Now that we’re in the throes of the Christmas holidays — with all the requisite gift-giving and coming and going that the season entails — it’s a good time to mention a nifty online tool that’s available to homeowners. It’s called All My Things, and it was designed to keep track of your personal inventory for insurance purposes.
What’s great about it is that, unlike that tattered hand-printed list you’ve stashed somewhere (where exactly?), it’s easy to find and can’t be lost or destroyed by fire, flood or other unexpected disasters.
Here’s how AllMyThings.com works: Enter your information into a database you create using text, drop-down menus and a date selector. The information is kept in a secure web-based system (which provides both 128-bit encryption and multiple firewalls to protect your confidentiality). You can also note the value of your personal assets (which is important since insurance companies require that claims are substantiated by purchase price, age of items, status of warranty, and condition at the time of loss) and organize your valuables by category.
The basic membership for All My Things is free; a full-service membership costs $29.95 per year and provides some additional services (such as attaching files and reporting features). Both options provide daily backup and recovery of all your data.
In case you aren’t sure how the system works, the All My Things website provides a detailed step-by-step demo that walks you through the process. (By the way, the service may sound unfamiliar, but the core system on which All My Things operates has been in commercial application for more than two years.)
For general questions, you can contact the All My Things customer service department Monday-Friday 8 am- 5pm (Mountain Standard Time) at (877) 384-4647; or email contactus@allmythings.com.
About the Author:
Lisa Broadwater, GRI, CDPE s a Central Oregon-based real estate professional who specializes in listing and selling homes, especially in Sisters, Tumalo, Redmond and Bend.