What is a Home Warranty? - YouTube

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- I'm Jennifer King with RE/MAX.

And today we're going to be talking about home warranties

and how they relate to a real estate transaction

in Pennsylvania, and we're gonna get started, right now.

I often get asked by both buyers and sellers,

"What is a home warranty? What does it cover?

"Is it the same as insurance?" And so forth.

So that's what we're gonna talk about.

Number one, this is not insurance.

This is completely different than your property insurance,

which you're going to have when you purchase a property,

or you already have, if you're selling a property.

A home warranty in Pennsylvania must be given as an option

to both sellers and buyers as coverage that can be purchased

during the real estate transaction.

If you're a seller, your coverage must start

on the day that you list your home or you no longer qualify,

and you can only provide coverage for your buyer.

If you're a seller, your coverage extends from the date

that you list, all the way up until settlement date.

If you're a buyer, it covers you from the date of settlement

for one year after settlement.

At that time, if you're a buyer and have that coverage

in place, you're typically going to get a call

from the warranty company, contacting you a few months prior

to your one year anniversary

to ask whether you would like to renew.

And generally there is a discount available for that.

The coverages vary from company to company.

There are numerous home warranty companies out there.

We personally at RE/MAX deal a lot with HMS,

and also with AHS, but there are other companies as well.

So you'll wanna look carefully at the coverages

that are provided.

Generally, things like a roof are not covered.

Things like foundation would not be covered,

but generally your plumbing, your mechanicals,

your heating systems, your electrical,

your plumbing backups, anything like that, would be covered.

So feel free to reach out.

This is just a sample of one

of the Cinch HMS home warranties.

They're formerly known as HMS. It's now Cinch.

It goes through and outlines the different coverages,

and I'd be happy to give you a complimentary brochure

so that you can review that as well.

In fact, I'm gonna go ahead

and put the link down below so that you can see

what coverages are offered,

what the fees are that are involved.

If you've got a swimming pool, some pump,

additional appliances,

like an additional refrigerator or freezer,

there's generally additional coverages

beyond the basic package, which you can purchase as well.

So the nice thing is,

if you're listing your home

and you're not sure,

your water heater is getting up there in age 10,

12, 15 years old, and could potentially go.

If you have this coverage in place,

you don't pay for it until settlement.

Either way, whether you're a seller or a buyer,

it does not get paid until settlement.

If you're a seller,

it just gets reduced from your proceeds at settlement,

but your coverage is in effect, the entire time.

The important thing to remember with home warranties is

that you've got to call their warranty number

if something goes wrong.

So for example, you list your house

and a couple of days later, your water heater goes,

you want to call the 800 number for your warranty company

and they will either repair or replace it,

per the guidelines shown in their brochure.

So I hope that's been helpful for you.

We do have to have,

as part of our process in Pennsylvania,

either a waiver or election form,

for every seller and buyer client that we work

with regarding whether

or not you want this coverage in place.

So please reach out, let us know if you have any questions

and again, don't forget to check the links below.

I am putting out videos every single week.

So don't forget to subscribe to our channel,

like the channel and feel free to share this information

if you think it would be helpful for others as well.

Hope you have a great day. Again, reach out any time.

We're so happy to help, however we can.

And I hope today has been helpful for you.

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