While there may be no “right” time to do a smart house upgrade, there are definitely a few times in a homeowner’s life when they should consider adding that upgrade to their to-do list. Of course, there are plenty of smart home automation products that don’t require any major work and can be installed at any time, however, even those low maintenance products could benefit from being paired with some of the higher maintenance ones.
Here are a few times when it makes sense to upgrade to a smart home, if you can fit it into your budget:
Remodeling
If you’re doing a remodel – big or small – you should consider working in some of your more intense smart home integrations. Anything that would require new wiring or needing to get inside the walls might as well get added to your probably already long, and growing, and stressful to-do list. Thinking through what you want your smart home system to look like, all in, will help you plan out what needs to get done during construction, and what can get done afterward. That should help manage the stress of it all, at least a little. Things to consider adding during remodeling include smart lights, smart locks, and even building out shelving or nooks for your smart home assistant speakers and your smart home hubs.
Selling
Smart home appeal is the new curb appeal. OK, not really, but they are both important to today’s buyers. If you are doing any staging in the home you are trying to sell, you might want to consider including a budget to be used for basic smart home products, like a video doorbell and smart locks. These small additions can help modernize a home, and will be especially appealing to younger buyers. Smart home automation is getting harder to ignore, also, so having these products included already can help buyers feel like they are purchasing a turn-key home. Something as simple as a smart home product that costs under $200 could sway a buyer to purchase your home over another.
New Buy and Build
If you’re buying a brand new build, you should absolutely have your smart home plan worked out in advance, so that your home can be designed with that plan in mind. Your home builders can install your smart lights, wire properly, and bring everything together with some of the smaller interior architect decisions. There is no better time, and no better blank slate, to fully integrate all your biggest smart home dreams than during a new build. It might not be in the original build budget, but it will be less expensive in the long to do it now. Otherwise, you may have to knock out some wall panels to do your wiring later on. Why would you do that if you can install your wiring before the wall is even up?
Now that you’ve decided whether or not its time for the renovations, be sure to read our guide on an easy installation: Setting Up a Digital Smart Home Assistant.
