Time to Get Smart about Move-In Ready

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Real Estate

If you’re thinking about selling your home, you’re likely thinking of ways to freshen it up before it goes on the market. Maybe a new coat of paint, some landscaping, perhaps even upgrading appliances and fixtures. But what about integrating smart home technology? 

Coldwell Banker just unveiled the results of a survey it conducted with Parks Associates, which found that 44 percent of people who want a move-in ready home said smart home technology should already be installed. Another 57 percent would consider an older home “updated” if it had smart home technology.

Smart home tech is permeating the market and becoming more mainstream. “We have entered a realm where home buyers are demanding smart homes. This is a shift from the previous thinking about what constitutes a move-in ready home. It’s a defining moment for real estate,” says Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

Smart homes are getting popular among just about every age group. If given a choice between two homes where one was smart and the other was not, more than half of survey respondents would opt for the smart home. And it’s not just Millennials who want a smart home (although 61 percent would choose the smart home). 52 percent of Gen Xers and 50 percent of boomers also agreed.