Have you ever used your Home Warranty?

[2kids10horses]

I'im talking about the ones you get when you you buy a house, and the REALTOR has the Seller buy a home warranty from some company that's supposed to come out and fix anything that goes wrong for the next year.

What's your experience been?

I'm a REALTOR, and I don't believe in them. I just sold a house I fixed up, and the Buyer's agent had me buy one. I had to pay "No more than $450...". Well, the first $405 covered all the stuff in the house, the extra $45 covered their refigeratior and icemaker. I didn't include a refrigerator in the deal, so in effect, I bought a policy covering an item I didn't provide when they bought the house!

Personally, I don't believe in them. I never recommend them. (Most of the companies I've heard give presentations about them will give an agent a commission if they sell them.) I think they just prey on the fears of first time buyers to get them to buy them, and the fears of desparate sellers to assure the sale.

But, I've also heard that usually the cost to repair something is rarely equal to the cost of the warranty, and the hassle of dealing with the warranty company makes them worthless.

What do you guys think?

[chen35]

We used ours three times. Once to fix the dishwasher,once to fix the garage door, and once to figure out where a leak was coming from. I figure the cost of those repairs had we not had the warranty would have cost around what the warranty cost. So no huge savings. We didn't renew after our fist year was up.

[resolution]

I have never had a home warranty but one of my friends has one. It is perfect for her and she loves it. She spends every penny that she gets so she would never be able to budget for a large repair. It is perfect for her to pay a monthly warranty payment and then be able to call someone to fix things when they break. She says she has never had problems getting them to come out and fix things, so the hassle may vary by company. I am sure it costs her more in the long run but if she didn't have it she would spend all her money anyway and then not be able to repair things.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I had the chance to buy one when I bought my house, but I tossed it in the trash. The list of exclusions and conditions was so ridiculous, I figured that there was no way something could break and be covered. Seriously: there were exclusions for mass uprisings, terrorism, and a whole host of other more likely scenarios. There was also some disclaimer about making sure I kept up with maintenance. Not that I wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure between blaming me for not maintaining something, and all the exclusions, buying the warranty was flushing the money down the toilet.

The only time I MIGHT have been able to use it was when my HVAC broke, and it was much smarter to replace it with a new top of the line unit. Any fix would have been a patch job and the thing (18 years old) would have broken again very quickly.

[Gardening Grandma]

We had one for the first two years. We didn't pay for it. The builder included it in his bid.

We did use it a couple of times.

The company kept sending us mail to renew it, but we didn't.

[jd2005]

I had one for 5 years. Used it 3 times. Worth the piece of mind for me.

[thyme4change]

My experience - these things are kinda a rip-off.

We called and the service guy came out and we paid our $45 deductible. They found nothing wrong. Well, gee, every time I run the dishwasher there is 2 gallons of water on the floor. But, 10 minutes into the cycle - no water. Instead of sitting there for 45 minutes, he took the check and left. (My bad - I left my husband in charge.)

We called again, and the service guy came out again. We went through it all, and he did see the leak. We paid $45 and he recommended that we get a new dishwasher. The company called and said they would deliver and install the dishwasher or send us a check for the approved amount. The check would have been $120. My husband took the dishwasher. We paid $45 for the installation visit, as per our contact. The dishwasher they installed was complete crap and never got a single dish clean. So, 2 years later I bought a new dishwasher. Our $120 dishwasher, which sucked, cost us $135. It also cost our selling $345.

We also called on our pool pump - 3 times, paid the $45 fee, and they never fixed anything.

So - if I were to buy a house today, I would ask for a certified check for whatever the home warranty costs, and put that into a savings account and if something breaks, fix it to my liking.

[Havoc]

We negotiated for one (ie, had seller buy it) on our first home - a 10yr old townhouse. It was worth it - it paid for a new fridge and a repair to the heating system when it conked out that winter. However, we haven't gotten one for any subsequent home.

I think it was important to us at the time, partly b/c it was our first house and we didn't know jack about maintenance, appliance quality/lifespans, etc. and in part b/c we knew it would take us awhile to rebuild a cash reserve to cover anything that popped up.

