Reader Report: Weighing in on Home Warranties

Posted on Aug 8 2016 - 3:41pm by Beth McGuire
#26

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The home warranty has long been a staple of the U.S. residential real estate transaction. Taking the unexpected expense out of unexpected home repairs has always been critical in providing buyers and sellers peace of mind before, during and especially after the sale closes. But in discussing this important topic with your listing and buyer clients, there are a lot of decisions for both you and your clients to weigh when it comes to offering the right home warranty services, prices, contractor networks, reputation and more. RISMedia would like to report back to you on how you are incorporating home warranty services into your discussions with clients.

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*Survey participants who provide their contact information will be entered into a random drawing for a Divvoom Aurabox. Survey participants who opt out of providing their contact information will be ineligible for the drawing. The survey will be active from August 9, 2016 through August 23, 2016. The drawing will take place the following week and the winner will be notified by the email provided in the survey.

26 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. kathy toth August 9, 2016 at 9:00 am - Reply

    I did a ton of investigating before choosing the home warranty company

  2. Doug Graham August 9, 2016 at 9:49 am - Reply

    Where is the survey?

    • Nick Caruso August 9, 2016 at 10:05 am - Reply

      Hi Doug – the survey is embedded right in the middle of this page. If you still can’t see it, maybe try a different browser?

    • Ryan Huggins August 24, 2016 at 8:13 pm - Reply

      I had to enable javascript for it to display for me.

  3. Kelly August 9, 2016 at 9:55 am - Reply

    It’s the best money I can spend to ensure my clients are happy after the sale. My American Home Shield rep connects with my buyers and promote me. It a real ream effort!

  4. Tina August 9, 2016 at 11:25 am - Reply

    I also don’t see any link to the survey – tried IE and Firefox.

    • Nick Caruso August 9, 2016 at 12:05 pm - Reply

      I made the survey box larger, so try again now! It’s embedded right below the text that says, “Take our brief survey and be entered to win an AuraBox!*”

  5. Michael A Workman August 9, 2016 at 12:48 pm - Reply

    it’s amazing the number of claims made during the first year after closing…validates my position to highly encourage the use of home warranties

  6. Valerie August 9, 2016 at 3:17 pm - Reply

    I see a few questions on the survey but no way to send

    • Nick Caruso August 9, 2016 at 3:40 pm - Reply

      Scroll down =)

  7. James Bangar CRS, GRI,Broker Broker August 10, 2016 at 12:38 am - Reply

    This is a very timely topic for my practice as I have after many years of support to a particular HWC made a conscious choice NOT to continue due to the non responsiveness of my warranty representative, and her direct manager .

  8. Marie Goodloe August 10, 2016 at 10:05 pm - Reply

    I’ve learned over the years service representatives don’t alway have the control we think they have, no matter what company they represent. With that said, I find that explaining to the seller or buyer the benefits. It’s best I provide them with a few pamphlet and websites of different vendors. By doing this they get the benefit of choosing the vender and do their research. I do this with not only the HW, with all vender services they have to choose. This way I never have to hear the dreaded words…you referred the vender, when they are not performing. This doesn’t mean, I will not step in…when my clients are not satisfied.

  9. Joyce Battistone August 12, 2016 at 1:47 pm - Reply

    I always recommend and often purchase one for buyers.

  10. Efrain Figueroa August 15, 2016 at 2:17 pm - Reply

    Big believer in Home Warranties both for myself and my clients. Often give as Housewarming presents to my Buyeds when not provided by Seller.

  11. Ryan Huggins August 24, 2016 at 8:15 pm - Reply

    I’m a firm believer in these. In CA they are part of the purchase contract, paid for by the seller for one year. I have a few of them from a few vendors over the years, it wasn’t until recently when I had some big plumbing problems with a property I manage that the relationship with the sales rep became super important. That rep earned my continued business and support.

  12. Brian Burry August 25, 2016 at 1:12 pm - Reply

    Yes it is the final quality control in a real estate transaction to provide a level of protection. It IS in the California Purchase Contract but it has a box to check for either the Buyer to pay, the Seller to pay or both boxes can be checked for it to be split 50/50.
    Years ago (30+), before it was more common to use Home Warranties, if say a waster heater blew out 8 months down the road after the sale, buyers may have believed (wrongly) that the seller knew that was going to occur. Small claims court actions occurred and now by having it in the contract, it reduces that protracted liability for all parties.
    Get the clients to agree that it is a good benefit.

  13. Jennifer Dullere August 25, 2016 at 1:53 pm - Reply

    Because this is embedded and doesn’t open up I can only answer the first question.
    The solution should not be for the Agent to jump around trying to find away to fix it.
    If you wish for us to fo the survey have it auto open in a different space.
    Sorry, I’m happy to complete a survey but not like this.

    • Nick Caruso August 25, 2016 at 2:48 pm - Reply

      Hi Jennifer – It is embedded, but you should be able to scroll down via desktop.

  14. Paula Fordham August 25, 2016 at 2:39 pm - Reply

    Maybe not set up for mobile use???

  15. Gerry Sykes August 25, 2016 at 2:46 pm - Reply

    This is a must for any reputable realtor…….if client does not want to pay for the coverage I pay for it myself. A MUST!!!!

  16. Ann Torino August 25, 2016 at 5:02 pm - Reply

    Always offer home warranty

  17. Gail Belt August 25, 2016 at 6:06 pm - Reply

    Home Warranties are important but the coverage is far from ideal & it’s necessary to explain that to the client early on. Choice of repair vendor is limited. No company I’ve found will guarantee “like appliances” (ie: wanted to put a white replacement refrigerator in a stainless appliance kitchen) etc. Despite that, we do recommend that our sellers offer as a marketing tool & their own protection, & suggest our buyers request if the seller has not offered.

  18. Sue Albert August 25, 2016 at 6:54 pm - Reply

    I always buy a warranty for my listings and often for the buyers if it is not provided by the sellers as it protects everyone. During the inspections, often things come up that are covered. After the closing it ca prevent little issues from becoming big problems. However, Ibam not at all impressed with the companies that provide the warranties and often have to step in to make sure they get good service

  19. C Kilinski August 26, 2016 at 8:17 am - Reply

    AHS is way too expensive for trade service fee, and contractors only want their service fee, most say the problem is not covered and try to sell new appliances. First American has the best fee, but their phone representatives do not care about the clients. All of them are just interested in profits.

  20. gary J dean August 26, 2016 at 11:52 am - Reply

    I highly recommend sellers and buyers to consider the value of a one year home warranty

  21. Bob Travaglione August 26, 2016 at 7:18 pm - Reply

    I have been selling Home Warranty of America Warranties for over 5 years. I am generally happy with the service. I had used Old Republic before I switched to HWA for many years. Old Republic has a tendency to try to exclude many repairs from their policy coverage. All warranty companies need more and high quality technicians to handle the cases. Slow response time is the biggest complaint from my home owners.

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