Thursday, March 30, 2017

Guardian meeting

We had our Guardian meeting on Monday.  We had researched enough blogs that we knew what to expect going in, and it pretty much matched expectations.

Our sales rep was polite and went through his pitch fairly quickly but thoroughly. We didn't feel pressured at all, and he answered any questions we had.  Unlike what some people have reported, he was forthcoming on pricing for anything we asked about on the spot... we didn't need to wait until the end for a grand unveiling.

They had also sent us a website well in advance of the meeting detailing the available offerings (without prices). For those interested, you can see it here: http://www.guardianhometechnologies.com/

We ultimately stuck to our plan and the only purchases we made were to add some additional cable and data jacks throughout the house.  Our home came with 6 total, which could be split however we wanted between data/phone/cable.  There is a bundle to add an additional 6 for about $500. Pricey, but i'll be happy to eliminate the powerline adaptors i have plugged in throughout our current house.

The in-ceiling stereo speakers would have been nice, but not $3000+ nice.  Home automation options are something I'll want to add down the road, but the Guardian options all required you to build it on top of their security service which starts at $44.95/mo and requires an even higher tier for the automation service. No thanks.

Shameless plug for a buddy of mine... check out http://www.switcheroo.com for an app-free/wire-free/service-fee-free solution that lets you change which outlets are controlled with your existing switched outlets.  Pretty sweet concept.

Monday, March 27, 2017

A whirlwind beginning...

A month or so ago, we were barely sure we wanted to move at all to a new home and a "new" new home wasn't even on the radar.  Now we have a signed contract, are knee deep into the selection process, and we're becoming yet another pair of bloggers hoping to document some of the process.  Wow that a whirlwind.

I'm still not really sure how it all happened.  Well sure I do... interest rates finally started rising after so many years of promising to rise but never quite managing to do it.  That was the first nudge.  So we started exploring the housing market, and what we found was... not much.

I can sum up the promising options we found this way. 
  • Option A - mr. perfect, but pulled from the market just as we went to submit an offer. (aside from interest rates, this was the house that really got us interested in possibly moving).
  • Option B - the irish mama, a beautiful home aside from being too green in a sea of brick.  
  • Option C - the newbie, a very recently built home with great highway access,  but bizarrely tiny bedrooms rooms.  
  • Option D - the almost, another newer home that we rushed into the realtor's office to make an offer on, only to come to our senses when we took a moment to think.

It was around then that we realized what we liked about all of them was that they were... new. Maybe not anywhere near as solidly built as the '40s house we live in today, but we liked the open floor plans, the large bright windows, the modern touches. Oh and the sidewalks... I can't tell you how much I've missed sidewalks. Pittsburgh suburbs hate sidewalks for some reason.

We finally decided to explore some new home developments, not expecting to really it to go anywhere, but surprisingly... it did.  So here we are.