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Home Warranties: Just Another Rip Off? | All Roads LTR Podcast | Ep. 36
27 Plays6 months ago
Matt delves in this episode into the world of home warranties being joined by special guest Anna Coleman from First American Home Warranty. Anna has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry and is a licensed property and casualty insurance agent, bringing a wealth of knowledge to the table. Together, they explore the misconceptions surrounding home warranties, the importance of selecting the right coverage, and the common pitfalls that consumers encounter. From understanding what a home warranty truly covers to navigating the complexities of claims, this conversation sheds light on why home warranties are an essential safeguard for to protect your most valuable asset. Tune in and discover why Anna Coleman is considered one of the best in the business.
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Transcript
Introduction of Podcast and Guest
00:00:10
Speaker
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the next episode of All Roads Lead to Real Estate. I am your host, Matt Rine. And I have what I consider to be a guest that I don't know how many years have we been working together already? About eight. At least eight. I was thinking 10, but we'll say eight, sure. And this is this is a guest that I wanted to have on for a while. And it's because it's something that a lot of buyers and sellers
00:00:38
Speaker
typically don't think about or if they do think about it they think of not such great things and that of course is home warranties and it might not be the sexiest of topics folks but let me tell you right now um if you have discounted them or thought they're not of value or you don't see why or maybe you had one once upon a time and you tried to place a claim it didn't work out and you thought it's all a rip-off i'm not using this thing
00:01:05
Speaker
The truth is there are bad warranty companies out there. There's bad policies. There's bad sales people. There's all types of bad things out there. I'm not saying they're all fabulous. In fact, I know lots of them that are pretty bad.
00:01:19
Speaker
However, the reason my guest is here is because she's one of the good ones. And so I am exceptionally loyal once I find a good
Anna Coleman's Background and Company History
00:01:26
Speaker
one. And I think I have in my guest here, Anna Coleman. And so thank you for joining me, Anna. Thank you for having me. Well, and so we're here to do a couple of things today.
00:01:36
Speaker
A, try not to bore you to tears, and B, get to the point as to why a home warranty is of value, what you probably don't understand or know about a home warranty, and how I utilize them as a professional in the real estate world and as an investor who has properties, how I protect myself, how I protect my clients.
00:01:56
Speaker
And I'll be honest, you have taught me so much more than the other reps that have ever, you know, serviced my clients or my business before. So I thank you for that. Sure. Makes me happy to hear that. Yeah. And it's so funny. And I finally get you on here to do this in a way that hopefully adds value to others rather than a one on one consultation with me.
00:02:18
Speaker
So, before I get going in 100 miles an hour on what this is, I want to first say, I am not a paid spokesperson for any company and certainly not yours.
Importance of Home Warranties in Real Estate
00:02:28
Speaker
And so, first off, start telling me about your home warranty company, who you work with.
00:02:34
Speaker
and a little bit about why you work with them. Then I'm going to get into who you are and what your credentials are. Sure. I'm with First American Home Warranty. We've been in the financial industry for over 30 years, a Fortune 500 company, the home warranty division. Yeah. 30 plus years at this point.
00:02:52
Speaker
I am also a licensed property and casualty insurance agent in the state of Maryland. I've supported real estate for over 20 years. So I've been in this space of, you know, reducing risk, bringing value to either the consumer or now the real estate agent to help them bring value to their client experience and protect their clients.
00:03:12
Speaker
Yeah, so that's that's a little bit about what she does. So it's first, um, American, American, American. So I get it's confused with first home. That's a mortgage company I use all the time. So first American. And so you can go online, you can Google them. They pop right up. And you do have separate policies for real estate professionals from the homeowners, correct?
00:03:33
Speaker
Correct. We do have multiple channels. So we, you know, I support you in the real estate space. So if they go to the company directly, that's going to be a different warranty, different terms, conditions, coverage, but on the real estate space, they can reach out to you or reach out to me. But the company does also have a real estate, you know, warranty that they can get connected with directly online.
00:03:54
Speaker
And there are benefits to that. We're going to get into that in just a few minutes. But I wanted to first elaborate on a little bit about Anna here and why she's special. And I've told her this before. I think, Anna, if you ever chose to leave this company, I'm leaving with you. So who you choose to work with matters. And I know you've protected me. You've helped out in situations that were just bizarre.
00:04:15
Speaker
It's not the fun part of your job, I would suspect, because it's just like any other situation. You get to hear a lot of the issues that pop up and you have to solve them. And not all of the folks we serve, of course, are the nicest or kindest and every personality type we have to help. And so you hear some of the complaints, but I think your ability to get past it and help people is really the main reason I love to use you. So thank you for all the help you've had over the years. Thank you for that. I appreciate it.
00:04:42
Speaker
Well, you probably don't hear it often enough. You need to sometimes hear the positive. For sure.
Understanding Home Warranties vs. Insurance
00:04:48
Speaker
And so some of the things that you mentioned, it's like, you know, the experience as a licensed property and casually insured agent, is that just an insurance agent? What exactly does that mean?
00:04:58
Speaker
I mean, auto and home typically is property and casualty is what you're, and I'm also life licensed, but yeah, for, you know, the consumer, automobile insurance and homeowners insurance. Do you think that helps you understand these contracts a little better than most? Oh, absolutely. For sure. Yeah. I think what I see is that, you know, consumers don't know what they don't have until they have the problem. Yeah. So I tend to go a little deeper and making sure that they understand what's included, what's not included. How will it affect them in a claim situation?
00:05:26
Speaker
Well, that's amazing. And so you were a rookie of the year when you started with the company, you have a ton of achievements at first American, you're a lifetime president's club status at first American. So you're really basically the best of the best of what they have to offer. And I can attest to that. And so where do you service exactly? What you, so obviously Maryland, where else? And DC, the state of Maryland and DC is my territory.
00:05:50
Speaker
So if a real estate agent is placing a warranty, it's gonna be essentially with you. You're part of the support. Correct. And so that's who we're talking to everybody. And so the first question I have basically is what is a home warranty? So let's first start at the very fundamentals here. What is a home warranty? What is it not? Because I think that's just as important. And then we're gonna get into a million questions after that, but let's start there.
00:06:15
Speaker
It's a service contract, so people like to group it into insurance. It's not insurance, so it's a service contract. We kind of close the insurance gap, is what I always say. So we protect the budget against the mechanical failure. Whereas insurance, if a system in the house causes damage, then depending on the system that fails, the insurance company is going to take care of the damage, but they're not going to take care of the cost of repairing or replacing that system. That's what home warranty does.
00:06:46
Speaker
So I guess let's do an example. Try to give an example. I would like to really beat this nail down with a hammer. So give me an example of the difference. Sure. So your buyer is purchasing a home and the water heater ruptures and it causes damage to the property, the sub flooring, the flooring, their furniture. That's going to be the damage to the property is homeowners insurance.
