anyone have a home warranty?

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todd_k

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Anyone have a home warranty? Our agent bought us one for 1 year when we bought our house and it is soon up for renewal. It's $456 for a year through American Home Shield. I'm interested in anyone's experiences with these warranties and if you think they are a good idea. My house is 10 years old.
 
I don'tknow a lot about homes, but I know a buddy of mine bought one that worked great, until about a year down the road. The main pipe that ran from his house to the main sewage had a tree root go through it and it got clogged up. So, if there's a way to make sure that's covered, I'd check into it. It's expensive as hell to repair. ... probably way off topic though, I'm not a homeowner .. yet :D
 
todd_k said:
Anyone have a home warranty? Our agent bought us one for 1 year when we bought our house and it is soon up for renewal. It's $456 for a year through American Home Shield. I'm interested in anyone's experiences with these warranties and if you think they are a good idea. My house is 10 years old.

Is this different from homeowner's insurance? I pay about $200 for that, so it must be something different...
 
I had one for a year, the sellers bought it. Read over it carefully if you decide to extend, they can be somewhat limited (doesn't cover the roof, etc.) and if you make a claim there is usually a deductible. So if one thing goes wrong on average I don't think it is worth it but if two things go wrong then maybe. But, for much less you can add some coverage to your homeowners insurance.

We did not extend ours and our house is 20 years old.

You don't have polybutylene plumbing do you?
 
Yeah, it's different. It's for appliances, furnace, AC...things that come with the house when you buy it.

We bought one our first year (28 year old home) and got our money back plus some after the furnace went and the water heater.

It's insurance...both sides are playing the odds. ;)
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Yeah, it's different. It's for appliances, furnace, AC...things that come with the house when you buy it.

We bought one our first year (28 year old home) and got our money back plus some after the furnace went and the water heater.

It's insurance...both sides are playing the odds. ;)

Wait, so in general what does the warranty cover and what does insurance cover?
 
Soulive21 said:
Wait, so in general what does the warranty cover and what does insurance cover?

Think about it in terms of cars...
AC goes out: warranty
crash into wall: insurance
 
AC is an option on the warranty. Typically they cover appliances and they replace with the cheapest model available, after you pay one of their repair people $100 per visit.
 
Cheesefood said:
AC is an option on the warranty. Typically they cover appliances and they replace with the cheapest model available, after you pay one of their repair people $100 per visit.
Our deductable is $75, but since they had no representatives in our area (farmland) we went with a local business and didn't have to pay the deductable because it was cheaper for the insurance co to pay it then to send out an inspector. :D

Obviously, if you are near a big city this won't work.
 
I warranty my house by keeping a reserve of money in the bank. For all those premiums you'd pay out, you can put that exact amount away and it will cover any problems you encounter. Of course, that takes discepline. The benefit is, if you have no problems... it's money in the bank. I don't buy extended warranties on anything from cars to electronics. It's a bad investment. Everyone always has some anecdotes about how it bailed them out once... what about all those unexercised warranties over the years. You could have bought 5 new whatevers with that money.
 
Seller bought us one as well. We got to pick which one we wanted. I researched various companies and they pay so little with so many clauses. I think it's a scam.
 
wow, what a jinx this was....my hot water heater is leaking and my policy expires in 2 days!
 
BlindLemonLars said:
If you have an older house, with old heating/cooling/appliances, it's a VERY good thing. Has anybody priced new furnaces lately?

yup, just replaced my entire hvac system 3400 big ones(furnace and central ac)
 
todd_k said:
wow, what a jinx this was....my hot water heater is leaking and my policy expires in 2 days!

You'll still be covered if you make the call ASAP They have to help you if you started the trouble call.

Bobby's got an excellent point. put the money away at 5% in a money market. It'll at least do something for you. With an OLD house, however, a warrantee can be great. Definitely make sure you have good Homeowner's though and REVIEW it. We just had the fires out here and I bet there's some folks who wish they read their policies.
 
