It was so exciting getting our home. But, as you know as a homeowner, there are a lot of “things” that happen over time. And I’ve learned how important it is to keep track of those things, especially in something called a homeowners binder.
If you are anything like me when I got my first home, you probably didn’t keep track of all your home’s important stuff, possibly in a folder…. somewhere. I wasn’t the most organized, sadly.
But I learned. And I realized that having a homeowners binder was THE ULTIMATE SIDEKICK that all homeowners should have.
Whether you’re a newbie homeowner wondering, “What the heck do I do now?” or if you’ve been in your home for awhile, this is going to be the perfect thing to help you manage all the important stuff in your home.
Now, if you’re wondering how to keep track of all this, you can go old-school like me and keep it physical, or you can embrace technology and go digital with Google docs (scanning necessary papers). Either way, make sure it’s safe and secure, and you’re good to go!
Ok, I have an itty bitty confession to make. It’s not something that I tend to share with others…
I have an office supply addiction. Yep, that’s right. Office stuff is totally my jam.
So, I really enjoyed making a physical homeowner binder this past year as I had previously been putting our home receipts and such in a hanging file in our filing cabinet drawer, but when I tried out this binder organization, I was completely hooked at its ease and simplicity.
Who would benefit from using a homeowners binder?
Any house owner, especially those who are new to homeownership, can benefit from creating a homeowners binder. It can help homeowners keep track of important information, such as maintenance schedules, warranties, and repair records, which can be useful for insurance purposes, home improvements, or if they decide to sell their home in the future.
What sections should a homeowners binder include?
A homeowners binder can be customized to fit the specific needs of the homeowner, but it should generally include the following sections and these are the ones I added into mine.
My homeowner’s binder includes these 12 sections:
- Property Information
- Contacts list
- Home Maintenance (done)
- Checklists
- Coupons
- Repairs & Renovations
- Receipts
- Pictures
- Mortgage
- Property tax information
- Property History
- Warranties & Manuals
Homeowners Binder Section Details
1. Property Information
This section should include information about the property, such as the
- address
- property lines
- city sectional
- homebuilder year and name
- area map
- land survey
2. Contacts List
This section should include a list of important phone numbers, such as the
- homeowner’s insurance company
- utility companies
- emergency services
- local city police
- the neighborhood name
- a list of known neighbors and their contact information
- maintenance numbers
- and remodeling contacts
3. Home Maintenance
This section should include the home maintenance you have done on your home and paid for, including a maintenance schedule for each company. Include an outline of routine tasks that need to be performed throughout the year and their cost, such as
- HVAC maintenance
- gutter cleaning
- lawn care
- seasonal home maintenance like snow plowing
- and pest control
4. Checklists
Have an easy-to-view year-round checklist listing the above home maintenance schedule as well as other detailed seasonal task checklists you perform like:
- Spring home maintenance
- winterizing your home checklist
5. Coupons & Ads
This is a section I included for home maintenance and other home ads I’ve seen in our local Valpak or paper that I might want to refer to later. This section is not necessary, but I found it was nice to have A SPOT to put the few I found.
6. Repairs and Renovations
This section should include records of any repairs, renovations and even DIY that have been made to the property, including:
- invoices
- receipts (because things break and it’s great to have before and after pics)
- permits
7. Receipts
Include receipts for bought items specifically for the home, including things like lawnmowers, snowplows, windows, sub pumps, appliances, and other tools. While these aren’t necessary to pass onto someone if you sell your home, its a great spot to have them in the binder for easy access if you ever need them or want to reference them.
You can also attach your receipts to any manuals. Or, you can take a picture or scan them to upload digitally instead but keep on a page in your binder what it was, date, cost and reference your digital storage.
8. Pictures – before, during and after
This is a fun spot to keep pictures of your before and afters to keep a history of the changes in the home. It’s a great way to reference everything you’ve done and if you decide to sell your home, you can pass on these images so they can see what’s been improved upon.
Again, you can keep these digitally and also make note in your binder. I have both for easy access.
9. Mortgage/Loan info
Include in this section pertinent home information including your:
- contracts
- online payment link & login
- refinance paperwork
- Zillow listing last estimate (updated yearly)
10. Property tax information
This section may be a great reference yearly for tax season and would include important information such as:
- local property laws & regulations
- timing of when your mortgage company pays property taxes (if applicable)
- property lines
- inspections
11. Property History
This is one of my favorite parts of the binder because it allows us to connect to the home in a more personal way. While I haven’t been able to find too much history, or at least not as much as I would like, it provides a spot for me to keep track of little things I’ve uncovered, such as:
- past homeowner names
- history of the home
- newspaper clippings
- arial Google maps
- for sale images from the past
- notes about what neighbors shared about the history of the home
12. Warranties and Manuals
This section should include a list of all warranties for appliances, equipment, and other items in the home, as well as manuals for these items.
How to Make a Homeowners Binder
The homeowners binder is like having a personal assistant that helps you manage your home like a boss. Here’s what to do to create your own:
- Step 1: Get yourself a 2 inch 3-ring binder. I like using the Avery binders that have inside pockets. I would suggest using at least a 1 1/2 size as the minimum because you will be adding to it over time.
- Step 2: Get a pack of 12 dividers and labeled them as listed above.
- In each section, I had a piece of paper or lined paper first with the title of the section. Then I included below the information. For any and all single papers like full sheets for receipts or estimates, I just hole-punched them.
- For sections that needed to hold something, there are a lot of different inserts you can get for the 3-ring binders including pockets, zippered and page protectors.
- But, a quick time saver was just to punch holes in the items, like manuals so they were just in there and wouldn’t fall out.
Check out my video that walks through it all, including a checklist that you can use to create your own homeowner’s binder!
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Items mentioned in this article:
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