Righteous Renovations! These Home Features Are Proven to Pay Off (2 0f 6)

Electronics: smart home features (No. 1), Energy Star appliances (No. 12), and security systems (No. 15)

After a busy day of work, you're heading home to cook a romantic dinner for a special date. Sweet! But you’re not sure if you have the right ingredients at home. Is there a tin of beluga and bottle of Sauvignon Blanc chilling in the fridge? If you're a smart home owner, finding out is as simple as opening an app on your Galaxy Note8 and peeking inside the appliance.

So you can begin to see why smart home features place first on our list: They're all about convenience and control for already overworked homeowners. In fact, the median listing for a home with smart home features is $575,000—up a staggering 82.6% over the past two years. That's partially due to heavy demand, but also because many newer, higher-end homes come with these new-fangled gadgets already installed.

Smart home tech is actually an umbrella term covering a range of products and levels of connectivity. The common denominator: The technology operates with minimal human input, is interconnected, and can be manipulated or tracked remotely from a device, or in home from a central control. Smart home devices include household items like ovens, lights, and thermostats, many of which learn your preferences and adjust to you. Hence the smart part.

There's everything from the Kevo Smart Lock, which allows you to unlock your front door via your cell phone, to the Nest Learning Thermostat, which sets your temperature automatically after figuring out what you like. It can't help you decide what you want for takeout—yet.

Smart home features are catnip for younger buyers. “Technology is just a very big draw for them," says Baker at the American Institute of Architects. "They're so used to managing their lives through their iPhones, they want the same from their home.”

Security systems, often an integrated part of the connected home, are going strong too, posting a 11.5% price appreciation over the past two years.

No brainer: Coming home to find your holiday package stolen is the rotten cherry on top of an already stressful “festive” season. But imagine opening an app at work, seeing the delivery person at your door, and then unlocking it with a push of a button, so your package can be placed inside, away from those hell-bound thieves.

Energy Star appliances, a government designation for efficiency, are a popular home-selling feature as well. Who doesn’t want to lower their electric bill? The median list prices for homes with appliances like refrigerators, ovens, and air conditioners that carry the label have risen nearly 27% since 2015.

“There is a huge demand today [for Energy Star appliances],"  says Ron Samuelson, owner of New York-based Home Energy Consultants. "That logo is insurance that you're getting a real energy-saving product."