Keeping it Straight

Tech savvy homeowners now have an unprecedented level of access to home information through new products and services using modern technology, such as a HomePort device, and the Internet to organize the huge amounts of information necessary for the operation of their houses.

This technological footprint of the home would include architectural and construction drawings with lists of vendors and products used, copies of the deed, lot survey, and other property documents.  The homeowner’s custom account would include links to a builder’s customer service portal, to manufacturer’s websites, and to custom community documentation like HOA covenants.  Photos of the home’s interior and exterior, lists of appliances, sprinkler layouts, neighborhood restrictions, insurance coverage, even videos of household content can be included in the material stored on home management systems.

Your house is your most prized possession. Within those walls contain not only your most treasured items, but information on your house as well. It is hard to recall by memory what color your house was painted, who did the plumbing for your remodel, or what year your kitchen appliances are.  But there are new devices called HomePorts or online services through Compendia, Inc. (formerly Master Manuals) that will store all your housing information for you. One click will recall all the information that you need.

Unfortunately, homes can fall victim to a fire or natural disaster at any given time. If the house becomes damaged, the homeowners would have at their fingertips all the information they need to move forward quickly to rebuild their residence with the help of these products.

A potential homebuyer would have more confidence in their real estate purchase with this technological footprint of the home.  Owners of second homes, rental properties or vacation homes can store all the data for each home in separate accounts so that the information will be complete but separate from that of their primary residence. 

After a house is sold, builders can use such services to provide documents on the newly-built home.  Such files can hold maintenance and upkeep information, even the community’s homeowners association rules.   

David Bruce of Blue Water Design has been installing HomePorts for a year and finds the program an asset for the builder as well as the homeowner.  “The information in this system is helpful to the homeowner when he first occupies the house,” he stated, “as well as in the future when he may want to add on to or modify the home.  Everything future builders (and homeowners) would need to know is stored on the program.”

For each one of these groups these home management products are a new and improved way of keeping it straight, it’s also a “green” product that will replace hundreds of pages of information in an organized efficient package.

All this information would be stored on websites or in home data ports with simple computer connectivity for access.  Compendia, Inc. (formerly Master Manuals) was founded in 1999 to provide professionally produced documentation solutions to aid homebuilders faced with increased litigation costs.  The manuals created a relevant personalized solution that increased customer satisfaction and reduced service calls and operating costs for the homebuilders.  The company has now added an interactive electronic version of these manuals that provides web-based records retention and on-demand maintenance information and sends timely emails to homeowners to service components of the house.  “We see the addition of an electronic component to be more like a companion piece to the traditional manual,” stated CEO and Founder Steve Fabry.  “There are some who prefer their information digitally and there are some who enjoy the feel of a physical manual in their hands.”

Builder Denon Williams, President of Crosland Contractors, described how impressed he was with the thorough research each home received before the manual was put together.  “Master Manuals came to the site to photograph the appliances whose operation, maintenance and warranty information was to be included,” he stated.  “This information is so complete for the homeowner that we have less after-sale service calls.  The information presented to the homeowner is so inclusive that it protects builders from future problems.”

The HomePort, a product of Epochal Solutions, is a permanently installed pre-loaded device that organizes and stores all of the home information on a Microsoft Excel-based program.  The universal USB port offers direct connection with computers for easy access to the data.  The company provides a sample of the information available to a homeowner on its website, www.epochalsolutions.com, (click on HomePort and then on View A Sample HomePort Account).

Installed in the home at the most convenient location for computer connectivity, the small HomePort box, not much bigger than an electrical outlet box, is an electronic vault for home information.  The homeowner can add family photos, insurance details and financial documents to the preloaded data. 

Peace of mind comes in many forms.  Keeping straight all the information needed for home management in a form that can be easily accessed, updated, shared and passed on provides the homeowner with a tool unique to the times and peace of mind.

Barbara Hobbs is a freelance writer

Photo above courtesy of HomePort