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Purchasing a Home? Understand Your Home Warranty Options

Now that the housing market it a bit more under control more and more young families are looking into purchasing their first home.  As part of that process it is important to understand the importance of home warranty inspections and how it can save you money and protect your investment.  When we purchase our vehicles we very rarely do an “As Is” purchase so why would we consider doing that when we invest in a home?  American Home Shield (AHS) offers a service contract that covers certain home system components (hot water heater, plumbing, etc.) and appliances if they breakdown and need repair or replacement.  Since you aren’t entirely sure of the history of a home this warranty can be a life saver.  AHS offers Georgia home warranty piece of mind with locations all over the state.

Benefits of Home Warranties

When we purchased our first home the seller was not offering a home warranty, but our Realtor let us know that we can request a home warranty as part of our offer.  We did and it was accepted.  Two months after we moved in we found the refrigerator just wasn’t staying cold and we called the 800 number.  In less than a week we had a new refrigerator at no cost to us (plans differ, see your contract for specific pricing and coverage).  It was a good thing we had the home warranty because after purchasing a house our cash flow was limited.

Although the benefit of a home warranty is obvious for the buyer it is equally beneficial for the seller.  Offering a home warranty will give your prospective buyers piece of mind that they are not buying a bunch of worn out appliances.  It also might be the difference between your home and your competitors.  Regardless, it is a win-win for everyone involved.

What’s Covered?

AHS’s basic plan covers:

  • Heating Systems
  • Plumbing Systems
  • Electrical Systems
  • Water Heater
  • Oven/Range/Cooktop
  • Dishwasher
  • Built-in-Microwave
  • Garbage Disposal
  • Exhaust Fan
  • Ceiling Fans
  • Plumbing Stoppages
  • Ductwork

You can expand your plan to cover:

  • Central A/C
  • Refrigerator
  • Clothes Washer
  • Clothes Dryer
  • Garage Door Opener
  • Well Pump
  • Pool
  • Spa
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post through AHS.com however, the opinions and the story are my own and not influenced by AHS, our home warranty really paid off for us.

Comments

  1. Wow, I didn’t realize that a refrigerator might be covered! Great info, thanks!

  2. It is nice to know you can include daily use things like the washer and dryer to be covered.

    It always seems that once you buy a home, things that worked great before, start breaking.

  3. Thank goodness for that warranty! The only house we’ve had is ours (we had it built) so there was a warranty on it from the builder…but if/when we buy another home…I definitely will make sure we look into warranties!

  4. I really wish we would have renewed our home warranty 🙁 It protects so much!

  5. Home warranties are a great idea. Especially if you know you won’t have the cash in hand to pay for expensive replacements should something go wrong!

  6. This ideas for home owners are very useful, specially for those who plans to buy their they should know this.

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