The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association Expo 2007, which wraps up today, brought more than 28,000 residential electronic-systems professionals to Denver to display the clearest and largest flat-screen TVs, best-designed audio speakers and safest security systems.
But in today’s weak housing market, does adding the best technology to your home really affect its price tag?
It depends on whom you ask. Installers insist one’s home rises in value with the addition of a new sound or security system. Some home appraisers are less convinced.
At Electronic Integration, a custom installer of high-end electronics in Denver, clients pour their resources into their basements to enhance their homes’ value, says president Roger Koehler.
That often means installing a home theater system complete with speakers hidden in the walls and ceiling.
“That’s been at the top of the list for the majority of jobs we work on,” Koehler said of the basement-related projects.
Clients are of two minds toward such projects. They know how rickety the housing market is, but they figure they might as well enjoy their living space.
“People who have the desire to sell change their minds, keep their homes and invest in making them better for themselves,” he said.
Builders installing more systems
Don Gilpin, executive director of the electronics association, said that while theater installations helped fuel his organization’s birth, home automation is the hottest topic at this year’s convention.
“Anything that has wires to it can be controlled via one of these systems,” Gilpin said, adding that green-friendly installations are also the talk of the convention.
Although the expo is not open to the public, the association’s yearly gathering ultimately targets two groups: the consumer with cash for high-end products generally not found in retail stores, and the custom homebuilder.
The former, he says, adds these technologies as a lifestyle choice. The builders, by comparison, are responding to the poor housing market. They are installing systems “to differentiate their homes from the next one on the market,” according to Koehler. “They’re using it not as a premium price point, but more as an enticement.”
Adding a new, high-end sound system or home theater to a home “absolutely” adds value, says Bob Coyle, a regional sales manager for Kentucky-based General Cable who worked the convention.
“Any good Realtor will show their (installation’s) value to any client,” Coyle says.
Keeping future buyers in mind
Updating a home using technology makes it more appealing to future buyers, says Phil Murray, marketing manager for Denver- based ListenUp.
While flat-panel sets drive the home theater market, digital light-projection systems will offer stiff competition soon because prices are dropping. And the picture can even be projected on a blank wall in high definition.
“Anything that’s permanently installed in the house, like in-wall speakers and keypad controls, certainly does add value to the house,” he says. “How much? It’s hard to say.”
Sean Marshall, owner of GUS Appraisals in Denver, disputes such claims.
New homes are being built with wall coves to hold flat-screen televisions, so neighboring homes lacking that amenity might concern potential buyers down the road, Marshall said. But homeowners shouldn’t expect these installations to lift their homes’ prices, he said.
“I’ve seen people make mistakes and put them in 900-square-foot homes. They’ll never get their money back,” he said, because people shopping for such a moderately sized house will have priorities other than home theater.
Appraiser not sold on upgrades
Home appraisers also have a hard time adjusting for houses featuring new home theaters or security systems.
Tonia Zambrano, owner of Highlander Real Estate Appraisals in Denver’s Potter Highlands neighborhood, said high-end homes compete against similar models with finished basements, so adding a home theater system to one doesn’t distinguish it much from its competition, Zambrano said.
“In that market you’re going to find equal type housing with similar amenities,” she said. “You don’t recoup the amount of money you put into the basement.”
That applies for the housing market during any period, boom or bust, she added.
The same holds true for security setups.
“There’s not a whole lot of value, in my experience, in having a security system,” Zambrano said. “I don’t actually make an adjustment on my appraisal if they have one.”
Then again, dollar signs might not matter to homeowners giddy over their new in- house theater or remote-controlled lighting system.
