Home Warranties and Inspections - Any good home warranty programs?

My house is 18 years old, and has 4 central air units. I can barely make the payments, let alone a major failure, which I feel could happen at any time. The house came with a home warranty through our Century 21 agent, but I read the policy and it sounded like a rip-off. The concept, however, greatly appeals to me since I work extremely long hours, travel a lot, and have a wife/baby at home.

I keep hearing these companies are all frauds for the most part, are there any legitamate companies out there?

Thanks.

You need to shop around. Different companies offer different services and warranties. If you explore your options you should be able to by coverage to protect your investment. Read the fine print on any contract. For helpful info: http://www.iid.state.ia.us/reg_industries_pamphlet/pam_res-svc.asp

You can get a home warranty for 300-350 bucks that covers your house (including HVAC) for a year. A little extra for a pool system. Check with Old Republic and Fidelity National, those are a couple that we use fairly often with pretty good results. Should have an online portal that you can use, but you'll have to do the search so that I don't get spanked for advertising. The real difference shows up in how they handle the actual visits and repairs. Read that part carefully. How much they charge per visit, what is actually covered, deductibles, parts and labor costs are the important issues. You also want to make sure that they aren't going to leave the system down for a long period and also what is their repair versus replace policy.
They aren't normally used as an extended warranty, although you can re-up year-to-year with most of them. They are usually used as a way to provide a carrot and some peace of mind to a potential homebuyer.
In your case though, given the age and number of timebombs you have there, it sounds like the few bucks per year might be worth it.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I travel so much that one of my main concerns is just having a central number my wife can call for help. That said, if it takes days/weeks to get action, it is not worth it... I guess I will try it this year and see what happens.

Any thoughts on American Home Shield?

Thanks again

Familiar with the name, but no useful experience with their product or feedback on their reputation, sorry.
If you talk to the managing broker at several national real estate companies that have offices in your area, they will usually offer their feedback. Some are more accessible than others of course, and some may try to refer you to an agent because either they don't have the time/interest to talk or they figure that maybe their agent can convert you to a seller/client.

Let's see...hmmm...
"Yessir Mr. Doc_Vegas, I'd be happy to share my extensive knowledge of home warranty programs with you, and while we're at it, how about if I bring along a Client Market Analysis that shows how much you can save by listing your home with me! I think you'll find that selling that old place now will eliminate the potential for high repair costs later! You can downsize to something more comfortable and newer and pocket your profits as well!"

Anyway, snarky humor aside, you can search various consumer oriented portals for info as well as the companies themselves. I've also seen complaints pop up in the searches where someone felt particularly screwed over and posted their story. Again, it goes to comparing and researching. These are generally national companies and the home warranty unit is a branch program entity, not a core business (many are title companies actually). Part of the problem for them is that they have to rely upon a slew of local contractors nationwide to handle the claims, and there is no way that they can exercise the control over those contractors that might conceivably guarantee that each person is properly trained in the professional and people skills that will assure each policyholder, such as yourself, a pleasant experience when one of your HVAC units blows up during a heat wave.

Good luck!

I have had good success with AHS the first year and just totally awful service from them the 2nd year. It was like a different company. Can provide specifics if you would like. But, I WILL NOT be renewing my contract with them. I am on the search for another company.