Real Estate Agent · Princeton, NJ · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
Judy P. - I’ve had ok luck with pseg worry free plans and Dominion Home services. At $30-50/month it ends up breaking even but I have someone to call instead of the plumber that charged me $200 to show up and was charging $300 more to turn off the water to my house when I had a leak.
Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
8y
@Judy Parker all warranties like this are not worth the money. You would be way better off banking the warranty money in a "repairs" account. The biggest problem is speed of service on claims. They don't get people out fast enough and often landlords are stuck paying out of pocket. The other problem is they look for reasons to deny claims, such as misuse or not filing the claim fast enough. Deductibles can be a problem too.
Warranties are a high profit business for a reason, because the pay out is nothing compared to the pay in. You will never claim enough to even get a fraction of what you pay in.
I cringe whenever I hear someone recommend warranties. It makes me immediately question their judgement and experience.
Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
In general home warranties suck...... the people they hire to "fix" the issue suck..... the job they do suck....customer service sucks.
They band aid the issue at best and then charge you every time them come back and fix the issue again.
If you run the numbers, you are often better off setting the $$ aside and paying straight up for any work needed.
Every so often you will have someone that has it "pay out".... they replaced the 4k HVAC system etc..... its rare....like winning the lottery.
The House always wins...... they make gobs of $$ because what they pay out is tiny compared to what they take in....that's how insurance works or no company would be doing it
Investor · Marietta, GA · Member since 2015 · 382 posts · 258 votes
8y
Go to their Facebook page and just look at all the comments after each of their posts and you’ll have all the information you need about why this company is not worth it and a huge hassle that actually cost you more money.
Rental Property Investor · Ferriday, LA · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 3 votes
8y
@Judy P. American Home Shield is a terrible company! Stay away! I've had several bad experiences with them and will never use them again. Their customer service is terrible along with their service providers. In 2 different cases, I had to pay someone to come behind their service providers to fix the issue that they were supposed to have repaired. AHS also has a lot of hidden fees and items that they will not cover, especially involving A/C work. My advice is to just pay cash and stay away from home warranty companies.
New to Real Estate · Oxford, MS · Member since 2018 · 20 posts · 6 votes
8y
@Judy P.
There was a news story on them recently. Terrible customer service and withholding payments for service. One couple had the service for over 20 yrs before they had a claim and they wouldn’t pay out. I would avoid home warranties in general and save the money for repairs.
Rental Property Investor · Boise/Portland · Member since 2017 · 709 posts · 742 votes
8y
Biggest mis-step of my REI experience was signing up with this company! After exhausting all avenues to cancel my policies with them, it finally took a letter threatening that I'd file a formal complaint with the state's Attorney General office to get them to cancel my policy.
Franklin, TN · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 15 votes
8y
@Judy P. I had a really good experience with them as a homeowner and as a landlord. However, that was about 8-10 years ago. The service was cheaper and the "call out fee" was only $65 at that time.
They replaced a dryer, fixed a breaker unit issue, and a replaced a garbage disposal. However, the one that helped the most was when the condenser unit went out 2 years in a row and they covered it both times. One alone would have cost me close to a grand to fix so it was worth it.
I rolled the cost of the warranty into the rent amount and passed the "call out fee" on to the tenants. I included that in the lease. I would only use the warranty on a home that is SFR and fairly new like less than 10 years old.
I hope that helps.
Rental Property Investor · Newcastle, WA · Member since 2016 · 86 posts · 39 votes
8y
I tried AHS a few years ago on several properties thinking this might be a clever solution for managing repairs in my units. What I found was this, they tell you that they respond in 24 hours, however, that is the company actually rgetting back to you and then actually getting someone out there can take a much longer time. In my instance, my tenants dishwasher was not completely draining and it took about one week for them to get there. When they did arrive, they had to come back twice and the problem still was not solved. By this time, I was feed up with how long it was taking (and the multiple calls to AHS) and why their vendor couldn't quickly handle a simple item. I called my go to plumbing company and they were there the same day and fixed the problem immediately. Did it cost me more? Yes, but this was a good reminder that you get what you pay for.
Rental Property Investor · Bothell, WA · Member since 2018 · 76 posts · 37 votes
8y
@Judy P.
American home shield is by far the worst, I had it before and was told by the technician it's their lowest priority and they only do bandaid fixes if possible.
I recommend fidelity home warranty, they are the best, I have them for all my rentals in Washington, for some reason they always replace my appliances when I make a service call. I've had 1 rental that had a failed water heater and furnace within 4 month of purchase, I made a rush service call and they came out next day replaced them free of charge. Extremely satisfied saved me probably 7k considering the labor in washington. Not to mention I had fridges and electrical fixes. I average 1 big replacement or fix per year per rental, basically the warranty pays it self.
In my opinion you dont need warranty unless you're in a high labor state. Also it's better to measure the appliance life span if it's getting to the end for most appliances, buy warranty.
Rental Property Investor · Closter, NJ · Member since 2015 · 884 posts · 722 votes
8y
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. I have a young friend who has just gotten into the Landlord business - he has purchased 4 properties within the past year, and has gotten the "great idea" that signing up with AHS would relieve him of the multiple repairs he has had to pay for. I tried to explain to him that when a Landlord first purchases a property, the first two (2) years are the period wherein you find out all the problems and quirks with the property. It's to be expected, and that once he makes all the repairs he will have the property "up and running" the way he wants it. And that he needs to set up a Property Management Team (electrician, plumber, handyman, carpenter, landscaper, drain service, accountant, attorney, etc.) to run his new Investment Property business He thought he was so much smarter than me (I have 30+ years as a Landlord) and was so proud that he had already signed up two of his properties with AHS and was in the process of signing up a third property. I tried to dissuade him, but I don't think he is listening to me. He will find out the hard way. Thank you all for substantiating what I already knew! Have a great day!
