Lets talk about home warranties

When I list a home I place a home warranty on it.  It's free for the listing.   I usually leave it up to the buyers on whether they wish to continue. 

The first thing to consider is the obvious.  Not all home warranties are created equal.  Recently I have been using  Summer Sweeny of Landmark Home Warranty.

She has really cute ads but that is not why I use her.  I use her because she seems to know the contractors doing the work.   I have had other home warranties from other companies but I decided they were not worth the hassle.

For 10 years I had home warranties on three of my rentals.  After some arguments and deliberations I canceled my service.  The timeliness of Summer's competitor and the amount of time I spent on the phone and their choice of contractors led me to cancel.   Today I put one of the rental's with Summer's company.  I have been using her company for my real estate business for several years.

I like home warranties because even with the inspection I cannot be sure of the quality of the maintenance the sellers preformed.  I like them because I hate when something major breaks in that first year.    I even have offered to pay for them as a closing gift on occasion.  The happiest I was when a client called me about a broken water heater and it was covered.  Far better then when the air conditioner broke in the first month and they had refused the gift of the warranty.

As with all insurance companies they are betting that you won't use it.   Often when money is tight it is the best time to pay the insurance companies.   So I am a bit broke and have an old home and I placed a warranty on it.  

If you are buying or selling in the Treasure Valley give me a call.  I have your back!