…What Is a Smart Home? It’s 2016: You Should Know by Now.

  The Future is Coming Sooner than Expected.   It’s 2016.  The new year means a lot of different things for real estate professionals:  it’s a time to send out all your “happy new year” emails, brush up on market trends and stats, and check predictions for the new year.  One thing we didn’t expect:  It’s a time to brush up on real estate tech. Imagine waking up in bed and hitting the alarm.  After peaking out your window, it’s looking a little gloomy outside.  You yell out loud “Amy, is it going to rain today?” A voice replies “Yes, rain is expected in your city today; average temperature in your area will be 61 degrees.”  Pretty informative:  but “Amy” isn’t the name of your wife or daughter; it’s the name (which you can change) you’ve given your smart house, a Siri-like technology built into your ceilings and walls, created to streamline how we live at home. Coldwell Banker Real Estate polled 4,000+ Americans last year, revealing that just about half of Americans plan to purchase some form of smart home technology in 2016, or own smart home tech already.  The survey also showed that if they were planning on selling their homes, more than 50% of Americans would purchase and install smart home tech in their home if they thought it would help them sell faster.     What Do Smart Homes Do?   The term “smart home” covers a variety of technologies.  Smart home entertainment systems, like speakers and televisions, are usually voice activated throughout your home.  By simply saying aloud “Amy, play christmas music”, your home would...