16 Aug What does a virtual tour have to do with home organization?
Alamo Area Virtual Tours: Are you prepared for an insurance claim?
I have a few clients who, unfortunately, have experienced the loss of their belongings to flood, fire, or burglary. In all cases, the insurance process was made more difficult because they did not have at their fingertips the records that would not only prove ownership of the items, but also the brand and condition. What’s an easy way to record all of that info? My friend, Jim Hoback, who owns Alamo Area Virtual Tours, explains:
What does a virtual tour have to do with being organized?
By
James Hoback
The term Virtual Tour may bring to mind Real Estate listings and buyers and sellers. While that is a major thrust and use of Virtual Tours in today’s environment, it is by no means the be all and end all of the use of Virtual Tours in today’s lifestyle.
Let’s begin with what a virtual tour actually is. A virtual tour by the very nature of the term indicates that you can take a tour of some physical place, be it a home, restaurant, hotel or any brick & mortar building to which there is a wish for people/customers to become familiar or acquainted with in the hopes that 1) they may wish to visit 2) they will know or be able to navigate their way around upon arrival 3) they wish to buy, eat, visit, etc. the highlighted place.
You may be thinking ‘how this has anything to do with my organization in my life’? With that said, please continue.
There is another very useful way of using virtual tours, and that is in the area of personal property, insurance, and organization. Consider if a fire or tornado or flood hits your property or business. How many of you have a complete inventory of your possessions, to the degree that upon total loss you would have a list or remember all that was gone? It is obvious the results of this omission when you are trying to get your insurance agency to agree to the amount of money for replacing items that you lost. So what can a virtual tour do for you?
1) An actual virtual tour will
a. Help you remember all the furniture that you have
b. Help in giving value to that furniture/belongings
2) A virtual slide show embedded in the virtual tour will
a. Give high definition stills of individual items
i. Silver Pattern & quantity
ii. China patterns & quantity
iii. Clocks
iv. Chairs
v. Watches
vi. Antique lamps
vii. Jewelry
The list goes on and on and on
Considering what even one reasonably valuable item forgotten in trying to recoup losses is compared to the cost of an insurance virtual tour, you will see the value of having this done and stored on a CD in an offsite venue such as a bank vault or stored online digitally.
In addition to storing receipts and warranties, be sure to photograph or video all of your rooms and all of your belongings. Should an emergency arise, it will save you time and additional grief in the long run.
About Helene Segura
Helene Segura teaches go-getters how to use their time more efficiently in order to have a more peaceful life. For details about her, be sure to visit https://www.HeleneSegura.com
CJ Petitt
Posted at 09:01h, 23 Augustgreat idea Helene! would have never occurred to me but sounds like a practical solution!
LivingOrderSA
Posted at 07:01h, 24 AugustThanks, CJ! Unfortunately, so many people learn about this after a tragedy. You’ll save so much heartache and grief if you have this information.