Coverage while you are listed.
If something quits while your home is on the market, you are covered. That is the whole idea.
Most people think of a home warranty as something the buyer gets at closing. The part that gets overlooked is that you can be covered while your home is still on the market, and with most companies the premium is not due until closing.
What it covers while you are listed
Your home still has to work while it is for sale. Systems and appliances keep running, and sometimes they stop. If a covered item breaks down during the listing period, you pay a service call fee instead of a repair bill.
- The air conditioner quits in the middle of a Texas August
- The water heater goes out the week before a showing
- The dishwasher, the garage door opener, or the oven stops working
- A plumbing or electrical problem surfaces while you are on the market
These are ordinary breakdowns, and they happen at inconvenient times. If you have already moved out, they can happen without anyone noticing for a while.
Why sellers like having it
- An empty house is still your responsibility. If you have moved, you are maintaining a property you are not living in, often from another city.
- A broken system stalls a sale. A house with no air conditioning in July does not show well, and it does not appraise or inspect well either.
- The cost is predictable. A service call fee instead of whatever the repair happens to cost that week.
- Usually nothing is due up front. With most companies the premium is paid at closing, and if the home does not sell you generally owe nothing. Terms vary, so ask.
Offering coverage to your buyer
Separate from your own listing coverage, you can offer a warranty to the buyer at closing. On an older home, or with a first time buyer who is nervous about what they cannot see, that is a genuine selling point and it costs less than most concessions.
What it will not do. A home warranty covers breakdowns that happen while you are covered. It does not cover conditions that already existed when the coverage started, it does not address items an inspector flags as pre-existing or as deferred maintenance, and it does not change what a Texas seller is required to disclose. It is protection against something failing, not a way to resolve an inspection report.
How to set it up
Ask your agent, or ask me. It is one phone call to a warranty company, and it should be handled when you list. Coverage does not apply backward to something that is already broken.
I keep a home warranty rep on my recommended vendor list, and there is no arrangement of any kind behind that recommendation.
Every transaction is different, and this is general information rather than legal or tax advice. Coverage, terms and exclusions vary by company, so read the contract you are offered.