[Havoc]

That stinks, thyme. We got lucky and had a much better experience - after the repair guy agreed that the fridge was dead, we just had to send in the receipt for what we bought to replace it and they sent us a check. I think it had to be "comparable" and under a certain amount. And we even did a little better b/c we got an additional rebate from Home Despot for the delivery charge. The heating repair would have been a doozy - forget how much now, but over $1k. We paid the deductible, but didn't handle anything after that. I was a little leery b/c we didn't get to choose the company that fixed the system, but whatever they did held up for another 8 years....

But all that said, I probably wouldn't try to get one nlow - we would just use the condition of whatever it was to help negotiate the price down.

[hockeygrl]

I had one from the builder when I bought my first house. I had to get them out to fix the plumbing, because the doofus who installed the complicated system put some valves in the wrong way, and I had a slow leak for a year that I didn't know about. They came out and fixed the problem (well, the second service guy did - the first one was another doofus) and then came out and replaced the moldy wet drywall around it. As a first time buyer, I felt more secure with the warranty, but now I would skip it. Now I have a husband who can fix things!

[bean29]

Years ago we put our house up for sale and since we had an older furnace/ac unit we put a home warranty on the house. It was to be paid by the seller on behalf of the buyer and covered the mechanicals for no extra charge while the listing was in place. At first showing we did not feel the a/c was working adequately. We had used it in prior years and felt it cooled the house pretty well.

We paid the service fee, and the 1st company that came out could not fix. We had to pay 2nd company to come out and I know I still felt the A/c was not working properly but I got nowhere with them. I like thyme's idea of taking the $ for the warranty and banking them for a future repair.

[Anne_in_VA]

I had one the builder gave us with a townhouse I owned about 30 years ago - it was worthless.

The townhouse was a new build and after 3 years the water heater broke. The warranty company came out, we paid our fee and they said there was nothing wrong with the water heater. XH called a plumber and he said we had a defective unit. We had to replace it WH and never did get anything from the warranty company despite several attempts and a letter from the plumber.

Never had one since.

[Angel!]

Everytime I have purchased a house, the seller has bought us a 12 months home warranty.

The first house we used it to repair a leaky pipe in the ceiling & a broken dryer - I have no idea what that cost us or would have cost us without the warranty.

The second house had water pouring out the side of the foundation when you ran the shower. Home warranty sent out a plumber who said the pipe was broken within the foundation & would cost $3-$5K to fix. Warranty only covered up to $750 of foundation work, so they sent us a check for $750 & told us it was up to us to fix it. We got our own plumber out there who identified the problem within 5 minutes & the problem wasn't even within the foundation - charged us $150 to fix it.

Third house - we had an electrical problem that took them all of 5 minutes to fix. The home warranty charge was $80 for the visit, but the electrician only wanted $60 for the visit, so we didn't even go through the home warranty for that one.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I love our home warranty! ;D

We bought our 32-year-old home in 2003, along with a Home Warranty from First American, including the coverage for the pool pump and a/c unit. The very first year, we paid about $550 for the policy and got back over $2000 in repairs to various things. The price has creeped up a bit over the past 8 years, but only in one year did the repairs we needed come to a hair less than the policy... otherwise, we've gotten our money out of it every year (even factoring in co-pays!). It even covers things like ceiling fans! (An old one that came with the house started making this awful screeching noise, so for the cost of the co-pay, we got a nifty new one by Hunter, installed! We also got a new Moen kitchen faucet for just the co-pay!)

The main reason we have it is for peace of mind ... my wonderful DH deploys a lot, and I'm not really the do-it-yourself type ~ and this helps us find local plumbers, electricians, etc. (and see if we like them.)

But, the bottom line is this .... it's insurance. If you'd prefer to "self-insure" ... then by all means self-insure. But I did want to mention that not all Home Warranty companies/policies are alike, and sometimes they can be a good deal ~ especially for people living in an older home.

[Deleted]

The seller purchased a home warranty when I bought my house 10 years ago. Water ran all over the floor the first time I washed clothes. Not covered. Bathroom sinks started leaking in the vanities. Not covered. When it got hot, the A/C wasn't cooling the house. The warranty paid for freon to be added to the system, but wouldn't pay to find the leak. The A/C drain backed up / was clogged, I can't remember if that was covered.

