Easy Home Inventory

The great thing about the American success story is how creative we have become in achieving it. It’s not so much that we reinvent ourselves, it’s more that we invent new ways to use the skills we already have.

Mike Siers and his wife, Stacy, got to the Outer Banks about seven years ago, just in time to see the real estate bubble burst. Stacy, with her real estate license, and Mike, with previously having a general contractor’s license, knew it would be tough, but they were committed to being here, committed to succeeding and began taking the steps necessary to realize their dream.

At Stacy’s suggestion, Mike got his realtor’s license. “It seemed like a good idea,” Mike recalls.

He’s been working in Outer Banks real estate for a number of years now, and recently became the newest Resort Realty agent. Like any agent, he’ll work with any buyer or seller if the opportunity presents itself. There are some areas, of course, where he is more comfortable.  “It’s the water that brought me here. Boating, fishing, soundside, oceanside. It’s what I’m comfortable with. I really enjoy it.”

Yet as Mike developed his real estate career, Stacy began to see other opportunities in the Outer Banks housing market. In talking to insurance professionals the couple began to see many, if not most, local homeowners were not as well protected against loss as they should be. “If you ask any insurance agent, they all want you to document what you have,” Mike says. “They all say inventory your items.”

A few months ago, Mike and Stacy launched Coastal Home Inventory  (252-489-9451). “What we do is inventory everything and put it all down,” Mike says.

Offering a number of different levels of reporting, from video recordings, to computer files, to a standard written inventory, Coastal Home Inventory creates documentation that can be used for more than just inventory claims. “We don’t estimate anything, we don’t want to get into that,” Mike explains. “If they have their receipts for purchased items we’ll insert that into the report..”

“When we inventory your home, you have a list of your items in your rental home allowing for constant record” he goes on to say. “It’s sort of like an owner’s manual of your home.”

Homeowners have been surprised–pleasantly–at the level of reporting and quality of the finished product. “We did one (inventory) for a gentleman who has five oceanfronts,” Mike recalls. “And after we finished the first one, I handed him the report and he was amazed by a.) the video and b.) the in depth report. Then when I told him the glass on the range in the kitchen was broken and had been broken for a while. There’s a lot of liability there. His answer was, ‘I’ve never had a chance to look at all this stuff.’”

It’s that ability to see a need and respond to it that ultimately creates those success stories.  The Siers saw a need and have been responding to it. “90 to 95 percent  of us don’t understand the importance of accurately doing this and don’t have the time to perform it as well,” Mike adds.