This morning at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Lindsay Listanski with Coldwell Banker Real Estate sat down with Kathy Sanders, VP of Marketing for August Smart Locks, to talk about how smart home security is no longer just a luxury item.

“Security is top of mind with homeowners,” said Sanders “and it’s one of the first things people think about when looking at making their home smarter.” August Smart Locks, which launched in 2015, offers a smart lock that allows home owners to unlock their door using their smart phone. While that sounds simple enough, the real value is in the ability to hand out “virtual keys” to others that allow them entrance into their home for a specific day, hour or whatever time frame the owner chooses. We loved her example of how she uses this product personally with her dog walker. Each day she lends out a key between a designated time and once she goes back to college she removes access from the walkers phone. We can see how this would be beneficial to real estate agents during showings as well as home contractors.

Another smart (and safe) product that August is touting at this year’s show is their Doorbell Camera who detects a face at the door and begins recording video to a log. With over 900 packages delivered between Thanksgiving and Christmas alone last year Amazon Prime addicts could certainly see the value in watching over their doorsteps treasures without having to worrying about their merchandise going missing.

As a nod to our latest smart home survey, Kathy celebrated the impact that smart home technology is having on home value and shared that a selling price is actually 3-5% higher on homes with smart technology products.

Take a look at the full interview here and if you are thirsty for more tune in to ces.coldwellbanker.com for breaking news from the show.