I was listening to a home warranty salesperson presentation about her product the other day and was surprised to find out that in today's market, when sellers are more than willing to pay for nearly all the closing costs, only about 20 percent of contracts actually have a home warranty in place.

There are a lot of things in real estate that aren't rocket science: buy low, sell high; low interest rates give you cheaper money; and letting someone else give you a few hundred bucks to protect your house over the next 12 months will save you money up front and down the road.

Let's think this through. You just spent thousands of dollars to get into your new home. You were able to negotiate a lower price, closing costs and a buy-down on the mortgage from the homeowner, who at this point is more than willing to hand over thousands of dollars to you to convince you to buy his house.

Then -- against all the common sense that I can understand -- you don't ask them to lay down $300 - $500 to put up a home warranty that's going to protect all your appliances, heating/air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, garage door opener, door bell, sump pump, well pump, swimming pool or spa, or washer/dryer. I think you get the picture.

Keeping in mind that a home warranty is not an insurance policy, it may not be regulated by the insurance commission in your state. Thus, the fine print of the warranty is very important to the seller or buyer before signing the bottom line. Most importantly is that it's going to cover mechanical problems in the house that your homeowners insurance may not cover, such as what I listed above.

Even with a good home inspection verifying that everything in the house is working, the warranty limits your liability in the future in case something breaks down. Your liability is usually the deductible per incident of about $100 (again, check the fine print of your warranty).

Some of the limitations of a warranty may include:

• Pre-existing defects. For instance, if you buy the house and have a home inspector tell you that there's a crack in the heat exchange and should be fixed -- the home warranty's most likely not going to fix it when you move in just because you bought the policy. The heat exchange must be in working order before the policy goes into effect.

• Some items may not be covered. While electrical items will be covered, the warranty may not cover accessory items such as a house exhaust fan, attic fan, smoke alarms and intercom or speaker systems. In the electrical area what would be covered would be your basic wiring around the house -- your light switches, main breaker or fuse panel, box receptacles and the like. (Again, read the fine print.)

• Additional systems. If you have zoned heating, the warranty may only cover one heating system, not both. There may be a limit on how many toilets it covers through the house (only three, not four). More than one appliance type -- the fridge in the kitchen's covered, not the one in the garage. Nevertheless, many of the warranties I've seen allow for riders to cover such items.

If you decide to go with a home warranty, remember that having one in place doesn't mean you can quit taking care of the house. The warranty is covering surprises to the homeowner, not homeowner neglect.

Finally, read the fine print of several warranties before laying out cash for one. Compare the cost per year (but don't necessarily go with the cheapest); what is the deductible; what are the limitations on coverage (some may have a low deductible, but cap how much they'll put out on coverage); caps on replacement cost; etc.

Should you get a home warranty during your home purchase transaction? Let's put it this way. I've never heard about a homeowner upset for having one in place, but I've heard many complain they didn't have one when something breaks.

By the way, remember the home warranty is not just for those in the middle of a transaction. Any homeowner can put a warranty in place. For a referral for a good home warranty ask your real estate professional.

Published: April 20, 2007

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Mr. Carr has covered real estate since 1989. He is the author of Real Estate Investing Made Simple. Got a personal real estate issue? Post your questions and comments at Anthony’s blog: commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com.