Smart gadgets, designed to turn your home “smart,” are exploding in popularity. According to the International Data Corporation, that 433.1 million smart home devices were shipped around the world in 2017 alone, growing 27.6% since 2016. While many of these smart devices are speaker systems (think Google Home or Amazon Echo) and home security systems, did you know that there is a plethora of devices that can make your kitchen “smart” too? We’ve done the research and picked our favorite smart kitchen devices. If you're a real estate agent who has a client buying a home where the room they care the most about was the kitchen ... these gadgets would be perfect for a closing gift!
Prices and products are accurate at time of publishing in September 2018.
The Drop Recipes App and Scale
The Drop is a smart device connected kitchen scale, but the real draw for this smart gadget is the free Drop application that you use in conjunction with the scale. The application walks home cooks through each step of the recipe and includes how-to videos. The scale syncs with the app and measures each ingredient as it is placed it in the bowl on top of the scale, moving the home cook through the recipe. The Drop can automatically adjust the recipe to fit the ingredients you have, swap out and substitute ingredients, create grocery lists, and control your other smart kitchen appliances, like ovens. The scale itself comes with a year-long battery life, a wireless button to control your mobile devices, and heat resistant silicone so you can literally use it to make any type of recipe! The Drop is highly recommended, especially compared to other smart baking and cooking scales of its kind.
(You can also download the application on its own without the scale, but for Realtors looking for a closing gift for their clients, the scale is a fun gadget to gift.)
Perfect for: your client who loves to bake! If you’re thinking of getting this as a closing gift for your clients, you can purchase on Amazon, or at The Drop website.
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Price: $80
Smart Crock-Pot
Crock-Pots can be a lifesaver for families who are always on the go, but this particular smart Crock-Pot takes it a step further because it can be controlled remotely. Busy families can turn the Crock-Pot on or off and change the temperature and time all while on the go using their mobile devices. The Crock-Pot connects to your home’s Wi-Fi, and then you can control any of the settings using an application on your phone.
For realtors, this is an excellent closing gift for a family that has kids with lots of activities going on after school or with working parents, so no matter how busy your clients get, they can always have a warm home-cooked meal ready for them when they get home.
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Price: $150
Egg Minder
Although it may seem silly to want to track how many eggs you have in your fridge from anywhere and everywhere, it's also ridiculously frustrating to run out of eggs in the middle of a recipe. With Egg Minder, you never have to worry about running low on eggs, because the case tracks how many eggs you have and their freshness levels, and sends you notifications for when you need to pick up more eggs when you’re at the store. While you're cooking, Egg Minder will light up which egg to use next, based on how old the eggs are. Keep your eggs fresh, and never run out again with this “Quirky” product, which is consequently the name of the brand that produces the Egg Minder.
This is a great closing gift to give homeowners who already have smart home devices and can enjoy an unusual kitchen gadget that only has one function: eggs!
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Price: $30, but they frequently have sales and you can find much cheaper prices on Amazon!
Anova Sous Vide
Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, is a cooking technique that has been popular in restaurants for a long time but is just now showing up in the home cooks’ world thanks to the accessibility of sous vide cooking gadgets that are affordable and easy to use for even first-time cooks. The Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker is a smart gadget that allows even the most basic of chefs to cook restaurant-quality food easily using a pot and plastic bag.
Before Anova, cooking sous vide would require a chef to vacuum seal food in a bag, and then cook it to a precise temperature in a water bath. This took skill and know-how that many at-home chefs don’t have, nor do they have time to learn. With the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker, home chefs put their food in a plastic bag, clip it to a pot of water, put the Anova into the water, set the type of food the Anova is cooking on the mobile app, and the Anova does the rest. It circulates and heats the water for the correct time and temperature, and then lets the chef know when the food is ready to eat!
The Anova Cooker is the perfect closing gift for homeowners who love to cook and want to add a smart feature to their kitchen appliance lineup.
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The Anova Brand has a few different models, which range from $100-$200 on their website. At the time of this writing, the mid-model was priced at $160, but there are options for any kitchen-loving cook!
GeniCan
A smart garbage can might not be something you’ve always wanted, but what about a smart garbage can that can build your grocery list on your phone by just scanning what you throw away… and even automatically ordering more groceries through Amazon Dash? The GeniCan connects to any garbage can and builds your shopping list by scanning the bar codes of the items you throw away and adding them to your phone’s mobile device so you know exactly what you’ve run out of and when! If the item you’re throwing away doesn’t have a bar code to scan, you’ll hold the item in front of GeniCan and you can use voice commands to add the item to your shopping list. While you can use the shopping list GeniCan populates on your phone, GeniCan also works directly with Amazon Dash to order more groceries so you don’t have to ever go to the store! Realtors, this is an excellent closing gift for busy families who may need a little help remembering their grocery list.
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Touch-Free Garbage Can
If you want to really make your garbage can smart, add the GeniCan to a touch-free garbage can! Touch-free garbage cans make sure your garbage is covered but will automatically open the lid using motion detection. When it's time to change the bag, the lid will cease operation, letting you easily take the garbage out, and place a new bag within the canister. If you’re a realtor, this is an excellent closing gift for your clients, especially if you purchase the GeniCan along with the touch-free can.
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Click & Grow Smart Indoor Herb Garden
Does your client have a green thumb… or a brown thumb? Either way, this Click & Grow smart indoor herb garden is the perfect closing gift for new homeowners! Whether your client loves growing herbs or they up killing any green thing they touch, the Click & Grow makes growing herbs quick and easy. All you have to do is put the plant pods into the spots in the Click & Grow, fill the water revivor with water, and plug in the Click & Grow. The smart herb garden will water the plant pods and give them light as needed, automatically! The SmartSoil in each plant pod has the right PH balance, moisture levels, and nutrients for the seed included in the plant pod, so all you have to do is fill up the water revivor every three to four weeks, and then enjoy delicious, fresh herbs! Not only that, homeowners don’t have to just use herbs in their Click & Grow. Click & Grow has all types of plant pods, like tomatoes, chili peppers, lettuce, strawberries, and even different types of flowers!
Perfect for: your clients who are aspiring gardeners, or who maybe purchased a home with a backyard for the first time.
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This option has nine places to plant the plant pods and comes with three tomato pods, three basil pods, and three lettuce pods, but they have multiple options you can purchase on their website.
While you're busy getting your kitchen ready for the future, remember that the major appliances in your smart kitchen need protection! If you’re a realtor, consider a home warranty plan as a closing gift. A home warranty can protect your clients’ major systems and appliances when they fail from normal wear and tear. With a Landmark home warranty plan, when a major kitchen appliance fails, like an oven, as long as it failed from normal wear and tear, the home warranty plan will repair or replace it for the cost of a service call fee; usually $60-$100! Get a home warranty for your clients and protect their appliances from unexpected repairs and replacements. If you are looking to protect your own home’s systems and appliances in your new smart kitchen, you’ll also be protecting your budget! For more information take a look at Landmark’s home warranty plans and coverage.