New year home inventory checklist: the 90-minute method
General information, not legal or insurance advice. Your policy language controls.
January is the natural time to do this. You're already renewing policies, filing away year-end paperwork and making resolutions you'll actually keep for a week or two. A home inventory belongs on that list: it's the one record that decides how much your insurer pays after a fire, theft or storm — and the one almost nobody has when they need it. Here's the whole thing in about 90 minutes.
Why January is the moment
- Renewals line up. Homeowners and renters policies often renew at year-end — a good time to check your coverage limits actually match what you own.
- Tax records are already out. If you claim a home-office deduction or ever face a disaster casualty-loss claim, a dated inventory supports it. File it with your other tax documents.
- Fresh-start momentum. The house is often at its most organized after the holidays. Capture it while it's tidy and you can see everything.
The room-by-room 90-minute method
Work one room at a time and don't jump around — that's what keeps it fast. Set a timer if it helps.
- Minutes 0–15 — the walkthrough video. Walk every room with your phone recording. Narrate as you go: "living room, 65-inch Samsung, bought 2024." Open closets, drawers, the garage and the attic. This single video is your safety net for everything the detailed pass misses.
- Minutes 15–70 — the high-value pass. Photograph each item worth roughly $300 or more individually: electronics, appliances, tools, jewelry, instruments, bikes, furniture. Budget a few minutes per room.
- Minutes 70–85 — the paper shelf. Photograph your policy declarations page, IDs, titles and warranties. These are painful to re-issue and quick to capture now.
- Minutes 85–90 — back it up. Get everything off the device (see below) and you're done for the year.
What to photograph — and the extra ten seconds that matters
- The item itself, clearly, with its brand visible.
- The serial plate on electronics and appliances. It's ten extra seconds and it's the difference between "a TV" and a specific, payable item an adjuster can't question.
- The receipt, if you still have it — snap it right next to the item. No receipt? A dated photo showing the brand and model still beats memory every time.
Where to back it up
An inventory that lives only on the phone in your pocket won't survive the same fire as the house. Export it somewhere off the device: your own iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or a PDF emailed to yourself. Tell one person you trust where it is. If you use an app that keeps records on-device, make sure your regular phone backup includes it.
- Nothing leaves your phone. No server, no account, no analytics — your records live on-device and export to your own iCloud Drive or Files.
- Yours, even if we disappear. Cloud tools get shut down and take your data with them. A local-first app can't be switched off from a server — your records stay files you control.
- Paid once. One-time purchase. No subscription, no upsell, updates included.
Updating it every year
This is a five-minute habit once the first pass is done. Add big purchases as they arrive, remove things you've sold or donated, and re-shoot a room after any renovation. Put a recurring reminder on the first weekend of January and the annual update becomes automatic — your coverage and your records stay honest to what you actually own.
Room-by-room photos, serials, receipts and totals — exported as one PDF. On your phone, one-time purchase, data stays on your device.
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FAQ
How long does a home inventory actually take?
About 90 minutes for a typical home if you work room by room and don't overthink it. A walkthrough video plus photos of high-value items covers most of what an insurer would ever ask for. You can refine details later — the important part is capturing everything once.
Is a home inventory useful for taxes?
Yes, in two common cases. If you claim a home-office deduction, dated photos and receipts support the equipment you write off. And after a federally declared disaster, a casualty-loss deduction requires you to prove what you owned and its value — the same records that support an insurance claim. Keep them with your other year-end tax files.
Do I need receipts, or are photos enough?
Photos are the baseline and cover most items. For anything over a few hundred dollars — electronics, appliances, jewelry, tools — add the serial number and a receipt if you have one. That combination turns 'a laptop' into a specific, provable item an adjuster can't discount.
How often should I update it?
Once a year is plenty for most households — January is an easy anchor. Also update it after any big purchase, a move, or a renovation. Five minutes to add a new item beats reconstructing it from memory after a loss.