http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/The-Benefits-of-Selling-your-Home-with-a-Home-Warranty

STEVE:  Hi.  Thanks for watching my video blog this week.  Today, I invited in Mark Espersen of Bonfe Home Warranty Services, and we’re going to talk a little bit about home warranties.  Welcome, Mark.

MARK:  Thank you very much, Steve.  It’s wonderful to be here.

STEVE:  Well, when you’re buying a warranty program for a property, tell me Mark, what goes into a warranty program and what kind of things are covered on warranties.

MARK:  Well, Steve, those are good questions.  First up, a warranty is just a peace of mind plan.  It’s a way to protect your home during a listing period and it protects your mechanical systems.  Your furnace, your air conditioner, your water heater.  It also protects you in plumbing like your pipes, your toilets.  Electrical.  Your electrical boxes, outlets, doorbells.  And then it also protects your appliances, washer, dryer, refrigerator.  So those are the items it protects it while you are listing that home.

STEVE:  I talk to many sellers, and as I talk to them about marketing their home, I talk to them about home warranties.  Why do you think it’s important to do a home warranty as a seller?

MARK:  Well, the reason I would do it if I was selling my home, there’s a few of them.  One, I’m selling that home and I want a peace of mind that during that listing period if something should break, I’m not putting a bunch of my money back into that home.  If the air conditioner goes down and it needs to be replaced, I’m not spending a full amount of my money on it.  The first $500 of this warranty would cover the replacement cost of that air conditioner.  That’s one of the reasons.

The second reason is I think it looks very attractive to a potential buyer since a lot of buyers these days are either first-time homebuyers or single women buying homes.  And so I think it looks attractive to them to buy that home.  And the third thing, the reason I would put it on there is that with a new purchase agreement, there’s lines on their that talk about home warranties and more than not, they’re going to ask for a home warranty during the purchase agreement.

STEVE:  I’m going to guess, Mark when I’m out showing the buyers I work with that about 50% of the properties have home warranties on them or maybe even less.  Why would a buyer ask for a home warranty or even if a seller wouldn’t pay for a home warranty, why would they go ahead and buy a home warranty at the time of purchase agreement?

MARK:  Right.  Well, again, if I was out buying a home, I know nothing about that property nor do I know anything about how they being the seller took care of their air conditioner and furnace.  Did they had a tune up done every year?  And so without that knowledge of how things were taken care of, I would want that plan on that property.  I would want to know that if my furnace broke going into the fall that I could have it replaced or repaired for up to $2,000 because now I’m the buyer of that warranty.

So that’s what I would do.  I would just protect myself going into a property that I know nothing about and I would have 13 months of protection.

STEVE:  Well, I know there’s variations in the plan for pricing on this, but for a basic home warranty, what does it cost and how will people get a hold of you, Mark, to get a home warranty put on their properties?

MARK:  Well, out basic plan is we have one plan that covers both the seller and the buyer about the same.  And that coverage is our basic plan for $390.  And we are running a special currently from now until the end of the year for all new listings.  So you being the agent, any new listings that you should bring on board from now until December 31, you can offer our basic home warranty for $250.  And the best way to get a hold of me would be either by my cell phone at 612-221-9112 or they could reach me by my e-mail at marke@bonfe.com.

STEVE:  Thanks.