Should my Long Beach Rental Become a Smart Rental?

A Smart rental is one that integrates common appliances and functions with Smart hubs such as Alexa, Google, and Ring. You may think “well no one really needs that” but it isn’t so much about “need” as adding a great convenience for your tenant that keeps them happy for years to come. To help you see what is possible for your Smart rental we invite you to consider the following elements:

This is one of the most common upgrades to make a property a Smart property as the thermostat can be used with even older AC/heating systems. One of the most popular is certainly the NEST system which integrates easily with Google’s systems. Products, like a NEST thermostat, optimize the heating and cooling needs far beyond just temperature guidelines as they can detect movement in a house for additional optimizations. An added benefit is one can control the temperature from a phone giving the tenant additional flexibility to control temperatures.

One of the most common calls a property management company receives is regarding keys. Especially if you are managing your own property, taking time to invest in a smart door lock could save you many calls and the time required to organize a locksmith at the property. While there are many solutions possible consider a smart door lock system that integrates with an existing deadbolt to minimize investment and maximize the benefit. Systems such as those from August provide multiple versions that you can control from your phone and it can track who is using the digital keys. These systems can also come in very handy when it comes time to allow a handyman or other trade service in the property.

Ceiling fans probably aren’t one of the items in a rental that you put thought into...especially about making them smart. Ceiling fans though are a great way to help tenants optimize the temperature in your rental property and help keep the lifespan of your AC system going longer. Recently manufacturers have introduced smart ceiling fans allowing you the ability to control the ceiling fan from a mobile app (i.e. Hunter fans have a SIMPLEConnect app) or by using systems such as Alexa, Google Assistant, etc. 

A great looking yard makes for a happy tenant and attracts great tenants should one leave. To help keep your yard looking great and help your tenant optimize their water bill consider adding a smart sprinkler. For example the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler integrates a hyperlocal Weather Intelligence™ that takes into consideration 270,000 personal weather stations to ensure you are using water when it counts vs. just after a rain. With innovative water monitoring plus integration with systems such as Alexa, Nest, Google Assistant and more this is one of those items that should most certainly be on your list as you evaluate your landscaping.  

Tenants that feel like your rental is their home stay longer. You can enable smart lighting that ranges from security lights to landscape lighting. Effective security lighting and landscape lighting can help tenants feel at ease with those daily tasks such as taking out the trash cans or getting home late with groceries. Smart lighting systems from Ring easily integrate with Alexa making it a nice addition to the other smart features. 

Making your rental a smart rental is an approach to help you differentiate your rental on the market. When you want to find out if your rental would benefit from smart features we invite you to call us today (562) 888-0247 and we can share our experience. If you want to have a quick check to see how much your property could fetch in rent we invite you to fill out our Free Rental Analysis where we perform a comprehensive comparison to share your rental stacks up to the competition.