00:07:10
Speaker
Home warranty does not fix that, but we come in and we'll replace the water heater. Got it. And so in terms of a real estate transaction when you have a home, even if you have a new water heater, for example, or a new heating and cooling system or whatever else, these things have a tendency to break.
00:07:27
Speaker
And sometimes, as we all know, newer items sometimes break with higher frequency than the older stuff, which is just the truth. They have more things that can break, more digital, more electronics, so forth. And so do you encourage people, I'm kind of leading you obviously to the answer here, are you encouraging people to get a warranty when they purchase a home regardless of the age of the systems?
00:07:51
Speaker
I do. It just depends. I mean, if you're purchasing a fully renovated home, you know, things can be repaired or installed incorrectly. So it protects you against that failure due to improper installation. So it's not just if it's new or not. You did mention it. I think newer systems don't last as long. Right. Right. So the older systems tend to keep going for a long period of time. They're made well. New systems are just they tend to fail. They only give you one year is what the manufacturer is guaranteeing.
00:08:20
Speaker
And we see that every day that new systems fails, you know, much at a much faster rate than I feel like an older system.
00:08:27
Speaker
Yeah, and so you lose some of the efficiency in the older systems, typically, but you make up for it a lot of times for just the reliability and durability. Oh, great. And so I can tell you, I just love, I'll be honest, when I started doing this a long time ago, I didn't use warranties. No one described it to me. I didn't understand. And when I would pitch it to a buyer or seller,
00:08:51
Speaker
I didn't know how to pitch it. And so I think my take rate from my clients were very low. And I think that has to be true if that was my experience. It's probably the experience a lot of people have. So if you're listening to this and you're not working with me directly, you might not even know about it or see the value in it essentially. And so I wanted to almost role play here and kind of describe how I described this.
00:09:14
Speaker
And I'll be vulnerable here because you can feel free to correct me in the event that I screw something up or if I'm misrepresenting what it is. But I encourage everybody to at least get it the first year at a minimum. And it's because even if you have a proper home inspection, that's a snapshot in time. I agree. It's just a day. It could be a couple hours. They've tested everything once.
00:09:37
Speaker
how in the world do you know when you stress the home by putting your family
Pitching and Renewing Home Warranties
00:09:41
Speaker
in it or you guys go in it and use everything all day every day, things can break, issues can happen, and you are not gonna be pleased with the experience, even though I didn't do your home inspection, that's not my job, I'm not a licensed home inspector, I get the calls, I hear this, and so I wanna protect them and protect selfishly my relationship with my client, because if I encourage them to get this protection up front,
00:10:04
Speaker
They love me. In fact, they're not always pleased to pay for it up front, but however once they have it, if the washing machine breaks on the third day or whatever down the road, they're so grateful that I talked them into it that oftentimes it makes up for it and I get notified from your company when a claim happens. So it's a reason for me to reach out and get involved and make sure they're satisfied and if they're not, I get you right on the horn.
00:10:28
Speaker
you have a speed dial for me, right? You can reach me immediately. Oh, and I abuse it sometimes. I don't mind. I appreciate every conversation. I hear the snapshot in time. I've said that how many times. I mean, it really is a home inspection is that day. So when you're, you're putting an offer in on the home and you're having a home inspection and you know, that's really just a tool to tell. It's a great tool, but it's to tell you approximately how old the systems are, how much life is left,
00:10:54
Speaker
based on manufacturer standards. So, you know, again, it's not the end all be all, but it gives you an idea of the home that you're purchasing. So this, you know, I always say a home warranty is a is a tool. It's a safety net in the, you know, home buying process. When you're purchasing a home, you don't know what you don't know. And like you said, you start putting pressure on systems. It's different than the prior homeowner.
00:11:17
Speaker
And you just never know, different pressure. A family of four moves out, a family of six moves in, that's completely different pressure. And we tend to see those failures occur. I always say a house has to breathe about 60 days from ownership transfer. So yeah, I think it's just a budget protection, it's peace of mind. And I agree, I think every homeowner should have a home warranty for that first year just to kind of see and have that safety net.
00:11:43
Speaker
And if they have a claim that first year, I'd love to know, is there a statistic related to this? If someone places a claim and it was successfully paid out, are they more likely to renew? They are. The renewal rate is higher when you have a claim in your first year.
00:11:57
Speaker
I would think that to be true. Absolutely. And I can tell you not only, you know, I, I, I like to sell it in the sense that, you know, I'm not, I don't work for the company, but what I love about it is that it, in the event they need it, they never forget it. In the event they don't need it, they don't think about it again. Right. It's one of those things that it only comes up as a positive usually after the fact. Sure.
00:12:21
Speaker
And it's just it saved me personally. So the way I describe it is I own a bunch of properties and I have a personal residence. I have a warranty on every single last one of them. And even I, as much as I'm singing your praises, I bitch and moan every time I have to renew all these things because they do add up, guys. Like it's like you think about when you have this many properties, it's like, well, I could have bought a brand new HVAC with that amount of money. But what it protects me from in my mind is I have a number to call.
00:12:51
Speaker
So when any of these properties have an issue and it's typically at least once a year, these properties, especially rentals, have issues. And she's laughing because it's more than once in my rentals. My tenants love me so much. They love to use and abuse everything. But it covers plumbing stoppages. And we're going to go through what it covers in just a moment and what it doesn't specifically. But I always get at least one phone call. It's a number to call for the appliance. It's a number to call for the electrical. It's a singular number.
00:13:18
Speaker
and I'm not a slumlord because I'm gonna make that phone call the second I hear about it because for the simple deductible, it's 100 bucks in your policy, I'm getting someone out there timely and I give them the tenant's information and the tenant is contacted right away from one of these contractors to say, listen, John Smith air conditioning and heating cooling or whatever is coming out to see your property in a day and I look good as a landlord and they stay, they're happy and nine times out of 10 it's covered.
00:13:48
Speaker
And so that's been my experience. And so I've been happy because I've used it so darn much. And it's like when you own so many of them, the likelihood of me not using any of them throughout 12 months is almost zero.
00:14:00
Speaker
It's an operating expense for your
Coverage and Limitations of Home Warranties
00:14:02
Speaker
property. But that's what you taught me. You said building into your budget. Right. And if you if your budget fails on an investment property for six hundred bucks, you better get out of that investment property. It's not a good it's not a good investment. I think it just makes sense. It solves problems. It saves you time. It gives your tenant peace of mind. Right. If a system fails, they know that someone's coming to evaluate it, determine can they fix it? Do we need to order parts or can it be or does it need to be replaced? Right.
00:14:26
Speaker
It's one or the other. We're going to either attempt to make the repair if we can't make the repair for whatever reason, if the age, we can't get the parts, but then we move into replacement so they at least know that you're acknowledging them and that you have a process that's going to be followed and we're going to take care of them.
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, so I think from a landlord perspective, it makes sense. That's just my two cents. Tell me specifically, this is one of the number one questions I get, Matt, well, what in the world does it cover? So I'm sure you've been asked that a million times. What is the general answer that you would say if someone asked you that? Because I know that's probably one of the main questions you get.
