HomeSeer consultant in Dallas Area

[GlennWo]

I have a home in Frisco, TX that I have installed HAI OmniPro II, HomeSeer HS3Pro, and UPB switch technology. It is highly automated and has been up and running for 10+ years with minor tweaks along the way. I have recently put the house on the market and based on the size/price of the house, the likely buyer may not be someone who wants to take on the DIY automation piece on their own. To help with that aspect, I'm looking for recommendations for local consulting assistance I can provide to the new owner in case they need help in the future (for a fee of course). Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Pete]

Personally I would remove automation software (and take it with you) and automated switches before you sell and remove any reference to automation on your home sale listing.

[GlennWo]

I appreciate the feedback but I have multiple copies of HomeSeer so that isn't an issue and the home automation is pretty integral to the house with over 100 smart switches and sensors on all interior/exterior doors/windows. For example, you open the closet door and the light comes on via automation, close the toilet room door and the exhaust fan comes on via automation. In fact, I have a dedicated equipment room in the house for the central automation hardware, software, and wiring so taking it out or ignoring it is not really an option. (See attached picture of room with behind the wall wiring involved.)

[Pete]

Understood Glenn.

[jmaddox]

I think Pete's advice is sound. The problem with current DIY automation is that it's all bespoke. an implimentation that seems pretty straight forward and logical to me will baffle someone else and vice versa. It's trivial for me to tweak an event, but when I tried to teach my wife she had no interest at all. Automation that we love and expect may not at all be what someone else wants. I think you're right in that if you could hand them a card for a dealer/installer it would be significnatly better. If you can find someone to provide warranty/service on your installation definitely let us know. I would not recommend you offer any sort of warranty/support service yourself. I think you'll have an easier time selling your property if you don't mention or plan to include any automation, but sit down with your real estate agent and discuss the matter with them. Heck give them a walkthrough and demonstrate it for them. Let us know what your agent's advice is. The bottom line is that the percetage of people interested in an automated home will be smaller than the total number of people buying homes. By only offering an automated home you're going to reduce the number of people who might purchase your home.. maybe by a small percentage or maybe by a large one. I suspect the later.

I take great pains to ensure all of my smart switches can be replaced with dumb versions and still have working lighting. Turn off homeseer and my smart switches, for the most part, revert to dumb ones. My alarm system is a stand alone panel whch integrates into homeseer but doesn't rely on homeseer to function. I keep an up to date document that details how to convert back to a dumb system just in case I'm not around to do it myself. And lets face it, even if I was around after years of tinkering I wouldn't trust myself to remember every single detail for where the wire drops, nano/micro dimmers are secreted, etc. My wife can print the document, hand it to an electrician/contractor, and the house can return to non automated in a days time.

You may have a certain percentage of your home that can't be configured to provide manual/dumb control of the lighting/hvac/alarm, but I would suggest you develop a plan to return as much of the home to manual/dumb control as possible. In any event, keep us updated.

[vasrc]

GlennWo
I suspect the Frisco area is more Control4 than Homeseer
I take it the existing HA companies like Simpele won't touch HS is the problem?

macromark might be able to give you some HS installer names.. Dallas surely must have at least one I'd think..

[jgreenberg01]

My dad bought a resale "smart house" that was marketed as such last year.

The lady who designed it, had her installers do all the wrong things - in fact the first installer quit over her constant, wacky changes. In the end, the 2nd installer got it working the way she wanted. She also left two 3" binders, "detailing" what was done (mostly useless info BTW).

Needless to say, after my dad moved in, the curtains, lights, storm shutters, pool, TV, etc, all started to malfunction.

I was able to help a little, but it was in a very limited way because it was such a crazy install using insane logic, passwords that the previous owner set up - then changed, and proprietary hardware as well. It took him a YEAR, and thousands of dollars to get it functioning again - mostly as a dumb house.

jmaddox is right, talk to the realtor about this. It's not like HA is bullet-proof like a DSC alarm system.

Just my $0.02, and your setup looks AMAZING, by the way!

