Control4 Unveils New Smart Home Features
Control4 recently released its third Smart Home operating system, which has unlocked over 1,000 new features for an unrivaled and deeply personalized Smart Home experience. As WiPliance outlined in a recent article, features include an upgraded, more intuitive UI, media sessions that stream music and video around the home, a favorites section to save popular commands on each device, and advanced security, among others.
To be sure, Smart Home features are a source of convenience for homebuyers and it’s not much of a surprise that they are growing in popularity among homeowners. As I reported back in May, larger Smart Home technology can add value to your home. But do inexpensive, smart connected devices impact a home’s value or the perceived value of potential buyers? Inman undertook a series to look at how three smart connected features might make a difference, by installing Wi-Fi enabled lightbulbs, a Nest camera and a Google home.
At the end of the day, Inman called any difference these items might’ve made to a buyer, “negligible” at best. The piece that seemed to have the biggest potential was the TP-Link lightbulbs, because they afforded real estate agents a sense of ease while conducting showings with other agents and potential buyers. Beyond that, many of the interconnected devices such as the Nest camera or Google home were viewed as pieces that were likely going with the buyer when they moved out of the home.
If you’re considering implementing connections between the devices in your home, smaller investments should be made only if they add benefit to your daily life, and not because they might add value to a home. Larger investments such as appliances, finishes, etc. should be made in consultation with a contract and experienced residential real estate advisor.