Selling an Automated House

I see many people here write after they have purchased a new house, and want suggestions on automating it.  But I have seen little to no coverage of the opposite, how do you sell an automated house? 
 
I'm looking at the possibility of moving and selling my house, so I'm looking to see what others have done.  Do I just remove everything to make it a non-automated house? (Probably not very practical); Or perhaps dumb-it-down to be automated at a basic level (HAI hardware) and perhaps offer some training or a manual to the new owner?
 
What about in showing the house? How much do I make of the automation? Will it make the house more valuable? Or less valuable? 
 
Personally, I think that "staging" a house is very important, and adds value, so this would go along with that.  What have others done or recommend? 
 
I also should say the house may be around the $1M level, so certainly not at the $5M+ level where automation would be expected, but also also not at the level where it would be unheard of.

Is any of the stuff in the house terribly custom?  I would think any new owner walking in may be intimidated by the thought of special hardware and system that they wouldn't be familiar with.  If it's all HAI out-of-the-box type of stuff I'm sure you could show them that it's all tied together nicely but that anyone can work on it; or offer to remove it and switch it back.  I think what scares most people is the thought of having systems they don't understand and having to figure out how to get it worked on.  You could always list the name of an HAI dealer who could be contacted as well.
 
I've thought about how I'd handle this house - everything is standard and controllable through off-the-shelf apps for the M1 - I figure I'd highlight the features and benefits but always offer the option of removing it all and putting it back to stock.  Of course I'd stipulate that either way it doesn't change the cost of the house - because the time and cost of having an electrician come rewire the house vs. just walk away and buy new switches would be enough of a wash.  If someone really didn't care about the smarts, I'd dumb them down to the basics - maybe even swap the main board for an EZ8. 

Its HAI with security, UPB switches, Zigbee lights and thermostats. There is CQC with a PC, but there is no question I would remove that and all attached to that.  I'd probably remove wireless sensors over and above a "typical" security system. Those are easy to reuse.

I left an old combo panel circa 1980's in the old home.  It was primitive and did have TTS / X-10.  I left a few X-10 wall switches.  I only mentioned that the home had an alarm panel; nothing else really.  I provided the new owners with the manual if they decided to utilize the automation pieces. 
 
A friend recently paid to have his own "staged" for his sale.  He said it worked for him.  It cost some $25 K.  Thinking it was furniture and plants that they utilized.

Home automation is a buzzword these days so I would think it would be positive to mention it in the listing.  Delete any programming that may qualify as an unexpected behavior.  Scenes, app control, and notifications are the major selling points.  Put together a flyer listing the basic features with a photo of the app interface.  Nothing potentially confusing.  If you have a dealer/installer with a good reputation list them on the flyer.  Encourage the agent to demonstrate things like motorized shades and multi-room audio that provide rich experiences.  Provide an iPad demo for serious buyers.  Use the system as a point of negotiation on the sale price.  For lower offers say you will remove it to meet their price.

Demo is a good point. It may be worth it to include an iPad with HAIku installed, and teach the realitor how to demo it.  That is pretty impressive actually, easy to demo, and iPads are rather cheap if it brings in more money.
 
Stagging really isn't hard and really you don't have to pay anyone to do it. The trick is to remove a good share of funiture even if it means renting a storage unit to store it, and making sure the walls are neutral in color, and remove any personally pictures, art, etc.  I've purchased two homes in my life, and you can't beleive how many people do absolutly NOTHING when they sell their house.
 
I still haven't decided to sell yet, but its a possibility.

I sold my previous house in Dec 2012 with some older automation.  My realtor was nervous about it.  It was mostly X10 based with Homeseer on a PC, but very stable.  I got lucky as the buyer was an engineer (like myself) and he embraced it.  Last I heard he was upgrading to Z-wave.
 
I think Work2Play stated it best.  The more customized it is the harder it will be for anyone else to figure it out and the buyer may not be interested in accepting it.  The same is true of maintaining and servicing it.

Last post reminds me - some friends bought a house in the country - we helped them move in last weekend... as they were going through the kitchen drawers, they found an X10 controller... the wife asked me what it was - before I finished a sentence, it was in the garbage.
 
Out here swimming pool installers do a lot of X10 to give homeowners a way to try and control their pool lights from inside the house without having to run any wires to the house.  It's ugly and never works right, but they sell it during the pool sale.

