Home ownership is an incredible achievement for many people, but it also can be a struggle. Many young couples and families who purchase their first home, have to purchase an older model that is a bit run down, so they can stay in their price range. Although there’s nothing wrong with buying an older home with older appliances, it can be frustrating and costly when those appliances and home systems begin to break down or stop working, even with proper maintenance. That’s why Landmark Home Warranty always advises that individuals who are moving into an older home with older appliances get a home warranty! Of course, here at Landmark Home Warranty, we don’t want to just lecture you on how important it is to purchase home warranties, so instead, we’re going to tell you with a fable of sorts. You can just consider us the Aesop of Home Warranties from now on. Ready? Let’s begin!
Once upon a time, not too long ago, there were two young couples who were looking to purchase homes. Greg and Sandy had known their friends Kevin and Laura for a few years now, and they had lived in close proximity to them for a while. So, they thought it would be great fun to live next to one another in a new neighborhood. After a few months of searching, Greg and Sandy found an older home in an older neighborhood that was perfect for the couple. They purchased the home and kept telling Kevin and Laura all about their new place, and that the couple should try and find a home nearby.
Kevin and Laura were desperately searching for a brand new home that was an extremely cheap price. Unfortunately, since those are hard to come by, they took a bit finding the perfect home for them. Eventually, they took Greg and Sandy’s advice and started looking in the neighborhood where their friends were living. They found a home they could afford, as it was the same year as their friends’ home. As they were moving in, Sandy came over to visit Laura, and asked her how things were going, and if she could help. While unpacking boxes, Sandy asked her about the state of her home appliances.
“Oh, they’re the ones that were built with the home,” Laura said “They’re probably fairly old, but we haven’t had much trouble with them yet.”
Sandy looked worried for a minute, and said, “Well, do you have a home warranty? Greg and I got one when we moved in, and it has been the best thing so far!”
Laura was confused. “What is a home warranty?” she asked.
“Well, you pay a yearly premium, and they cover all of your home systems and appliances,” Sandy said. “As long as they have been properly maintained, the best home warranty company will repair or replace your home systems and appliances when they fail from normal wear and tear. Since we have an older home with older appliances, it’s perfect! The couple who had our home first took great care of the appliances, but they’ve just reached their lifespan. It gives me a lot of peace of mind to know if something goes wrong I can fall back on my home warranty company.”
Laura told Sandy that she would talk to Kevin about getting a home warranty on their place, and with that, Sandy left.
Later that evening, when Kevin came home from his book club he had gone to, Laura told him all about home warranties, and what Sandy had said. Kevin scoffed.
“We don’t need a home warranty!” he said, emphatically. “We just spent a lot of money on this place, and I’m sure I can fix anything that starts to go haywire. Especially with my new book I got from book club, Home Ownership for Dummies!”
Laura pulled up some prices on her phone, and showed Kevin quickly.
“Honey, look!” She implored her husband. “They start as low as $350 a year for coverage. That’s really great!”
“Laura,” Kevin said, “That’s $350 a year that we could spend on our yearly vacation to Malibu with George and Sandy.”
Laura, not wanting to start a fight, nor wanting to get rid of their annual Malibu tradition, shrugged and let it go. She didn’t see the point of arguing about it, and indeed, didn’t see the point of worrying about a home warranty until a few months later, when their dishwasher broke.
The day after the dishwasher broke, Kevin was excited. He started to take apart the appliance, attempting to figure out what had been going on with it. Laura, on the other hand, was concerned.
“Honey, are you sure you should try and fix that yourself?” she asked, leaning over the counter looking at her husband who was going between looking at parts in the dishwasher and comparing them to diagrams in the book. “Why don’t we just call a plumber?”
“No, no,” he said, trying to reassure her, but failing as he pulled a plastic piece off the bottom of the dishwasher with a cracking noise. “I totally have it under control. I … think this is the float switch. Or was. Maybe.”
Laura retreated to the bedroom, fighting back significant anxiety about her dishwasher. She called Sandy.
“Hey Laura!” Sandy said, as she answered the phone. “How is everything?”
“Not so good, Sandy. Say, did you guys say you had a dishwasher problem a few months ago?” Laura asked.
“We sure did! We had something strange going on with spray arm and motor. It had to be completely replaced,” Sarah replied.
“Oh no,” Laura groaned. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. I knew moving into an old house was a bad idea, because now we’re having problems with our dishwasher too!”
Sandy was quick to reassure Laura. “Oh, we didn’t have to pay for it, though! It was so well maintained, with our home warranty, we just paid our $60 service call fee, and our home warranty company sent out a contractor who helped to replace the whole dishwasher. We got the same model, but newer!”
Laura gulped, glancing out at Kevin’s behind, his front half almost fully swallowed by the open dishwasher.
“Er, yeah, now that you say it, we probably shouldn’t have skimped out on the home warranty bit. Geeze, I wish I would have listened to you.”
“Wait,” Sandy said her voice full of regret. “You didn’t end up getting one? Oh no! I’m sorry, I hope that it’s just a small repair for your dishwasher.”
“Me too, Sandy,” Laura said, “Me too.”
Kevin shouted from the kitchen, “I FIXED IT!”
And indeed he had. He fixed it for three days.
The second time the dishwasher broke, Laura wouldn’t let Kevin touch it. She called a plumber, and asked her to come out right away and see what the matter was. After the plumber had taken a look inside, and tried running the machine, she brought Laura the bad news.
