Can Home Automation Really Add Value To Your Home?
Home automation installers and all their clever gadgets can certainly provide a much
more comfortable, practical and hassle-free home living environment - liberally sprinkled with lots more enjoyment and plenty of fun too, of course!But professional opinion has always been divided on the question of whether Home automation installers and their services can actually add value to your property at the same time.
Its fair to say that house prices in the UK have suffered a particularly bumpy ride over the past few years, and this has led many homeowners to try to discover new ways of staying put and increasing the value of their property at the same time.
Of course there are lots of tried and tested ways to make your home more desirable, and thereby worth more money when you come to sell it - adding an extension, converting the loft into extra bedrooms, or simply putting up a conservatory, to name some of the more obvious ones.
But its worth remembering that Home automation can also help you to significantly improve the appearance, functionality and appeal of your property to any future buyers. Like you, they will be able to enjoy a more comfortable living environment. But theres a lot more to it than that - many of todays house-hunters are also aware of the reduced energy consumption that Home automation can now deliver you at the touch of a button.
But with the multitude of hi-tech options available from todays forward-looking Home automation installers, it can be difficult to decide where to start. A good suggestion is perhaps to install a basic automation system which will allow for the addition of all sorts of extra functionality later on, even if you ultimately leave this up to the new owner.
As an example, you might decide to just install a centrally-controlled audio system throughout the house for now, but once the initial installation is complete, Home automation installers can easily add to this at a later stage to incorporate extra devices like heating or lighting controls, security systems and enhanced home entertainment solutions. Future buyers will value the initial groundwork you have already undertaken, and be free to choose and add their chosen elements when they want to.
This approach is also endorsed by many high end architects and builders, who recognise the value of including basic elements of home automation as standard in new-build properties.
Until only a few years ago, Home automation installers were perhaps seen as just satisfying the desire for nice-to-have "boys toys". Nowadays smart home technology is not only hugely more sophisticated and versatile, its also much more affordable. And its much easier to control too, using smart devices that most people already have, like the iPhone or iPad.
It even ticks the "green" box - using an automated system to control heating, lighting and air-conditioning can result in impressive reductions in energy use, leading to significant household budget savings.
So, whilst there are still plenty of other ways in which to increase or maintain the value of your home when you decide to sell it, and a more comfortable living environment in the meantime, its now definitely worth finding out more about how Home automation can play its part too.
by: Lisa Sullivan