Smart Devices for Rentals

[Scott Littlefield]

I currently own one SFH and am in the process of purchasing a two-unit to house hack with as well as a doublewide on two acres of land to rent. I come from a background in IT and love techy things. Do any of you have thoughts or experience with smart devices in rentals? Things like smart locks, thermostats, cameras (outdoor only obviously, no audio). There seem to be good advantages, such as not needing to change locks, just deactivating codes, being able to keep an eye on your property and keeping an eye on heat usage. But obviously you could have privacy concerns as well as theft concerns. A good lease agreement with communication and good tenant screening seems to be able to rectify that though.

[Alan Blitz]

@Scott Littlefield

Don’t waste your money on smart technology in a rental - it is one more thing for your tenant to break or not understand to use properly. You will spend too much time and energy fixing or teaching how to use the smart technology. From friends that have more rentals than me, none of them use push code locks on their doors.