When you purchased your home you may have gotten a home warranty. Maybe, the sellers provided you a free home warranty or you purchased it yourself, either way, it covered your first year of home ownership. It was a bonus that you may or may not have used.
Now that your home warranty is about to expire, you may be wondering if it’s worth dishing out money to renew the contract.
A home warranty covers the maintenance and repairs of major appliances in your home such as cooling, heating, and electrical. These issues can arise even with proper care but with a home warranty, you may be able to reduce your out of pocket expense for these repairs.
Before you make a decision, here are some notes and tips you might want to consider.
Read the Home Warranty Policy
Before considering a renewal, read your home warranty policy. It will outline what appliances and systems are covered.
As mentioned above, most warranties cover all major home systems such as cooling, heating, electrical, and plumbing. They may also include appliances like the refrigerator, oven, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and more, depending on what plan you choose and how much you want to pay.
Home warranties have limitations, they may refuse to cover items that have pre-existing damage, and some will not cover damages done by animals, improper installation, or poor maintenance.
By reading the policy, not only you’ll find out what to expect but you can also choose a plan that is best suited for your property.
Customize Your Home Warranty Plan
After scanning through different home warranty plans, you’ll notice that there are a lot of ways to customize your warranty. Inspect your house properly to ensure that you’re not paying for the coverage of items you don’t have.
Homeowners can pay additional coverage where their home needs the most. They can have swimming pool coverage or plumbing add-ons.
What to Watch Out For
Aside from additional fees from customizing a home warranty, there are also service fees. Each time you make a call to your home warranty provider there will be a service fee charged when a repairman visits. It can accumulate over time, especially if you make service calls several times a year.
They will try their best to repair issues before offering full replacements and may offer up short-term remedies for items you would rather be replaced.
Bottomline
Before deciding to renew your home warranty, assess your needs first. Decide whether it is worth it to add coverage for particular appliances.
Are you thinking about buying a home soon? Check out our Steps to Buying a Home Guide. Feel free to give me a call at 703-539-2053 or email [email protected] to schedule a private showing of this or any other property.
Thinking of selling your home? Check out our 20+ step Guide to Selling Your House. Or you can contact me now to start the process immediately. Same day appointments are available on a case by case basis. I look forward to hearing from you.
About the Author
The above article was written by Abraham Walker, Your Northern Virginia Real Estate Agent, helping clients market their homes to achieve high sales with a quick closing time is my main priority. He’s the co-founder of Ask A Walker and can be found on YouTube, Facebook, and HERE on this blog.
