What You Need to Know About Automated Home Technology
Automated home technology continues to grow with many renters expecting at least some options in the homes they look at. In fact, when choosing between two homes that are comparable, a renter is more likely to choose the one that has the convenience and security of automated home technology.
Automated Home Technology Statistics
About 10 million homes throughout the United States have some form of automated home technology. Also known as smart devices, projections by Berg Insight that appeared in their report, “Smart Homes and Home Automation – 4th Edition,” peg the number of homes with smart technology to be around 36 million in North America and Europe by the end of 2017. In America alone, the market increased 62 percent with nearly 17 million installations in 2015. Most of these installations were for a single function such as a smart door lock or a thermostat. Only 16 percent were for whole-house systems or those with multiple functions.
Automated Home Technology Cautions
With the growth of smart home technology, cautions arise regarding a renter’s privacy. For example, if a device stores information that can be assessed later, the resident’s habits could be identifiable. Knowing when the door is locked or the time the renter turned on the lights, for instance, can indicate when the home was empty, leading to an invasion of privacy.
Another caution is that a homeowner or property manager must go to each device individually and do a factory reset each time a renter moves out. This tedious process not only takes up valuable time, if a device is accidentally overlooked the results could be compromised security.
Like many other technology-based innovations, the most likely solution lies in the cloud. Using the cloud to store information that controls such devices offers protection and privacy for residents. It also, however, makes it easy to reset the devices with a few clicks on a computer instead of manually resetting each device.
Real Property Management Las Vegas is your premier property management company. Contact us today to learn how we can make managing your property fool-proof.