We live in the digital age. It seems that everything is getting more intelligent: from phones and TVs to toasters and washing machines. And home devices are part of this technological trend. In this article, Upkeep Media Inc., after successfully working with many property managers, looks at the best smart home devices that attract new tenants and save you money on your rental property.

Why do you need smart home devices?

Smart home devices make life easier both for you and the tenants. There are numerous different products on the market. Some of them are simple gadgets that have only one task. Others are integrated systems offering a futuristic experience of a talking personal assistant. When properly used, smart home devices save time and money while providing additional selling points for potential tenants.

1.     Thermostats

Smart thermostats are much more than just temperature regulators. The newer models help you save energy on the go as you are able to remotely control the temperature just using your smartphone. But the most important function isn’t remote scheduling and an overview of the indoor climate.

Many smart thermostats are able to spot usage patterns and make automatic decisions based on the collected information. The best ones factor in the time of the day and outdoor weather conditions to bring effective control resulting from a robust decision-making process.

2.     Smart lighting

The lighting system is an integral part of every rental property. Switching from an analogous system to a smart digital lighting system raises the rental property’s perceived value. Making this change allows your guests to enjoy all the features that smart solutions are able to offer, including automatic dimming and an ability to change colour schemes.

When your property is a short-term rental, you’ll get a host of benefits as a landlord. When people check out, but they forget to turn off the lights, you are able to do it remotely. Also, there’s a possibility to turn on the lights in a vacant home in the case of burglary risk.

3.     Locks

Smart locks represent the future of home security. But already today, you are able to find numerous solutions that fit under the smart lock category. The cheapest ones rely on keycodes, but the most expensive lock types operate using biometric data.

Keep in mind that the easiest keycode solutions might not provide an adequate layer of extra protection compared to standard locks. People can easily share entry codes. Also, using the simple key code won’t let you use a smartphone to grant entry to the property from a remote distance.

4.     Moisture sensors

Not all tenants are equally attentive. That’s why it’s useful to have smart moisture sensors in your rental property’s key areas: under a sink, around the toilets, in the crawlspace, and next to a washing machine.

When the moisture level increases too high, you’ll get an alert on your e-mail or smartphone application. Installing these sensors will give you some peace of mind. You’ll know straight away about any potential leaks that your tenants don’t even know about or haven’t bothered to let you know about.

5.     Home Assistants

Amazon Alexa, Apple HomePod and Google Home are the top competitors in the smart home assistant market. These products offer an integrated way to control your lights, fans, thermostat, and other devices in your rental property.

The tenants will have a possibility to connect all their devices to these smart home assistants. This opens up new ways of using the assistants, such as playing the music, setting up mood lighting for certain occasions, etc.

One important thing to note about home assistants is the process of fine-tuning. This means that you may not get everything right on the first night after unboxing the device. For example, experimenting with the grouping of your devices may result in a surprising variety of outcomes. Just moving one lamp from one group to the other could allow you to create an entirely new ambience.

Feel free to encourage your tenants to try the different settings. There’s no need to restrict using all the features of smart home assistants because you are always able to completely reset the device and start from scratch.

The bottom line: what are the best smart home devices for rental properties?

The best smart home devices improve the tenants’ quality of life while saving your time and money as well. Smart locks improve the home’s security features, making it much safer for the people living inside.

Smart lighting and thermostats allow for greater customization of the property in terms of regulating the microclimate and overall ambience. Moisture sensors let you know about any potential leaks that your tenants left unnoticed. Finally, a home assistant binds all the smart devices into an integrated system, giving you even more control in a seamless fashion.

About Sara MacLennan

Sara MacLennan is the Director of Marketing at Liv Real Estate and a licensed Real Estate Associate. The bulk of Sara’s experience and wealth of expertise lies in on-line technology and marketing both for agents and consumers. Sara is the former National Director for Interactive Marketing for Coldwell Banker Canada where she was responsible for an extensive training program traveling to offices across the country training agents and brokers on marketing and technology. Find Sara on Twitter @edmontonblogger.