I don't think it is realistic to expect one's agent to demonstrate the system.  Best case, the agent successfully operates a motorized shade.  Worst case, the agent attempts to demonstrate something, and he/she can't pull it off.  Then the buyer sees that 'broken' feature as a negative.  Even if you get your agent trained, will he/she remember the procedure in two weeks?  Besides, it is likely someone other than the listing agent will show the house.  How can you expect them to know how to operate your toys?  I attended a home show several years ago that had a dozen or so model homes on display in a new subdivision.  One had a big card listing all the extra features installed in that house.  I asked the real estate agent about the whole-house sound system, and all I got was a blank stare.  He punched buttons and turned knobs, and the system never made a peep.  My memory of the 'complicated' audio system lasted longer than most of the positive features of that house.
 
I plan to remove most of the security and automation features before we sell our current house.  I like Work2Play's idea to replace the M1G panel with an EZ8.  Then I could remove the expansion boards and a most of the sensors and still advertise a security system.  I believe most buyers might note just that the house has a security system rather than noting it has a really fancy security system. Most buyers will have never heard of Elk.  They might actually be more comfortable with a common brand like ADT. I can't imagine any agent would be able to explain why my Elk system is worth a couple thousand bucks more than a basic system, and who ever shows the house, who is not likely to be the listing agent, is my only interface to the potential buyer.  I added a half dozen or so structured wiring plates to our last house.  I even made up a card at the MDF to explain what all the wiring and jacks were about.  Our Realtor seemed to understand, or so I thought.  I met the buyers after closing, and they had some questions that made it clear the agent had no interest in that feature.
 
I think the best time to consider how to sell a house with a security and automation system is before you install it.

I've sold every home we've owned myself.
Now with an HA system, it would be vital for me to be there to demo the system, answer questions, etc.

I don't know how much this varies with different parts of the country, but around here, once you list your home a lockbox is put on - even if you specify to only show by appointment, they still advise the homeowners to NOT be present during the showing - and it's the buyer's agent who lets them in to see it, not the seller's.  So you'd have a real hard time demoing what you have.

Still applicable to open house events.  It is a trade off for whether you require your broker or yourself to be there during showings but you can do it that way.

I've also wondered about just setting up a website that demos the features of the house - and also specifies the details about the system so that someone who's interested in or possibly scared of the technology can have a way to look up more info - then leave a stack of flyers in the house - maybe under the touchscreen.

I've been thinking about this, and its probably true that demoing your house during an initial visit or open house is probably not realistic. BUT, a better idea might be this.  Simply make a list of the FEATURES of your house. It can even be on the notes section of the sell sheet. Something like: "Automated Smarthouse: Most lights, HVAC System, garage doors and door locks can be securly remotely controlled with an iPhone/iPad application and be controlled using logic in the home."
 
You don't want to overload the potential buyer, but do alert the buyer, hey, this home has some special features that you may want to find out about later.  This lets them look at the home, as they should be doing, but not overly distract them from that task. THEN if they are interested in your house, they can inquire later about the smarthome features.
 
This might be the best idea. It is doubtful anyone will buy your home because its a smarthome, BUT if they do like your house, or if its one of a few they are interested in, these features may be the difference between moving on or coming back to your house for a second look. 

When I sold my last house 5 years ago, conventional wisdom was that it was a liability as opposed to an asset for sale, chances of losing a good buyer were greater than finding that one person who might see any value in it.
 
Most of what I had installed there was there around 6 years so the technology was a little dated anyway.
 
- I left my Napco panel there, it worked as a standalone alarm which I think was a plus, we were able to advertise as having an alarm system. In my new house I now have an ELK which I prefer anyway.
- I removed my rain8, took it with me, and replaced it with a $25 6 zone Toro sprinkler clock from home depot, so we were able to advertise as having a sprinkler system.
- I removed all of the UPB switches and took them with me, I replaced them with standard decora switches.
- I removed most of the X10 Leviton switches. I kind of regret this, they are still sitting in a box in my basement, probably never to be used. I ended up wasting the effort of taking them out and the cost of buying new switches (although that was minimal). In hindsight I could have just left them there.
- I removed the RCS Thermostat, took them with me,  and replaced with some extra programmable stats from Home Depot that I had lying around somewhere. 
 
 
All of the cabling was left in, but I don't think we mentioned it when selling. It was probably a plus that there was cat5, RG6, and speaker wire to every room.