I recently sat down with Jeremiah Lewis of Sullivan Insurance with a question we hear frequently from our clients, “What can I do to prepare for a catastrophic claim or burglary?”  Jeremiah had some excellent advice and recommendations.

As a local Independent Insurance Agency, our first response is to match our customers with the right insurance company to provide the ‘right’ coverage to meet our client’s needs.  The next step is to make sure our homeowners and renters document a list of items within a home.  This list is referred to as a ‘Home Inventory List’.

A complete list of valuables is an excellent way to expedite the claims process after a theft, damage, or loss. If someone experiences a property loss, their inventory list will certainly assist in the settlement of a covered loss or claim.   A recorded a list of valuables proves especially helpful when a property is damaged due to a catasphrophic event like a fire.  The preparation can be time consuming and tedious, but it makes the claims experience so much simpler if it is done thoroughly.

A good home inventory should include a record of your valuables detailing date of purchase and cost.  For larger and more expensive items like televisions and computers, it will prove beneficial to capture pictures of the item along with the style and model number – especially if you haven’t kept receipts.  A good way to ensure proper documentation is to move from room to room, recording items as you go.  Be sure to document antiques and jewelry.  Also, don’t forget to include items in your basement, attic, garage, and any detached structures such as tool sheds.

A hard paper copy of a home inventory and keeping it in a fireproof box at home or at an “off site” location is a common method of safe-keeping your list.  Although, technological applications have provided renters and homeowners with savvy alternative options. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has introduced myHOME Scr.APP.book, which is an iphone/ipad app that lets you take pictures, descriptions, bar codes and serial numbers for all of your valuables. You can see a brief 2 minute video demo here and you can get tips from NAIC’s InsureU on how to create a home inventory. And if you don’t have an iPhone, go back to basics, as NAIC offers a Home inventory checklist.

I hope these tips were helpful. If you have any questions on home inventories or any other insurance matters, don’t hesitate to call me, Jeremiah Lewis at 978-356-5511 or email me at jtlewis@sullivaninsurance.com. Visit our website at sullivaninsurance.com.

 Bernard Sullivan Insurance Agency located at 12 Market Street, downtown Ipswich, MA has been serving communities on the North Shore since 1935.  

New Home Heating Oil Law goes into effect
Sepetember 30th, 2011. 

The new law requires that by September 30, 2011, owners of one- to four-unit residences that are heated with oil must already have or will need to install an oil safety valve or an oil supply line with a protective sleeve on their heating equipment. Installation of these devices must be performed by a licensed oil burner technician. Technicians are employed by companies that deliver home heating oil, or they are self-employed. It is important to note that heating oil systems installed on or after January 1, 1990 are most likely already in compliance because state fire codes implemented these requirements on new installations at that time.
 
For those who need to install this equipment, state officials estimate that the typical cost of installing either an oil safety valve or oil supply line with a protective sleeve ranges from $150 to $350 (including labor, parts, and local permit fees). While it is an expense that is not insignificant, the costs to clean up a leak can be thousands of dollars.

It is important for home owners to remember that this rule applies to all home owners, regardless of whether they are selling their home or not. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has an excellent, easy-to-understand document that explains this new rule.  Click here to get the comprehensive details on the Home Heating Oil Law from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

Katherine, known to many as “Katie”, grew up in an antique house in New York State, an hour northwest of New York City.  She has never been a Yankees fan. There was an acre of land and assorted animals including the usual cats and dogs, as well as a gerbil, a pony, goats, a pig and even a skunk. 

After graduating from college, Katie taught elementary school in Rochester, New York, and after four winters in the snow belt, went to Sydney, Australia to teach for the New South Wales Department of Education. Looking for a change, she worked in retail, an engineering library and the journalists’ library for John Fairfax Newspapers. The next opportunity was working for two educational publishers as a Reading and Language Consultant, traveling around Australia and New Zealand.

While in Australia, Katie married a Brit and bought a condo on the North Shore of Sydney.  Their daughter was born in Sydney and after eleven years in Australia, they sold the condo and moved to the States, where their son was born before moving to Massachusetts and buying a home in Ipswich in ’83. After years as a stay-at-home mom, Katie worked as a tutor, an adjunct English instructor at North Shore Community College, and in School-to-Work for the North Shore Workforce Investment Board/North Shore Career Center.

Looking for another new challenge, in 2006 she got her real estate license and has been busy with her real estate career ever since. She went on to earn her ABR, e-PRO, SRES and SRS designations. Utilizing her teaching background, she works on building trust and long-term relationships and helping clients to understand each step of the process, often beginning with a conversation around a kitchen table or in a coffee shop.

