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My wife and I recently purchased a sfh in Northern section of Raleigh back in October. As a part of the purchase the seller offered us a home warranty program for a year through Old Republic Home Protection Company, Inc. out of California. At the closing table all we were shown was that this warranty was being given to us as part of the purchase and we were told that we would receive a welcome package from them within two weeks. It's been over a month now and we still have not seen our welcome pack. We began to get worried and called the warranty people to get some info. We've now beeen told by the warranty people that there are many "options" that we could have added on to this policy but they were never explained to us at closing, and apparently some of these options can only be chosen at closing. If not chosen at closing, you can't order them after the fact. For example, all inside plumbing- things like shower heads, faucets, hose bibs, as well as things like roof leak coverage, can only be added at the closing table. Well, needless to say, we feel really ripped off on this thing. The exclusion lists for items covered is longer than ten pages. I mean its ludicrous- what IS covered- really? We are also very angry at our realtor, our settlement attorney and the seller, who never once explained to us our rights to purchase these "options" at the closing table before we walked away. Now we have no right to add anything other than a couple minor items like "washer and dryer" that barely cover possible problems anyway. So, long and short of this question is this: has anyone else experienced these problems with home warranty programs, and secondly, what are the best most reputable home warranty programs out there? Do any of them actually cover ANYTHING without huge hassle? We're thinking of riding this one for our first year but then searching out our own program through a better company. Does anyone have recommendations for programs that actually cover your a## when you need them?
We found home warranties to be a giant waste of money. Most of them cover almost nothing. We had a leak in our first home and learned right away it wouldn't be covered. It essentially covers major things like the furnace, etc, but otherwise it doesn't cover much.
We haven't bothered to get home warranties on the last 3 homes we've purchased because they are useless.
I'm sorry for your problem. I hope the house is in good shape and the warranty will be moot.
The moral is:
Buy what you want. No one will take care of you like you will. Study the warranty plans coverages and exclusions, and trade fees, and make a logical decision that fits your needs. That includesw going ahead without a warranty if you don't feel the cost is justified.
The warranty companies have all the information you need available at their websites, by phone, and at real estate offices.
Settling for a "Home Warranty" without knowing what it entails is a gateway to dissatisfaction.
Even if the Seller is offering, or already "has" a warranty...
Include in the offer that the BUYER will select the warranty, and the SELLER will pay up to $xxx at closing. That option is presented right in the standard NC Association of Realtors Form, 2A11-T, Section 7, "Additional Provisions Addendum."
I don't see ORHP as a culprit. Their warranty is as good as anyone elses, IMO.
I sold warranty-covered roof repairs, and I thought the coverage typically covered the most of the first year cost of the warranty. Just try getting a good roofer out for less than $300.
I think warranties are a waste of money and I have never regretted not having one.
Most any warranty is a rip-off, just an easy way for the insurance company to make money.
They should have explained everything to you and that was your realtor's responsibility as your agent to do. Have you spoken with that person? You might want to also inform the owner/broker of that realty. I don't see how it could be the sellers fault as they simply offered it. They're not responsible for explaining to the buyer. Your agent was however.
Our realtor was a total joke in the long run, as terrible as it is to admit. It was a small outfit owned by a young 36 yo male and an older 50+ yo fm realtor tag team. They were nice and everything, but i really don't think they had our backs on the whole operation. I really think their attitudes became more and more lazy and non appethetic. They didnt explain anything about the home warranty program other than the fact that "options" could be added on later by us once the sale was complete. They told us, all you have to do is call this number and ask to add options. Unfortunately I don't think they knew either that many of those "options" must be added on at closing, and that once closing is over many things can't be added to the policy.
On another note, and to give everyone an impression of how crappy these realtors ended up being... after a mere two weeks in the house we experienced 1. a majoir gas leak which ended up costing us $300 out of pocket to repair, 2. a major sewage backup which ended up costing us $1000 out o pocket to repair, 3. several roof leaks (we knew about one when we purchased, but the other two were new after we moved in), 4. a crawl space water infiltration issue (which appeared on closing day when we noticed that there were two inches of standing water in the crawl space... we ended up remediating through negotiation at the closing table with the seller). So we have had our share of problems already.
Throughout the purchase process our realtor (the younger of the two took over) attempted to calm us down everytime an issue or problem would arise. We knew we were interested in buying an older home, but once the inspection had been done we bagan getting increasingly worried because many recommended repair items came up. He chocked all these problems up to the fact that the house was "just an old house" and would never be 100% perfect, and that "every house you look at is going to have problems like this one does". Well, we knew things were not going to be perfect, but we also don't like to be told to "calm down" every time we bring up concerns just "'cause its an older home" (as if to say all older hoimes have huge glaring issues). I mean there are some people on this board who have purchased 80+ year old homes and had no problems at all. We purchased one that was only 20 years old and have had lots.
