what is personal property 
personal property is a class of property that can include any asset other than real estate the distinguishing factor between personal property and real estate or real property is that personal property is movable meaning it isn t fixed permanently to one particular location typically personal property is not taxed like fixed property understanding personal propertypersonal property is also known as movable property movables and chattels because it is viewed as an asset it may be taken into consideration by a mortgage lender when someone applies for a mortgage or other loan personal property can be insured in one of two ways for its current value which takes depreciation into account or for what it would cost to replace it with a similar new item some kinds of property such as home appliances clothing and automobiles tend to depreciate in value over time other types such as artworks and antiques may appreciate in value when assessing a would be borrower s creditworthiness lenders may look at the total current value of their personal property added to their real property personal property can be characterized as either tangible or intangible examples of tangible personal property include vehicles furniture boats and collectibles digital assets patents and intellectual property are intangible personal property just as some loans mortgages for example are secured by real property like a house some loans are secured by personal property a common example is car loans where the vehicle serves as collateral for the loan personal property and insurancepersonal property also comes into play when people insure their homes a homeowners insurance policy typically covers both the physical dwelling and the owner s personal property often referred to as the home s contents it s important to create a list of your personal belongings which might include create a home inventory list of your personal belongings for each room in case you need to make a claim take pictures or shoot a video and don t forget the closets drawers garage and shed 1most homeowners policies base the value of the policyholder s personal property on a percentage of the dwelling s value typically 50 to 70 2 for example if a home costs 200 000 to rebuild following a fire the policy might use 70 of that figure or 140 000 as the coverage limit for the owner s personal property 3homeowners policyholders can typically choose between two options for covering their personal property replacement value or actual cash value if the policy provides for replacement value the insurer would be obligated to replace a destroyed item with a similar new item with actual cash value the insurer may pay you the item s value after depreciating it in other words the item s value is reduced to reflect its age which means you ll likely be paid less than the cost to replace it you can also add a recoverable depreciation clause to your policy which pays out the depreciated and calculated replacement cash values for example if a 10 year old refrigerator is destroyed in a house fire a homeowner with replacement coverage should receive enough money to buy a new refrigerator however a homeowner with actual cost coverage would receive an amount based on the insurance company s estimated value of a 10 year old refrigerator special considerationsin the event that their personal property is destroyed policyholders must file a claim with their insurance company describing what they lost for that reason homeowners should make an inventory of their personal property ideally with photos and receipts and store it safely off premises just in case it s ever needed homeowners policies limit coverage for certain types of personal property such as jewelry and computers for example a policy may limit its coverage of jewelry to 1 500 policyholders whose jewelry is worth more than that can pay extra to raise the limits in their policy or buy additional insurance often called a floater to cover its full value 4