WHAT DANNY IS SAYING

A: Buying a home is thrilling — but let’s be honest, it can also feel overwhelming. Suddenly you’re not just arranging furniture; you’re the proud owner of a water heater, a furnace, and a hundred other things you never had to think about as a renter. The ease of having a single point of contact when things go wrong can make a huge difference.

That’s why I always gift my clients a one-year home warranty when they buy a home. Think of it as training wheels for homeownership. If something goes haywire, you don’t have to panic or Google “24-hour plumber near me.” You just call the warranty company, and they send help.

One of my clients saved over $4,600 in their first year alone, when their HVAC gave up in the middle of summer and their garbage disposal decided to spring a leak. Both were covered. They also used it to have all of their locks rekeyed under one key, which helped them feel safer.

Of course, a warranty won’t prevent every hiccup, but it can soften the landing into homeownership. In some cases, clients save thousands. For others, it’s less about whether they might use it, and more about knowing they could if needed. It’s peace of mind for one of life’s biggest transitions.

-Danny Yadegar, City Real Estate,
  510-909-8330,
  [email protected]

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

A: A first-time home buyer moves into the property and they are not savvy with maintenance. Appliances and HVAC systems are older and they are on a tight budget. While their inspection reports show the property is in serviceable condition, the age of some appliances and systems suggests these items could fail within the next decade. This is where a home warranty might come in handy.

Home warranties have limited coverage plans that will replace appliances or systems within the house of like-kind quality. This means that if your central heater breaks down and if it is covered in the warranty, you would pay a service call fee and they would either repair it or they would replace it. A $500 warranty replacing a $2,000 heater would mean huge savings. The catch is that it would have to break down during the warranty period.

You do not need to be in a real estate transaction to obtain a warranty. You can look up brochures and activate it.

The reason why buyers might ask sellers to pay for one or have one in place is that it reduces the possible seller liability for items that break directly part after the sale. It all depends on your risk tolerance.

-Dean Paul Dominguez, Alliance Bay

A: Home warranty policies, which are widely used in virtually all residential real estate transactions today, originated in California in the mid-1970s as a marketing tool for builders of tract housing projects.

The pitch was that buyers would not have to be concerned about paying repair costs for things breaking around the house within their first year of ownership.

The term for these policies is 12-months after close of escrow.

This tool, seen as a safety net for homebuyers, served sellers well, helping to assuage buyers’ concerns about potentially incurring wear-and-tear home maintenance costs so soon after close of escrow.

Today, in virtually all areas of the San Francisco and East Bay, a home warranty is part of each sale.

The California Association of Realtors Purchase Offer form includes a provision about whether a home warranty is included, and if so, who pays.

We give a home warranty policy to our buyers, as a closing gift. We know those gifts have been used, and appreciated, by our buyers, over the years.

Buyers have the option to renew the policies, when the expiration date occurs.

-Karen Starr & Brenda Schaefer, The Grubb Co.,