Home Asset Management Software

No one wants to have to prepare for a disaster or theft but the odds show that we must plan the best we can for the day that something happens, whether that be a natural disaster, a break-in, flooding, fire, or other strange event. If you have a home owner's policy and if you rent you really should have renter's insurance. This is the first step towards being prepared.

One of the next steps is to inventory your assets for several reasons. First, you want to be able to provide accurate information to your insurance agent when there is an issue so that you are properly reimbursed. Second, you will need to know when to upgrade your policy - no sense having a policy for $40,000 in personal property when you actually have say $80,000. Your life will be rocked enough as it is, and you will not want to argue with your insurance agent how much you should be compensated.

The Insurance Information Institute has a free software service called "Know your stuff" found at www.knowyourstuff.com This is a software service so your information will live on their servers and can be accessed from anywhere. This is a basic software service that allows you to categorize your items by room. This software collects the minimum data needed. On the plus side this is a free service.

My Stuff Deluxe is a software that you would have to pay to use, but this is a software that you would load onto your computer. What I like about this software is that you can track serial numbers, date purchased, and amount paid. It even has a field for who gets the item when you die, just fill in the heir field. Another great feature of this software is that you can create multiple databases. You can have one for your main house and say you also have a beach house, or vacation rental; you can track that information all within the same database.

The Quicken Home Inventory Manger also works as an estate planning software. This software tracks the same items all the other software packages, but with estate planning built into the software. Like all the others, this one allows you to add photos, model numbers, serial numbers, amount paid, etc.

I personally like Home Manager by www.kzsoftware.com. One of the features that I like is the ability to track asset appreciation or depreciation. This version also includes items like automobiles, clothes, art & jewelry. I think that these areas set this software above the others that I have found available free or with a moderate fee. For items that need maintenance, this software will also track your maintenance dates and service performed. This can be critical when it comes to jewelry claims. The price of this software is $29.99, which is comparable with most other home inventory software.