When buying a new home, you want to keep your options open in a number of areas.
For instance, we strongly consider you invest in a home warranty. Sometimes, you will find a home on the market with a warranty already attached. In this case, the warranty may be transferable to the new owner or you might have the opportunity to purchase it, which we would highly recommend. If not, you should check out your options for a home warranty on your own.
Home warranties are designed to provide you with protection over a designated timeframe. Although some warranties will cover a three or five-year period, they are usually renewable on a yearly basis. With a home warranty, you would have protection against unexpected repairs on a number of things such as home appliances, garage doors, and other things not usually covered by homeowner’s insurance.
The benefit to a home warranty in addition to the protection is that most work the same way. In this case, if you had a garage door opener not working, a garbage disposal stuck, and a window that would not open, if you can locate a licensed repairperson that is capable of fixing all three, then he or she would make one trip to the home, fixing them all for the price of one. For instance, if the cost of the service call were $75, rather than have three different people come out on three separate calls, you would only be charged the $75 to have everything fixed.
Now, if you are selling your home and you want a quick turnaround, you might go ahead and invest in a transferable home warranty, which is a very appealing offering to the buyer. In fact, studies show that homes offering buyers a home warranty usually sell up to 15% faster. Better yet, homes being sold with an attached home warranty also sell at a higher price. Most sellers find they can use this features as a bargaining tool, often getting up to 3% more money.
Other benefits of selling a home with a home warranty include attracting more buyers that are qualified. The bottom line is that 80% of all homebuyers say they would buy a home they liked with a home warranty over a home they liked without one. Finally, home warranties are an excellent way to reduce or eliminate liability after the home sales. In other words, if there were a defect in the oven but you had no idea so it was not listed in the contract, but then a month after selling the home, the oven fails then the home warranty would kick in so you would not be liable.