# Home Waranty



## MJsLady (Aug 16, 2006)

Does anyone have experience with a home warranty?
We are looking at a new house, well new to us and the Realtor told us about this. 
I know it is a good idea and I plan to get one but I was wondering if there is anyone here who can personally give insight into their experience with it.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

My guess is the realtor is pushing it on commission. You might be better off finding a thorough home inspector that goes beyond the normal code and condition stuff. Some can walk into the house and tell you what the builder did wrong. That's from a quality point of view. That's not covered by code.

Many times it's the poor quality that nails you for big bucks down the road. If the warranty covers that kind of stuff, it might be worth it.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

We thought we were getting one for free on the last property we bought. But then Fannie Mae said, oops, we lied, it's only for residents and not investment property. That policy was tied to the inspection. Anything noted as not up to par on the inspection would be excluded from warranty coverage if not fixed by closing. 

I guess it depends how much you want to pay for peace of mind, or how much you need peace of mind. If you have savings you can tap for a furnace that goes out or something similar, then I wouldn't pay for the warranty. If you are living "close to the bone" and any sizable problem or repair could break you, then maybe you better have it. Just ask yourself if you could handle a wiring problem, an appliance, water heater, etc.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I've never bought one, or had the need for one.. 

Here's the way I look at it... They are a gamble.. the gamble is in the underwriters best interest.. If it wasn't, they wouldn't be offering it.. 

The reasons I feel you're going to lose are pretty simple.. 

If you find a GOOD inspector, he's going to find all the problems with the house.. You either barter on the price for the house considering those issues, or have the current owner fix them.. .

If there are problems, and even if they weren't found out, there's a good chance the current owner knew, and didn't disclose the problem. THat give you another out to have the problem fixed.. Go back to the seller.. yes, it could mean court... 

Then is the fact most things under the warranty aren't covered all that well.. Hot water heater is 10 years old? Well then they may only cover it with depreciation... 

I'll never buy a warranty on a used item, or an electronic item or similar.. I never have, and I've not lost so far.. and even if I did, I'd still be money ahead because I didn't waste a ton of money buying warranties that would have never been used anyway.


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

MJsLady said:


> Does anyone have experience with a home warranty?
> We are looking at a new house, well new to us and the Realtor told us about this.
> I know it is a good idea and I plan to get one but I was wondering if there is anyone here who can personally give insight into their experience with it.


We got it when we bought our first house. Read the fine print and fees. You'll realize it's a waste of money.

Either the stuff should show up like a roof etc that needs to be replaced or schedule or if its like a hot water heater, by the time you pay the deductible etc, you'd be better off just dealing with and getting it done.


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## wharton (Oct 9, 2011)

farmerj said:


> We got it when we bought our first house. Read the fine print and fees. You'll realize it's a waste of money.
> .


 y 

When I was building homes there was a few years when these companies really had a sales force out in the field, pushing builders to sign on. I met with one of their shills and had a great time picking the product to pieces. In the end it was a marketing tool. It would of cost me about $100 a house to provide a worthless five year warranty. At one point I bought a real decent quality modular and the manufacturer wanted $400 for the very same brand of fake warranty. I said no, they removed it from the estimate but signed the house up for the warranty, apparently at no charge to me. As I was digging through the paperwork, I read it, and realized that it was so full of weasel clauses that it wasn't even worth saving the paperwork for it. 

I also recall some class action suits involving a "patching" technique the warrant companies try to do. Basically, you have a siding or roofing product that has a number of defective spots. The warranty company will attempt to replace up to 25% of the product without redoing the job. Folks ended up with siding and roofing that looked like a patchwork quilt. since a house with a bunch or siding and roof patches is kind of tough to sell, and has a diminished value, eventually the company lost in court and had to pay damages.


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## AR Aaron (May 26, 2010)

We got one when we bought our current house for "free". The sellers wanted to include it. We probably could have negotiated a little on the price, but in end just opted to keep it because I think sellers had already agreed to purchase so they probably wouldn't have came down much on price either way. We used it to fix the dishwasher and have garbage disposal replaced with new one. So in cost vs what we used it for I think we broke even. I think that the mileage may vary depending on each house and contract to who is writting it. Read fine print and decide accordingly. Most won't cover "pre-existing" conditions. For example if roof has been leaking for some time, caused damage or so they try to say. They are going to avoid paying out via the standard fine print escape clause. 

Now another thing to consider, as we just listed out house and ran into this. Some realtor companies offer it to the people that are selling it. Its a win/win for the people selling the policy. You chose to buy it when you purchase the house, and pay for it. OR in they take it out of sellers money at closing. Either way the insurance policy gets paid for.


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## MJsLady (Aug 16, 2006)

Hmm
The home inspector said to get one.
He said things like, the ac is working now. It however is an older unit and may not be working in 2 weeks. 
Plus even though the stove top is new (1 year old) the oven is not.

