Review : Smart Computing Magazine

The Complete Home Journal - Put Your House In Order

Review : Knight Ridder/Tribune News

Take Inventory Before Disaster Strikes

Review : Simple Systems Organizing

The Complete Home Journal - Product Review

News : REALTOR^® Magazine

Closing Gifts Buyer's Guide

News : REALTOR^® CRS Residential Specialist

Products & Services Showcase

News : www.BobVila.com

The Complete Home Journal™ Now Available

It’s time to repaint the house, but you can’t get started until you find the brand and color of paint you used last time. As you rummage through file-cabinet drawers full of warranties, receipts, and other documents, you think, “Wouldn’t it be easier if I stored this information on my computer?” Despite the obvious benefits of using a PC-based home-inventory system, there are only a handful of such programs. One of the few is Innovative Software’s The Complete Home Journal.

We started using The Complete Home Journal right away, thanks to its simple interface. After clicking the Purchase shortcut button, we recorded information such as Bank/Mortgage Company contact information, Monthly Escrow Info, and Mortgage facts (Purchase Price, Appraised Value, Rate, and Monthly Payment). The Insurance tab holds information about the Home Insurance Company, Title Insurance, and Policy Number.

In the program’s Interior section, list each room in your house. Seven tabs (Floor, Wall, Ceiling, Window, Wood, Fixture, and Misc.) guide you through an inventory of each room. For instance, under the Floor tab, select a Type (such as Carpet, Tile, Vinyl, or Wood). Then, in the appropriate fields, type useful General Information including Pattern/Model, Brand, Color/Finish, Serial Number, and Notes; Purchase Information; Installation Information; and Dimensions. The program’s Exterior and Mechanical sections have a similar design.

The Inventory functions guide you through a room-by-room inventory of categorized items such as Books, Collectibles, and Music. After highlighting the desired Category, type the names of all corresponding possessions in the Items box. For each, select the Item Location, such as Bedroom, Garage, or Safe Deposit Box, from a drop-down menu.

Leading the program’s highlights is its ability to keep separate records for a Primary Residence, Vacation Home, and Rental Property. We also like the Address Book, which stores and organizes contact information. The Complete Home Journal is compatible with Win98/NT/Me/2000/XP. There are only a few programs that serve a record-keeping and inventory role in home ownership. That fact alone makes this program worth considering, but its many features and ease of use make it well worth the price.

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Question:  My neighbors had a fire. All their computer records and receipts were destroyed. They are having a hard time proving they owned what they say they had. Is there any system you would suggest to avoid this if it should ever happen to us ?

Answer:  Make computer backup copies frequently and keep them off-site.

Everyone feels safe because it is "on the computer," never realizing if the hard drive crashes from a virus, or they have a fire, they are without the vital information needed. I recently came across a software program that is ideal for this, whether you own several pieces of property or just one. It is "The Complete Home Journal : Home Improvement & Inventory Tracking Software" from Innovative Software, LLC www.thehomejournal.com or call 800-999-2734 (Product #2745) in Hebron, CT. The program is designed for Windows and takes 10 MB on the hard drive.

If your doing inventory , remodeling, redecorating or preparing to sell and never have a disaster -- for $29.95 with a money back guarantee and free shipping --this is ideal --IF you print out the reports once a month and keep them in a safety deposit box or at the office.

The program is organized into three sections to track Interior, Exterior and Mechanical home improvements and changes, and the software allows for the home inventory by room or category.

Those vital insurance, real estate agent, bank officer, plumber, electrician, yard men and restoration contractor’s contact information nicely fit into the address book.

It even creates labels of specific groups in case you want to send out a request for proposals and get competing prices. You can include every store and outlet where you shop, what you bought, when and the style number. One fashionable lady keeps track of her extensive wardrobe.

It is a great way to keep track of the costs of remodeling and redecorating and the specific paint number, name and place of purchase, the brand and type of paint, how much you used and what the project costs. Interior designers use it to keep track of client jobs.

By keeping track of the details now, you improve your maintenance schedule and capabilities. When you are ready to sell the house or have it appraised, you have all the remodeling and maintenance records.

Whether restoring after a fire, doing taxes or getting ready to sell, comprehensive reports that reference and additions, improvements or changes made to the house and the costs associated with those changes are ready for use.

Some users keep track of valuable collections, jewelry, china and stamps, CDs, baseball cards and books or anything in or around the house.

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Product Review - The Complete Home Journal™
By Leslie Robison - Professional Organizer (Published in the NAPO Newsletter)
www.cluttersmith.com

How many times do you stress to your clients the importance of maintaining a list of information that would help in an emergency like a fire ? And how many times do you notice that everyone nods in agreement and then gets a glazed look in their eyes at the thought of actually compiling that list ? The Complete Home Journal - Home Improvement and Inventory Tracking software program is just the tool to offer such services to property owners in an efficient and cost-effective way.

The program is intuitive and easy to use and update. The screens are similar to Access or other tab-through databases and are colorful and easy to view. The program divides property information into two sections - home improvement tracking and inventory recording.

The home improvement section is split into tree areas: exterior, interior and mechanical. There are places to record descriptive, purchase, insurance and other administrative information that would provide a valuable cache of information at resale. The exterior section covers roofing and siding, windows out buildings, fixtures and details like what materials were used. The section addressing the interior of the property has essentially the same categories as the exterior section: materials used and where they were purchased, paint and stain colors, flooring and window treatments. There are even details like closet organizers to add to your description of the room you’re recording. The third area of the home section covers the mechanical aspects of the property, like heating and cooling equipment, plumbing and security.

The second of the two major elements of this program is inventory. Inventory can be recorded in one of two ways: by location or by category -- a real help in tailoring the information to your client’s thought processes. This is the place to note the pictures on the wall, the jewelry in the drawer, the furniture, lamps, electronics, tools and other possessions that are not attached to the wall.
On each screen (as in the entire program) there is a section for notes. Recording a description beyond the basic details here would be invaluable for replacing an item if it were stolen or lost in a fire. "A picture is worth a thousand words," goes the old saw, and if that picture of Uncle Clarence’s hutch is organized with a number on the back and referenced in a notation area of the program, well, even if the unique unit cannot be replaced at least your client can be properly reimbursed. Conventional or digital photos are stored elsewhere.

Reports can be viewed by room or category and can then be printed. For clients that are uncomfortable with computers, the client could jot updates on the reports for the organizer to add at a future time.

It’s easy to envision an organizer, armed with the program and laptop computer and a camera, quickly and painlessly recording the details of client properties.  NOTE: Version 2.0 now allows you to attach your digital images to all your home journal & inventory entries.

I used the program for my own home and was pleased with how intuitive the program is and how quickly I was able to record the contents of the rooms. I highly recommend a laptop so you can travel room to room and then go to the files to fill in specific information like policy numbers and such. Two people working together, for example the client speaking and organizer typing, would be an ideal situation. The program, along with unlimited technical support is available with a 30-day money back guarantee and is reasonably priced at $29.95. www.thehomejournal.com.   Taking inventories for the critical information file just got a lot easier.

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REALTOR^® Magazine - Closing Gifts Buyer's Guide
By Michael Antoniak - June Issue

REALTOR^® CRS Residential Specialist - Products & Services Showcase
Focus on Closing Gifts - Nov/Dec Issue

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