As a homeowner, it’s important to not only stay on top of monthly and yearly maintenance, but to also track repairs, warranty information, and keep copies of receipts. In the old days, many homeowner’s keep a homeowner binder filled with this information. While this might sound old fashioned, it’s smart to have a homeowner binder when it comes time to sell your home as it shows prospective buyers you’ve cared for the home and allows you to easily provide proof of repairs. Nowadays there are online services which will organize and track this information for you for free or small fee. Depending on your exact needs there are a handful of services we recommend looking into:
Pros: HomeBinder is free and easy to use. It allows you to make an inventory of all items in your home in case of fire or theft, record paint colors, keep a copy of your receipts, track repairs, add notes, store the name of your contractors and repair people, and set reminder for home maintenance items. When you go to sell your home, it also allows you to transfer prospective buyer or share this information electronically and you can have multiple properties in your binder.
Renters can set one up for free but for homeowners, it does cost. You can enter your inventory to have in case of a loss, put in warranty dates, serial numbers, repairs- the app will remind you of upcoming maintenance. You can also have several properties in your binder and create a report.
Cons: You have to manually type in the maintenance reminders and serial numbers. The homeowner version costs $2.99 per month.
Pros: Homespot HQ is also free to create an account. You can have mulitiple spaces inside the home, but to add multiple properties, you will need to upgrade. You can add in a new appliance, project, or fact about the property. The site is easy to use and they walk you through.
Cons: You will need to enter in your checklists by hand and have zero automated reminders. Will need to upgrade for multiple properties.
Pros: All prices are listed, the copay is $75. You call them and they get the repairs taken care of, remind you when maintenance needs to be done, and they set it all up. Can add on a pool maintenance and septic as an upgrade.
Con:6 service areas only (Illinois, Texas, Arizona, Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia, Cost is $64- $119 a month depending on plan- is more of a service contract with reminders for changing furnace filters, cleaning gutters, cleaning coils. Will have to use their service providers for repairs.
Sheltr (GetSheltr.com)
Pros: A completed Home Wellness Checkup twice a year, Sheltr gives a detailed summary that includes a list of services provided during the checkup, recommendations for any needed repairs along with the ability to book additional services. Uses an app to request appointments.
Cons: Requires membership of $399 per year. If you are a Hippo Customer, it is $199 for the first year - Hippo is only in 20 service areas. They have their own preferred providers.
For those that stumbled upon this article and are in Toronto or San Francisco areas, you can also check out:
Setter.com
Pros: Can even track car repairs . one point of contact, handles everything for you, has an app where you send your issue and they get you a quote and timeline, and is continually expanding locations. 100% guarantee on the service calls.
Cons: not in all areas (only in San Fran and Toronto right now). They have their own repair and maintenance recommendations.
Overall, if you’re only worried about remembering to complete home maintenance tasks, and have time to enter in everything, try out Homespot.com, it is no frills and very simple. However, if you want to track repairs, keep copies of receipts and paint colors, then use HomeBinder.com for a small monthly fee. HelloSuper takes a lot of the work out of home repairs and maintenance, The monthly cost is a little pricier and you will pay a co-pay, but you can include almost all aspects of your home in the plan and not have to track it yourself. Sheltr is another option if you'd like full reports from someone that checks the house every six months. The yearly fee is not outrageous, but you will have to pay for additional repairs that may be needed. But you will have someone inspecting your home to get ahead of sudden home issues.
updated 3/2020 dm
