What Home Warranty Company do you use?
Hi All,
I currently use Home Warranty of America for one of my rental properties. They were pretty decent so far at repairing items in my home that needed fixing minus taking forever to get it done. My water heater went last month and they are denying the payment for it through a loop hole... such BS!
Anyway, does anyone recommend a good warranty company they use?
Thanks!
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#1 Legal & Legislation Contributor
- Rental Property Investor
- Hanover Twp, PA
@Annie Johnson, I recommend budgeting for maintenance and cap ex and also building some reserve funds, then you won't need a home warranty.
I look at any kind of purchased warranty as a type of insurance. Insurances are VERY lucrative for the insurance companies selling the insurance. They hardly ever work out in the financial favor of the person buying the insurance or warranty.
So, in my mind, the time to buy insurance or a warranty is when I cannot stand the loss. Where the thing I'm insuring is so serious that I can't handle the situation if it were to happen or that I have no way to plan or budget for it. A serious car accident or a house burning down.
If you are just starting out and a hot water heater going is a hardship, maybe a home warranty makes sense, but once you get your feet under you you should be able to plan and budget and forgo purchased warranties and save money in the long run.
Quote from @Annie Johnson:None. Save money and handle it yourself.
Hi All,
I currently use Home Warranty of America for one of my rental properties. They were pretty decent so far at repairing items in my home that needed fixing minus taking forever to get it done. My water heater went last month and they are denying the payment for it through a loop hole... such BS!
Most property managers will not manage a home with a warranty because we understand how awful they are. They are slow to respond, which is going to reflect poorly on you as a Landlord. When they do send someone, they typically send a lower-qualified technician that's willing to work for peanuts. In my town I don't even have an appliance repairman that will do warranty work because the warranty literally pays half what they normally charge and its not worth it.
Home warranties are fine for owner-occupied homes with old systems and appliances as long as owner knows it will take time to get anything actually fixed/replaced through it. We have one on our own home because everything was original when we bought it, and it's been worth it, but took weeks for a new water heater, months for a new oven, 2 months last summer to repair upstairs a/c while we waited for the part to come in, and over 3 weeks for new gas pack. We'll likely drop it now that many items have been replaced. Tenants will not usually work with that kind of time frame, especially when heat, a/c, hot water are involved, so no sense wasting the money on a warranty.
It's great until it isn't. Home warranties are a terrible idea for a rental property. We've had nothing but bad experiences with them. Most places have habitability covenants and home warranty companies don't care about those but as a landlord or PM, you are bound by them. And judges don't care that your home warranty company couldn't replace a water heater for 2 weeks, the tenant needs hot water. We were told by our attorney that we must make the fastest repair, not the cheapest. It's much better to find service providers that you have built a favorable relationship with and can count on.