This month was all about the research again! This time it was a bit of a different flavor.

But if you’ve been wondering why we’ve been waiting so long for building to even start on our home, the reason stems from one word: pandemic. We may be at the tailend of the COVID-19 pandemic, but supply chains and construction are still not back to normal capacity.

Coincidentially, the President of the United States remarked in a Sunday broadcast of 60 Minutes, literally saying “the pandemic is over.”

“We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.

If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing.”

— U.S. President Joe E. Biden

Why House Contract Completion Date Matters

What’s a little nerve wrecking about the building of our house not yet being started is our bank. A mortgage has terms you must meet, and though we’ve ticked every box, the one thing out of our control is the date that the builders told our bank (called “contract completion date”) the house will be complete. Since it’s looking like our house will not be complete on time, we will end up paying a little more than we expected. But this is why it is so important to plan for these kinds of events—you don’t want to be in a position where you are hurt financially because you really can’t afford what you want.

Luckily Stephanie connected with a mom who lives in the same subdivision, and she’s been a great resource to us during this process. She told Stephanie that yes indeed “it’s been quite a journey” for her and her family—Funny, we’re using that phrase a lot ourselves. Their house was 5 months beyond the contract completion date, and her neighbor told her that his house was 2 months beyond the contract completion date. It probably sounds childish, but when you know you’re not the only one, it makes you feel better. And this house is worth the wait!

Smart House Selection: Deadbolts

Since we are working toward building a smart house, we wanted to look into the deadbolts for our front doors, and our interior doors. There are quite a few deadbolts on the market and we wanted to make sure that we were selecting the right one for us.

While looking at smart door locks, we considered the following factors as they were most important to us.

• Ease of use – gain entry easier or at the same ability as a non smart lock
• Ability to open the door if the smart features failed
• Style – to avoid miss-matching between the rest of the house
• Ability to grant “keys” to guests 

While researching a bit more, we even found that some deadbolt models keep a record as well, so you can see when a door was opened and by whom! Another cool feature that we didn’t think about was the ability to ask SIRI to lock your house. So if you were rushing out the door, or have many kids that forget to lock up when they rush out, it’s an easy way to make sure your home is safe. 

There are quire a few models that fit these parameters, but we are ultimately leaning toward “level lock” as it combines style with functionality.

For a full list of reviewed smart house items, check out this great list from iMore!

Wish us luck for next month. Really hoping the digging starts in October.