Why We Installed Smart Locks (And Would Do It Again)

After years of managing rental property doors the traditional way—with keys, lockboxes, and coordinating access with contractors—Kevin and I decided it was finally time to try something different. In this episode of the Your Landlord Resource Podcast, we talk about why we installed smart locks on our rental properties and what we’ve learned from using them.

We walk through the exact lock we chose, the Kwikset Halo touchscreen smart lock, and why it made sense for our properties. For us, the biggest benefit has been convenience. Instead of driving three hours round-trip to meet a contractor or cleaner, we can now create temporary access codes, monitor entry remotely, and lock the door from anywhere using the app.

Smart locks have also made life easier for our tenants. They can enter with a code if they forget their keys, and families or roommates can each have their own access code. It also allows us to quickly change access between tenants without calling a locksmith or replacing the entire lock.

Of course, smart locks are not perfect for every property so we also discuss the downsides like battery maintenance, the need for reliable Wi-Fi, installation costs, and situations where a traditional lock might still make more sense.

If you’re a self-managing landlord looking to create better systems and save time coordinating access to your units, this episode will give you a realistic look at whether smart locks are worth it.

Links & References

Quickset Halo Smart Lock Touchscreen & Deadbolt

Quickset Halifax Door Knob

Episode 66 Midterm Rentals Explained

Episode 103 We Installed Property-Wide Wi-Fi. The Pros, Cons & What to Know

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Transcript

Kevin 0:00

Solving problems and creating a system so the problem won't occur again is a key part of owning rentals. And making videos has been a huge help for us. From showing tenants how to handle the tricky lock on the dumpster, to how to use the light timer for the back patio lights, these short videos make it so much easier for our tenants.

Speaker 0:26

Welcome to Your Landlord Resource podcast. Many moons ago when I started as a landlord, I was as green as it gets. I may have had my real estate license, but I lack confidence and the hands-on experience needed when it came to dealing with tenants, leases, maintenance, and bookkeeping after many failed attempts. Fast forward to today, Kevin and I have doubled our doors and created an organized. Professionally operated rental property business. Want to go from overwhelm to confident if you're an ambitious landlord or maybe one in the making. Join us as we provide strategies and teach actionable steps to help you reach your goals and the lifestyle you desire. All well building is streamlined and profitable rental property business. This is Your Landlord Resource Podcast.

Stacie 1:15

Hey, hey there, landlords. Welcome back to the Your Landlord Resource Podcast. I am your host, Stacie Casella, and I am here with my co-host and my best bud, Kevin Kilroy.

Kevin 1:28

I love your introductions. Hey everyone, thanks for being here today.

Stacie 1:32

Yeah. Uh, we're really glad you're here today because this is gonna be a shorty episode, which if you're new around here, that means we're keeping it kind of tight and focused. We're trying not to go down any rabbit holes, no hour long deep dives, just us and fairly one simple topic we're gonna talk about for about 20 minutes or so, hopefully.

Kevin 1:57

Yeah, which means you can't tell your entire life story this episode right?

Stacie 2:01

Wow. Yeah, no life stories. I'm not gonna say no sidelines, but I'll try to reel those in. And most importantly, not a lot of detail that you have to note, like about laws and regulations and such. So today we're talking about smart locks. Specifically why we decided to install them on our rental properties. And why we think that they're absolutely worth it. And because we like to keep it real, some situations where they might not be the best fit. But first, let's talk about the traditional lock and key system, which honestly has worked perfectly fine for us, but ours were looking pretty bad. They were these round cheap brass knobs and they were all tarnished and all dinged up. So we decided that we wanted to get nicer ones. But around that same time, we also decided to swap one of our units into a midterm unit, which is pretty much operated like a short term rental only for 30 days or more with the average stays being between 90 days and six months. Anyway, I think you're familiar with those, but many of them have electronic smart locks to make entry into the unit easy for new tenants. Okay, so stick with me here. It was around this same time that I was at Costco and they had full smart lock sets in the Kwikset brand, which is the brand that we love. But Costco had those for a steal of a price compared to buying'em at the big box stores or online. So I grabbed six of'em when I saw them, knowing that at some point we were gonna use'em.

Kevin 3:47

So much for not going off and sidelining, huh?

