A relative is buying a home in the DFW area, and the seller is giving them $450 toward a home warranty, and they need to select a provider.

I've never had one of these, but was asked for advice, so of course I came here.

The real estate agent mentioned four companies, in order of the agent's recommendation, they are:
1- One Guard
2- Landmark
3- 2-10
4- American Home Shield

The home is 12 years old. Has a pool, but no hot tub. They will be buying a new refigerator, but all other appliances are original to the house.

If any of you have advice, on these, or other companies in that area, that I can pass on, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Can’t help with the info you are looking for, but if it was my new to me house, first thing I’d do would be to replace the water heater day one.

I generally think home warranties are a waste of money - and Am Home Shield to be a den of lying snakes.

Stick the 450 in their pocket and RUN!!!

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:
I generally think home warranties are a waste of money - and Am Home Shield to be a den of lying snakes.

I had AHS on our first house (seller provided). They were worse than useless. I’d get a good home inspection first, put some money away for repairs, and tell the seller they can pay the premium to and I’ll self-insure.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Stick the 450 in their pocket and RUN!!!

I have to agree

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:
I generally think home warranties are a waste of money - and Am Home Shield to be a den of lying snakes.

I had AHS on our first house (seller provided). They were worse than useless. I’d get a good home inspection first, put some money away for repairs, and tell the seller they can pay the premium to and I’ll self-insure.

Had AHS a couple of times as it was included. They deserve to be out of business. Suspect the others are similar.
Suspect AHS will continue to reap the Karma they have earned.
There is a reason even the repair people hate them.

I had an AHS a/c contractor tell me AHS would never pay to replace my a/c unit that was problematic. He said he had one that the frame was actually falling apart from rust and they told him to patch it up. I did get a new water heater out of the warranty but it was a cheap builder quality model that didn’t last. I’d say take the cash instead.

I agree with the negative comments about the home warranty people. I also agree with the suggestion of your relative having an inspection performed during the option period.

Not to divert the thread but I can make a recommendation for an excellent inspector in the DFW area. I had him inspect a brand new home we were buying. He found numerous issues and code violations. The builder refused to make any of the repairs. We backed out of the deal. The eventual buyers lived there less than 2 years and moved because of issues identified in the inspection.

John

I do a lot of work for AHS. They do what their contract says, nothing more, nothing less. Just make sure you read what it actually covered. Most people get pissed because they never read the contract and listen to the BS that agents tell them.

THIS IS IMPORTANT. They will not fix pre-existing conditions, never let an agent tell you don't worry you've got the warranty. If it was known prior to signing the contract (home inspection) then it's not covered, or you'll need to lie to get it covered.

Thanks, I had already advised they take the money directly, but they are insisting on sticking to the offered/agreed home warranty. I figured if they are going to spend the money that way, I would at least try to find the best of the bad lot.

We bought one on our home in KC but I wouldn't waste the money again. It was a fixer-upper and we did end up getting a little bit paid for when the furnace blower broke but it was only about half what we paid for the warranty. You're basically paying $500 for $200 worth of coverage. Granted you could potentially have a more costly claim paid out but their rules are pretty strict. The problem is if it's a newer home it's likely your not going to have a lot of problems. On the older homes the issue is they won't pay out because the lifetime functionality is prorated and if it's 20 years old they're not going to buy you a new whatever.

Home warrantees are a scam.

I assume they've had their own home inspector look at the place?

The seller can't insist on a home warrantee, if they do, I would think they know something is fucked up, and this is a BS attempt at getting out of it.

quote:

first thing I’d do would be to replace the water heater day one.

This, for sure! It/they may have been replaced, but if not it will leak and it will be the worst time. Betting it's in the attic in that area.
( moved from McKinney 2017)

quote:

Originally posted by DMF:

4- American Home Shield

I know nothing about the other 3 but American Home Shield is a giant SCAM of a "company"

They literally exist to happily take your money each year, then merrily find every bullshit excuse in the world to deny your claim.

I got one with a condo purchase in 2007, then renewed with them the following year but realized they were an utter scam and did not renew again.

They called me 2, 3, 4 times a day for a year.

When these things first came out 15-20 years ago there was a big push for spec builders to offer them as a way to improve sales.

They cost us about $800-$1000 per home and when a client tried using them they were basically useless as stated above.
We dropped them after a year or so.

I agree the warranties are generally worthless, which is why I've never used one. However, I'm one of the people in the family who is often asked for advice on financial matters, and this came up.

I've seen the inspection report. It was extremely thorough, and while there are issues, like with any 12 year old home, none are deal breakers. For example, water pressure in the house was tested at 120psi. For that, and a few other items, the seller is giving cash back at closing to have those things fixed.

This warranty stuff was not brought up earlier, but they are closing next week, and don't want to make any more changes to the deal. So here we are, with them wanting to pick a warranty provider.

Since no one here, has any psotive experiences with these companies, I'm inclined to recommend going with the one who has the least issues according to the BBB. I know that's a terribly flawed system too, but at least there is some data there.

In general it looks like the whole thing is going to be a waste of money, and exercise in futility.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

first thing I’d do would be to replace the water heater day one.

This, for sure! It/they may have been replaced, but if not it will leak and it will be the worst time. Betting it's in the attic in that area.
( moved from McKinney 2017)

It's original to construction, but is in the garage. I saw the pics in the inspection report. It doesn't look like a hassle to swap out, but I'm not there to help do that.

Do people really put water heaters in attics? I've only ever seen them in basements, garages, or first floor laundry rooms/utility closets. I know most houses in that area don't have basements, but putting it in the attic seems crazy to me.