On the other hand... we ended up in a really great location. We're up off of Falls of Neuse about one mile south of th 540 line. So, we really like the fact that almost everything is so extremely convenient. And the house (as the realtors say in their lingo) has "good bones". And it's also a great size house (five bed, three full and one half bath, hardwoods throughout etc...). My point is that it's just an overall annoyance that we've been through. If I had ever realized how crappy this experience was going to be I might have just decided to stay living up north. As much as I liked the realtors on a more personal level originally, I really just don't feel that they went to bat for us like they should have when the going got rough. And then once closing day was done, they have vanished as well (as quick as they came)... even though we've still been struggling with some lingering isssues, all of which we now have to fix at our own expense. I'm a business man too... I've been running my own biz for ten years. And I just can't stand shim-sham, flim-flam operations like I experienced with these two. You have to really work for your moeny sometimes. You have to show your clients that you care about everything they bring to your attention, whether you think their concerns have no real legs to them at all. It's just a matter of being a good responsible realtor. I can't say I'd recommend these two to anyone else. Although half of me wonders oif they're not all really about the same. It's all about making money, and they'll dfo almost anything to get you focused in on one place and then keep yout attention driving forward on that property, no matter what the cost. Just my personal opinion. I'm sure everyone here has had different experiences. So every story could be completely different.
Yes we have been in touch with about five companies andd ghotten quotes. There is one called Cole Brothers that seems to be priced well. It's a small family run biz that has done about four other houses in our neighborhood and seems to have a good rep. But if you want to private message me with some others I'
d be happy to take a look. We need to hone in on one in the next couple weeks.
On another note, and to give everyone an impression of how crappy these realtors ended up being... after a mere two weeks in the house we experienced 1. a majoir gas leak which ended up costing us $300 out of pocket to repair, 2. a major sewage backup which ended up costing us $1000 out o pocket to repair, 3. several roof leaks (we knew about one when we purchased, but the other two were new after we moved in), 4. a crawl space water infiltration issue (which appeared the day of closing when we noticed that were two inches of standing water in the crawl space... this item we ended up remediating through negotiation at clsoing with the seller). So we have had our share of problems already.
Throughout the purchase process our realtor (the younger of the two took over on our behalf) attempted to calm us down everytime an issue would arise. We knew we were interested in buying an older home, but once the inspection had been done we bagan getting increasingly worried because many issues came up. On every issue though, he chocked all these problems up to the fact that the house was "just an old house" and may not be 100% perfect, and that "every house you look at is going to have problems". Well, we knew things were not going to be perfect, but we also don't like to be told to "calm down" every time we bring up concerns just "cause its an older home". I mean there are some people on this board who have purchased 80+ year old homes and had no problems at all. We purchased one that was only 20 years old and have had lots.
Don't get me wrong though... we ended up in a really great location. We're up off of Falls of Neuse about one mile south of th 540 line. So, we really like the fact that almost everything is so extremely convenient. It's just an overall annoyance that we've had at the processs of getting here. As much as I liked the realtors personalities originally, I really just don't feel that they went to bat for us like they should have when the going got rough. And then once closing day was done, I have not heard hyde or tail from them. Even though we've still been struggling with some lingering isssues, all of which we now have to fix at our own expense. I'm a business man too... I've been running my own biz for ten years. And I just can't stand shim-sham, flim-flam operations like I e3xperienced with these two.
Sounds like the biggest problem with your realtors should be that they either didn't recommend a home inspection, or the home inspector that was hired wasn't very efficient.
Realtors don't know how to spot gas leaks or potential and/or future sewage backups. They are there to help you find your home... granted any layman should be able to spot the obvious and not refrain from pointing that type of stuff out when they see it, but realtors are not trained eyes for these types of things you mention. A good piece of advice they could have given you is that when you find so many issues up front, be prepared to find many more later that you DON'T know about! If you aren't the handyman type willing to take on whatever may arise, then look for something that was taken better care of instead.
You shouldn't have to "calm down" because issues arise out of home inspection. If you can't get the sellers to do what you need them to do so you feel like things are fair... then you should walk. If, however, issues came up AFTER you move in that were not known to you or the inspector, how could you expect the realtor to know?
Once a home inspector identifies the issues that are problems, then your realtor can go to bat for you, but you can't expect your realtor to actually "discover" issues that no one else found either...
Furthermore, a "realtor" isn't a very credible source regarding home mechanics & structural integrity. Some may know more than others, but thats not their field. A home seller or listing agent won't really give an issue much weight because the "buyers agent" thinks there *may be* a sewage backup, or future gas leak... On the other hand if a home inspector was the source, it isn't as debatable.
Regarding home warranties however, I agree, your agents should know what MUST be added on prior to closing, and not just tell you to sort it out later, only to find out you are out of luck!! I agree that they are a waste of time too like other posters. They have a longer list of exclusions than what is covered....
Basically if its something that MAY come up, its not covered AND THEN when you ADD on all the extras, you may as well just have paid for the darn repair!!
Were the utilities turned on for inspection?
It seems like a major gas leak should have been noticeable to anyone in the home.
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