00:15:03
Speaker
I do. And I think it depends. I'm going to say that because there's different plans. So you get to select what you cover, right? But in general terms, it covers all operating systems within the home.
00:15:14
Speaker
So your electrical, your plumbing, your water heater, your appliances, if you add them, so they're not all standard. Your, you know, sump pump, your oven range, your dishwasher, your built-in microwave, your, you know, washer, dryer, kitchen, refrigerator. Again, if you add the coverage, your air conditioning, your furnace. So it's covering, it's about $40,000 when you add up all the systems in a home. That's how, that's what we're protecting. The repair or replacement of that system.
00:15:42
Speaker
So it certainly can add up. And so tell me what it doesn't cover, specifically that people probably attempt to make a claim or that you often hear.
00:15:52
Speaker
That's the $64,000 question, right? What does it not cover? So that's where I think frustration comes in. I'm going to say that before I answer your question, is that consumers have the expectation that everything is covered. Yes. And that's not the case. And it does matter. The coverage that you select matters. So what is not covered? We don't cover physical damage. So if someone's actually physically damaged the appliance or the system, that's not covered.
00:16:15
Speaker
depending on the plan that you select, if it's improperly installed. If you go with the basic coverage, you're not going to get that extra improper installation. Home warranty is mechanical failure due to normal wear and tear. Just end of life stops working. So if there's anything additionally that's causing that, like the improper installation, without the right coverage, there's not protection. So that's where I see frustration.
00:16:38
Speaker
Because coverage matters, and I agree with you, company matters, right? We're not all the same. Contracts are not all the same. But again, the home warranty is mechanical failure due to normal wear and tear. Just end of life stops working. And so to that point, you've taught me is that don't spend
00:16:55
Speaker
almost the right amount of money to get the basic cheapest plan just to have a little something. Because the time you actually need that thing to work and you actually make a phone call, my air conditioning stopped working. Thank God I have that coverage. And you realize you tried to save 150 bucks on the warranty. Cost you more money. You are going to be very upset. And I have had clients before that used to buy the least expensive package, say, well, I still get the warranty, Matt, just like you said.
00:17:19
Speaker
And then they don't they're not happy with the coverage it provided. And so in your world, there's different plans. I always go to the top. It's a slight premium increase, maybe 20 or 30 percent. So I'm making that up. It's in that range. What is it?
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah, about that, if that could be less. So it's 150, 200 bucks, but I always just get the most because I'm like, the time I actually need to use this, I'm going to be cussing like crazy if I don't, it didn't get the right package or get the most I can get. Right. And you may, you're going to come out of pocket for more money. So you agree. If you go to the next plan, it may, it may, it's going to pick up more coverage in that air conditioning replacement, in that furnace replacement and water heater. Your big three systems in the home, it's going to pick up
00:18:05
Speaker
additional costs, disposal, haul away, some reclaiming of refrigerant, all of those extra things. They're not extra, they're part of the replacement. But when you're dealing in a warranty plan, coverage matters, right? Just like homeowners insurance, it's going to be, is it added or is it included or is it not? So it's the same thing.
Challenges and Misuse of Warranties
00:18:23
Speaker
So when we're breaking down the claim and the warranty covers the equipment and the labor,
00:18:29
Speaker
And then, depending on the additional coverage from there, determines what your end result is, like what your out-of-pocket expenses will be. So we can help offset more of those costs with coverage. And one of the good examples is usually these old air conditioning systems. Your plan is going to cover everything, right? Because you're not going in there when we place a warranty, and your company is not personally going out there to do an inspection, right? You're placing a warranty on a basically sight unseen system.
00:18:58
Speaker
And, you know, we're going to have to discuss some of the crazy abuses that is going to ruin it for the rest of us out there, people, because people do try to abuse these warranties like crazy. And there's a little bit of abuse that's not ever going to be. I was telling you that in the car. Like some abuse, we're not able to stop. And it's like built into the cost of doing business. But when it goes beyond that,
00:19:21
Speaker
it starts to affect profitability and viability of the entire company. And so, I am curious about your opinion and I know it's kind of hitting home because I feel like you said since the market's changed, it's gotten worse. It has. And the company is literally not making the money it needs to, I mean, it is a business, it is a for-profit business, it can't endlessly lose money and stay in business. Right. So explain to me how people misuse this policy.
00:19:48
Speaker
Well, I mean, there's many ways. I mean, sometimes it's intentionally, and then other times it's just not knowing that didn't ask the question, they didn't speak with me, they didn't read the brochure, you know, they expected, but coverage and role was different, right? So that's where their frustration is. Where's the abuse? You know, knowingly, knowing a system is not operating properly, our contract requires all systems to be in good, safe working order. So in the world of home inspection, when you're purchasing a home, that's gonna give us the idea
00:20:18
Speaker
the age of the system, is it in good safe working order, are they making any recommendations for further evaluation from a contractor? So when that happens, where the biggest thing I see is that the inspector is making a recommendation to have that system evaluated by a licensed, let's say HVAC contractor, and the warranty is negotiated in lieu of making the repair.
00:20:42
Speaker
Technically, that system is not in good safe working order. It's not deemed that that inspector cannot say this system is in fact in good safe working order. So we'll put a warranty in lieu of repairs.
00:20:54
Speaker
Got it. So that that's a way people often misuse it. So what happens if they in this market, a lot of people just wave everything. They just say, well, we have to buy a house. There's 19 offers. We're waving. Right. And we're going to get a warranty. Yeah. I mean, it's better than nothing. It's the best we have. And I have no knowledge of nothing being inappropriately damaged or not functioning.
00:21:18
Speaker
I mean, disclosure is right on the listing side, so then if your buyers are willing to go all in and risk that, we are a safety net, there's still a risk. Because if something comes back that, oh, this is pre-existing, the only way I can really overturn that denial is a home inspection that does deem that to be in good, safe working order.
00:21:38
Speaker
How can they determine if it wasn't notified by the seller that it was not functioning? And they seller deemed it according to the disclosures as everything's in perfect working order in this home. How does the buyer know it wasn't in good working order? They wouldn't.
00:21:55
Speaker
without the inspection. I mean, this is the best case scenario is the home warranty to protect their budget and that risk of going all in with no home inspection. It's better than nothing. But there is still risk there because I don't have a way to overturn a denial if a contractor comes back and says, this is pre-existing. How would they determine that? I mean, again, I'm not an HVAC contractor, but based on their professional experience, there are things that they can see
00:22:24
Speaker
that indicate that the problem predates the start of coverage. Got it. Does that make sense? Yeah and it's something which is interesting because I'm sure it happens if you do enough policies. Thankfully I haven't had that experience and I've had, I can't tell you how many policies I've had with you. Right. So thankfully it's not a common problem certainly but it's not a zero probability either.
