If you’re taking care of vacation homes for rent, you probably know how important it is to give your tenants an experience they won’t easily forget. Modern conveniences, of course, would mean additional investment. But when you realize how huge the returns could be, you wouldn’t even think twice about it.
Of all the conveniences you can add to your vacation rental, home automation should be right on top of your list.
Why Home Automation is Worth It
Before you start calculating the costs of automating your holiday home, think about the costs you could be cutting back on because of it. Home automation may cost you some money at the start – but the payoffs, once felt, are definitely worth it.
- It adds convenience.
Of course, convenience is the top reason why your vacation rental deserves to be automated. Just imagine how easier life will be for your tenants. There’s no need to get up and dim the lights once they start watching a movie, and they won’t even need to manually operate the heater or the air-conditioning. With the right home automation system in place, they can do everything with the push of a button no matter where they are around the house.
- It cuts your energy costs.
What are the most common reasons why energy costs are high? Lights are often left on even when nobody’s in the room, and the air-conditioning may be turned all the way even when no one’s home. Through home automation, everything can be programmed to be turned off when not in use, or when nobody’s around. This alone can lower utility bills by around 10-25%.
- It makes your property more secure.
Security is always a question, regardless if there’s someone renting your holiday home or if it’s vacant for the season. Automated home security systems ensures that your vacation rental is protected without you having to drop by all the time, and it also adds peace of mind to the tenant.
- It adds value to your holiday home.
One of the things people look at when looking for vacation homes for rent would be the price. They would think about whether the cost is reasonable or not. This proves to be the difficult part of managing properties like these. Especially when it’s time to raise the rent, customers would often wonder why.
The moment they see that your home is fully automated however, you’ll get less questions about the price. It’s an automatic thing – the more comfort and convenience they enjoy, the higher the price.
With these advantages, who would think twice about home automation?
Home Automation Must-Haves
If you’re a property manager, you’re probably wondering what automation systems you should consider putting into place. The great thing about home automation is that it’s more common now than ever. This means that the costs are not as high as before, and the availability of relevant products won’t be a problem.
Here are just a few of the things you should consider adding to your vacation homes for rent:
- Energy-Saving Thermostat
Manually setting and adjusting the thermostat can be such a hassle. But with an automatic energy-saving one, you won’t even have to worry about whether a room is too hot or too cold. Basically, an energy-saving thermostat sees your patterns and remembers your preferred temperatures. This means that when the temperature gets too high, it has the ability to self-adjust. These can often be monitored and operated through your smartphone, and can also be programmed to automatically turn off when no one’s home.
- Moisture and Humidity Sensors
A lot of the repair and maintenance work you do are probably related to molds, rotting, and other similar problems. When you have the right sensors in place, you can avoid huge repair and maintenance costs and stop problems at the root.
Moisture and humidity sensors can alert you when there’s an unusual amount of moisture around your home – which means that there may be a leak you haven’t discovered yet, or a hole where water could be going through.
- Smart Security and Surveillance Systems
Although security systems are already normal, there are smarter options you can consider switching to. There are systems, for example, that allow you to turn the system on or off using your smartphone. You can also install surveillance systems that allow you to check on the property from your own laptop or smartphone.
Other home automation options can include light control, music control, and other automated entertainment systems. It all depends on the kind of comfort that you want your tenants to enjoy, as well as the kind of market you’re hoping to reach.