Katie is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Beverly, a supporter of the Ipswich Library and the Ipswich Museum, and a member of North Shore Women in Business and the North Shore Business Forum.  When not working on real estate, she enjoys reading, traveling to England to visit family, watching BBC News and HGTV, and being a fan of the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics.  One day, she would like to learn to play golf.

Katie can be reached at kfinch@windhillrealty.com and at her direct line 978-857-0296. Please help us welcome Katie!

Is an old barn. See for yourself! Click here! 

Anytime I’m thinking of travelling whether its to a B&B for the weekend or a European vacation, I find myself on sites like TripAdvisor for the layperson’s opinion on accomodations. More frequently, simply because I eat more than I travel, I find myself on sites like Yelp for the low-down on that restaurant I’m considering. I’m aware of the so called ”fake reviews” and I certainly don’t believe everything I read but I have gained a certain level of trust that the authors of these reviews are for the most part, authentic and honest. Shame on me for being so naive! Read this Boston Globe article and be enlightened about current trends in online reviews!

After I read this, it got me thinking about the testimonials we post on our website; each one hand written by the consumer, in ink, and mailed (yes, with a stamp). I personally open each one and manually add it to our testimonials page on our website, word for word, exactly how I see it. Click to read our testimonals; nothing fake here!

Although our business thrives because of our cutting edge technology, it turns out  that sometimes just plain good old fashioned customer service, paper and a stamp trumps the fancy gadgetry.

This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by our MLS partners. These entities neither guarantee nor are responsible for data accuracy. Data maintained by MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Carrie Cayer, local real estate advisor for Windhill Realty spent the morning educating Ipswich High School students on current trends in today’s real estate market. The students were working on research for a building project assignment that had to meet code and zoning guidelines. They also had to take buyer demand, design trends and return on investment into consideration. Carrie not only shared her career experience with the kids but invited them to the Windhill Building at 16 Market Street, the old Newspaper Store, where she and her husband Shawn had their own personal experience when they bought the burned out building and had to go through local board approvals to build. The students received a tour of The Windhill Building and left with some souvenirs.   The students designed a sketch of the Windhill Building as a thank you card signed by all the kids who visited! “Bill Gallant, the Draft Class Instructor has asked me present to his class for the past few years, and I always look forward to it,” said Carrie! “He is a great teacher and as a 20+ year Ipswich High alum, it makes it all the more special for me to help him out.”

You know the offers I’m talking about. They arrive mixed in with your monthly mortgage statement claiming to offer you loads of advantages including generous savings in interest on your loan, blah, blah blah. I’ve never understood these “offers”. Even as a very young homeowner, I would open these and ask myself, “Why would I want to give them my money EARLY and why would I OFFER THEM a contractural agreement binding me to do so?”  And here’s the kicker: they charge you a fee! Yes! A Fee! They usually call it a processing fee. So they are charging you in the range of $400 so you can commit to giving them your money early! Good deal? Sure is, for them!

What is a biweekly payment plan exactly? The homeowner, every two weeks makes a payment equal to half the monthly payment on their mortgage. Since there are 26 biweekly periods in a year, the biweekly payment produces the equivalent of one extra monthly payment every year.

If you like the idea of shortening the life of your loan (and if you’re a commitmentphobe like me) simply make one extra mortgage payment each year. It’s the absolute equivilent of a biweekly mortgage plan without the commitment! And the way I like to do it is to take the monthly payment total, divide by 12 and add that amount to extra principal on every monthly payment. Set it up as an automatic monthly payment if you use electronic banking and you won’t even notice! This results in a significant shortening of the term. For example, a 7% 30-year loan converted to a biweekly pays off in 287 months – or 23 years, 11 months. The reduction in term is due entirely to the extra payment every year. That’s 6+ years off the 30 year mortgage! Good deal? Sure is! FOR YOU!

There are other money-saving ideas! I recently read a great article, “Time to Ditch the 30-year Mortgage?” With rates so low, this might be a good time to consider this alternative. Is it time to ditch your 30 year mortgage? Click here.

So go ahead, convert! But don’t commit!

Thanks Ipswich Utilities Department! The photo gallery and videos of the wind turbine delivery you posted on your website are awesome! I only wish I had been there in person so see those huge blades rolling through town, down Route 1A. If you’re like me and you missed seeing the deliveries, click here to learn about delivery times, watch the videos and see the really cool images. Don’t miss the photo gallery at the bottom! 

We (the general public) will be invited soon, when the work is done, to the turbine work site. Until then, the site is off-limits.