Arthur Brisbane, the editor of the New York Evening Journal, wrote these words in 1911. The idea has been around for a long time and is still meaningful. It has immense value when applied to homes, their condition and contents. When it comes to condition, a few pictures may avoid hours of arguing, legal fees and rolls of blue tape (for notices).
According to Farmers Insurance: A full home inventory can do wonders for your Home insurance. It can:
- Help you figure out how much insurance to buy
- Speed up the claims process
- Help verify losses for your income tax return
Referring to Estate Planning, Charles Schwab lists taking inventory as step one:
“No matter how modest, everything you own is considered your estate. Taking stock of what you own is the first step in understanding how best to protect it.”
For a short-term furnished rental, like a cottage on the coast, the payback is almost inevitable. Sooner or later something will get damaged or go missing altogether. Current documentation establishes who and when.
While the merits of taking inventory are clear, the job is never urgent. Well disguised by compelling tasks and pressing needs its importance is well hidden.
Its nature is that of insurance. We put it off for the same reasons, it won’t happen to me, or at least it won’t happen soon, we hope.
We do not want to spend the money or the time. And as insurance, if it’s ever needed the relief is worth every penny or minute of toil.
For a full inventory of your home call Jeremy at 541-937-5188 or email him at jeremy@linnet.net.
Editors Note– My family recently updated our family estate planning. At the time, we did not know Jeremy so ended up doing the long and arduous task of inventorying our personal possessions ourselves. Jeremy’s inspection and documentation process is impressive and would have saved us a lot of work.