What They Can't See, They'll LoveTechnology can be a builder's best friend. But you don't have to flaunt it to convince home buyers they want it.

Today's home buyers are hungry for technology. they expect high-speed Internet and multipoint access to digital information, entertainment, and home-control functions—even in modest and starter homes. Homes without this basic infrastructure are obsolete before the drywall is hung.

Research by the Consumer Electronics Association finds that home buyers are aware of, and willing to pay for, the benefits of home technology, especially when the cost is rolled into their mortgages. Technology is rapidly becoming as vital a utility in the home as sewer and power. But even though electricity and water are integral features of a new home, builders understand that those basic utilities rarely spark new revenue opportunities. Savvy builders that seize on home buyers' voracious appetite for digital technology will stand out and generate more business.

To reap the rewards of digital technology, the builder needs to make the lifestyle benefits of home networking clear to consumers, even if the technology behind it isn't as evident. Networking isn't a noun, and “systems integration” doesn't sound like a fun feature of a new home. The builder has to explain the value of integrated home systems in more familiar terms.

The builder can explain the benefits of an overall system. It can tell home buyers how great it is to hit the “away” button on a touchscreen, and have the air conditioning and lighting turned down while they're not home. It's the same as selling a car. Dealers rarely delve into the complexities of the car's various systems, but focus on the comfort, efficiency, and speed that make up the driving experience.

From the consumer's perspective, structured wiring can be likened to the system of pipes and fixtures that distribute hot water around a home. Before you can take a hot shower, cold water from the outside must be delivered into the house, where it is collected, heated, and sent through a network of pipes to a fixture containing a control valve. The user experience, however, is less complex: pull the knob, adjust the temperature, and enjoy a shower.

SUBTLY WIRED: Not even the TV gives away the fact that this room is networked for the future.

Digital content follows a similar path within a home network. Before you can listen to your favorite music, or watch a movie on demand, or even play YouTube clips on a TV, live content from outside (cold water) must be delivered into the house where it is digitized (heated), compiled (collected), and sent through a network (the pipes) to an audio/video display (fixture) with a user interface (control valve).

If you and your integrator do you jobs correctly, the home buyer's experience with an entertainment network should be as simple as turning on the shower: go to a display, select the desired content or function (such as music, video, games, e-mail), and relax.

Few buyers think to ask about pipes, but the plumbing analogy lets the builder explain the importance of prewiring a home, just as he would describe the benefits of roughing in the plumbing for a bathroom in an unfinished area of the house. The expandability and flexibility of a well-done, structured wiring system are a form of future-proofing to which most homeowners will relate. Savvy home buyers opt for infrastructure because, unlike other upgrades such as tile and carpet, adding structured wiring after the walls are up is more expensive and impractical.