Hold on. With smart technology, there’s a good chance that the Seller has witnessed your jubilation and heard your conviction.
Puts the Kabosh on Negotiation Power
Now that the Sellers know how you really feel about the property, good luck getting an edge on the purchase offer. Smart technology is an extra set of eyes, ears, and a voice for the Seller.
Here’s how to get back your control during the property showing process:
Make a pact with yourself and anyone you are viewing homes with to,
Maintain composure
Speak softly from the moment you move towards the home (well before reaching the front door)
Share opinions after you exit the property and are in your own vehicle
Put on your best poker face
Remember that Smart Technology benefits the property owner, not buyer, until the transfer of ownership occurs
Know the Rules of Smart Technology and Listing Your Home
In the realm of disclosure, which is an important element (more like the Holy Grail) of real estate transactions, it is always better to err on the side of transparency than not.
As with the case of smart technology in a home, a property owner has every right to monitor the activities that go on within their home, when they are there on the premises or away.
When a homeowner grants property access to their listing agent, buyer agents and brokers, as well as prospective buyers, their right to maintain security and safety within does not change. Although it may seem as though smart technology invades buyers’ privacy, it isn’t that simple.
Those who enter the premises have a right to know whether there is active video and/or audio surveillance during the time they are viewing the property. However, without a visible notification posted on the property entrance, exterior and interior, disclosure from Sellers to Buyers is compromised.