Bespoke home technology is integrated, ages faster than building systems, and frequently cannot be serviced by anyone except the original installer. Establish who built it and whether they still trade, what platform it runs on, and negotiate documentation and administrator credentials before closing.
Unlike a roof or a boiler, it frequently cannot be assessed by anyone except the person who installed it — and that person may no longer be available.
Bespoke home technology is now standard in high-specification properties, and it is one of the least examined things a buyer inherits. Unlike a roof or a boiler, it frequently cannot be assessed by anyone except the person who installed it, and that person may no longer be available.
Lighting control, audiovisual distribution, motorized shading, climate zoning, security and access, irrigation control, pool and spa automation, generators, and increasingly water management and leak detection.
On a large property these are not separate gadgets. They are an integrated system, usually programmed by one installer to one owner's preferences, running on a controller that ties everything together.
That integration is the point and also the problem.
Who installed it and are they still trading? A system installed by a firm that no longer exists is a system nobody can service. This is the single most important question.
What platform is it built on? Some are widely supported by many integrators. Others are proprietary, discontinued, or supported by very few people locally.
How old is it? Control systems age faster than building systems. A ten-year-old platform may no longer receive updates and may be incompatible with current devices.
Is there documentation? Wiring diagrams, device schedules, programming files, and licenses. Ask for it explicitly, in writing, as part of the sale.
Who holds the credentials? Administrator access, account ownership, cloud service subscriptions. Transferring these is frequently overlooked and occasionally difficult after the fact.
It is rarely dramatic. It is that something stops working, nobody knows how to fix it, and the original installer has moved on or will not return calls.
At that point you have a system integrated enough that failures cascade — the lighting will not respond because the controller is offline, and the controller cannot be reached because nobody has the credentials.
Replacement is expensive and disruptive, because much of the wiring and device selection was specified around the original platform.
Have it demonstrated in full rather than described. Walk the property with the seller or the installer and see every subsystem operate.
Engage an independent integrator to assess it. They will tell you quickly whether it is a well-built system on a supportable platform or a bespoke arrangement only one person understands.
Ask what it costs to service annually, and whether any subscriptions are required for it to keep functioning.
Documentation, credentials, subscription transfers and a handover session with the installer should be written into the transaction rather than assumed.
A seller who has moved out and is no longer thinking about the property is considerably harder to extract this from afterward. Ask for it before closing while there is still leverage.
Technology in a house is the component that dates fastest and is least likely to be assessed by anyone during a purchase.
It should be looked at the same way as a roof or a heating system: how old, who maintains it, what it costs to run, and what happens when it fails. Applying that discipline to something that arrives described as a feature is what prevents it becoming a problem.
Who installed it and whether they are still trading. A system installed by a firm that no longer exists is one nobody can service, and the integration means failures cascade across subsystems.
Some platforms are widely supported by many integrators; others are proprietary, discontinued, or supported by very few people locally. That determines whether routine service is straightforward or a search.
Wiring diagrams, device schedules, programming files, licenses, administrator credentials, account ownership and any subscription transfers — written into the transaction rather than assumed.
Have it demonstrated in full rather than described, and engage an independent integrator. They will tell you quickly whether it is a supportable system or a bespoke arrangement only one person understands.
Ask about annual servicing and whether any subscriptions are required for the system to keep functioning. Both are frequently omitted from a buyer's operating budget.
A select network of the nation's most accomplished luxury real estate professionals.