Buying our first house, the seller has offered to purchase a Home Owner
Warranty for us but we are tasked with choosing which company and plan we
want (up to $400). Does anyone have one of these or can you recommend a
company?

Thanks in advance

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:34:20 GMT, "WalkerTexasHiker"
wrote:

Buying our first house, the seller has offered to purchase a Home Owner
Warranty for us but we are tasked with choosing which company and plan we
want (up to $400). Does anyone have one of these or can you recommend a
company?

Ask them to credit you the $400 at closing. A home owner's warranty
is totally useless and a waste of good money based on my personal
experience because there are so many exclusions, and you're required
to use only their contractors, and often the deductible makes the
whole process unpalatable (mine was $90, and the policy wouldn't cover
the types of repairs I needed).

$400 at closing is good advice...if you save the cash unless your're
buying a total pit, will cover most things that go bad in a year.

DAC

On Feb 22, 7:03 am, KLS wrote:
On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:34:20 GMT, "WalkerTexasHiker"

wrote:
Buying our first house, the seller has offered to purchase a Home Owner
Warranty for us but we are tasked with choosing which company and plan we
want (up to $400). Does anyone have one of these or can you recommend a
company?

Ask them to credit you the $400 at closing. A home owner's warranty
is totally useless and a waste of good money based on my personal
experience because there are so many exclusions, and you're required
to use only their contractors, and often the deductible makes the
whole process unpalatable (mine was $90, and the policy wouldn't cover
the types of repairs I needed).

On Feb 21, 9:34 pm, "WalkerTexasHiker" wrote:
Buying our first house, the seller has offered to purchase a Home Owner
Warranty for us but we are tasked with choosing which company and plan we
want (up to $400). Does anyone have one of these or can you recommend a
company?

Thanks in advance

IMO home warranties are almost always a waste of money. They have
numerous coverage exceptions, are notoriously difficult to deal with,
and if you try to dispute a denied claim, they trap you into an
arbitration process where they usually choose the arbitrator. You
can't sue a warranty co except under very narrow, extremely rare,
cirumstances, and doing that often requires a separate lawsuit just to
get out of the arbitration clause. I have personal experience with
the type of home warranty on a new home. Except for the items
"covered" they are very similar to those on older homes. On older
homes the warranties typically cover appliances, but on new homes they
are on just the house itself, mostly the structural elements. Also,
don't assume that state regulations will help because warranties are
often not regulated much if at all.

Thanks for the information. Ive talked with a couple of people and gotten
mixed reviews. Some said exactly what you have said and others had great
experiences and saved thousands on a large repair cost. At least its not my
money :-)


wrote in message
oups.com...
On Feb 21, 9:34 pm, "WalkerTexasHiker" wrote:
Buying our first house, the seller has offered to purchase a Home Owner
Warranty for us but we are tasked with choosing which company and plan we
want (up to $400). Does anyone have one of these or can you recommend a
company?

Thanks in advance

IMO home warranties are almost always a waste of money. They have
numerous coverage exceptions, are notoriously difficult to deal with,
and if you try to dispute a denied claim, they trap you into an
arbitration process where they usually choose the arbitrator. You
can't sue a warranty co except under very narrow, extremely rare,
cirumstances, and doing that often requires a separate lawsuit just to
get out of the arbitration clause. I have personal experience with
the type of home warranty on a new home. Except for the items
"covered" they are very similar to those on older homes. On older
homes the warranties typically cover appliances, but on new homes they
are on just the house itself, mostly the structural elements. Also,
don't assume that state regulations will help because warranties are
often not regulated much if at all.

BUYER BEWA

I have used a few different home warranty companies and I can tell you
the WORST one by far is American Home Guardian (http://
americanhomeguardian.com/). The guy who runs this company is a jerk.
They will not fix the problem only prolong it. They are very
unresponsive and limit you to 6 claims in 1 year (even if it is the
same problem over and over again). If you use your warranty they will
refuse to do business with you in the future. This company only wants
to collect the premium then never hear from you again.

I would recommend a company called Service 1, they are much more
reputable.


WalkerTexasHiker wrote:
Buying our first house, the seller has offered to purchase a Home Owner
Warranty for us but we are tasked with choosing which company and plan we
want (up to $400). Does anyone have one of these or can you recommend a
company?

Thanks in advance

On Feb 25, 4:13 pm, "WalkerTexasHiker" wrote:
Thanks for the information. Ive talked with a couple of people and gotten
mixed reviews. Some said exactly what you have said and others had great
experiences and saved thousands on a large repair cost. At least its not my
money :-)

"At least its not my money "
is exactly and the only reason that home warranty coverage exists.
The buyer can demand/negotiate that the seller provide it. It's
usually worthless, and by reputation difficult to deal with.

There are tons of costs in home purchases and closing that are
pointless (the worst is title insurance). But someone other than the
requiring entity is paying for it, so it goes on and on.