Re: Have you sold a home with HA features?

["BruceR" <brNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx>]

You're right of course. Marketing benefits is the way to go. One of the
problems is trying to train real estate agents to do that. In most
cases, the homeowner who understands the system never meets the
potential buyer till closing if at all. In fact, the only opportunity to
"sell" the system is in trying to train the listing agent on the
benefits and how to demonstrate them. Trust me, it is the rare agent who
will take the time to learn either the benefits or how to demonstrate
them.  There needs to be more industry marketing to create the demand
from the buyer for these benefits so that a buyer will look for the
features like they look for granite countertops and Viking ranges.
Right now people are starting to look for surround sound wiring since
they've experienced the frustration of running wires for their home
theater setups already - but that's as far it goes so far.

From:J Wynia
jwynia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

> This comes down to classical marketing basics. People buy benefits and
> NOT features.
>
> Those who are technologically inclined tend to talk about features,
> look for features and generally consider the benefits to be implied.
> When "geeking out" about a high-speed wireless router, 2 geeks will
> talk about the transfer rate and understand, implicitely, that the
> benefit is being able to move MP3's around easily and stream video,
> etc.
> However, if you're selling/talking to a non-geek, the best results are
> found when you stop talking about features and talk about benefits.
> Consider the huge response to "Nanny-cam's" a while back. There was
> hardly a single mention about how the technology worked, etc. Rather,
> the entire focus on installing them was the benefit of catching your
> child care provider doing something they shouldn't.
>
> mikey wrote:
>> yep, i'd have to concur, i'm pulling out my elk m1 and replacing it
>> with a plain jane vista20, I'm not doing any x10 all with it either,
>> i'll stick a plug timer on the lamp post feed, what a waste, all
>> that work, oh well, I learned something I guess. People are stooopid.
>>
>> "BruceR" <brNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:yH84e.4183$a55.1084@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>> Interesting point. We called it a Smart Home and showed off cameras,
>>> security and the like but, while people thought it was nice, they
>>> already expected the security system and beyond that they just
>>> glazed over.
>>>
>>> From:Dandelion Acres
>>> nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>>
>>>> I think rather than "home automation", the home may be marketed in
>>>> a practical sense, with technology being the effector of that
>>>> practical-ness.
>>>> "Energy Efficient" through the use of "intelligent heating and
>>>> cooling controls" and the convenience and savings in "lighting
>>>> control system". Everybody likes "whole house music" and "home
>>>> theater", and "intercoms" are popular anyway. Just because the
>>>> intercom uses the whole-house music speakers for the chime and
>>>> paging and the telephone is integrated into that audio path is, or
>>>> may be, irrelevant to an "average" buyer.
>>>> I emphasize security, and what better feature to show than the
>>>> "simple" yet very effective camera view of the front drive that has
>>>> dinged your bell and turned on the lights so you can see...
>>>>
>>>> All stuff we may like to do, that may be complex on the inside yet
>>>> can be innocuous and normal to an average Joe.
>>>>
>>>> I thinks it's all about marketing, and marketing is simply
>>>> communications. How are you communicating?
>>>>
>>>> "California dude" <not-here@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>> news:n7d151h8kcc4f37ao8v5bi9avhub9suj0d@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>>
>>>>> On 3 Apr 2005 19:11:41 -0700, "Matt" <mattmorgan64@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> When I listed my house, buyers eyes just glazed as I showed thjem
>>>>>> all the X10, HVAC, alarm features... etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Added resale value: $0.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _most_ people just don't understand yet, have some ort of
>>>>>> paranoia of their home being too smart, and/or it just us geeks
>>>>>> that get a kick out of it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just for kicks, I had a broker do a walk-through and run "comps"
>>>>> on my house.  I live in a "decent" town in Silicon Valley.  House
>>>>> needs some work.
>>>>>
>>>>> OK, after I got over the shock of hearing the current market value
>>>>> ("No one would pay me THAT MUCH for my house!!!), I asked about
>>>>> upgrades.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kitchen, bath, yup, those are good investments,  You get your
>>>>> money back and maybe then some.  Air conditioning, poor return.
>>>>> Home Theater-ready wiring.  Another good investment.
>>>>>
>>>>> I didn't ask about home automatiion as such, since I can spell
>>>>> X10. I even read articles about it in Byte Magazine about 25
>>>>> years ago. Yeah, it's on my "round tuit" list.  Only problem is,
>>>>> The only "tuits" in the stores are square!