Getting Your Smart Home Ready To Sell in the Valley

When you’ve lived with smart home features for a while, you stop thinking much about how they work. You know which app opens the garage and how to turn down the thermostat from bed. A buyer walking into the house for the first time won’t have that familiarity, and some of those features may still be connected to your accounts.

That’s why it helps to talk about them with your agent before you list your home in the Valley. You may want to bring a few devices to your next place. Others will stay and need to be ready for someone new to use. Working through those decisions early gives you time to ask questions while the manuals are still somewhere you can find them.

Make Sure You and the Buyer Expect the Same Thing

Suppose you bought a smart thermostat a few months ago and planned to take it with you. A buyer who saw it during a showing may have assumed it came with the house. It’s an understandable mix-up, but one you can address before anyone starts packing.

Tell your agent about anything you’d like to keep while you’re preparing the home for photography and showings. They can help you decide whether to remove or replace it before buyers visit and make sure the inclusions and exclusions are documented in the sale agreement.

As you talk through the features, open the apps you use to control your home. They can jog your memory about equipment you don’t handle very often. The lights, for instance, may depend on a small hub beside the router. If those lights are staying, you’ll want to account for the hub as well.

A few notes about the devices and their model numbers will also come in handy later, when you’re looking for transfer instructions. Taking a photo of a label now saves another trip behind the appliance.

Leaving a Device Takes More Than Leaving It Plugged In

A video doorbell can stay mounted beside the front door while its recordings and notifications remain connected to the seller. Before the buyer can make it their own, you’ll need to follow the provider’s process for removing your access and transferring ownership.

The steps vary by device, so give yourself time to find the instructions. Simply deleting an app may leave part of the job unfinished, and a factory reset may be one step in a longer process. If you have camera recordings you’d like to keep, save them before making changes.

This is also a good time to review any services you pay for. Ask the provider what happens to your subscription when you move and what the buyer needs to arrange. Financed or leased equipment, such as solar panels, needs an earlier conversation with your agent. Bring the agreement when you’re preparing to list so those obligations can be addressed during the sale.

You don’t have to disconnect everything as soon as you’ve found the instructions. You’ll still need to use the house. Coordinate the handoff with your agent, keeping your internet service connected until you’ve finished any steps that require it.

Help the Buyer Feel at Home

Imagine arriving with a moving truck and having to search online before you can adjust the air conditioning. Leaving the setup information somewhere easy to find is a small courtesy the buyer will appreciate.

The manuals are a useful start, but a note from you can answer questions they won’t cover. Where did you put the hub? Can the garage door be operated manually? Anything you had to figure out when you first installed the equipment may help the next owner.

Follow the provider’s process so the buyer can establish their own account without using your personal passwords. As you finish packing, refer back to the sale agreement and gather the accessories that belong with the equipment. The garage remote will be much more useful beside the instructions than in a box headed to your next home.

If you’re preparing to sell in the Valley, we’re happy to walk through your home’s features with you. We’ll help you work out what you’d like to keep and what needs attention before the buyer moves in.