House Progress: Security Cameras + New Doorbell

Hi guys!

I want to talk about something that I've installed in my house and been LOVING...you may have heard of it before but it's the NEST SECURITY CAMERAS AND DOORBELL!! 

It's been a GAME CHANGER. I moved into my house just 2 days before going to Costa Rica and I was feeling a little nervous about it because we basically had to dump all of our boxes of personal belongings and go.

One of our neighbours told us the highest break-in time was when people are just moving in because robbers know the house might be vacant in between moves. I knew I wanted to set up cameras before we left, and after hearing so many great things about  NEST - I decided to give it a go!

The day before we left, my internet was installed-and that same day- I hired an electrician to come and set up the outdoor cameras! The timing was perfect because we were going on back to back trips and I wanted to be able to keep an eye out on who was coming in and out of the door during the remodel process. 

Also during the escrow process, we visited the home everyday and would come back to new doggie shits on the yard and missing roses :/ (literally someone was cutting down the roses that were on the side of our house). This is part of the reason why I wanted a camera also!

Anyway we set up 2 x Nest Cam IQ Outdoor cameras (one on top of the garage and one in the front) so I could get a full view of the front and back yard. I love how sleek and unobtrusive the cameras are.

We also installed the Nest Hello Doorbell  the same day. It was pretty easy to do for the electrician because we already had an existing door bell. The total cost for the installation on all 3 cameras was $100 each. Happy to give you the rec if you're in LA area, just message me.

Anyway once it was all set up, Ian and I were on our way to the airport the next day!

I got 2 notifications on my phone saying someone was at the front door while I was at the airport. I was able to see the UPS guy in real time (via the Nest app) and speak to him about where to leave the package. I was also able to speak to the electrical inspector who showed up shortly after to direct him to where the electrical unit was- SO HELPFUL ALREADY!

Had I not had the cameras, the inspector would have had to be rescheduled for another day (postponing our remodeling process) and the packages would have sat in the front of the door for who knows how long!

After that first experience , I was already feeling super confident about leaving my new baby (house) alone for a week and half!

Everyday while I was on my trip, I could see which contractor was entering my house and what was being worked on. I didn't have to worry about losing packages, roses being stolen or anything else!! I felt completely at ease.

I wanted to share this with you because it's been such a huge help so far and I can't imagine life without it now.

Once the remodel is done, I plan to install a Nest Cam IQ Indoor camera to watch Simba and Monkey and also the Nest Secure Alarm system for extra extra security. 

Thanks for reading this blog post today and hope you found this review helpful!!