Start a home inventory before you move

Start the inventory while the house still looks like a house. Once the boxes close, every missing photo becomes a guess.

Most households do not discover how thin their records are until a moving date is on the calendar. Receipts live in email threads. Photos sit in camera rolls labeled by month. Maker marks, serial numbers, and the quiet details that identify a piece live nowhere at all. When the truck is booked, that scatter stops being an inconvenience and becomes a liability you will feel in every packed carton.

A home inventory before a move is not about inventing a sale price. Apogee Asset does not put a number on anything in the free inventory, and does not buy, sell, or broker what you document. The point of starting early is simpler and more durable: one place where each piece is photographed, described, and findable after the cartons are sealed. Organization first. Numbers later, and only from an independent licensed appraiser when a documented figure is actually required.

People often wait because the house still feels familiar. That familiarity is the trap. You know which drawer holds the watches today. You will not know which sealed box holds them three weeks from now. The inventory exists for the version of you who is tired, interrupted, and answering questions from memory under pressure.

Work the rooms that are hardest to reconstruct later

Start where reconstruction fails first: jewelry drawers, the desk with watches and electronics, the wall with art, and the furniture you would actually miss if it disappeared. For each item, capture a clear photo, write a short description in plain language, and note where it usually lives. Serial numbers, inscriptions, and maker marks belong in the same record, not in a separate notebook that will vanish in transit.

Do not treat small as optional. A bracelet, a watch, and a signed print leave the house faster than a sofa, and they are the pieces insurance conversations and estate conversations ask about first. Furniture matters too, but the easy-to-lose categories deserve the first pass while the rooms are still open and lit.

1. Walk one room at a time and photograph every piece you would need to describe from memory.
2. Write a one-sentence description while the object is still in front of you.
3. Add marks, dimensions, and condition notes in the same entry.
4. Tag the usual room or location so packed items stay searchable.
5. Revisit the list as packing progress changes what stays, sells, or leaves.
6. Mark sold, donated, or left-behind pieces the same day the decision happens.

Room passes beat category hunts

A dining room pass might catch the silver, the table, and the painting above the sideboard in one sitting. A bedroom pass catches jewelry, watches, and the furniture you plan to keep. Consistency beats perfection on day one. You can refine descriptions later. You cannot photograph an item that has already left the house.

Category hunting, find all the jewelry and then find all the art, sounds efficient and usually wastes time. You end up walking the same hallway three times and still missing the piece on the guest-room dresser. Room by room keeps your eyes honest and your list complete enough to trust when packing accelerates.

• Keep photos attached to the description so a sealed carton still has a visual key.
• Mark items sold, donated, or left behind as decisions happen, not at a final tidy-up.
• Add pieces that turn up in closets instead of assuming the first pass was complete.
• Photograph the backs of frames, the undersides of chairs, and the case backs of watches when marks live there.
• Use the free inventory as the everyday record; request an independent appraisal only when a documented number is actually required.

The inventory is not a marketplace listing. It is the map of what you owned before the house changed shape.

What done enough looks like before the truck arrives

Done enough means you could describe the important pieces without opening a box. Done enough means an independent appraiser could work from your photos and notes if you later need a report. Done enough does not mean every teaspoon has a paragraph. It means the pieces that would hurt to lose, financially or sentimentally, are no longer invisible.

If packing starts before the inventory is finished, pause the fragile and high-value categories first. Tape and labels can wait ten minutes. A missing hallmark photo cannot be invented after the fact.

When a number becomes necessary

Documented value comes only later, from an independent licensed appraiser, not from Apogee staff. If a specific piece needs a defensible figure before you sell or consign it, request that appraisal after the item is fully photographed and described. Item Appraisal is $149 per item. Whole-Home Appraisal is $399 per package when many pieces need coordinated documentation. Apogee does not guarantee any appraised value or sale outcome. The inventory gets you organized. The independent report is a separate step for the moments when a documented number matters.

Questions while you build the record: email support@apogeeasset.com or call (888) 338-7249.