So I have heard some good and bad things about this company. Does/has anyone here use(d) them? Are there other companies like them that you prefer?
Anything else you’d add?
Don’t bother with those dumb home warranty companies. AHS has a deductible for nearly every home repair … $60 to repair a garbage disposal if I recall correctly. Seriously? My maintenance guy will completely replace a garbage disposal for that price, with a brand new one. We can get GE 1/3 hp units wholesale for $40 and he will charge me $20 to install it.
I had a guy a couple days ago whose heater stopped working in auto mode (it worked fine in “ON” mode). So … I replaced the thermostat ($18+tax) myself in 15 minutes … and that did NOT fix it surprisingly, so I called my (licensed) A/C guy and he fixed it for free - it was just a loose wire in the attic. He fixed it for FREE because I give him so much “other” business.
If you build the right relationships with the right handymen and contractors…even considering such a thing as a home warranty just becomes nuts.
I also wouldn’t deal with these companies. Appliances are bought used off Craigslist for often about $100. I’ll spend more for nicer ones. A repair I can’t do means I buy a new one. It’s hard to get very expensive on repairs to appliances. My parents dishwasher I just ordered a new heating element for $22.00. Most refrigerator problems are due to the start relay. that’s about $20 also. I don’t even fix microwaves, they can be bought cheap.
My goal is no hassle land lording so when I got started I used to get home warranties with all my houses. Then I realized that the annual fee is $450 per house and if I have 10 houses I have almost $5,000 in warranties. I don’t spend $5,000 in maintenance on my houses in a year on 15 houses. Plus you have to pay the per visit charge (back then it was $45). Things just don’t break that much. I have houses that I have not had anything done to them in 5 years.
The key to no maintenance is to do the make readies between tenants correctly. New things don’t break. If they do they are under warranty. If the tenant tears something up my leases dictate that they fix things they break (except for water leaks I want that fixed right).