Bob - several years ago NAR's REALTOR magazine had an article about a Gulf coast Realtor who "half" managed condos/homes she sold for owners by using home warrenties and having the tenant/occupants coordinate entry when needed.

I fired off a letter to NAR, IREM and NARPM board members stating how STUPID the article was.  How it demeaned REAL PROPERTY MANAGERS and gave the public the incorrect idea that Realtors are better property managers JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEAPER.

Rental residents do not want to WAIT for a home warrenty co to schedule an appointment when it is 100degrees in their house!!!

I don't take properties that have home warrenties and ALWAYS advise clients who are looking for properties with Realtors to NOT buy into the home warrenty SCAM - it may work for owner occupant properties - not for rental homes.

I owned a rental property and used a home warranty while we had it. It was great for us and I found the response times to be fine. The biggest benefits that I saw (versus using our property manager's handyman referrals) were:

• The tenants would call the warranty company first (yeah!!)
• The companies that came out were contractors versus handymen (important to me as the owner to have that record of work completed - especially when I sold the property)
• My costs were usually limited to my deductible (about $50.00)
• All appointments were made with the tenant so I did not need to get involved and usually our property manger did not either

I have had home warranties on my own homes as well for years and could not imagine ever having a property without one. When those rare times come that an item is not covered, I get the work done on my own, many times by the company sent out by the warranty. But since most of the time it is covered, I am able to keep my home repair expenses under control.

If it has been a while since you tried home warranties, you might want to give it a try again. AS long as the property owners are OK with the tenants calling in claims, it could be a huge benefit and time saver to you. They would even bill me for the deductible so it did not need to be paid for by the tenant.

Home warrnaty is not worth it for rental homes. Primary homeowners themselves have hardtime fighting with warranty company coverage issues. If you are a property owner and have a bunch of properties, you are better off hiring your own handyman.

MY website below has all horror stories by homeowners and home warranty customer reviews.

-KC

http://www.homewarrantyreviews.com

Great blog, even better responses!

The problem is you are either dealing with a fly-by-night company or you don't have access to the area account rep. AHS, for example, covers pre-existing conditions. I tell my buyers to call me, not the company, for a claim. I call my rep. I give my rep tons of business. My rep calls the contractor. The contractor responds immediately.

You might want to find out who covers the area where you rent and get a list of the account reps. Or not.

I'm guilty of giving home warranties as closing gifts in the past because from my PERSONAL experience they are valuable. You may want to check out my post as well "Is a Home Warranty Worth It?"

Happy Selling,

Christina

I wish I could say that my clients experiences with home warranty companies and owner occupied properties was any different, but it isn't. Most of the time, the warranty companies find any excuse they can to not pay out or do the work.

You got me to thinkin' about this problem. We recently reopened our property management. I need to get up tp speed on stuff like this.

Thanks

Todd, thanks for the comment.  The warranty companies are in the business to make money, there is no free lunch.

Robert, We have not had much trouble with the warranty companies but we have had a lot of trouble with the contractors charging 10 or 20 times the real rate for repairs that were not covered.  We just sold a home to a couple that had a small sewer drain problem that was not covered by the warranty and after replacing three feet of pipe and adding a three foot riser to a septic tank the owners were presented a bill in the amount of $ 2400.00.  The very top price on this repair should have been $ 500.00.  This contractor does this type of billing and I don't know why the warranty company works with them.

Don,  to me, that is a problem with the warranty company.  They do not cover many items and don't pay much so the contractor has to upsell their time.  Thanks for your comment.