Home Warranties

[Isaac-1]

It seems there is always lots of talk around here about home warranties, for both new construction and existing homes being purchased. I was wondering how common these are and if it is a regional thing, because I have never seen them in my area, and looking at online real estate listings, etc. all show houses as listed as-is no warranty.

thanks Ike

 

[Richard320]

The two houses I bought came with them. I think the realtor gets a kickback....

Anyway, I had a problem with my electric stove at my condo. Service tech came out and determined that
1) they had mislabelled the breakers in my panel
2) I had a bad circuit breaker one leg of my range

No claims on this house in the first year.

 

[dirtfrmr]

I think you can call any of the warranty companies and get a policy. Mine came with a basic package and I was able to upgrade to cover the pool equipment. Unfortunately in this first year I have had A/C , pool pump, Hot water issues in the master shower, Garbage disposal issues. Very difficult to get them to replace things. They want to repair those items. The Pool pump is really confusing, because of the laws of multiple speed pump that Arizona has inacted. I still didn't get that. Had to pay an up charge for a multi speed pump that is inferior. So depending on the type of home or house you purchase with dictate your choice. These people and the others that were charging us for inspection and such did not help at all. Best wishes, just know what you going in for. My company was American Home warranty.

 

[hrddrv]

I am no expert but we had one on ours when we first bought our house 11 yrs ago. If a house comes with one read the fine print. I could not use ours the first 30 days even though we needed it because the AC went out. I also could not use it on a busted sewer pipe because the break was 2 inches past the cutoff of what the warranty covered. We are looking at houses again and are seeing a lot of as is also. This is mainly because of the market and a lot of foreclosed homes. Good luck in your hunting.

 

[cramar]

North of the border, my co-worker had a house built and it came with a warranty from the builder.
During the first year they documented what they felt were deficiencies and sat with the builder, it was basically a negotiation. THey claimed a deficiency and he countered that it wasn't and I suspect he is far better at negotiating than the average person.
In the end they didn't get much accomplished other than the builder conceding and fixing a few trivial things. So personally I don't think warranties are worth much.

And anything that is major, lets say into the tens of thousands of dollars - good luck, the builder will likely refer you to his lawyer.

 

[TanyaK140]

It seems pretty common in Texas to get a home warranty when you purchase a home (often listed as a selling feature from the seller). We purchased last year and our warranty included the pool and pool equipment as well. The only issues we had were the dishwasher control panel stopped working (control panel needed to be replaced) and something went awry in one of the outdoor A/C units. Nothing related to the pool equipment. The warranty isn't cheap and ours is up for renewal and we are trying to decide if we want to fork over the 675+ bucks or not.

 

[Guest]

One thing to keep in mind as far as home warrantee goes is to do your homework on the insurance co your purchasing the warrantee from!
My neighbor had a warrantee thrown in by the old owner when they purchased the house and simply put they suck!
They had an issue with the electric and ins co didn't cover it.
They also had an issue with the AC unit and ins co didn't cover it even though the items were listed as covered in the contract.
Ins co just kept stalling until the year was up, they would have had to pursue it legally to try and get the money back for the repairs.
Not saying all are bad, just saying do your homework on the ins co

Wanted to add I keep referring to them as ins co but not sure what they are officially considered an ins or warrantee?