[racerfern]

I am in the minority. I believe that someone seeing a house with cool automation features, (lights coming on when opening closet doors, hot water at the tap rather than waiting, sunrise/sunset routines) will leave potential buyers with a bit of a WOW factor and a positive outlook. You could offer to take a day to change passwords to their preference and transfer licenses to the new owner.

I'll find out soon enough if my thinking flies when my house goes on the market.

I'm impressed by that room but I would sheetrock the open areas so as not to scare people. Or maybe a sheet of FRP that is easy to install or remove.

[jgreenberg01]

I am in the minority. I believe that someone seeing a house with cool automation features, (lights coming on when opening closet doors, hot water at the tap rather than waiting, sunrise/sunset routines) will leave potential buyers with a bit of a WOW factor and a positive outlook. You could offer to take a day to change passwords to their preference and transfer licenses to the new owner.

I'll find out soon enough if my thinking flies when my house goes on the market.

I'm impressed by that room but I would sheetrock the open areas so as not to scare people. Or maybe a sheet of FRP that is easy to install or remove.

You're not wrong about this. I sell larger, fairly expensive, custom homes for a living.

Eye-candy sells!

But with HA, especially a system designed specifically for one person or family's use, is challenging after the sale. How much tweaking is required to just keep these systems up and running?

If I ever sold my house, I would take everything out except maybe the cameras. There's no way it would keep running without me there to fix the minor (and sometimes major) road bumps.

I put together a manual that details everything that has been done, complete with pictures and screen shots, but if I'm honest with myself, it would probably be a major undertaking, even for an HS4 expert, to truly get a grasp on it all.

This is just a perspective from someone who sells homes and also happens to enjoy the DIY aspect of making as much as possible automated. As always, YMMV...

[shennecke]

I concur as an engineer, electrical contractor and 20+ year real estate broker. There is a wow factor for home automation but keeping it running is another issue. I have fully documented my system so people after me can figure it out. Finding a contractor to supply support is needed, most only service what they use. I would get that in place along with a training day for the contractor and new home owner before the sale. My neighbor recently sold his semi smart house with a very proprietary system. New owner didn't have a clue how to fix it. Fortunately I had the cable and software to access it and get his started. Rockwell Automation/Allen Bradley PLC based.

[TC1]

Unless you are talking a dealer/installer supported system like Control4, there is no way in hell you should ever sell your smart house as it is unless you can get a waiver in the contract saying once the sale is done you have no liability. Like jmaddox said, I have all the original dumb switches, thermostats, etc, neatly kept in storage. When I'm ready to sell I'm putting all the "dumb" stuff back in the walls, unless the new buyer specifically wants it and releases me from all future liability.

[PaulB]

I had a different approach. My better have INSISTED that if I automate the switches, ALL the lights must still work whether the HA system is up and running or not. However, my system is not very complicated OmniPro II, HS4 and roughly 35 z-wave devices.

[shennecke]

Unless you are talking a dealer/installer supported system like Control4, there is no way in hell you should ever sell your smart house as it is unless you can get a waiver in the contract saying once the sale is done you have no liability. Like jmaddox said, I have all the original dumb switches, thermostats, etc, neatly kept in storage. When I'm ready to sell I'm putting all the "dumb" stuff back in the walls, unless the new buyer specifically wants it and releases me from all future liability.

California real estate contracts have verbage to address smart homes & equipment/software.

[jgreenberg01]

California real estate contracts have verbage to address smart homes & equipment/software.

But the OP is in TX.

Unless you are talking a dealer/installer supported system like Control4, there is no way in hell you should ever sell your smart house as it is unless you can get a waiver in the contract saying once the sale is done you have no liability. Like jmaddox said, I have all the original dumb switches, thermostats, etc, neatly kept in storage. When I'm ready to sell I'm putting all the "dumb" stuff back in the walls, unless the new buyer specifically wants it and releases me from all future liability.

Ok, so I was being nice. This post is the reality. Leave it to a NYer to be blunt.

Oh wait, I'm an ex-NYer...

[shennecke]

[QUOTE=jgreenberg01;n1592587]

But the OP is in TX.

Most states will have something similar as they all usually follow California's lead.