00:22:46
Speaker
It's not. I mean, it happens. I mean, I just had one today. We were talking about it as I was driving over here. I mean, it's the risk of the market and the pace that it's going and the buyer is willing to just to get the property go all in. You know, if you're willing to go all in, the safety net is, you know, we are the safety net. But again, there's a risk if an inspector or a contractor comes back and says, you can visibly see. So if you can visibly see there's a problem, even without a home inspection, I would question that.
00:23:14
Speaker
Right. And it's interesting. So once again, shout out to the agents out there that know their job really well and have done this forever. I think the reason why most of my claims, if not all of them, quite frankly, get accepted with my clients, not just me, it's because I bring a flashlight. It's not sexy what I'm up to in showings. Like when they have these TV shows, everyone's walking around looking beautiful and
00:23:35
Speaker
and the hair's all done and they're just glamorous, right? Going in their Bentley and they're showing these homes. That's not how I end up doing it. Like it's literally, I've been crawling through things before with a flashlight and I certainly am no home inspector. I'm not licensed to do that and I don't claim to be. However, there's certain things to your point that are obvious. And if you've been to hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of home inspections, you have eyes, I can see things. And it's just a, it's a cursatory knowledge of all the systems I think every good agent should have.
00:24:05
Speaker
And you can point out the things that are obvious. Like, I think some of the denials out there, in my opinion, are
Educating Clients on Warranty Coverage
00:24:11
Speaker
very obvious. And it's why sometimes you beat your head against the wall, probably because you're like, you have eyes like it's in cut in half. There's no way that things ever worked. Exactly. It's like so obvious. And people once again place a claim and think, oh, it's not coverage. And then when you look online, some of the reviews are just horrible. And you're like, if you knew the details of this, you'd say it's the biggest misuse of this policy ever. Agree.
00:24:33
Speaker
That's where the frustration when people look up ratings and they're like, Oh, the rating here. And they question that. And I'm like, you know, what I see, what I tend to see in claims is the frustration from the consumer of the lack of understanding, but the expectation that coverage was there and they don't read the contract. Things are moving so fast. They don't read.
00:24:52
Speaker
And I will be honest, I know what agents are doing out there. And if you're an agent listening to this, you probably know they're trying to get things moving forward, right? Right. And so they are the ones pumping this up into some magical pill and they don't know anything about the systems. Most of them are clueless. Let's just be truthful about what it is. She's nodding her head if you're listening. And so the reality is they're giving all this false hope and you have a potential homeowner
00:25:20
Speaker
that's just buying into all of it because that's what they're being told and then the frustration comes when it's magically not covered and it's blatantly obvious that it won't be.
00:25:28
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. I see that. I have those conversations almost daily, especially first time home buyers or even move up buyers. It doesn't matter where you are. I think you have an expectation that you've had this inspection or you're going all in without it. And then you start putting pressure on systems and something fails. Or there was a negotiation for a seller concession because there was a problem identified. Right. And hey, let's just throw a warranty on it instead. You've got the concession, you've got the money and get a warranty they'll replace. So it's misinformation. Right.
00:25:58
Speaker
knowingly or unknowingly, I think it can be used both ways that, you know, and then there's frustration. Right.
00:26:04
Speaker
There is. And so one of the reasons it's like I try to like to say that I can avoid a lot of those headaches with some basic knowledge of all these type of systems off front. Most of them are readily available. If it's truly, truly hidden and there's no apparent issue, this stuff's getting covered, guys. So I don't want to scare you from thinking, oh, my God, it sounds like it's never going to get covered. But the goal here and what I asked Anna to do is to not sugarcoat it and try to lie to people and say, like, it's a cure all, you know, one size fits all, no big deal. Like, get it in your good.
00:26:33
Speaker
Because that's not what it is. Can I add something? Sure. You said it's going to be covered, guys. So I always get nervous with that statement. Coverage matters. So if the right coverage is not placed, that failure due to improper installation or that unknown pre-existing condition, again, it depends on what coverage you're selecting, how it impacts your claim.
00:26:55
Speaker
Well, let's talk about coverage is in cost. Let's get down to it because I think that's what some people want to even know. So because we talked about a lot of the big stuff, let's get down to the nitty gritty. So when I say, okay, for my home, I have a really weird old home. I've talked about it on this podcast before. It's a historic home, 175 years old.
00:27:13
Speaker
Nothing makes sense in the house. It's you know, it's there's systems that don't connect like HVAC systems I have multiple HVAC systems and I have the best policy you guys sell and So how many systems does that one policy cover for my HVAC?
00:27:27
Speaker
So coverage matters. I'm gonna keep saying that because I think it's so important. But people don't hear. They don't hear that, right? So your basic coverage does not have all your appliances in there. So as you progress in the plan, we have three options. You've got your basic, your middle plan, the Eagle Premier, and then we have our max plan. That's going to add all your systems, your washer, dryer, kitchen, refrigerator, all of the electrical inside the house, your plumbing, water heater. So let's say we have the best plan.
00:27:54
Speaker
It's going to cover all your major operating systems within the house. We do cover multiple zones. So we are based on square footage. So depending on the size of the house, if you're under 5,000, we also have condo and townhouse pricing and packages. So if you're within that, you know, we're going to cover, if you have two zones, we cover both zones. What if you have five zones?
00:28:15
Speaker
If it's under, I just had one that's 4,000 square feet and they have four zones. We'll cover all four. Yeah, I have five zones and you said it was covered. We do cover you. You're under 5,000 square feet, right? I'm exactly like 4,900. You're under.
00:28:30
Speaker
Don't throw me under the bus. You're under 5,000. So yes, we do. We also, we don't have a restriction on water heaters. So like where other companies, they will say one oven range or one water heater. That's not first American. So we do cover multiple zones for heat or air conditioning. We do cover multiple water heaters within that house.
00:28:50
Speaker
Multiple ovens now the kitchen refrigerator. You have to add additionally. So if you have more refrigerators, that's an optional coverage And you you can even cover you just came out with a plan for the more expensive luxury homes that we sell That go up in value because the old policy didn't cover the more luxurious brands, correct? So now they do
00:29:08
Speaker
Right. Well, you have options. So I think that we've just expanded our options to, again, you know, based on what the consumer needs, everybody has a different need. And that's what I always educate on because not your need is not my need. Your concern is not my concern. Right. So appliances standard or thirty five hundred. Well, if we can't fix it, we replace it. So thirty five hundred covers the vast majority of most folks. You know, there are there are clearly brands out there that are more. So what's the most expensive coverage I can get?
00:29:38
Speaker
Right. So it's called appliance plus, you can add that on and it'll increase to 7,000. Yeah. So we may not replace a sub zero, but we're going to offset most of your costs. Yeah. I mean, those things are crazy right now. Yes, but still. So that's what I, you know, I talk about, you know, some things we're going to take care of most of the costs, if not all, but the other, you know, if you have a higher end system, we're going to offset and protect
00:30:00
Speaker
You know, your budget.
