Covering All Bases – The Importance of Dependability for Buyers, Sellers and Agents

 Print Article

By Paige Tepping

RISMEDIA, July 16, 2008-”A home warranty is only as good as the backing company’s commitment to stand up to its claims,” says John Kersten, broker/owner of Century 21 Town and Country in Michigan. What began as a recommendation has grown into a working relationship, and Kersten and his agents feel confident in being able to offer every prospective home seller that walks through the door a home warranty backed by The Warranty Group.

“The Warranty Group was recommended to me by Realogy, and we have been building our relationship with them over the past two-and-a-half years,” says Kersten. “We spent a lot of time discussing what we were looking for from The Warranty Group when we first asked them to represent us. Our history of working with home warranties allowed us to know what we wanted, so it was easy to get started with The Warranty Group.”

Over the years, Kersten has seen the advantages of offering home warranties to his clients. Not only do home warranties make the property more marketable in the eyes of the consumer, they also reassure the consumer that if something goes wrong, they just might have coverage for the items that failed.

“The home buyer is making a huge investment,” he says. “Even with home inspections, there may be appliances in the home that are at the end of their life when the new buyer moves in, and these appliances may fail shortly after their arrival. A home warranty gives the buyer peace of mind in knowing that they won’t have to buy new appliances as soon as they move in.”

The home warranties that Century 21 Town and Country and The Warranty Group offer are beneficial to sellers and buyers and can be seen as an added advantage for Century 21 Town and Country as well.

“Knowing that The Warranty Group stands behind the home warranties that our agents are offering our clients is crucial in this industry,” says Kersten. “When our agents offer a prospective seller a home warranty, they know that there is a viable home warranty company behind the offer that can be depended on. The Warranty Group has always been there for us, and our relationship with them assures the buyer that their claims will be honored.”

Not only are home warranties important to prospective home buyers, but the agent is an important part of the process as well.

“The agent is the person who is selling the home warranty and establishing the relationship with the home seller, so it is important that we assure our agents that the home warranties they are offering our buyers are backed by a reliable company,” says Kersten. “Our marketing materials have proven beneficial in this aspect; they were produced to be easy for both the consumer and the agent to understand. If the agent doesn’t understand what they are selling the consumer, the information doesn’t get presented correctly, so the agent plays a crucial role in the warranty process as well.

“We don’t require that all of our home sellers purchase a home warranty, but we do require that it is presented to every home seller,” adds Kersten. “As a company, our main focus is to offer a service to the home seller, and the home warranties that we present in conjunction with The Warranty Group are offered as an added value.”

For more information, please visit www.thewarrantygroup.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

For more articles on home warranties, see:

• Selling a Promise of Future Delivery 
  A Proven Product