Stacie 3:50

I'm just, I'm, I'm trying to set the scene. Kev, it's storytelling 1 0 1. Geez. Anyway, back to traditional locks and why we don't prefer'em For one, unless they're Kwikset locks, they're a pain to change for each turnover. If you are a landlord who does change your locks with every new tenant so that the unit is secure, and if you're changing out the actual the keys every single time, you're likely either swapping out the whole lock set for$30 or$50, or you're calling a locksmith to replace the tumbler and rekey the unit. We called a locksmith one time and it was so expensive, which is why I get landlords will just change the whole lock mechanism out every time. It's way cheaper than calling a locksmith. This whole situation is why we had shifted to Kwikset Locks because they have a very simple re-key system that anyone can do. It takes two minutes, seriously. The other reason that we have really grown to love smart locks is convenience. With regular locks, you're dealing with having to meet people at the unit to let'em into work. Or I guess you can leave a spare in a lockbox, but if you are not someone who wants to use a lockbox, then you're going to have to meet the tradesmen, the cleaning people, contractors, or your tenant if they get locked out of the unit. And for us, that drive is three hours round trip. And that's driving only, that's not the time spent at the unit.

Kevin 5:26

And that time is time that could be well spent doing something else. I mean, even if it's just doing something fun. And I want to remind everyone, if you're not familiar with midterm rentals, you can check out the episode we did where we discussed it in detail. You can find that@yourlandlordresource.com episode 66, and we will also link it in the show notes. Okay, so let me talk a little bit about the smart locks we installed. Like Stacie mentioned, we are partial to the Kwikset brand because they have this little, I don't know what you'd call it.

Stacie 6:05

I, I'd say it's like a key. It's, it's, it's not, it looks like a flat brass piece, but it's like a key.

Kevin 6:12

I guess. Okay, so there's a little metal key with one end that's long and pointy, and on the lock there's a little hole that you poke that key into. And it enables you to be able to change the lock from the existing key to a new one. We'll link that in the show notes for you to check out along with a helpful YouTube video that shows you how it works. But these smart locks also have a physical key that has that easy rekey system. So it made a lot of sense for us to stick to that brand. Seriously, we don't even need Jim to do this anymore. Stacie and I can both do this. I mean, it's that simple. So besides brand familiarity, the other reason we chose these smart locks is because they could fit into the existing doors that we already have. We have standard doorknobs with deadbolts, so it works perfectly. It has a keypad for entry using a code, and it has a backup system of the physical key as well. The one plus for us was that it was able to be used with just wifi. And if you're not aware, some smart lock systems require a hub to connect to, but these Kwikset ones only needed wifi along with an app we had to create an account on. I mean, the bottom line is, we were looking for a reliable, repeatable system, and that's what we got with these Kwikset locks.

Stacie 7:40

Exactly. And I'd say the biggest benefit is the convenience. For us, when we have turnovers, we can now just ask the carpet installer or the cleaning lady for a code that they wanna use, and then we put that code for that one lock into the app for however long we want, anywhere from a five minute window to infinite access. Like we entered the code for our cleaning lady, and then after she's done, we'll leave it on there because with just a click of a button, we can just disable her access. This way we don't have to keep deleting and then reentering the code every time we have a turnover. And the same thing with Jim. He has access to all of our units in case he has to go in for repairs. We don't have to be there. The tenants don't have to be there. And it saves Jim time from having to use his master key to go into the basement and get all the spare keys that we keep down there. More than once we have had a tenant lock themselves out. Now, if the lock is running correctly, they can use your code and they don't have to worry about it. The app allows a bunch of access codes. So if you have a unit with roommates or a family and everybody wants their own code, you can do that. The app is also nice because it shows if the door has been locked or not. So like when the carpet guy goes in to repair or replace carpets during turnovers, and maybe he leaves, but he doesn't lock it, you can lock it remotely. Now that's because we have our own wifi. If you think you're going to be using a tenant's wifi, using the system for turnovers will not work. So we also like that if someone is doing work on time and materials, like our tile guy and he says he is on the job and for eight hours, we can go on the app and see when he entered and when he left to see if he was actually there for eight hours. Normally we would have to be on site to verify that information or just trust him, right? And for the most part, our team is very trustworthy, or else we wouldn't allow him in our vacant units unattended. The only person we allow in occupied units unattended is Jim because he is licensed, insured, and bonded. And he's also worked for us for close to 20 years, and we fully trust that he's honest.

