Record keeping is especially important for California homeowners. The reason? Our state has one of the most stringent seller disclosure policies in the country. That means home sales in California aren’t “buyer beware”; there are protections in place that ensure buyers aren’t left in the dark about a property.
The disclosures range far and wide, including things like disclosing earthquake danger, lead-based paints and hazardous materials. Disclosing home improvements and repairs is another common example, and it can quickly become cumbersome to prepare this information without organized records.
Generally speaking, homeowners must disclose the age, size and nature of improvements or home repairs. Therefore, the more meticulous your records of maintenance, the more time you’ll save when selling your home.
But that’s just one benefit. Organized records can also help protect you against costly lawsuits (you won’t over-estimate the cost of an improvement, for instance), simplify the insurance claims process, streamline mortgage refinancing, and, in some cases, it can save you money on taxes.
How Software is Changing Real Estate Record Keeping
Currently, there are some extremely useful platforms for organizing and tracking relevant data about your home. The options are endless. But one application I recommend is HomeZada.
HomeZada provides an easy-to-use and secure platform for managing your home. Essentially, you build a dashboard for your property that contains information like mortgage and tax documents, maintenance schedules and contract information – it’s really the 21st-century equivalent of a filing cabinet full of paperwork. Fortunately, the app is very affordable. There’s a paid version that starts at $5.95 per month, or $59 per year. If you’ve already signed up for the paid version, though, give me a call, as I can get my clients a discounted price.
Using the platform, you can quickly:
- Create a room-by-room home inventory of valuable items with pictures. This is extremely useful when filing an insurance claim.
- Budget, shop for supplies and plan home improvement projects. In fact, there are templates for remodels that provide helpful tips for planning and make it easier to estimate the cost of a project.
- Manage all of your home-related documents like mortgage information, tax information and maintenance contracts. This feature makes organization easier than ever, and there’s an easy-to-use search function to find information quickly.
- Create To-Do Lists and Schedule maintenance, landscaping projects and cleaning. The built-in calendar function delivers reminders for scheduled projects, like a yearly furnace tune-up.
- Easily track and calculate home financing rates and property value. This information can come in handy during tax season.
I cannot stress enough how useful an application like this is. We use software and applications for everything; it’s time we updated the way we keep records. The days of the unruly filing cabinet stuffed with paperwork are behind us.
If you would like the app contact Gary, garybelk@garybelk.com. We have a discount available.