When
we first made an offer on the house one of the contingencies that we put in the
contract was to have all the files related to the property. Given the simple
fact that the people from which we were buying the property are the ones that
built it (the former owner was actually the contractor for the house) and I had
seen him produce the paperwork during the inspection process, I knew that the
files would be thorough and we would be able to really know all the details
about the land and the structure.
While
inclusion of this paperwork is usually assumed during a sale I didn’t want this
seemingly small item overlooked so we included it anyway. Of course, now a
couple of months have passed and while I know where everything is, I am still
trying to properly organize everything into my filing cabinets… because I
didn’t have enough files already. This seems to be an ongoing project and even
with the headway that I have made during the sporadic bouts of organizing,
there is obviously still a lot of work to do and the number of items that need
to be filed just keeps getting bigger.
I
guess the sheer number of files that I have is all about wanting to have as
much information available to me as possible. There are a number of things that
most people would consider trash or would simply digitize and destroy the
physical copy. However, more often than not, I have utilized the amassed hoard
of information that I have on hand to find different items or figure out dates
on short notice. Additionally, I have gone through enough computers and digital
storage devices to know that just because something is digitized doesn’t mean
that it can’t be lost or destroyed. For me, having both available is the best
option.
And
that presents another issue. Well, in reality, it is simply a project that has
to be completed. All of the files that we now have about the property need to
be scanned and sorted for easy reference. We obviously have the physical papers
on hand but, as stated above and what will be written about again in the near
future, it is prudent to have both the physical and digital copies stored and
easily retrievable. More so than some of the other documents I have crammed
into my drawers, we really can’t afford to lose these. After all, it is not
just a house as it was when we made an offer, this is our home.
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