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Our seller is buying a home warranty up to $650. I've read the reviews and the info on this forum about difficulty getting coverage when you need it but at this point, since it's already in our contract, I need to choose the "best" of the "worst" and select a company. I've looked online at reviews and wanted to ask if anyone has decent experiences with these?
Two Ten Home Warranty
American Home Shield
HMS Home Warranty
Get your buyers' agent to help with the choice.
If you have trouble with service, your agent can lean on them and they may respond better.
They know the agent is more likely to deliver more future business than you will.
I have had good success a few times calling my sales rep and saying, "Hey...."
My agent purchased the warranty for me when I bought my first home. My house was below street level and the sewage ejector pump failed. It wasn't covered because it wasn't IN the house. So, basically, it was worthless.
My recent purchased, I had to sign whether I wanted one or not and I said no, they are worthless. My agent (different one) completely agreed.
Having owned homes for 30 years, for the very first time, I accepted the idea of a home warranty on a 1972 mobile home I bought in June, at the recommendation of my RE agent. The stove wasn't working, and I had to fight like hell to get them to fix it. The A/C went out a month later, they send this A/C repairman out to fix it and they tell me the problem was pre-dated, they wouldn't pay. Desperate, I Had the A/C repairman do some work, which set me back $2700, and it still still didn't work. My agent called the home warranty people and threatened to never sell another home warranty of that company, if they didn't fix it for free. Same A/C repair man came out, worked on it for 3 hours, and still no Air! So then my agent had her own A/C repair man come out and he fixed it, but no charges, as my agent insisted upon it.
I sold that home in August and I'll never, ever have another home warranty again. Through the grapevine, I have discovered some top quality repairmen for anything in your house, real cheap, too.
Having owned homes for 30 years, for the very first time, I accepted the idea of a home warranty on a 1972 mobile home I bought in June, at the recommendation of my RE agent. The stove wasn't working, and I had to fight like hell to get them to fix it. The A/C went out a month later, they send this A/C repairman out to fix it and they tell me the problem was pre-dated, they wouldn't pay. Desperate, I Had the A/C repairman do some work, which set me back $2700, and it still still didn't work. My agent called the home warranty people and threatened to never sell another home warranty of that company, if they didn't fix it for free. Same A/C repair man came out, worked on it for 3 hours, and still no Air! So then my agent had her own A/C repair man come out and he fixed it, but no charges, as my agent insisted upon it.
I sold that home in August and I'll never, ever have another home warranty again. Through the grapevine, I have discovered some top quality repairmen for anything in your house, real cheap, too.
I am honestly surprised that you could even get a warranty on a 1972 mobile home.
“In every case the companies that are offering the warranties have done extensive work to crunch the numbers and ensure that they are winning (ie taking in more in monthly premiums than they ever payout in warranty claims) the vast majority of the time, as they wouldn't even begin to offer these products if they weren't making a healthy profit and winning the vast majority of these deals. Sure, I imagine every so often (maybe 10 percent of the time) someone lucks out and ends up receiving more in service payouts from the warranty company than they paid in via premiums over the life of the agreement but I am sure that those are fairly rare.â€
Jardine8 just described all insurance as if that’s a bad thing. Guess what? If any insurance company is set up in such a way that they pay out more in claims compared to what they collect in premiums they would be out of business quickly. You better hope your insurance company receives enough premium for covering claims or you might have a weak, insolvent company. This is true of all insurance companies whether they’re providing life insurance, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, ALL insurance. You’re correct that they do extensive work to crunch the numbers - these workers are called actuaries - and they are required to do their job well to be sure claims are paid. Think twice if you want an insurance company that doesn’t make a good profit because it might be less solvent.
That said, I don’t recommend “home warranties†but homeowners insurance is a must.
Home warranties are a big waste of money and a major PITA to deal with and get anything fixed correctly and in a timely manner. My mother and I both had bad experiences with them. The internet is full of unsatisfied customers. You're better off setting up a separate bank account strictly for home repairs.
Our seller is buying a home warranty up to $650. I've read the reviews and the info on this forum about difficulty getting coverage when you need it but at this point, since it's already in our contract, I need to choose the "best" of the "worst" and select a company. I've looked online at reviews and wanted to ask if anyone has decent experiences with these?
Two Ten Home Warranty
American Home Shield
HMS Home Warranty
Fidelity and Old Republic have both paid out thousands for several of my clients.
Funny this thread is still going. They just repaired my AC for me. Minor repair and freon refill. Probably a coil leak but they didn't want to do that yet, just wanted to use a leak fix. I should push for it but when they have to do it again I'll just push for the cash and replace the 13 year old unit next time instead of a repair.
American Home Shield is the worst. Took them months to get a part for the heat in my brand new home. They claimed the parts weren't available anymore. After months they "fixed it" only to have it not work when I needed to turn the heat on during the next cold snap we had. (I'm in Florida). Google them or check on Yelp to see all the complaints about them.
American Home Shield is the worst. Took them months to get a part for the heat in my brand new home. They claimed the parts weren't available anymore. After months they "fixed it" only to have it not work when I needed to turn the heat on during the next cold snap we had. (I'm in Florida). Google them or check on Yelp to see all the complaints about them.
All home warranty companies have complaints against them online.
This may just be a local matter.
If I had a client who wanted a home warranty (I don't push them on people), and wanted AHS, I would help them get it.
We have a great local rep, and a call to her would get this issue fixed fast.
As I said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
Get your buyers' agent to help with the choice.
If you have trouble with service, your agent can lean on them and they may respond better.
They know the agent is more likely to deliver more future business than you will.
I have had good success a few times calling my sales rep and saying, "Hey...."
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So then my agent had her own A/C repair man come out and he fixed it, but no charges, as my agent insisted upon it.
Jardine8 Home Warranty Post
