Decisions about smart home technology for new construction come up earlier than most buyers expect. You’re still working through floor plans, still picking exterior materials, still trying to figure out where the kitchen island goes, and suddenly your builder is asking whether you want a structured wiring panel, pre-wired speaker locations, or a whole-home automation system. It feels like a tech purchase dressed up as a construction decision, and for many buyers, it creates real anxiety.

The honest answer is that not all of it deserves that anxiety. Some of this infrastructure is genuinely difficult to add later. Some of it is perfectly fine to skip during the build and revisit in two or three years. And some of it is sold hard during the design phase because it carries a good margin and sounds impressive in a sales meeting, not because it will meaningfully improve your daily life.

Here’s how to think through it:

The One Rule That Makes Every Decision Easier

Before getting into specifics, there’s a single question worth asking about every smart home feature on your list: Is this harder to do after drywall goes up?

If the answer is yes, it belongs in the build. If the answer is no, you’re better off waiting. Technology changes fast. The smart home ecosystem that looked dominant three years ago looks different today, and the ecosystem today will look different again in three years. Building in flexibility beats locking in a specific platform.

What You Should Absolutely Build In:

Structured wiring and a central distribution panel

This is the foundation of a connected home, and it’s also one of the least glamorous line items on a smart home upgrade list. A structured wiring panel consolidates your internet, cable, phone, and data connections into one accessible location, typically in a utility room or closet. The individual runs to each room, whether coaxial, Cat6, or fiber, get pulled during framing when walls are open.

The cost to pull wire during construction is modest. The cost to pull it after drywall, through finished walls and ceilings, can run several times higher and leaves you with visible conduit or patch work. Even if you don’t use every outlet right away, having those home runs in place means you’re ready for whatever comes next.

Cat6a (the enhanced version of the standard Cat6 ethernet cable) is the current sensible choice. It supports speeds well above what most households will need for years and is backward-compatible with every device you own now. Wireless is convenient, but wired connections are still faster and more reliable for devices that don’t move: televisions, desktop workstations, gaming systems, and home theater equipment.

Electrical rough-in for future EV charging

If you have a garage, adding a 50-amp circuit and conduit run from your electrical panel to the garage wall during construction costs a fraction of what it costs afterward. You don’t have to install the charger now. You’re just making sure the wire is there when you want it.

Electric vehicle ownership in Virginia has been climbing steadily, and home charging infrastructure consistently ranks among the top things buyers wish they’d planned for. Even if you don’t currently own an EV, this is a $300-$500 decision during the build that could be a $1,500-$2,500 retrofit later.

Whole-home audio rough-in (if you actually want speakers)

This one comes with a caveat: only do it if you genuinely want in-ceiling speakers and know where you want them. Pre-wiring for a distributed audio system during construction is clean and invisible. Adding it later involves attic work and ceiling patches.

But if you’re not sure you want it, don’t let anyone talk you into pre-wiring “just in case.” Wireless speaker systems have gotten remarkably good, and a Sonos or similar setup doesn’t require any wiring at all. The in-ceiling route makes sense for a dedicated home theater space, a covered outdoor patio where you want weatherproof speakers, or a great room where you know you’ll want audio. Everywhere else, wait and see.

Conduit in the right places

This one is easy to overlook because it sounds unglamorous: flexible conduit or sleeve runs from your electrical panel to key locations (attic, garage, an outdoor equipment area) give you a pathway to pull new wire later without tearing open walls. It costs almost nothing during construction and removes a real headache down the road. Think of it as an empty channel that your future self will thank you for.

Pre-wired locations for security cameras

If you know you want exterior cameras, running wire to those locations during framing is quick and inexpensive. Camera locations worth planning for include the front entry, the garage, and any rear corner of the house with a broad sightline. You don’t have to buy the cameras now. You just want the wire in the wall so you’re not drilling through finished surfaces or running visible cable later.

What You Don’t Need to Build In:

Specific smart home platforms or hubs

The home automation market is still consolidating. Matter, the cross-platform smart home standard backed by Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung, has changed how devices communicate, but the ecosystem is still evolving. Committing your new home to a specific proprietary automation system during construction is a real risk. You may pay for hardware and programming that becomes unsupported or outdated before the house is five years old.

The better move is to make sure the wiring infrastructure is in place (see above) and choose your platform after move-in, when you can take your time and see how the market settles.

Smart appliances as construction line items

Refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, and washing machines with built-in connectivity are fine to buy. But they’re appliances. You’ll replace them on appliance timelines, not construction timelines. Buying them as part of your custom home spec makes them feel more permanent than they are. Pick them when you’re furnishing and equipping the house, not when you’re signing your build contract.

Automated window treatments built into construction

Motorized shades are a genuine luxury, and there are houses where they make real sense. But the motors, tracks, and controls are tied to specific shade systems that get updated and discontinued on their own schedule. If you want motorized shades, it’s usually better to buy them after you’re in the house, once you know exactly how the light falls in each room at different times of year. The wiring for the motors is simple to add at that point.

Where Smart Home Tech Actually Earns Its Keep

The features that hold up best over time are the ones that connect to real daily inconvenience.

A smart thermostat connected to a properly zoned HVAC system makes a meaningful difference in a larger custom home. Virginia summers are long and humid, and a two-story home with a single HVAC zone will have warm upstairs bedrooms in August, no matter how good the equipment is. Zoning, with smart controls that let each zone respond to actual usage patterns, solves a real problem. That’s different from a novelty feature.

Smart door locks matter to people who are frequently managing contractors, cleaners, or relatives with different access needs. For someone who just wants to unlock their front door, they’re a convenience that can be added at any time.

Whole-home surge protection, installed at the electrical panel, is worth doing during construction. It’s not glamorous smart home tech, but it protects every device in the house, and it’s inexpensive when your electrician is already on-site.

Lighting control systems make the most sense in specific areas: a home theater, a covered porch, or a large great room where scene-setting matters. Running it to every switch in the house adds significant cost for marginal benefit in most rooms.

A Note on ROI

Real estate research consistently shows that smart home technology has mixed resale value. Structured wiring, EV charging, and whole-home audio tend to be viewed positively by buyers. Proprietary automation systems are often viewed as a liability by buyers who don’t want to inherit someone else’s platform.

Building for your own lifestyle makes more sense than building for resale. But it’s worth knowing that some of these decisions don’t come back to you in the sale price the way finishes and structural choices do.

How to Handle the Conversation With Your Builder

If you’re working with a custom builder, the smart home discussion usually happens during the pre-construction design phase. That’s the right time to ask which decisions require action now and which can wait. A builder who has been through this process many times can tell you exactly where the retrofit costs are high and where they aren’t.

At Perkinson Homes, we go through this during the design phase so you’re not making technology decisions under pressure. If you want to see how these conversations typically fit into the overall build process, our process overview walks through the sequencing of decisions from lot to move-in.

The goal isn’t a home that’s loaded with technology. It’s a home that’s wired to support whatever technology actually makes your life easier, without committing you to a platform or a product cycle you didn’t fully understand when you signed the contract.

That’s a different thing, and it’s worth holding onto as you work through the list.

If you’re in the early stages of planning a custom home in the Richmond area and want to talk through how to approach these decisions, reach out to us here.