Thoughts, comments, questions and insights from our readers

To your point, there were no hot water heaters for sale.

Q: With all of the recent climate related catastrophes, we increasingly hear that we should have copies of important documents just in case it all burns down or floats away. But, we can’t copy everything!

What is the most important document to have in hand/access to regarding one’s real estate? I’m thinking about the title, deed, deed of trust, mortgage pay-off letter, proof of ownership. And does this change if there is a mortgage on that property?

I guess what I’m asking is this: Is there such a thing as a real estate “go” bag?

A: Twenty years ago, we might have answered this question by suggesting that our correspondent copy all relevant documents and put them into a lock box in a bank. The idea being those documents would be safe and secure there.

Today, it’s a lot easier to simply scan your important papers (not to mention photographs) and create a cloud-based storage system. You can duplicate those scanned documents and keep copies in other places in the cloud as well, creating a back-up system in case one cloud goes down or is otherwise destroyed.

What should you scan? Start with the executed copies of everything your attorney or title company gives you at the closing: Your mortgage documents, closing statement and other paperwork you signed. If you’re given warranties for a new home or appliances, you can scan those in as well (or, at least the page that has the numbers on it).