I had an electrician come out for something minor (I think it was a bad outlet or something), it was covered. I must've had a plumber out for something too, because I remember him advising me not to put those cleaning tablets in the toilet tank because it would void my warranty.

Based on my experience during that year, discovering all the exclusions and limitations, I declined to renew the warranty.

[Deleted]

We did a couple of times with the one that came with the house we purchased. We paid half, but she was somehow covered during the purchase period.

Anyway, the dishwasher was rusted out according to the home inspection. So it definitely needed replacing. She had them out, and they said it was pretty bad and offered her the couple of the options that maybe Thyme menioned? I told her to take the "we will put it in option." Fast forward to closing. They hadn't send her a check, and there wasn't a (only $200) credit for the dishwasher. I questioned it, and the closing lawyer sighed. Lol. She wanted me to work with them (a $45 fee), and I wasn't willing to. They only allowd $200 for the new dishwasher (no installation), but my ex BF put one in for that price.

So the warranties are pretty much a piece of crap. (I don't think we are so censored here that we have to invoke fish.) I did have my heating fixed one time. I also purchased one after my ex-BF moved out for a year because I wasn't good at figuring out who to call, etc. I made the poor guy that came out for a simple toilet repair replace all the insides and even the johnny seal. Hey, he was "Biking for Christ," so was would you think WWJD? It was funny, but it was cool.

I no longer waste my $$$ although it did provide me peace of mind when I was absolutely alone.

[zibazinski]

My neighbor had one that was thrown in by the agent that helped him buy the house. Replaced the pool pump, $50, replaced the ac, $50, one other thing that was pretty major-some appliance, $50. He sure was happy and grateful to his agent.

[herekittykitty]

We just used ours Monday for a new water heater. I called Sunday evening at 6:30 and the new one was in by 4:30 Monday afternoon. We've had good experiences with ours!

[qofcc]

I had a warranty when I bought a very old very poorly maintained house. The real estate agent just about insisted on it. Come winter, only about half of the radiators heated up and it turns out the plumbing from the boiler was all done wrong. To my shock and delight the warranty covered having someone come in and straighten it all out. I installed all new plumbing and fixtures in the bathroom & kitchen in that house along with refinishing, wallpapering or painting every visible surface, but no way was I going to attempt plumbing pipes to cast iron radiators.

[buster]

Complete waste of money in my opinion. With all of the limitations, loopholes, and deductable the warranty really doesn't cover very many expensive to replace items.

Also, we used American Home Shield who has restrictions on how long they can be on the phone when calling in. When I was calling about an issue and hit around the 15 minute mark, the CS rep hung up on me. I looked online and found out it is a common practice to make their support number call times look good. The companies they contract with are usually the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality as well. They are paid per visit no matter what the work entails. This means their goal is to get on site and leave as fast as possible. This practice in turn means you're going to get very poor service as it is not their goal to actually fix anything.

When I had an A/C issue with the outside fan unit (forgot the correct term), the motor and transitor had to be replaced. Unfortunately I didn't get this resolved until I called my own HVAC company. The vendor AHS sent out on sprayed oil on the motor in hopes it would work better. My vendor informed me it was a sealed bearing motor and spraying oil on it was absolutely the wrong thing to do. When I called AHS back prior to getting the fix, they wanted to replace the entire unit at a for a few thousand dollars all of which was not covered under the warranty. My HVAC guy charged me $150 to replace the part and went on his way.

Just look up American Home Shield scams in google and you get over 135,000 hits. It's a complete ripoff.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

We had a warranty on our house when we bought it, and didn't renew when the year was up. We later wished we still had it when an electrical problem cropped up that was beyond my ability to repair and we didn't have the money to call an electrician.

[spartan7886]

We had one paid for by the seller. We used it twice the first year and came out even or a little ahead. We had no issues at all with the warranty company, but did not renew because we figured in the long run it was cheaper to self-insure.

[bean29]

now that Buster mentioned AHS, American Home Shield, I recognize the company name that is who I was dealing with. Yeah, they hung up on me multiple times too. I was dealing with them in the late 80's too, before all the call centers moved overseas. I am sure it is worse now than it was then.

[Deleted]

I just had the contract ratified on the house I'm buying and the sellers are providing a one year home warranty. Since it isn't costing me anything, I have no objections. It's with HMS I think.