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People don't want a smart system that's too difficult to operate.
- Luxury developers are trying to attract buyers with outrageous amenities.
- But according to California-based real-estate agent Jade Mills, who has sold over $5 billion worth of real estate in her career, overly sophisticated smart-home systems can have the opposite effect.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The ongoing amenity wars across America's hottest luxury housing markets have resulted in the creation of outrageous amenities, like rooftop gyms and even dog spas.
But of all the new and innovative features aimed to make homes more sellable, some are having the opposite effect.
Luxury real-estate agent Jade Mills - who has sold more than $5 billion worth of real estate in her career, was ranked No. 6 on Real Trends' 2019 list of top US individual real estate professionals by sales volume, and is Beverly Hills' top real-estate agent in sales- recently told Business Insider that one amenity, in particular, is likely to push her buyers away: overly sophisticated smart-home systems.
"People want a smart system, but most people don't want something that's very difficult to operate," Mills told Business Insider.
Smart systems are generally appealing: The idea of being able to hit a button to control things like lights and temperature is attractive to buyers, Mills told Business Insider. However, according to the real estate agent, buyers don't want a system they have to spend a lot of time learning how to use.
"Even younger [buyers] have said 'I don't want to have to learn the smart system,'" Mills told Business Insider. "If you're going to install some kind of a smart system, make sure it's not too complicated for the buyer to use."
Along with the preference of Mills' buyers, smart technology (even beyond the housing market) is often best accepted by consumers when it is easiest to operate.
Just consider the unprecedented success of Apple products. Business Insider's Steven John recently reported switching to Apple's Macbook after years of using a PC because "understanding how the system works is intuitive."