Alternative Protection Options and Market Insights
00:30:01
Speaker
Well, and I'll tell you how much I've saved. I think using examples in this scenario makes sense for most people. It's better to comprehend. So I had a policy when I bought my appliances individually. I they tried to sell me a policy for each. Right. It was for five years. It was five hundred and fifty dollars per appliance. Right. It's a lot of money.
00:30:20
Speaker
And we have an ice machine. We have two under cabinet refrigerators. Like you add up all these appliances and it was an outrageous amount of money. And your policy, the max policy can cover these items. Right. You might have to add on the additional refrigerators, but you're still covering the whole house. Correct. So if you added up each appliance and you're spending five hundred dollars for each one, we're covering your whole house for that.
00:30:45
Speaker
Yes. Like if you do the math, I mean, it makes more sense. It does. Oh, I did the math and it did make more sense because I also have another way to protect your house. Everybody is to go through your oftentimes here in Maryland, you can go to a Baltimore gas and electric. They have a division, which is now spun off. It's a different company now, but you can go and get coverage through that and help people explain what these type of companies kind of coverage is that.
00:31:09
Speaker
Right. And you can add it to your homeowners insurance. So it's out there. There's other ways to do it, but there are differences. And it depends. Like homeowners insurance, it may count as a claim for you. So it's going to actually penalize you, right? And you're going to pay, have a surcharge for three years. So I think it's really important to understand the ins and outs, what the coverage is going to, how it's going to provide in a claim situation.
00:31:33
Speaker
You mentioned BG&E or Constellation. You know, when you look at that, you can individually add it. My mom did that. My mom and dad, you know, again, Rob Peter de Paypal, all my life as a child, I saw them struggle. They worked hard, raised four kids, but my mom added the coverage for, you know, each appliance because she could afford it. She added it to the energy bill every month. But, you know, if you read the coverage, it's not always what you're expecting.
00:32:02
Speaker
Well, and it costs more money. So they may not replace the appliance. They might they will just continue to repair it. Right. And when it comes down to the fact that they can't replace it, repair it anymore, the replacement is now on you. So, you know, with First American, if we can't fix it, we replace it. And that is the.
00:32:17
Speaker
The biggest difference, everybody, is that I was telling you about this old weird house I have. Not everyone has five systems in their house because their house is ridiculous. You go to your bedroom to have coffee. You have to turn on every system or you'll be frozen. So I'm an unusual beast. However, in my situation, it was $220 a month to go through Constellation, which is our gas and electric company's spin-off company, to get coverage. And all they would do is fix it, right? And then if it needs to be replaced, they'll give like a 15% discount on replacement.
00:32:47
Speaker
And I have all these systems. I'm like, this would cost a billion dollars to replace all these systems. And I got rid of it and I got your policy. I think it's seven hundred bucks, something like that. Is that what it is? I don't know what your pricing is. But I think pricing can vary. So I hate to put pricing out there, but I do. It makes sense. It's financially.
00:33:08
Speaker
economically, whatever you want. It's going to save you money. And again, I think it comes down to a consumer wants it either fixed or replaced. And so when you when you pay for a fee for a service contract, you have to understand what the terms and conditions are. I think that's the most important thing is how is it going to affect me if they can't fix it? Like First American, we have no age restriction on our systems.
00:33:32
Speaker
Whereas other companies, if it's an older system and they can't get the parts, they're not replacing the system. So then you're stuck with getting a prorated check for just the parts and you've been paying this cost and you still have to go lay out this money to replace that full system.
00:33:49
Speaker
I think that's the number one reason when I talk to people and they go, Matt, I'm not buying any of that crap. Keep next conversation. It's because of conversations like that. It's because they thought they had coverage. It feels nice and warm and cozy right in that bed until you try to use it and realize it's freezing inside. It's just a poor experience. The fact that you will cover things with no age restrictions
00:34:13
Speaker
is amazing. It's fantastic. For the reasons I've outlined, I save a couple thousand dollars a year in totality for the coverage. I have a boiler that's huge for that weird house. I have so many things that are covered under that one policy that it makes so much sense for me and the number of people that still don't do it.
00:34:36
Speaker
Right. It's crazy because even over after 10 years of coverage for me, it's let's call it seven grand out of pocket. Some people I'm not spending that much money out of pocket for and maybe not use it. But you've made a point. Well, what happens if you need to use two or three claims in the couple of those systems go down? I mean, I have it on my home and first America replaced my 21 year old furnace and air conditioning. I mean, what I've paid into my warranty or what the claims they've paid. I'm not. I mean, I'm literally on the upside. Yeah. Right. Saves me a lot of money.
00:35:05
Speaker
They've replaced my four-year-old refrigerator and dishwasher, four years old, which you would have expected that it would have lasted. You just don't know. I think when I talk to a new buyer or consumer,
00:35:17
Speaker
Everybody has a different level of what their need is or what their risk is or what their level of risk that they can take. These buyers buying homes that are going all in, above list, the expenses that they have, or if you're a renter now becoming a buyer, you don't have that extra budget. That's what I always say. What is your level of concern? Because your concern and my concern are different.
00:35:41
Speaker
And so I think a lot of the benefit too, and I said it in the beginning as a landlord, I like the fact I have a singular number to call for all these different systems, and then you guys figure out who goes out there. Right, contractor gets, they get assigned, you file the claim, you pay your service fee of $100, contractors assigned, they diagnose it, and then from there we determine can we fix it, yes, can we get parts, yes, and then we then order their parts and then they come back and make the repair.
00:36:10
Speaker
I mean, it's pretty easy. It is. I mean, once again, it's not perfect, but guys, it's the best tool I've ever found. And I believe in it enough at this point where, and if you're a real estate agent, maybe you can adopt a version similar to this for yourself. Get someone, if you're not in Maryland, you know, if you are in Maryland, here you know, you got Anna Coleman here, you can talk to her. But if you're outside of this, find somebody, find a good company. Maybe it's First American where you are, maybe it's another one, but find out, like take the time to actually know the policy.
00:36:38
Speaker
and find the rep, find the manager like Anna because you need the resource. And so I introduce Anna now to every single one of my clients when we go pending every time because I don't want them calling me with an issue six months later and I go, oh my God, it's my fault. I didn't take the time to do it. It's now in my process. And it probably potentially annoys you because now you're dealing with some people, some introductions up front.
00:37:03
Speaker
But I do it because I think, have you seen an increase in the level of the number of policies that we get taken out after introductions or is it similar to what before? I think it's more, but it doesn't annoy me. I think we came up with a process. I think it's much easier for you. You've made the suggestion and recommendation. You can't force your clients to take it.
00:37:24
Speaker
And again, but when you put something in, so when you're introduced, um, I send an email out, it's pretty, pretty easy. It's not salesy. It's not, you know, aggressive. It's here's the information. It's a summary of coverage. We attach the brochure. It gives them a minute to, you know, a minute, right? How, how quickly are they closing now from the time of contract to close? What is it?
