If you are going to sell your house, what do you do with the M1G (etc)?

So I have a complicated M1G setup, lots of zones (all hardwired except fobs), a few lights on it, cellular, internet, alarm relay monitoring; also a home made NVR PC with Milestone running and hardwired cameras.
 
We may be moving.
 
I doubt seriously there's any alarm techs in the area who would do an M1G.
 
I think odds of someone buying the house who likes to tinker is small -- not zero, but not likely.
 
Would a typical buyer prefer it be left and say "here's a list of all I did, figure it out or just hire someone" or...
 
Should I remove all the panel and NVR related hardware, just leaving (labeled) cables in place, so someone can have a panel put in by the vendor of their choice and just hook up wires.
 
Note I am not asking what you would want to buy -- your presence on this board makes you in that tiny percentage that might want it.  I'm asking what you did if you sold, and what kind of reactions you got from people house shopping or realtors or home inspectors? 
 
Thanks,
 
Linwood
 

I'd leave the panel and all the security functions. Remove any home automation. If something doesn't add value to a complete non-technical person, remove it. Its more likely to scare people away. Having a security system is usually considered a plus. Light switches that are not standard are definitely a negative.
 
BUT one exception, if your home is $2M+, then some simple home automation might have some value. In that case, I'd ask your realtor what they think.

Ditto what ano posted above.
 
I sold a home years back full of X10 devices. The plug-ins were not a problem but the wall switches, I didn't want to remove anything  until the actual move and closure. The day of the final inpsection the wife ran right to the X10 switch on the wall and demanded to know what happened to it. After I gave her a huge backpaddle about connecting to the security system etc.. she replied "Good! We thought we were going to have to hire an Electrician to remove it all."
 
Another example in my next sale was a simple ADT alarm panel. I got the call after the close demanding that I didn't supply the password for the panel. I replied to the agent that it was in the manual I left and was never changed from the factory password, as instructed in English, in the paperwork I left for the new owners. "Read it!" 
 
IOW: How much after sale support are you willing to give? You will get asked.

LarrylLix said:

IOW: How much after sale support are you willing to give? You will get asked.

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Hmmm.. I had assumed zero.  Interesting thoughts, thank you both.

Linwood said:

Hmmm.. I had assumed zero.  Interesting thoughts, thank you both.

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Unless it is stated in the contract, you really have no commitments whatsoever.  Obviously you should remove all users from the panel and set the admin account back to the default and maybe leave a note what it is.
 
When I move, I might leave the Z-wave switches in place, the controller does not convey since it runs on a server.  I could leave a backup of the Z-stick on a USB drive.  If there was a newer Z-stick available, I might leave the old one behind since I would need to reset it anyway if I were to use it again.
 
I wouldn't have to worry much about the convey aspect since they would never see the network and server gear that runs it all; it is well hidden.  Things like the DoorBirds would convey but I could just leave an old switch behind and then let them deal with what they want to do.
 
Usually the people buying the home, what they can see needs to say unless explicitly spelled out.  I highly doubt they played around with the alarm system, so much of what it could do may not convey because of that.
 
Best bet, talk to your realtor and see how they want to handle it.
 
IMO, if they want help afterwards, then tell them how much it will cost them per hour.  You get to set the rate; so if you want to provide no support, set the rate high.  They are free to shop around.

lanbrown said:

IMO, if they want help afterwards, then tell them how much it will cost them per hour.  You get to set the rate; so if you want to provide no support, set the rate high.  They are free to shop around.

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I would not do that.  I'm not licensed, taking money implies taking responsibility, and what if then something happens.  In a contract I can disclose/disclaim all responsibility for it, but then post close taking money to make it work seems risky.

Linwood said:

I would not do that.  I'm not licensed, taking money implies taking responsibility, and what if then something happens.  In a contract I can disclose/disclaim all responsibility for it, but then post close taking money to make it work seems risky.

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It's all what you want to do.  You are not responsible for any support unless explicitly stated in the contract at closing.
 
They are buying a house as is.  Now many states have laws that you need to be upfront about any and all defects or other known issues.  If 1 minute after closing the house catches on fire, a pipe bursts, etc. you are not liable for it.  The house was sold as is.

Conventional thinking from what I have heard is home automation gear does not add value.

My last house I left the napco panel. I removed my rain8 controllers and replaced them with a $25 Home Depot controller. Also removed my RCS stats and replaced them with the originals that came with the house when I bought it.

A couple of years later the guy who bought the house from me resold it and noted in the listing that he never used the alarm or the sprinklers.

I removed the UPB wall switches and have reused them in my new house.

