Thread: AHWC Inspector warranties?

Is anyone currently offering these 90 day warranties? If so, what advice do you have on them? Is it worth the additional money? Any pros and cons would be great.

Thank you,
Damon Thomas
Thomas Home Inspection Service, LLC
Thomas Home Inspection - Home
405-293-9616 office

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Originally Posted by Damon Thomas

Is anyone currently offering these 90 day warranties? If so, what advice do you have on them? Is it worth the additional money? Any pros and cons would be great.

Thank you,
Damon Thomas
Thomas Home Inspection Service, LLC
Thomas Home Inspection - Home
405-293-9616 office

DT: It appears to be one big exclusion and not worth anything.

http://www.apshi.com/docs/ahwa90Sample.pdf

Marketing efforts results are not always easy to judge. I spend money on many things to grow my business and to maintain my market share and the short warranties are just one more tool. I have used them successfully but I do not offer them to everyone. I do have a tickler on my web page so people ask but my real goal is to get the phone to ring! You have to just find what works best in your area and fits with your style of business. For me they have helped with some clients but like all marketing I will evaluate the results over time. So far so good...

On apx 90% of the resale inspections that I do, I hear the Real Estate person tell the buyer that the seller agreed to pay for a 1 yr warranty.

Originally Posted by Dan Harris

On apx 90% of the resale inspections that I do, I hear the Real Estate person tell the buyer that the seller agreed to pay for a 1 yr warranty.

That is about the same percentage that I see here as well. Almost all Realtors offer the home warranty, if not most sellers have one on their home.

A few humble opinions on home warranties:

1. If you ever got into a scrap over one of these, I would think that a judge would use the duck theory: Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...it's an insurance policy! If you doubt that, read a real warranty, then another insurance policy, then read a home "warranty". Which one does it sound like? I'm not licensed to sell insurance.
2. I don't get a lot of referrals from real estate agents, but the ones I do get, I appreciate. I have enough respect for these agents not to want to compete with them. They sell warranties.
3. When your client has a problem with the house, and the warranty company says "Not covered, too old an appliance" "Not covered, disclosed as defective during the inspection" "Not covered, incorrectly installed" "Not covered, structural" "Not covered, yada yada yada..." who do you think will get the next call? The really angry call.
4. I have heard that the inspectors who use these things refer to their own services as "warranted inspections". Of course, the inspection isn't warranted, only a few of the appliances are. Over-promising and under-delivering may be a good business model in some industries, but not (I hope) in ours.

Surviving in Pure Michigan!
Matt B.

Originally Posted by Matt Bezanson

A few humble opinions on home warranties:

1. If you ever got into a scrap over one of these, I would think that a judge would use the duck theory: Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...it's an insurance policy! If you doubt that, read a real warranty, then another insurance policy, then read a home "warranty". Which one does it sound like?
2. I don't get a lot of referrals from real estate agents, but the ones I do get, I appreciate. I have enough respect for these agents not to want to compete with them. They sell warranties.
3. When your client has a problem with the house, and the warranty company says "Not covered, too old an appliance" "Not covered, disclosed as defective during the inspection" "Not covered, incorrectly installed" "Not covered, structural" "Not covered, yada yada yada..." who do you think will get the next call? The really angry call.
4. I have heard that the inspectors who use these things refer to their own services as "warranted inspections". Of course, the inspection isn't warranted, only a few of the appliances are. Over-promising and under-delivering may be a good business model in some industries, but not (I hope) in ours.

Surviving in Pure Michigan!
Matt B.

I agree with let the agents sell warranties.

In AZ a company [ I'll leave it unnamed] was selling warranties/insurance as a marketing tool, to their members to include with their inspections.

From what I understand once the AZ insurance commission found about this company, they were ordered to quit selling them in AZ. I don't know if the inspectors that bought those illegal policies got their money back , or if they had to eat the cost of the illegal warranties / insurance policies.

In Texas they can no longer legally be referred to as "warranties", but rather "extended service policies". They are, however, regulated by the Texas Real Estate Commission, and not the Texas Department of Insurance. And why do you suppose that is?

RWS out of Indiana also has a similar 90 day warranty product.
We give them on all inspections with great success.
They don't compete with agents and their 1 year warranties and they help set us apart from our competition.