00:37:44
Speaker
I'm averaging 21 to 30 days. Right. How fast is that? So there, you know, some people will read it immediately and respond. We just issued one today for your client who, you know, he took the time, he reviewed it and he was comfortable with the coverage. Sometimes it opens up conversation.
00:38:01
Speaker
Sometimes they just reply back and ask some questions or we get on a phone call, which I love. I love educating them so that they can make their best decision. And I've learned to do to even though I'm passionate about every aspect of what I do, but I've learned to kind of shut my mouth a little bit and go back. That's kind of my forum here doing this little podcast. But
00:38:22
Speaker
It's just because there are intricacies with each home and I got burned once and if you're listening to this and it's your situation, sorry, I put a policy on before we had this little situation where we're introducing you early, if you remember this home, it was a very nice expensive home with a pool and it had a pool house. It's a separate structure and in this structure, it had a luxurious setup with a kitchen, the whole deal,
00:38:49
Speaker
And we set them up with our standard recommendation not knowing it didn't cover the additional pool house. Right. Right. And it had a separate HVAC system and had separate everything. And guys, this is why Ann is the best. She was able to take that and make sure. Of course, it's my luck. We had an instantaneous issue. Immediate. Immediate. Right. There's multiple systems, by the way. There were multiple. I have four or five HVACs in that house.
00:39:13
Speaker
and there was an immediate issue and Anna comes to the rescue and she saved my tail on that one and so thank you for that and the client was so grateful and you applied the appropriate coverage and I said that will never happen again because you were like Matt if you would introduce me in one second I would have looked at this house online and I would have gotten the right coverage. Exactly.
00:39:35
Speaker
Right. I think you again reading it, things are fast. Right. You didn't know that the whole house was not. We cover the attached structure. So if the the garage is attached to the house. Right. But if it's detached, it's separate and we can get coverage for that. But I think that conversation just didn't happen. Right.
00:39:52
Speaker
But, you know, what I will say at the end of the day is our company, you know, we will go back. We listen to the call. We wanted to make sure that did we make the mistake? Was the questions asked and we were able to take care of getting your client covered, getting the coverage in place. There was some more premium collected, but he was OK with that because we were protecting him the way that he expected. It was a fraction of what the claim ultimately was. And as a result, I think that's what I was telling you. I think doing right by clients when there's not clear evidence that they're abusing the system. Sure.
00:40:22
Speaker
That's why you listen to the call. That's why you verify. But there was no abuse of the system in this situation. It was just the technical issues on my part, quite frankly. And it's just in the long run, you have a client there that's going to keep your policy. And that's a big home, big policy. But he's going to keep renewing it would be my suspicion because he knows and sees the value of that coverage. Right.
00:40:44
Speaker
You said it value, right? Value customer service. Does the company stand behind their contract? That's what we do. That's
Using Warranties as a Value-Add in Real Estate
00:40:51
Speaker
what's important. And that that's where you stand apart too, because you bring, you're not just selling anything. Like you said, you, there's no, there's, you're bringing this value to your client experience and you're solving problems. And that's what the customer wants. They want you to save them money, save them time and solve their problems.
00:41:08
Speaker
And I think I was a little softer on this particular subject and other things and as we grow older and a little bit more wise and we've had more experiences that are both positive and negative, I've developed more of a backbone and I apply a little more pressure because sometimes it's called for.
00:41:24
Speaker
And it's like, if you go to your doctor and he's like, I've seen 100 of these cases in 95% of the time, this is recommended. And you go, no, I'm good. I'll take my chance. You kind of hope they stop you again and say, no, no, no, I don't think you heard me. Like, I'm telling you, this is what it really should call for. Like, it's like sometimes you expect your professional in your life and whatever area to protect you, even when you're dismissive at first.
00:41:48
Speaker
And so I don't, like I said, I don't push any of the things, because there's other things throughout the transaction I also introduce people to, but I apply more pressure and more guidance. And like another one that has nothing to do with you, but it's a great analogy and example here, it's when people get title insurance, and that's another big one that some people go, I'm not paying for that. And I have to go through the decision, like the time to actually discuss all that. Another one is a boundary survey or a plat survey. So important.
00:42:18
Speaker
And you know, people sometimes are very dismissive of that. And I have to describe their choices. I'm so aggressive on that one because I've been burned. It only takes once with me. I was burned. And I say, if anyone denies that, any of my clients, my title company is to call me personally immediately.
00:42:33
Speaker
And I can't force them to take it, but they will hear exactly what I have to say because I'm like, you cannot have this happen on you. And I what I my mistake was I they declined it and the title company said nothing. Didn't say, are you sure about that? Nothing. Right. And then, of course, one week before we show up, someone was cutting half of their grass.
00:42:55
Speaker
that looked like it was their grass and it wasn't their yard, it was the neighbor's yard. But it was, it just, they never showed up and Zillow had it wrong, MLS had it wrong, but the plat that was recorded at the county was correct. And it wasn't verified. And so now it's 250 bucks, for example, for that little protection. You're buying an expensive home. Do it, people. It makes sense. And I think you educate and that's what's important is because you're not forcing them like you said, but you're educating them on what can happen.
00:43:23
Speaker
I always say they don't know what they don't have until they have the problem. Right? So penny wise pound foolish. Have you heard that before? You know, you're saving $5 or $10 and but it's going to actually save you thousands of dollars or save your property.
00:43:38
Speaker
save your budget, give you peace of mind. I think it's the education piece, well not I think, I know, it's the education piece that's so important that we're just not selling something, right? It's valuable protection that's gonna solve your problem.
00:43:54
Speaker
So knowing, understanding it, you know, we give 60 days from closing that your clients can purchase a home warranty after settlement. The problem with that, I love that we do it. It's like kind of a double-edged sword because then that gives the buyer time to get into the house, maybe put some pressure on systems and something happens. So I get those calls too.
00:44:12
Speaker
where the buyer will call and say, oh, I can get a warranty now. And then as we start talking and asking questions and discover there's a problem. So I want to help them solve that problem. Again, they're going to have to get that system fixed that's failed, but we can still protect the rest of the system. So we're going to still try to bring value and solve their problem and educate them through that process.
00:44:34
Speaker
And if you get the policy that we offer in the real estate world when you buy a new home or any home, but it's new to you, is there a waiting period at the time of you purchased the home on a Tuesday? Right. Is it covered on Tuesday? We cover you from time of closing.
00:44:52
Speaker
And if I buy it a year later and I just go, you know what, I want it. Is there a waiting period? There's technically there is, if they go call the company directly a 30 day waiting period, if they come through you, I can accommodate them through, you know, it kind of mirrors our real estate plan, but it's a courtesy to you and your clients. If they do want to get coverage, I can put them into the consumer direct plan. So again, the question is going to be asked, are all systems in good, safe working order? Right.