Rental Property Investor · Lubbock, TX · Member since 2018 · 54 posts · 30 votes
8y
@Judy P. I have this company for my primary residence (it came with the house as gift from the realtor). It has made repairs really cheap for me ($75 for any repair). I, however, agree that it is not good long term. Just save the money. I have had a good experience with them as a primary residence though.
Rental Property Investor · Hartford. CT · Member since 2018 · 178 posts · 54 votes
7y
I think they're worth it, I have spent $3393 on warranties over 4 years on 5 properties (one property has 2 units).
I would have paid at least $3224 out of pocket for the repairs.
I like them because they save me time. I use their online chat while I am at work from my desk. With bad service, they are happy to change the company. I've had a furnace need repair, two water heaters replaced, 2 main line sewer backups, a sink plumbing issue, and a shower repair. If I would have had my stupid garage door covered, I would be ahead of them right now ($600 repair out of pocket). After that I changed to the pick ten plan for every property to make sure my range and dishwasher is covered. I believe Pick ten will return the best.
Lots of haters here, but as you see they are only $150 ahead of me after a number of years.
I am also happy that they recently started offering AC tuneups for $75. This should pay for itself as the unit I'm using it on always runs low on the free-on stuff and they should top it off.
Rental Property Investor · Hartford. CT · Member since 2018 · 178 posts · 54 votes
6y
2020 update: the AHS paid for itself again, right now I'm about -$250 with the premiums I've paid vs. the coverage they've provided. Well worth the time its saved.
Grosse ile, MI · Member since 2014 · 117 posts · 46 votes
6y
@Philip Johnson. I stand with your decision in using AHS. I use AHS on all my rentals for only $35.00/month and a service call of $125. It has been worth it. Recently they replace water tank, furnace issues , etc and I never have to struggle on getting service or be at the property during service. All my rentals are automated: Tenant cloud for property management, AHS for management and more. All my units are in A/B class neighborhoods with 95% of my tenants in healthcare - nurses/Doctors and all my units are wirelessly controlled with security system, wireless door locks... As a busy professional myself that travel 30%, I have found ways to automate it all and in an effort to attract professionals like myself to rent from me, I only buy in unique areas. I manage large portfolio properties in NYC/Michigan/Memphis/Indiana all handsoff.
FYI: I am a Software developer at Ford Motor. (Isaac Agbolosoo)
@Philip Johnson. I stand with your decision in using AHS. I use AHS on all my rentals for only $35.00/month and a service call of $125. It has been worth it. Recently they replace water tank, furnace issues , etc and I never have to struggle on getting service or be at the property during service. All my rentals are automated: Tenant cloud for property management, AHS for management and more. All my units are in A/B class neighborhoods with 95% of my tenants in healthcare - nurses/Doctors and all my units are wirelessly controlled with security system, wireless door locks... As a busy professional myself that travel 30%, I have found ways to automate it all and in an effort to attract professionals like myself to rent from me, I only buy in unique areas. I manage large portfolio properties in NYC/Michigan/Memphis/Indiana all handsoff.
FYI: I am a Software developer at Ford Motor. (Isaac Agbolosoo)
unique areas.
Hey what do you do to automate the repairs not covered by ahs like a door or cabinet for example ? Does tenant cloud do anything like this ? I love AHS ! It's like free labor well in terms of my time at least.
Grosse ile, MI · Member since 2014 · 117 posts · 46 votes
6y
@Philip Johnson I use a general contractor and or handyman depending on scope of work on any new purchase property. I make sure all punch listed items are fully completed. Then I maintain the same contractor or handyman that Reno the property for any issues that comes up.Also I request a 6 months warranty from any contractor that Reno the property. This is part of my contractor agreement.
American Home Sheild in my experience is a complete rip off to the consumers. Horrible experience for me with that company. I had an emergency water heater issue, here how they treated me
1) They have few plumbing companies they deal with who have horrible reviews and you have to go with them and wait for atleast a week before they can approve you.
2) Once their tech diagnoses it, Now AHS says installation is not covered and they want to order a water heater themselves which would take many days. The water heater they plan to order was a sub-par brand with many bad reviews. So decided to go with a different company to get it fixed.
3) AHS agreed to cover 30% of the payment if i go with a different company. I went ahead with a different company and installed the water heater and didn't get the check from them for several days. When we call them they say send me the invoice first and we will review it.
4) Every time duirng a call expect atleast 1.5 hours of hold time with zero progress with them. They try to see a way how not to cover and make you run around with many hours of time spent.
5) Completely disconnected departments which would make you run around between them and tell differnet things and there is no email communication or co-ordinated one voice.
6) You are sure expected to get ended up with frustration dealing with them
In general home warranties suck...... the people they hire to "fix" the issue suck..... the job they do suck....customer service sucks.
They band aid the issue at best and then charge you every time them come back and fix the issue again.
If you run the numbers, you are often better off setting the $$ aside and paying straight up for any work needed.
Every so often you will have someone that has it "pay out".... they replaced the 4k HVAC system etc..... its rare....like winning the lottery.
The House always wins...... they make gobs of $$ because what they pay out is tiny compared to what they take in....that's how insurance works or no company would be doing it
I know I am 5 years late LOL but I've been scouring posts in BP related to AHS. And after reading this reply (amongst numerous others)... I think I've been convinced to not renew my warranty with American Home Shield.