Hi, I have an out of state property & my property management company is continuously advising me against having a warranty company. They are suggesting that I'll be better off cost-wise not having the warranty company and they will take care of the repairs.
I have found home warranties to work on sales but I would not get one for rentals. Call backs, scheduling, turnaround time. For me it has not been of any value on rentals.
I will always discourage my clients from using home warranties and if they do have one I do not like using them. I had one once that insisted on his home warranty. We had a water heater leaking and needed a new water heater. I could have had it replaced that same day for about $900 but I had to use the warranty. The warranty company sent out a plumber 2 days later, he looked at and said, yep you need a new water heater I'll send a quote over to the warranty company. 2 days later I followed up, the warranty co was sending out another plumber for a second opinion. Second plumber came and said the same thing and sent in a quote. After 3 weeks we finally got the water heater replaced while it seeped water in the tenant storage closets, damaged drywall etc. but the warranty company wouldn't cover that so we paid about $900 to make drywall repairs in 2 storage closets plus the Home Warranty fee for the heater. And the tenants finally got hot water in the laundry room 3 weeks after!
Thank you for your responses. All my 4 units have very old A/Cs and near replacement. I do not know if I'm taking a chance /risk if I do not have a warranty to cover those?
Thank you for your responses. All my 4 units have very old A/Cs and near replacement. I do not know if I'm taking a chance /risk if I do not have a warranty to cover those?
I'm here in NJ but I agree with your company. Warranty companies are not in the business of losing money. Even if something is under warranty, you're going to pay a lot to have it replaced, then you don't know who is doing the work or what they're replacing it with. Rentals cost money. Prepare accordingly and buy correctly so you can weather large repairs.
I just had a client have to swallow an $8000 plumbing bill because the pipes under the foundation were cracked in multiple places. He didn't groan too much.
I have other clients who complain to me about the cost of lawn maintenance.
Buy right, that's my best advice and right behind that is pass on the warranty companies.