00:45:16
Speaker
We don't do an inspection on those, but, you know, we're going to trust you. But that contractor can tell if there's a predating, you know, a problem that's predating the start of coverage. Right. And so that is something I didn't used to know that everybody, but she did inform me not that long ago that if you go through your agent and your real estate professional, even if you bought a home years ago, they can get you in touch with someone like Anna and they can get you in a policy that has more additional benefits.
00:45:40
Speaker
Correct. Coverage is different. So, you know, we do sell in multiple channels, but I support the real estate space. So any past clients of yours, they're, you know, they reach out to you because it does bring value. You know, they're going to, you want them to call you and you want to solve their problems. So yeah, I'm happy to take care of your, your clients.
00:45:57
Speaker
So let's go to the complaining section here. What is frustrating you about this these days? Because I know it's just, it's a challenging market just right now. I mean, we're recording this in April, going into May of 2024. It is challenging for pretty much everybody. And I know in terms of the real estate agents, we're going through a crazy transition. We're gonna lose about half of the folks in this business is what I've been told.
Navigating Warranty Expectations and Denials
00:46:24
Speaker
There's a lot of shakeups, there's lawsuits, there's all kinds of crazy stuff.
00:46:27
Speaker
Some of those people didn't do transactions anyway. The median number of transactions for a full-time agent is five per year. Wow, that's it? That's it. Wow. So that's what they say at National Association of Realtors. So I don't know about you. I don't want someone representing me that, you know, does five deals a year or less. Agree. But that's average.
00:46:46
Speaker
is what I was told, so some of these folks don't make any money hardly, so it's probably for the best that when a challenging environment happens, they might exit, and the people resulting that are left are the professionals that are probably worth paying, is how I would say it, and some other folks that you're just friendly with that weren't worth being paid. It's like if your friend from church wants you to be your agent because you know them,
00:47:10
Speaker
If they ask you to pay them now, it might change your likelihood to work with them. Right. When you're like, oh, if I have to pay you directly, maybe I'm going to hire an interview and get the best professional I can find. So that listen, that's a positive, in my opinion, long term, very challenging, the short term in your world. What do you want to vent about?
00:47:30
Speaker
You know, I hate the hard conversations when a consumer's stuck in their crosshairs. That's the biggest thing for me is that knowingly pre-existing conditions were in place or identified and a warranty was placed in lieu of repairs and then there's shock and awe when a claim is denied on the other side.
00:47:57
Speaker
and my heart breaks for you people and the reason, she's brought it up more than once but it's like devastating to hear her talk about it sometimes because you can imagine the visceral response some people have when rightfully so they've probably been lied to or misled as a consumer and then you're the bearer of bad news and then the agent calls you, ah, you're supposed to cover it because they don't really know and they just assumed and now they're closed and now the reality is in their face
00:48:22
Speaker
And they're having to deal with the consequences. And so I do feel for it because it's not the fun part of your job. It's a tough one. I mean, it's happening. The conversations are more and more, you know, it's daily now. I think you said it, you know, the speed of the market, lack of inventory, multiple offers, waving everything. Excuse me. That's a challenge. Yeah. Because the consumer just wants the house and they're expecting the realtor to
00:48:50
Speaker
take care of them, put their best foot forward, protect them, their fiduciary responsibility, if you want to call it that. The negotiation sometimes that happened behind the scenes, the buyer's not aware of that.
00:49:03
Speaker
And again, they're expecting or assuming you said that as well. And that assume is, you know, they haven't read the contract. They don't understand the coverage. They just want you to take care of their problem that now they've moved into their house and they have a major situation going on.
00:49:20
Speaker
That's hard for me. I mean, I, I get them through it as quickly and as easily as I can and guide them, you know, not just warranty or no, we don't cover that. But here, let me bring up a solution. You know, I can't cover this claim, but let me help you. Here's the recommendation. Let me connect you to this person or I try to do that. I feel, I just feel it.
00:49:39
Speaker
Um, but then you're right. I get the calls on the other side from the realtor who is now freaking out and you know, not being very nice. If I would have had the conversation with them up front and they would have called me before they made this, this, this deal per se. And, um, I guess conveyed to their client that, Oh, it's covered. I would say never say everything's covered. Right.
00:50:03
Speaker
No, there's a caveat to all of it. And I'll be the first to admit I was not perfect about this. And when I wasn't good at this, it's when I didn't use it often. This was years ago when I didn't really ever bring this up. It might be occasionally a client would come to me and say, I don't know, maybe I want a warranty. And I'd say, oh, where'd you learn about that from? Because I never mentioned it. And like, this was me in the early days. Like, I didn't know what I didn't know. These are like the agents that do five deals a year. Right.
00:50:26
Speaker
There is no way you know these details because even if you do five a year and they all, nothing happened, nothing was wrong. You didn't learn anything. Like every learning experience I've had has actually been the tough situations where something went wrong.
00:50:39
Speaker
Right, and things change. Coverage changes, process changes, contract limits, terms and conditions, I think. And that's why I refuse to use seven companies. I am all about loyalty. I'm like, once I find one contract, your contract's long enough. I'm like, I'm not reading 25 contracts. You don't like my voicemail either. It's too long for you, right? Oh, it's very long. Call Anna and go to sleep, guys. It's like a 10 minute voicemail. I want to give you, listen, everybody's at such a different place, right?
00:51:03
Speaker
Here's all the information. I mean, I remember seven to get a burrito. I mean, it's like so long. It's but I get your reasoning. No, right. We just want to I want to get because speed of the market. Right. Everybody's so fast. Everything's so fast right now. I just think having a conversation, you know, negotiating a warranty is great. It's I have agency realtor saying, oh, you can't negotiate a warranty. You do it.
00:51:27
Speaker
It's done every day. You can do it. If the seller's not willing to pay, your buyers can purchase one. It's having that conversation and educating them. You know, we may not cover everything. We may not solve every problem, especially if something's been discovered and warranty was not placed yet.
00:51:44
Speaker
But I can walk you through that. How does it look? What does it look like? Well, let's get that system fixed or serviced and fixed. It might be an easy fix. Now it's in good working order. Now we can place coverage. That's one of the tickets here, guys. You just picked up. There's so many little teeny tricks. This would be a three hour conversation if I tried to go through all of them. Right. But that's why I say you got to get someone that does your job if you're not local and speak to them about this because there are so many ways
00:52:11
Speaker
To make the policy work without being fraudulent and it's like what you just described, we can make an older system operating condition and perfectly legitimate. And then if it so breaks down later in the future, it'll be covered perfectly. Correct.
00:52:27
Speaker
Correctly. And you have proof that it was repaired. Like there's so many little things we can do that are very relatively inexpensive. That's safeguard the transaction, safeguard the client. So it's just another tool, but it's, it's, you have to use a lot of it and to become like an expert.
