Smart home solutions offer home buyers a level of convenience that was unimaginable just a few years ago. These solutions have also been beneficial to home builders. Research shows that smart homes sell up to 38% faster than traditional homes, with a sales price over 21% higher. Additionally, newly built smart homes sell seven days faster with a price boost of $8,666*.
While the benefits of smart home technology are undeniable, some smart home solutions can pose a privacy threat to home buyers, as these solutions contain a great deal of personal data. This is a problem for home builders, as they do not want to be saddled with long and costly customer-service concerns or risk having their reputation damaged.
Here are the three important steps a home builder can take to secure their smart homes for home buyers.
#1 Research Smart Home Partners Before Buying
Before you select a smart home solution provider, it’s important to do your due diligence. Be sure to ask your prospective smart home partner the following questions before agreeing to work with them:
- What is your privacy policy?
- What data, if any, do you collect from your smart home devices, and with whom do you share it?
- Have you had any data breaches in the past?
- How do you keep private data private?
If any of their answers give you pause, find an organization that places a high level of importance on data security.
#2 Develop a Plan for Securing IoT Devices
Anything that has a sensor and transmits data from one object to another or to people through the internet is known as an IoT device (think wireless sensors, software, actuators, computer devices). These devices are key components of smart home solutions, but they’re very susceptible to a wide range of hacking activities such as DDoS attacks, anonymous spamming, intercepting cellular networks, and malware distribution.
While you cannot stop hackers, you can ensure your smart home partner can secure IoT devices. Find out if they apply network segmentation for a stronger defense against hacks or how often they patch and update the firmware. Their answers will show if they take data security seriously.
#3 Select a Reputable Smart Home Solutions Partner
It is critical for home builders to find a smart home partner that takes data security seriously while providing the scalable solutions home buyers want. BrightSuite is a great example of a reputable and trusted smart home partner, as they offer the scalable solutions home buyers have come to expect in a new home through a safe and secure smart home platform. BrightSuite believes what happens in a home should remain private, which is why they go to great lengths to protect your home buyers’ personal, confidential data.
Additionally, BrightSuite goes the extra mile to ensure data security by never selling customer data, clearly articulating its privacy policy for builders and buyers to see, providing transparency in terms of what data is collected by whom, and integrating with the Alarm.com platform, which provides the best-in-class smart home software for data privacy and security.
To learn how BrightSuite can support your next construction project with smart home technology and generate new revenue streams, visit Builder.BrightSuite.com.
*Sources: Redfin Market Insights, U.S. Census Bureau & National Association of Realtors
