To warranty or not to warranty, that is the question.  Home warranties are in essence insurance policies.  Insurance companies are in business to make money.  Is insurance necessary?  Is it economical? That all depends on the claims you have during your policy.  Home warranties are generally written for a 1 year period after the closing on a home purchase.  It covers such things as a furnace going out or a water heater dying.  Most policies have a deductible per item worked on so that you can’t wait & have them take care of 6 different items with 1 deductible fee.  All of the programs basically have a lot of “fine print” about what they do & don’t cover.  Each policy can be different, so you need to put on your reading glasses to make sure of your coverage.

What about value.  The cost of each company’s program can be a little different with different deductibles.  For example the program NP Dodge sponsors is Freedom Home Warranty & costs $395 for 1 year of coverage beginning on closing day. The deductible is $75 per item.  If the furnace goes out, the replacement costs guarantee a good deal for your $470 investment.  If you are lucky enough not to have any repairs needed during that year, you wasted $395.

But the security of having a warranty has a value as well.  Knowing that you will only have to face $75 repair bills versus possibly $1000+ is a big comfort to buyers.

Be sure to look over your policy for your specific coverage.  For example if you close on a sale & it is found that there was a big rust problem that proved an old problem hadn’t been cured and has now created the new problem for you, it may not be covered.

There are also maintenance programs available for people who own their homes & want in essence similar insurance against major repairs.  You can check into the programs available for renewals after the first original year of warranty.

If you are buying a home listed or sold through me or any NP Dodge agent you can buy a home warranty program for your home or negotiate for a seller to provide the program.  Or as a seller you can offer to provide a program & thus give that security to a buyer as an incentive.

There are a number of different companies who offer home protection plans. You may want to consider.  The  Freedom Home Warranty program has some very specific information about home warranties.

Another well-known company is Service One Home Warranty.  This site has more information about their home warranty program.

For more questions or information, you can always contact me by email, or on my cell: 402.208.5088.