00:52:42
Speaker
Or just have, like you, call me. I mean, pick up the phone, call me or text me or email. I look at pins, I look at inspections every day. That's an inspection notice, property inspection notice. Exactly. I look at a property inspection notice, like I'll get the calls. And that's where I will say now the market has shifted a little bit, more conversations are happening because there's been problems. Sure. Right. So I am getting those calls that we are educating on a daily basis, that I'm helping realtors, you know, solve problems. And that's what a home warranty does.
00:53:11
Speaker
if it's used properly and coverage is placed early. Well, and I'll say for the agents listening, this is a way to look good. This is a way to look like a professional to add value. They don't know about this. Your consumers on average don't know anything about this or if they do, it's a negative experience.
00:53:26
Speaker
That's just what, it's the truth. And so it's like this, hopefully this podcast sheds a little bit of light. And by the way, this is the company I've chosen because of Anna and I've had experience here and I'm loyal. So I don't, I don't test 500 companies guys. So there's others I'm sure that are good. And it can't tell you that they're all horrible, right Anna? I don't know. I don't say that. I'm just joking. I don't say that. No, I just think cover, it comes down to coverage and does the company under their contract? Yeah. And I get the question often, Anna, how are you different? And I say, we honor our contract.
00:53:54
Speaker
And I'm not going to put you on the spot on a recorded podcast. But guys, if you call Anna, she knows the details of every policy of like every competitor. And she can describe to you the differences when people have tried to shop you. I love it. It's really some of my favorite thing. I'll pour a cup of coffee and read her responses via email. She'll break it down with three pages of response. It's like the craziest thing ever that you know this much about this stupid
00:54:18
Speaker
product, not stupid. You know what I mean? It's like, it's just a, it's something no one really thinks about until you need it. And you know so much. And it's just like, you'll break down and be like, well, these are the 25 considerations you probably haven't considered. Right. I mean, I see. And they respond with, okay, I'll take care of us.
00:54:34
Speaker
Well, the obsolete parts clause. Have you ever heard of that? Because of you. Do you know what an obsolete parts clause is? Well, don't put me on the spot here. You've got me. I can tell you what that is. But that's what I mean. The little things that are hidden that the fine print, I first off, we don't have fine print. We have terms and conditions. It's very easy to read.
Shopping for Warranties and Lenders
00:54:52
Speaker
Well, if you're on the spot, I'm curious. Let me see.
00:54:55
Speaker
Obsolete part cloud, is that when an inferior carrier is placing a warranty claim and they're trying to fix that product, like an HVAC, and they can't get the part, right? Correct. And because they can't get the part, they'll say, well, the parts were 300 bucks, so I'll give you 300 bucks. Or they just don't even, they're like, so they have a clause where if it's an obsolete part, they can't get the part, they don't make the repair. Done. They don't replace the system. And you're like, well, I have a $5,000 system here.
00:55:23
Speaker
We if we can't fix it, we replace it. Yeah. So we don't have that in our cloth. You know what I mean? Like just understanding that. So it's hard. And people, I will say, don't shop like lenders. God bless my lender friends. Oh, they're screwed right now with these high rates. They keep going up. They're tough. They eventually will go down. Right. We don't know when. But they are getting shopped for the pennies, guys, like a fraction of a percent. They're going to switch lenders at this point because every dollar counts with rate. You rather have. Oh, no, I get chopped. Do you all the time?
00:55:52
Speaker
They don't shop you with me. Maybe it's because I talk you up so much. No, I think because you have the process in place. And so they're seeing that your value. Yeah. Oh, but I think we allow them to discover, you know, read the contract, understand that they're connected with me. They know that you're just not selling them something. We're giving them empowerment in that opportunity to review it.
00:56:13
Speaker
They're connected. We can we can talk about it. I can answer their questions. You know, typically start out like what are your concerns? I will ask every new buyer what concerns you. Yeah. Right. Because if you don't know how I mean, your concern and my concern are different. Right. So I think that, again, not all companies are the same. And I will continue to say that just like not all real estate agents are the same. Right. Like your competitors out there, you do business differently.
00:56:40
Speaker
You bring different, well you just have something that you do differently than they do.
00:56:45
Speaker
Same with our company, but again with me, just I understand contract. I read it. I'm an insurance agent. I read contracts, real estate contracts. I look at what you do and understand how does it affect the consumer. I don't have an R behind my name, but I want to know what you do, how it's going to affect your client, and how our contract will affect them
Conclusion and Expert Access
00:57:04
Speaker
as well. So again, I read other companies because I take those calls too. I'll take a call that, you're not the warranty company, but can you explain to me why this happens?
00:57:15
Speaker
So let me be that resource and answer that question.
00:57:20
Speaker
Well, I mean, we're coming up, we've been talking probably too long, so I'm gonna wrap this up, but one of the things I hopefully have conveyed during this conversation is that if you've written off warranties, hopefully you are gonna at least give them a new approach or a new look, you're going to at least ask, I wonder what they cover. Let me look into this. It's readily available online. One of the things I will note, do not sign up for this, even with First American, do not sign up directly on their website.
00:57:47
Speaker
That's bananas. We learned just recently, she was sharing with me that they changed their policy, even with her company. And she probably doesn't want this out there, but they've changed their policy. It might not go directly to Anna to get her protection, so to speak. And that's how I view you. You're kind of like my extra layer of protection when something goes wrong.
00:58:05
Speaker
Um, so you're going to probably want to contact your agent. And if you want someone that knows me and through the web of this pop podcast, contact me, contact my team. We will put you in connection. That way you get direct access to her. Otherwise, like any other company, you're in some 1 800 number bubble with a call center. Right. And so it's still the same company, but it could be a very different experience.
00:58:29
Speaker
Agree. And I think it's just, just to close that, I think it depends on the questions that are, how they're asked and how they're answered as to what channel they get in. I don't think it's intentional, but I, you know, not everybody knows, surprisingly, you're buying a house. They don't know who the realtor is.
00:58:45
Speaker
Well, it's one of the reasons we're getting sued. I would expect that you would know who your real estate agent is when you're buying a house. I don't know where we're getting paid and sometimes who their agent is or why they're paying them and what they did. So there are a few issues in my industry. It's not perfect. But it's just a subtle reminder that don't go through the main portal. Like the coverage couldn't be this. They might do what I've done and I've placed hundreds of warranties and claims.
00:59:10
Speaker
You want to get someone like Anna who actually knows it You're not gonna get that experience from a 1-800 number in a call center. They do not have your experience so definitely take that advice on there and Consider it. I think it's a worthy investment. How I own so many of them. I'm on part of your stock or something I don't know you keep me busy. That's right with claims and
00:59:33
Speaker
Yes, it's a good value, people. Trust me. Well, that's it. Well, thank you for joining me, Anna. Hopefully this wasn't torture for you. No, it's great. I appreciate a good conversation. You look fabulous on this on this camera set up. God, we look attractive today. But that's it. I'll end it on that high note. So thanks again for joining me. Thank you for having me. And I look forward to catching up with you here real soon. Thanks. All right. See you guys.