If you have to file a homeowner's insurance claim after a fire or other event, having a home inventory will make it much easier to document your losses for the insurance carrier and get your settlement much faster.
Home inventories are essentially itemized lists of everything of value in your home, proof of ownership, and how much it's worth. Without one, you will likely end up scrambling to provide proof of your losses to your insurance company, particularly if your receipts were damaged or destroyed.
Fortunately, it's easy and inexpensive to get going on a home inventory thanks to a plethora of apps and websites, like the following:
The Complete Home Journal
The Complete Home Journal is about the most complete inventory product for the hardcore record-keeper.
The home inventory module lets you input critical details and photographs of all your belongings, including electronics, seasonal gear, jewelry and appliances. But that's just one of several modules.
Other modules include home-improvement tracking, home and seasonal to-do lists. This program also stores contractor information and information on real estate agents, lenders and can even help you calculate cost basis for income tax and real estate sales.
You'll need Windows 7 or higher to run it, or run Virtual PC for Mac on a Mac. The cost is $29.99, with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a free trial period.
Sortly
While you can pay for premium options with Sortly, the free version has everything you need for a basic inventory. It comes with space for up to 200 items, and for a recurring fee, you can store unlimited items and automatically sync them with Evernote.
It has various built-in checklists to stay organized even if you have no idea where to start keeping track of things. Sortly's sleek, modern interface is attractive and is easily the best-looking tool on this list.
You can get the free Sortly app for iOS and Android. In-app purchases begin at $4.99. The Advanced rate plan costs $39/month or $468 annually.
Encircle
The sleek and easy-to-use Encircle Home Inventory App works great on iPhones and Android devices, and also via a Web portal.
You can organize items by room and save multiple photos for each item, so you can photograph the item and your receipt. According to Encircle, Inc., "In about an hour or less the average user can create a complete picture inventory of a property and generate detailed reports."
Encircle can be used for insurance purposes, estate planning, relocation and moving, or decorating. There is no charge to use the app.
Stuffanizer
This innovative solution supports a drag and drop interface. It also supports unlimited hierarchical locations, so you can note an item's location in an envelope, in a briefcase, in a sack, in the closet, or in the second bedroom.
The unique interface lets you drag and drop items from one location to another. You can also associate items with each other using tags, such as #borrowedobjects, #electronics, #cables and anything else you need to be able to get your hands on fast.
This solution one only works on iOS devices at the moment. The cost is $2.99. For more information, visit Stuffanizer
If you would like a quote on your current Homeowner’s Insurance policy, or just a simple second opinion, call us at 781-289-7445. Or, you can scan and send a copy of your policy to dan@rizzoinsurance.com
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