Each time we bought a place we had the seller buy a 1 year home warranty plan as part of the purchase contract. The costs varied from about 100.00 for a condo in 1999 to 350.00 for a mcmansion in 2004.
All three times (one condo and two houses) we had small things that went wrong. A remote control fan stopped working, a toilet leaked (bad wax seal thingy), dishwasher died, A/C unit had a fit, all within that magical 1st year. All these things were promptly fixed by the warranty company and cost us a $10-15 “co-pay”.
We had all our places inspected by very good home inspectors but the warranty was just an added layer of security. Inspectors would never have been able to catch the things that went wrong with our places, they were just due to age and could have gone at any time.
After the seller purchased, first year was up we never renewed. It always seemed like they’d send us a renewal for 3 times the amount the original plan had cost the seller. For me to pay a 900.00 premium for a 1 year service plan was nuts. My dishwasher, oven and microwave would all have to blow up for the cost to break even!
FWIW, the provider we used in the last two homes was Old Republic and they did do good repairs in a timely manner. I can’t remember who we used for the condo in ’99.