“Sorry Ma’am, looks like you’re going to have to get a new one,” she said, empathetically. “These older homes will get ya like that.”
Laura and Kevin ended up paying $150 for the plumber to come back and install the new machine they had for purchased for $350. After the plumber left, Laura wrote in her checkbook and showed Kevin the prices.
“See, Kev, we just spent $500 on a new dishwasher. If we would have listened to Sandy and George, we would have gotten a whole new one for $60 with our home warranty,” she said, looking at him disapprovingly. “And if you wouldn’t have torn it apart the first go around, we would have probably not even had to worry about getting a new one!”
Kevin looked sheepish, but was as stubborn as ever.
“Laura, it’s all good! It’s only going to happen once or twice, we’ll be fine! Why spend extra money now that we’ve just spent $500? It’s silly, and a waste of our money. “
Laura thought about secretly purchasing a home warranty without her husband knowing, but decided that she didn’t really want to sneak behind his back in their marriage. So, she sighed, gave him a quick hug, and hoped for the best.
Three months later, Kevin and Laura’s water heater stopped working.
Three days after they stopped having hot water, Kevin got his handy Home Ownership for Dummies book, went down into the basement, and started tinkering around. Laura came downstairs, phone in hand, and told him to call a plumber.
“Aw, come on Laura!” he said. “I don’t want to call a plumber, they’ll just make us pay so much money, and I’m sure I can find my way around a water heater! Now, I think this is the temperature and pressure valve.”
Kevin pointed to the top of the tank, where the anode rod went into the metal.
“No, dear, the temperature and pressure valve is that one,” Laura said, “The one with the label ‘temperature and pressure’”
She left to phone Sandy.
Once again, Sandy answered happily, and asked how everything was going.
“Well, Sand, I’m kind of concerned, our water heater stopped working a few days ago, and we haven’t wanted to call a plumber,” Laura said. “Didn’t you have something like that happen a few months ago?”
“We did!” Sandy said. “Our electric units on our heater had just reached their life span, so it stopped working. We had to get the whole thing replaced!”
“Surely that wasn’t covered with your home warranty, was it?” Laura asked, half hoping that her friend would say no.
“You bet it was covered!” Sandy said, “We have the best home warranty! Don’t tell me you haven’t gotten one yet, Laura!”
Laura grumbled and said “If it had been up to me, we would have by now, but no. I’m going to call the plumber again.”
After Laura had pulled Kevin away from the water heater, and upstairs, she called the plumber. She came out, looked at the water heater (which Kevin had effectively reduced to scrap metal) and told Laura that they would have to get another one.
The new heater cost them $500, and the plumber felt bad for their trouble, so she gave them a discount on the installation, charging only $250. After putting the $750 down in the checkbook, Laura turned to Kevin.
“Listen, Kev. We need a home warranty. This is ridiculous!” She said, pointing to their bank account balance.
“Come on Laura!” Kevin said, laughing. “There’s no way we should spend another $350 right now. Think of how much money that’s going to be, and we’re not going to end up getting another appliance to go out for a long, long time, now.”
A week later, their furnace went out.
Kevin looked at the furnace, looked at his home ownership book, and gave it to Laura, and went off in the bedroom to cry. Laura poked around inside, figured out what was wrong, and realized that the only way to fix their furnace was to purchase a new one. She called her HVAC specialist, and then immediately called Sandy.
“Sandy,” Laura said, struggling with words she was so frustrated. “Tell me. Furnace. Motor burned out. Covered in home warranty?”
“Yeah Laura!” Sandy said, excited. “Have you gotten one, then?”
Laura gritted her teeth. “No.” She growled. “But I will. Right after I install a new furnace.“
Sandy and George showed up at their door a half hour later, right as the HVAC specialist was leaving, giving Laura a large bill. George handed Laura a large casserole dish, saying,
“I just made this! Broccoli and cheese. We figured you guys might need to take a break. Where’s Kev?” and set down the stairs looking for him.
Sandy gave Laura a hug. “Man, Laura, I’m so sorry. I wish that we could do something to help! A furnace is an expensive thing to have to purchase.”
“Yeah, only about $2,000,” Laura said, helplessly. “I don’t know how we’re going to pay for this! Let alone go on our trip to Malibu.”
Sandy smiled, and said “Listen Laura, don’t worry about the trip to Malibu. We can go next year. What you do need to do is get the best home warranty. Look at all of the home warranty companies. Read the home warranty reviews. Then, call them and get signed up. We went with Landmark Home Warranty, and they’re amazing!”
She handed Laura a phone, and Laura took it without hesitation.
“You’re right, Sandy. I’ll call them right now.”
And she did.
Three months later, when their oven broke, Kevin and Laura looked at each other, and laughed, and pulled their phones over to them, trying to see who could reach Landmark Home Warranty first. After calling, a few hours later, a contractor was sent out, who looked at their oven, and made a quick call into the home warranty company. After paying $60, Kevin and Laura enjoyed their brand new oven that baked George’s broccoli and cheese casserole recipe perfectly.
Luckily, with all the money they saved, Kevin and Laura were able to go on their annual Malibu trip with Sandy and George, and they always remembered to renew their home warranty every year.
Wasn’t that a great story? And completely possible, especially if you end up living in an older home. If you are interested in a home warranty, and you want to end up like George and Sandy, not Kevin and Laura, make the call to the best home warranty, Landmark Home Warranty today. Or, check out our website atwww.Landmarkhw.com.