Kevin 10:11

Right. The app is also helpful to tell you how the lock's being used, you know, if the tenants are using the codes or the keys to enter. And it's funny because for some units it's about 50/50, and for others a hundred percent of the time, they're using the codes. It also shows us if the lock is engaged and working correctly. Which leads me to some installation issues we've encountered. And by we, I mean Jim. So the lock has a deadbolt, and that deadbolt, because it engages electronically, will throw a jammed warning if it hits any wood inside the doorframe when locking. So the opening for that deadbolt has to be deeper than usual. And here's the thing, the lock is still engaged and working when we get the jam notification, I mean, that's not the issue. The problem is when the door senses a jam deadbolt, the batteries can sometimes stay engaged and it kills the batteries in a few days versus a few months. So there has been a bit of a learning curve installing these locks. But for the most part, he knows what he needs to do and they've been working really, really well. Plus on turnovers because it has that easy rekey system, once everyone is done with their work after a vacancy, Jim does his final inspections and then changes the locks out, so we start the next tenant off with a clean slate.

Stacie 11:43

And really quick, I wanna circle back to the lockbox that we have used. We only use it for the day that the new tenant arrives in our midterm unit because we do not meet new midterm renters in person. We hang a lockbox near their front door just in case they can't figure out how to use the code or for some odd reason that lock isn't working. They can still access their unit by using the lockbox key and then find their set of keys inside the unit.

Kevin 12:10

Yeah, that's our fail safe plan, which is always important to have. Always have a backup plan just in case the smart part of the lock is, I dunno, well being dumb. This is why we like the Halo style Kwikset locks. It still has a physical key system as a backup, and this matters because if the batteries die, the key works. If the tech fails, like the wifi or power to the wifi is out, the key still works. And for our units, if the tenant does not have their key and this happens, they can call us and we can direct them on how to access the basement for their backup key.

Stacie 12:52

Yeah. And recently in Tahoe, when the guests left but forgot to close a window, the neighbor noticed and then texted to let us know. So we were able to unlock the door remotely so they could go in and close it,'cause you know, bears are all over where this home is. And once they texted back that they were out, we locked the door back up remotely again.

Kevin 13:16

Yeah, it was super easy and convenient for everybody involved. Okay, so we've discussed what we installed,, the Kwikset Halo Smart Locks, which we will link in the show notes so you can learn more about them. We have also discussed why we went with Smart Locks. That is, it started with the midterm rental and then spread out to the other units and other properties. And we talked about the convenience of them. And the convenience was something we really didn't expect.

Stacie 13:48

Now, we do know some landlords who allow prospective tenants use the Smart Lock system to enter their unit and do their own unit tour. We do not. Just in general, we do not like this as a convenience, especially with a furnished unit. Because California has special laws where squatters have rights, and if the wrong person gets in there, it could really be held to get'em out. And our vacant unfurnished units, you know, we like to meet the prospective tenants. That is our opportunity to sell them on the unit and why it's so great. Talk about what's included, like what the neighborhood is like. Show'em the back patio where we have the grill and the couches and the dining table. And we often get questions about parking and usually we can shut those concerns down right away. So it's important to meet anyone interested in running from you so that you can check'em out too, because you can usually tell right off the bat if you would like them to rent your unit or not.

Kevin 14:51

And this has nothing to do with fair housing you guys. Simply said, you can tell if someone is high maintenance or not based on the questions they ask a lot of the time.

Stacie 15:01

Exactly right. It's your chance to ask them questions as well, which is super important. It's almost like a little interview to learn a few things about them personally. But the biggest things these locks have given us is time. Like we mentioned before, getting to Sacramento is a three hour drive back and forth. Not to mention the time where we are working or monitoring someone doing a repair. If the unit is vacant, we do not need to go and meet a repair person to fix the washing machine or shower door hinges. We can now use that time to work on making our business better. By researching comps to make sure that we are pricing our units well. Or taking a class to learn new laws or maybe learn a new way of handling an issue to improve our systems. And we definitely use the time to look for our next investment. And from a non-business standpoint, we have more time to do the work that we've been putting off around our own home. So not having to drive back and forth every time someone needs access has given us a ton of time back.

