Originally Posted By: krichardson This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Do a lot of you offer this FREE 90 day limited warranty? I am thinking of offering this to my clients and would like some feedback on how it works and the liability invloved. Also, can someone provide a link to the company that provides this service?
Originally Posted By: kbowles This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Kevin,
There is an inspection company here that does that. I am not sure how, or why, but I would think they would go through a company such as AHS, (America Home Shield) which is a homebuyers warranty company. They probably have a deal for a discounted 90 day rate to you so they can get them after the initial term. I would be careful offering this even after you learn who it is through because they all have deductibles and such and usually make the homebuyer more mad than anything. Good luck.
Kevin ( how many Kevin's are there on this board anyway?)
Originally Posted By: kbowles This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Just as I thought…If you go to AHS website, they endorse Ameri-spec which is the company that offers that deal here. So there you go Kevin, you can buy a 90 day insurance policy for your clients appliances through them.
Originally Posted By: jmurray This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
kbowles wrote:
Kevin,
There is an inspection company here that does that. I am not sure how, or why, but I would think they would go through a company such as AHS, (America Home Shield) which is a homebuyers warranty company. They probably have a deal for a discounted 90 day rate to you so they can get them after the initial term. I would be careful offering this even after you learn who it is through because they all have deductibles and such and usually make the homebuyer more mad than anything. Good luck.
Kevin ( how many Kevin's are there on this board anyway?)
As I remember, AHS's warranty and probably everyone else's is limited!
You could play the limitation game and probably make out!
-- "A little less conversation and a little more action"!
Originally Posted By: kbowles This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
jmurray wrote:
As I remember, AHS's warranty and probably everyone else's is limited!
You could play the limitation game and probably make out!
Thats exactly why people end up ticked off, usually these warranties have very limited coverage and an escape clause for just about everything.............not to mention the person coming out to "repair" the problem is the lower bidder. ( I am in heating and air full time and have seen some very crappy work from these guys)
Originally Posted By: jmurray This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
kbowles wrote:
jmurray wrote:
As I remember, AHS's warranty and probably everyone else's is limited!
You could play the limitation game and probably make out!
Thats exactly why people end up ticked off, usually these warranties have very limited coverage and an escape clause for just about everything.............not to mention the person coming out to "repair" the problem is the lower bidder. ( I am in heating and air full time and have seen some very crappy work from these guys)
Kevin
Why would they (the client) be ticked if a home inspector were to print and have signed the exact items covered with the limitations of any warranty?
-- "A little less conversation and a little more action"!
Originally Posted By: fmagdefrau This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
John, House to Home
It just occurred to me how much I like the name of your inspection company. Do you have a logo ?
Personally I would never offer a warranty. You will be asleep warm in the middle of a dark and rainy night with a 7:00 am crawl space inspection and the phone will ring and wake you from a sleep because the client you offered the FREE 90 day warranty too hot water heater just busted.
Originally Posted By: jmurray This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
fmagdefrau wrote:
John, House to Home
It just occurred to me how much I like the name of your inspection company. Do you have a logo ?
Personally I would never offer a warranty. You will be asleep warm in the middle of a dark and rainy night with a 7:00 am crawl space inspection and the phone will ring and wake you from a sleep because the client you offered the FREE 90 day warranty too hot water heater just busted.
Frank
Thanks for the compliment!
My logo seems to change from week to week depending on what media I need it to be on.
I can see your point with the phone calls! I never thought of that!
Anyway to forward them to the insurance Co.?
-- "A little less conversation and a little more action"!
Originally Posted By: kbowles This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
John,
I was referring to the American Home Shield warranty being offered by Home Inspectors. Many people feel as though these warranties cover appliances top to bottom but many times that is not the case. I was just letting anyone that is thinking of offering these warranties to be expecting an upset client when they call to have their appliance fixed, if it fails, and they hear that the problem they are experiencing isn’t actually covered by the warranty.
Originally Posted By: dbowers This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
In 5 years of offering the warranty I’ve had 1 claim (turned out the house got hit by lightning after my inspection - the seller said nothing -when the buyers moved in, the @ A/C units would not come on.
The warranty company paid for it - the buyer, realtor were delighted.
Originally Posted By: janderson This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
One year warranties are a big marketing tool for the RE Agents around here. Since I am a relatively new inspector (approximately 5 years now) I am working with relatively new real estate agents who, subsequently, work with many first time home buyers. These agents are including the one year warranties as a marketing tool with their buyers–they simply take the one year premium out of their commission. Sure they may be out an extra few hundred bucks for the warranty but they will regain that in referrals from their satisfied client. Most if not all of those warranty programs begin at the time of closing, that’s where the inspector warranty programs come into the picture.
Many inspectors are now following suit and including a 90 day warranty with their service. Since these warranties usually are in effect from the date of inspection until closing or shortly thereafter, they compliment the one year programs. Since the calls for broken appliances or other items are most likely going to come in after closing, you guess who they call--the one year warranty number, leaving you completely removed. 
The main thing to consider with any warranty program is that they will not cover anything that was a preexisting defect and the inspection report will be used heavily as the determining factor in determining what was a preexisting defect.
-- Within the seeds of ignorance lie the fruits of denial
Originally Posted By: Ron Dawes This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
A comment on the topic as a homeowner (will take the TX inpsection exam next week): We purchased a home 7 years ago that came with an AHS 1 year warranty with the purchase and we have renewed it every year since. The home was about 18 year old when we bought it so it is now 25. It’s over 3000 sq ft with 3 HVAC systems and 2 electric water heaters, a pool/spa with heater. Since we’ve been here we’ve received far more from the policy than the cost every single year. Replaced 2 water heaters, 1 AC condenser unit, fixed fans on 2 others, replaced a built in refrigerator after having it fixed several times, replaced a builtin microwave, fixed the pool heater several times, replaced pool spider valve once after being fixed once, replaced the spa blower motor, one sewer cleanout. So it’s been a great value for us. If the house and systems had been newer, it may not have been as good a value. Just my 2 cents worth…