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Selling your house? Coldwell Banker thinks smart home tech can help

The real estate company is now offering sellers "Smart Home Staging Kits" made up of popular connected home gadgets like the Nest Learning Thermostat and August smart lock.

Ry Crist Senior Editor / Reviews - Labs
Originally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a writer, a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking.
Expertise Smart home technology and wireless connectivity Credentials
  • 10 years product testing experience with the CNET Home team
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Ry Crist
2 min read

Smart home tech promises to make life easier. Now, a major real estate player thinks it can make selling your house easier, too. In fact it's so keen on home gadgetry it's going to start selling "Smart Home Staging Kits" to help homeowners smarten up their listing.

The company is Coldwell Banker, the same company that partnered with CNET last year to study the emerging smart home category and learn how it might impact the real estate trade. (Disclaimer: Coldwell Banker is also a sponsor of the CNET Smart Home.)

The results were fascinating -- particularly the fact that 81 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to buy a home if it already had smart home tech installed.

"Smart home technology is a consumer driven movement," said Sean Blankenship, Coldwell Banker's chief marketing officer. "Our research confirms this technology has a positive influence in the appeal of a home -- and agents agree."

To that end, the company has signed a first-of-its-kind supplier agreement to sell bundled kits of gadgets to homeowners who list their home on Coldwell Banker. The idea is simple: a smarter home is an easier sell.

These staging kits include Nest's three flagship gadgets -- the Nest Learning Thermostat, the Nest Protect smoke detector and the Nest Cam -- as well as a Lutron Caseta smart lighting kit and an August smart lock paired with its Wi-Fi gateway. The price for all of it: $999.

That's only a slight discount over what it would all cost if purchased separately, but Coldwell Banker claims that there's value in smartening up your home before selling it. According to the company's most recent survey results, 35 percent of Americans now associate smart home tech with a move-in ready home. 71 percent say it's something they would look for if buying a house today.

The Smart Home Staging Kits are available now to anybody listing their home on Coldwell Banker. Buyers looking to smarten up their new home can purchase one, too.