I also removed my Leviton high end x10 switches and replaced them with regular rocker switches. My plan had been to reuse them in my new house but I didn’t bother as I have gone all UPB so they are still sitting in a box. They would have functioned fine as normal switches so I probably should have just left them.

All my newer items are app based like radio thermostats and a Rachio sprinkler controller. I don’t plan on moving out of this house until I retire, and then will downsize to a small condo or apartment. If that happens I will likely leave everything as it won’t be needed where I am going and even though it won’t likely add value to the house it won’t likely subtract it either. It seems like the market is changing now because with all these apps and iot HA is becoming more mainstream and accessible to larger audiences.

I am going to be moving in the next year and have a basic monitored security system I put in myself.  That's pretty straight forward - give them the passwords (probably just set them back to defaults).  But I have couple of Raspberry Pi boards on the network for a couple things that would be missed if I take them out(I think).  One runs a bunch of sprinkler zones and a pump set up to feed them.  I put in an Open Sprinkler Pi controller because the cost of a big zone system (38) was high and the Pi let me have two masters for source control.  The other Pi controls a hot water circulation pump for the master shower and ties into the radiant heat system (shuts in down for 45 minutes as both use the same heat source).  It also monitors a driveway sensor and provides a beep when someone comes in (we have a long driveway).  I could set up some hardware timers and such to handle all but the sprinklers.  For that I will need to supply some info or I could take the pi out and say it isn't working which doesn't seem like a very attractive thing for the buyer.  I also have some monitoring of the power and a small PC UPS to control shutdown as uncontrolled power loss can corrupt their SD cards.  This relies on the network so will leave a cheap router and UPS(doesn't need internet but just network between Pi boards for communication).  It all works well and I don't really want to put in something new just for the sale so I planned to take out a few extras I have programmed in, document it, and give it to them.  Not ideal but I think it is workable.  I am open to other ideas.
 
I also need to clean up the wiring closet as I ran cat5 cable and coax to just about every room but it isn't all terminated a the wiring closet.  Wife thinks this will scare people off unless it looks neat.  Any ideas on that are welcome. 

Thanks everyone so far, still thinking; definite am moving now.
 
I just realized as well the doorbell goes through the M1G, there's no chime otherwise.  I'd definitely need to rework that a bit (there was never a conventional one, it was a awful whole-house intercom I took out). 
 
New house (signing papers Monday) has no security system, so it's starting to look more attractive to take all the M1G off the wall and just leave them wires, so I do not have to start over.  
 
But I'm thinking maybe I just offer them the option of with, or without.  Trying to decide whether to actually offer with for a charge.

If it was shown to them with the system then you could have problems if you just take it out.  You both entered into a contract to buy/sell the house as it was when they looked at it unless something in the contract stated otherwise.  You might avoid an issue if everything they observed to work still works (for example, you put in something for a doorbell.)  Are they expecting a security system?  If you wanted to take out the system the time to do that was before the house was shown.  Then they couldn't claim you agreed to sell something and then changed it.  You don't have to provide support.  But you might want to at least be prepared to suggest how they might go about getting someone else to put in a replacement.

@JimS: There's always a big disclosure document that shows all those kind of details, I'm not worried about that aspect.  It's a valid concern, it's just handled along with a ton of other stay/leave kind of things that get documented like appliances, boat lift, window treatments, etc.

If you offer an option and it sounds desirable the buyers will want it included for the lower price. You just gave them a bargaining chip against your sale price.
 
If the feature doesn't sound good they will want money off the price as they will have to get somebody to remove it. Again you just gave them a bargaining chip against your price.
 
Buyers do not want equipment that has no second source. The first maintenance call, the electrician will tell them to rip it all out, as they always do for equipment they are not "licenced" to service.

LarrylLix said:

If you offer an option and it sounds desirable the buyers will want it included for the lower price. You just gave them a bargaining chip against your sale price.
 
If the feature doesn't sound good they will want money off the price as they will have to get somebody to remove it. Again you just gave them a bargaining chip against your price.
 
Buyers do not want equipment that has no second source. The first maintenance call, the electrician will tell them to rip it all out, as they always do for equipment they are not "licenced" to service.

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Yup.

My plan was to offer it, or offer to remove it, with no adjustment in cost either way as they prefer.
 
Are you collectively suggesting it is better to just strip the wall and leave the wires there, labeled nicely, for someone to reconnect? 
 
And do so while showing it?   (I don't want to do that anyway, as it drives all the smokes at present; if I did it to sell the house I think I'd have to rewire the smokes to 110v, which is a lot of work.)