Kevin 16:07

And the tenants love them too. The smart locks are very convenient for them. And with most of our tenants in their late twenties or early thirties, they have an appreciation for the tech and it makes'em feel like they're living in a more upgraded home. Which has also helped us when we do showings because it's the first thing they see when they enter. Now, let me take a moment to talk about a few downsides of the Smart Locks. Because we want to be totally upfront and honest with you about our experience with some issues that have come up. And then the solutions we've created to combat them. First and foremost, smart locks require batteries. Specifically the Kwikset Halo we have uses four AA batteries. Now it comes with batteries, the batteries need to be replaced every three to six months, depending on the usage. And things like the jam codes we mentioned earlier can cause those batteries to go out quicker as well. So when we installed the locks, we left each tenant with one four pack of batteries to use for the next replacement. And we did this hoping that those backup batteries would carry them through until the next inspection, which we do every six months or so. For the most part, that has worked really well. If the batteries do not need replacement, when we go in to do our inspections, we leave them another set of batteries to have on hand for when they finally do go out.

Stacie 17:37

And because we monitor the battery life remotely, we know when they were last changed and how much life is left. And Kwikset will email us whenever the batteries get down to 25% battery life, and then daily once it reaches 10%. So this allows us to text and or email the tenant to let them know and remind them that we left batteries there for them to use. And we also send a video that we made on how to change those batteries properly.

Kevin 18:09

Yeah, that's been very helpful. Because this one time in Tahoe, my sister thought they needed to be changed, when she tried to take the battery pack out, she somehow hit the wrong button and completely reset the lock, which meant we had to go back there at some point, set it all back up again and get it all hooked up into the internet.

Stacie 18:31

Yep. And that right there was why we did the video, because you can't assume that everyone knows how to handle tech.

Kevin 18:40

And for the record, it's not difficult at all to change those batteries. I have no idea why she started pushing buttons.

Stacie 18:49

I'd say she's good at that, but she really is the sweetest. Uh, it, you know, she just doesn't understand the tech of the door and thought she had to reset the lock for the batteries to work, you know, it was an honest mistake.

Kevin 19:01

Yeah. And Stacie's right. Solving problems and creating a system so the problem won't occur again is a key part of owning rentals. And making videos has been a huge help for us. From showing tenants how to handle the tricky lock on the dumpster, to how to use the light timer for the back patio lights. These short videos make it so much easier for our tenants. Another issue is that for the smart part to work, you have to have wifi. So we knew when we began to set up the midterm rental, we had to provide wifi because literally these people come in with their suitcase of clothes and everything else is set up for them., They do not set up utilities or internet. That is on the owner and is included in the rent. You know, much like a hotel. So initially we set up wifi just for that unit. But we knew that eventually we wanted to set up smart locks in other units and video surveillance cameras for the walkways at some point. So last year we installed property wide wifi. The long and short of it is we could have just set it up ourselves, but because the building's so large, we would've had to have several wifi extenders to get the wifi to all corners of the property. Well, if we're gonna have to go through all that, we thought, why not just add wifi to all the units so the tenants can pay us to use the internet? That saves them from having to set it all up, plus it's also private and secure for each unit. Then they pay us a small fee and it's much less than if they did the internet themselves. And with all those fees we collect, it covers the bulk of our invoice for the at and t service to the building. Now, I will say this was a process. It's one we did an episode all about, so you can go check it out yourlandlordresource.com episode 1 0 3. But the bottom line is you need reliable wifi to operate the smart locks. And we don't recommend using the tenants wifi because you have to ask them for their passwords, which is kind of awkward. Then also you're dependent on them paying the bill so there's no service interruptions. Plus when they move out and take that wifi with them, you'll lose the ability to use that smart lock during turnover, which for us is when we need it the most. So that's one hurdle you'll have to deal with.