I guess I got in a little late on this one, but I'll put in my $.02. I just left a Project Management job building homes for a job in an environmental health consultancy (my real background). The builder I worked for had a two-part warranty. One was for a year and covered practically everything, the other is a 10 year warranty and covered just structural problems. Now these were obviously for new homes.

So one thing to ask you is, did you get a home inspection done when you purchased the house? If you did, and the inspector didn't find anything significant, then it's less likely you'll run into $456 worth of repairs in the next year. If not, then it's more of a gamble. HVAC is probably your biggest risk. It's a complex system and there is more that can go wrong. But a lot of this depends on who built the house (reputation of the builder) and the types/brands of equipment (HVAC, water heater, etc.). I tend to shy away from extended warranties, I think they are a scam on most things. But a home is a complex "thing". On the other hand, you've had the warranty for a year and you've got to stop sometime.:)

PS: If a big national builder (like Ryan) built your home, you may want to get that warranty. ;)
 
todd_k said:
wow, what a jinx this was....my hot water heater is leaking and my policy expires in 2 days!

Think of it this way. A new water heater only costs $400. You might pay 3 years of premiums before another similar thing happens.

I think warranties are most attractive to people who are buying things they can't really afford. I mean, if you buy a house, you really need to keep a decent reserve for emergency repairs. You can either keep the reserve yourself or pay into a policy who keeps teh reserve for you (at a hefty profit). Just like any other gamble, sometimes you get the payout before you pay in at an equal amount. More likely not though. You don't think they stay in business by paying out more than they take in do you?
 
Bobby_M said:
Think of it this way. A new water heater only costs $400. You might pay 3 years of premiums before another similar thing happens.

I think warranties are most attractive to people who are buying things they can't really afford. I mean, if you buy a house, you really need to keep a decent reserve for emergency repairs. You can either keep the reserve yourself or pay into a policy who keeps teh reserve for you (at a hefty profit). Just like any other gamble, sometimes you get the payout before you pay in at an equal amount. More likely not though. You don't think they stay in business by paying out more than they take in do you?

I hear ya... I'm sure they'll find a way to get out of paying for this repair.
 
Yeah the consensus matches with my experiences. The best use for a warranty is as a selling point for getting a house sold. A buyer has a year to pay into a savings account to prepare for any emergency repairs. Beyond the first year, it's a waste of money. You should ask friends and family members with experience to help examine and evaluate your appliances and to check for foundation and roof problems. Use that information to determine the usefulness of an extended warranty. I have witnessed dead appliances a week after closing and such, but like everyone else said, the insurance company is staying in business, so they must have done the math.
 
anyone have a tankless or solar hot water heater? It sounds more and more like a replacement will be the way to go considering the current one is already 10 years old. Tankless cost more but you save in utilities and tax credit. I don't know much about solar, I know it would be expensive to get installed but after that it's free. I've also heard it's hard to maintain a temp, in other words, the more sun you get, the hotter the water could be which would be annoying when trying to get the temp right for a shower.
 
My parents have a tankless and it's just barely enough for a single bath + laundry. That particular unit was only slightly more money than a 50 gallon tanked heater. There are larger models for homes with 2+ bathrooms, laundry, and dishwashers but you'll probably have to have your gas service upsized. They require about twice the BTU because it has to go to 130F in a relatively short pass through the flame. You can also get multiple smaller ones.
 
I have a tankless. Rinnai- propane. I love it. It heats water for a full size house (mine is 4 bedrooms, 2-1/2 bath). It takes a few seconds longer to get hot water, but well worth it since it only runs when I want it to.:) Noritz is another good brand.
 
I always insist on a warranty when I buy a house, but I've never extended it. I've gotten three new water heaters and a heat pump compressor out of them. My thinking, anything major you'll discover in a year, after that it's just normal wear & tear or your householder's insurance will cover it.

Tankless heaters are great. However, to install one that can handle 2-3 fixtures at once will require a larger vent in most houses, because the burners can run 175-200K BTU vs. the 30-50K BTU of a standard heater. If you are planning on being in the house 5+ years, it will probably pay for itself. It's also nice to know you'll never run out of hot water. I grew up with four sisters, I know.
 
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