Home Warranty Recommendations

[Low Truck FNG]

I know this has nothing to do with our trucks, but I thought this might be a good chance to get some feedback from my "friends" across the country. I just bought a house (3 car garage!!!) and part of the contract is they have to provide a home warranty and I choose the company. Have any of you had any good or bad experiences with home warranties? I've heard some horror stories. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[PHOENIX]

My father has a home warranty that covers major appliances (Fridge, Stove, Water Heater, etc.).
I do not know if it covers washer and dryer, or dish washer.
It does however cover the A/C system. In the last year they had to replace a lot of parts on the A/C and it saved my dad a ton of money.

I guess it depends on the cost and what it covers. I believe my father pays around $300-325 a year.

I do not think this is what you are looking for, but its something.

Are you talking about a warranty that covers the house itself?
If so what warranty does the house come with?
Is this like an option for an extended warranty?

[swervin ervin]

Never heard of a home warranty. This must be a new thing. It's probably a way for folks to make more money, like all the other warranties they have for stuff. Sometimes this ends up being a good thing, such as Eddie is talking about. But, most of the time it is never used and you spend you money for nothing.

What is some of the things covered under the warranty? Does it cover the whole house or what?

[Liz]

Alot of builders offer home warranties now. What you need to see first imo is what is covered without the waranty. Alot of times the roof and floors etc are covered for a certain amount of time automaticly. If its an extended warranty, it could be useful depending on what is covered. You can usually get appliance coverage through your eletric company also. So it really all depends on what is covered already. Also if there are any loopholes , eg., floor joists not covered from leaks etc. only workmanship or faulty products.
I would look into it , it may be worth it if its not to expensive.

[78SilveradoSWB]

When we built the house that we are in now back in 1978/79, it came with a 10 year HOW warranty. This was a national home warranty program. Warranted the house for workmanship and materials. Hey! just realized the house and my truck are the same age! No wonder things are in need of repair!

[apstguy]

We had one and it saved us from $700 in repairs to the pool equiptment.

[81shortwide]

When we bought our house, it was required that we buy at least a one year Home Warranty policy. (H.U.D. repo, built in 55') It covered things like the A/C, heater, electrical, plumbing. Glad we did, it saved us quite a bit in A/C repairs. Be sure to find out up front what is covered. If you are buying a newly built house, then the contractor should be responsible for most stuff. (at least in the first year) My .02

[BigRed]

We have Old Republic. In the first year we had it, we saved over $1500. It easily paid for itself (about $300/year). I wouldn't go without it. For instance, we had a sewer line break under the house. They had to dig up our foundation in several places. Home warranty covered all but $200. It would have cost us about $1200 otherwise. The plumber said that many home warranty plans don't cover this or if they do it's like $200 limit. So, I'm happy with our plan! Plus, our AC blower motor and a piece to the compressor went out. Only costs us $50 a pop for that stuff to be fixed. Heck, these repair places charge you that just to come out and make a visit.

[Low Truck FNG]

Thanks guys. I was actually hoping for some company names (Like Old Republic from Scott). I definitely wouldn't buy a house without a warranty, and it only costs about $450 (which the seller is paying). There's a lot of companies to choose from and I want to get a good one.

[81shortwide]

Our warranty company was called American Home Shield. Only used them once but had good results. Here is their web page http://www.ahswarranty.com/home.jsp

[81lwb350]

but i bought a 30yr old house 5 yrs ago...

if i hadnt had that warranty i would have had to replace the coil on my a/c inside, hot water heater, and outside unit in the first year...the 50 dollar dectable was all i had to pay each visit.
the warranty company paid the rest....that would have been close to 5000 dollars had i not had the warranty...you can keep it going after the fact also...we still have it but i cant remember who its with...its paid into our premiums yearly so i dont have to come up with 300 on the spot....

i'll try and get the name of the company...nice people and they usually give you a list of service people that represent the claims locally!

[gchemist]

If you can wait I'll be back in Austin on Monday. I got 1 year warrenty on my '87 house too. I just paid $50 to have my house A/C worked on. I plan on breaking as many things as I can before the home insurance takes over as the primary source. Works great for appliances and other stuff around the house. All at the sellers costs.

[Tom]

Man you just bought a house and didnt go through me? Im so sad
Hope ya got a good rate! As for the warrenty, Id suggest calling either your title company or the realitor. They deal with this all the time and should have a good place for you to try.

[PHOENIX]

When you getting your house Tom?

[Low Truck FNG]

Sorry Tom. I've got a buddy who's a mortgage broker and he hooked me up pretty good. I locked at 5.125%. I'm jacked about that. Thanks to everyone for the responses. I went with Old Republic because their Better Business Bureau track record was about the best that I could find. They had complaints, but it looks like their response to the complaints was pretty good.