Stacie 21:41

Yeah, and honestly, smart locks on a single family home may not be worth it. For us, installing and providing wifi is best for multi-family situations where turnover can happen more frequently than they do in single family homes. All right, so let's talk cost. Because the upfront cost for smart locks can be expensive. It can range from$150 to$300, and as I mentioned, we got ours at Costco and they're around$125 a piece, which was a killer deal. At the time we're recording this, on Amazon, the Halo Smart Lock that we used is going for$195. And you guys, that does not include the actual doorknob, which was included in the Costco set that we bought. This is just the actual touchscreen panel that has a deadbolt lock in it. So in a traditional lock, you have a key that locks the doorknob and then also the deadbolt. For smart locks, you only lock the deadbolt. So for us, when we bought the set at Costco, we didn't even realize that they sold the doorknob separately. We didn't know this until we went to install one in Tahoe and had to buy them as separate parts because Costco no longer carried the complete set. So the upfront cost to buy the set is way more than a traditional doorknob and deadbolt set that you can pick up for between 30 and 50 bucks. And then you have to consider installation. Is this something that you can do yourself, or do you have to pay someone to come out and install it for you? And remember, if they don't have experience with installing smart locks, there's a learning curve where they might have to come back and make some adjustments to the deadbolt lock. So each lock could essentially cost you upwards of like$500 installed. And then consider the cost of wifi that you need. Smart locks worked for us, but they're not for every rental property. So some things to consider would be the location of your rental, because really remote areas may not have good wifi connectivity. The age of your property makes a difference. You know, if you have old doors that don't have the standard 2 1/8 inch opening for doorknobs and a deadbolt, then you have to change your whole door in order to use a smart lock. So in our a hundred year old rental that was in Chico, we couldn't use smart locks unless we purchased a new front door. Same with my uncle's old cottage rental that we help him manage. So do you have a contractor who can install them because even the handiest of DIY'ers can get stumped on installing these locks.

Kevin 24:29

Jim is a general contractor, and our Smart locks were his first experience of installing them. He definitely had to come back a few times to get them to stop throwing that jam lock code. Okay, so let me kind of finish this out. Using smart locks are great if you self-manage your units. Have multiple units to really take advantage of the time savings they allow. And essentially are tired of coordinating access to your units. They may not be great for landlords with small portfolios that have minimal turnover. Or if you're not comfortable with technology because you have to program the lock and use an app on your phone to monitor and make changes to the system for codes and such. And it's not for a landlord who does not want to install wifi in their rental because we really do not recommend using a tenant's wifi.

Stacie 25:24

Definitely not. You guys need complete control over these locks. And one more thing that I want to bring up is that many insurance companies can offer discounts if your rental has smart locks. So apparently they're considered a proactive security measure that reduces the risk of theft and vandalism. And from what I understand, the logical reasoning behind this is that you have better control over who has access to your unit. Now, I was not able to find any strong documentation to really back that theory up other than one article. So before you go and install smart locks and then call your insurance company to ask for a discount, you wanna check that out. But the bottom line is that Smart Locks can be a really good thing if you're all about systems. Because they offer less stress, they make your building appear more professionally managed. And for us, they are a hundred percent worth it. As we said, we bought and held these locks for a year before they were actually installed because we decided we wanted to use our own wifi to make it more secure. For us, the biggest expense was having the wifi installed because we did it in a way that each unit had their own secure password protected access. Setting that all up, took time to research and find the right tech company to get it all set up and installed correctly. As we mentioned, we do charge the tenants a small fee to use that wifi, so it does pay for itself. And not every tenant has opted in, but we're still covering most of that monthly cost. We can use this wifi eventually to install other smart devices like thermostats and security cameras, which is something we're definitely interested in. Again, this was all discussed in episode 1 0 3, titled We installed Property Wide Wifi, The Pros and Cons and What to Know. And like Kevin mentioned, we're linking it in the show notes.

Kevin 27:33

Yeah, we will link that and the other episode on midterm rentals, as well as the link to the smart locks in the show notes for you all. I think that is all for today. Hopefully Hopefully we didn't go too far over that 20 minute mark.

Stacie 27:47

I think we did.

Kevin 27:47

I believe so. You know, we really do try, but we want to give you all of the info when we're discussing something we've done with one of our rentals. The good and the bad, so you are correctly informed. If you like what you hear on this podcast, would you do us a favor and subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast platform? That way our episode will be there waiting for you each week so you can enjoy all we have to say about owning and self-managing rental property. And we'd be super appreciative if you could leave us a kind review. Those reviews really help other landlords like you know that we're the real deal. We have links to the review sites in the show notes. If you have a question or want to suggest a subject for a future podcast, you can text us at 6 5 0 4 8 9 4 4 4 7, or you can email us at stacie@yourlandlordresource.com. Stacie with an IE or kevin@yourlandlordresource.com. Feel free to download any of the forms or templates we offer. Or if you want to sign up for our free newsletter, you can access all of those links in the show notes as well. And if you'd like to follow along on the daily you can find us on Instagram and Facebook. And we also have a private Facebook group as well. Again, all those links are in the show notes. Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to listen to our podcast. So until next time...

Stacie 29:30

You've got this landlords.