These things since they work now, would be costly to replace and with the warranty would be covered for minimal costs. 

This being an older home (1951) though well built (the builder/owner was a master craftsman, oh the built ins how I love them!) even though everything passed he feels it would be in our best interest to do the policy.


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

for the cost of the "warranty", just go buy new appliances and then enjoy the manufacturers warranty.

They are nothing but a gimmick just like an extended warranty on a vehicle.


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## Yvonne (Jan 29, 2003)

Got one when we bought an older home. It served us well as the heating unit gave out during our coldest weather. They were out the next day. It gave out again the next day and they were back out PRONTO and did an extensive overhaul on it and we were back in business. We know the unit is old and we would have to replace it. Just didn't want to this year. Saved us over $1600 in repair bills. We have our farm for sell and will offerer new buyers a one year home warrenty as a selling incentive. Even if we had never had to use it. it was nice to know that if something broke we could replace whatever in our time frame rather than deal with an emergency.


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## MJsLady (Aug 16, 2006)

The cost of the warranty is less than the cost of a washer and much less than the cost of an ac or heating unit.


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

Yop, minimum $50 fee every time you call them.

Often times, that's 2-3 x the cost of a very simple part to fix things. The three times I tried to use the warranty provided by our seller, it cost me a minimum of that much. Plus I still had to buy the part. Always an excuse why it wasn't "covered". When they called after it expired, they couldn't understand my lack of interest in continuing.

Water heater failed, $50+$10 for a new thermocouple. 
Furnace failed, $50+ $10 thermo couple.
Dryer failed, $50+ $8 high temp switch.

Read the fine print.
http://www.hwahomewarranty.com/owners/costs/default.asp


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

MJsLady said:


> Does anyone have experience with a home warranty?
> We are looking at a new house, well new to us and the Realtor told us about this.
> I know it is a good idea and I plan to get one but I was wondering if there is anyone here who can personally give insight into their experience with it.


Weâve had mixed results, our 3rd house had it, and it was a major waste. Either every issue was a âpre-existingâ condition, or was barely over the base service fee.

On the advice of our realtor (good friend) we bought one to cover the house we just sold, she says itâs attractive to potential buyers; it apparently worked because the house sold in under a month. While moving our washer I managed to break one of the faucets. Gave them a call, not only did it cover the repairs, but they upgraded both hot & cold, to the newer systems for the $50 service fee. 

We were extremely skeptic at first based on our previous experience, but our realtor did say the policies have improved due to the same complaints we had. For us selling the house, it worked out well. 

Chuck


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## Country Wench (Mar 21, 2012)

We had one on our last house and it worked out.... fixed my AC during a 100+ heat dome period here in Oklahoma when my husband was deployed and fixed our hot water heater (and brought it up to new codes).

On this house I had to let it expire last year due to finances -- but just redid it with well and septic coverage. We've used it for AC service, washer and dryer here so far.
I look at it as an insurance policy.... we might not need it now... but when we do - it helps ALOT.


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

We had one on a previous house - years ago - and it wasn't a good experience. They basically covered nothing and it was a huge hassle on items they did cover.

Still, when we sold our last house (3 years ago), we offered to pay part of the one year premium for the buyers. The A/C was working only marginally and paying the premium was much cheaper than paying for a new compressor.

We had the option to purchase a home warranty when we bought this house. It wasn't included in the sale, just something we decided to buy on our own (our real estate agent covered part of the cost of the premium as a gift).

I must say, it was a good deal. Our house ended up having a sewer gas smell in the laundry room. We tried all the usual stuff to deal with it to no avail. I finally called the home warranty people to see if they'd send a plumber and they did. The plumber couldn't figure it out so he called the company. They ended up finding a plumbing company that specializes in sewer gas problems (who knew!) They sent them out and they fixed the problem. I still have to repair the drywall where they cut (not included in the insurance policy) but that is far cheaper than hiring a special plumber.

Next our microwave above the range went out. The control panel stopped working. I called the company and I was a bit nervous because we already knew from the disclosures that the microwave was already working only intermittently. They sent someone out to fix it. He ordered a new control board and installed it. I think I paid a service fee but it was pretty low, especially compared to the price of the control panel.

The only downside is we had a roof leak and I was having trouble finding someone to deal with it. I called the insurance company and they said the policy doesn't cover metal roofs. I wish they had told me that when I bought the policy. Still, I got my money's worth.

I decided to not renew the policy BUT, the house is getting close to the 10-year mark so I'm considering buying it again. Our range is starting to act up and so is our washer. Yeah, with some companies, you don't have to be buying the house to get the coverage, you can already be an owner.

I think we used First American Home Buyers Protection Corporation.


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## MJsLady (Aug 16, 2006)

The company I think we will go through has a cadillac policy for... $525 that covers everything, even simple things like faucets and such.


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