One of the questions people ask when they’re buying a home, is, when can I get a warranty? How much do warranties cost? Should I get a warranty when I’m buying a house?
So interestingly enough, I feel like home warranties were much more prevalent on listings, homes that you were going to buy earlier in my career, 15 or 20 years ago. Interestingly, also, there are more warranty companies now than there were then. But should you get one? And when can you buy it? Do you have to do it when you’re writing the offer on your house? So let’s break that down a little bit.
There are all types of different home warranty companies and they are not all the same. For the most part, a warranty is going to cost you between $500 and $1,000 or they’re going to cost the seller that. There is a space on our contract here in central Virginia that says, I would like to buy a warranty, the seller is going to pay or the buyer is going to pay. So it gives you that opportunity when you’re writing the purchase contract. But should you, or should you get the seller to pay? If you can get the seller to pay for it, why not? It’s not even coming out of your pocket. If it covers any little thing, it makes a difference.
Things that most home warranties will cover are things like your garbage disposal, HVAC system, your major electrical systems, some parts of plumbing, usually the water heater, and any sort of major systems in your house. Things that it won’t cover are usually the things that happen all the time. The little water leaks. Your toilet overflowed and it rains down into your kitchen. Won’t cover that. That is homeowners insurance or just out of your good old trusty pocket. I would always just investigate the warranty that you want to use and know that it’s probably not going to cover every instance.
Remember, you can buy it when you put the offer on the house, or the seller can buy it before. So sometimes you might see a listing that already has a home warranty attached, but also you can usually purchase the warranty within 30 days of closing for the same price that you would have gotten it for at closing. Now, you can buy them at almost any time. You could be living in the house for five years, and then just call up the warranty company on your old-timey phone and order one, and they’re happy to do it. It’s just going to be a matter of what it covers on the house and how much it costs you on a monthly or yearly basis. Whether or not it’s worth it is really up to you.
If you have any other questions about buying a home in the Richmond area, I’d love to talk to you. My name is Cindy Bennett. I am a Realtor with Maison Real Estate Boutique. I’ve been full-time in this industry for 21 years, and I would love to help you make your home dreams come true.
