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Are home buyer resale warranties a good idea?

We moved in the spring, and it seems like the move has created as many questions as it answered: What should I do with my old stuff, sell it or trade it? Which digital services do I really need at the new house? Are mortgage-savings programs a good idea?

The newest question is whether or not to get a "home buyer resale warranty" (not to be confused with a home warranty offered by a builder). If you're unfamiliar with these, they're more or less a service contract on various components of your house, such as appliances, HVAC, and water heaters. They are usually considered at the onset of a relocation, but many can be purchased at any time.

The one we're being offered is by American Home Shield. It costs $356/year for the basic plan ($512/year for the "Enhanced Plan") and works like this: when a covered item breaks down, you can contact them by phone or online and request a service call. After the request is processed, one of their "approved and insured contractors" will come out to diagnose and fix the problem. The cost for this "Trade Service Call" is $60.

Sounds reasonable, but let's look at some of the fine print:

• "This Trade Service Call Fee applies to the initial visit by a contract for each covered trade. This initial fee covers any additional contractor visits required for the same breakdown within 30 days of the original service date. Additional charges may apply for some repairs and replacements."
• "... Warranty covers the repair or replacement of many system and appliance breakdowns, but not necessarily the entire system or appliance."
• "... may provide cash back in lieu of repair or replacement in the amount of AHS's actual cost to repair or replace such item, which in most cases may be less than actual retail pricing."
• "... [items needing to be replaced] will be replaced with units having comparable features, not necessarily the same dimension, color, and/or brand."

Hmmmm... you thinking what I'm thinking? That's a lot of fine print. Let me see if I've got this right:

My two-year-old $1,100 Kenmore stainless steel 3 x 3 x 6-foot side-by-side fridge is acting wonky. So I call, a technician comes out to "fix" the problem and I shell out 60 bucks. 31 days later, it's acting up again so I reluctantly make another call. After parting with another $60, tech tells me it's unfixable.

I call AHS and they give me two options: I can either have the $600 it would cost them to replace it with a "comparable" fridge, or they'll deliver me a brand new 2.5 x 3.5 x 6.2-foot Hotpoint bottom-freezer... in bisque.

This is a real possibility.

So let's do the math: $512 for the Enhanced Plan (basic plan doesn't cover refrigerators) + $60 + $60 = $632. So in essence I've either payed $632 in order to get $600 (which isn't usually a good deal) — OR — I paid $632 for a fridge that doesn't match ...have the same features... or fit (which is arguably an EVEN worse deal).

Of course, while this is a possibility, it isn't a certainty. Instead, he could have fixed it the first time he came out and I could have no more problems the rest of the year.

Then I'm only out $572 ($512 + $60) for a repair that, according to AHS's literature, averages $157. In that case it would have been worth it because I... wait a minute... no... no, it still wouldn't have been worth it. I just flushed $415 down the toilet!

And speaking of toilets, the average cost to repair one is $70 and the average cost to replace one is $285. So if my toilet broke instead of the fridge, I just paid $572 to have an old one fixed when I could have spent the same amount and bought TWO brand new ones!

So you can see, the fewer things that break, the more "expensive" this coverage is. If you really want to get your money's worth, you need a lot of things to break. I don't know about you, but I'm not big on rooting for my house to fall apart so that I can get my money's worth out of a warranty. Come to think of it, kinda sounds like insurance... EUREKA! Call it a warranty, call it a service contract, call it whatever you want, but we've discovered the truth: it's just another form of insurance.

Nothing wrong with insurance as long as you know that's what you're getting. So back to my original question, are these warranties a good idea? If the seller pays for it, then sure, why not. But if it's coming out of your pocket then consider the age of the home, its various components, and what exactly is covered in order to make an informed decision. Again, pay attention to the fine print.

In our first home we chose to get one because we were first-time home buyers and it gave us a little peace of mind (which is, perhaps, the biggest selling point). But when we had a plumbing issue within that first year, since it had to do with pipes outside the footprint of the walls, it wasn't covered (said it right there in the fine print and a customer service rep confirmed it for me, unfortunately).

So will we get a "home buyer resale warranty"? Doesn't look like it. The home is only four years old and we have adequate savings to cover any breakages that would have been covered by the warranty. What we could do each year is put the contract fee (or premium, pending how you look at it) in a separate savings account just for home repairs (not unlike what I suggested for pet insurance). That way if we need it, we'll have it. And if we don't need it, at least we didn't wash it down a drain that never needed fixing.

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