Before signing closing docs, ask about appliance warranties
Appliances may be the primary feature that's overlooked during homebuying walk-throughs
I cannot afford this right now, and I should’ve considered the condo with no parking.
That was my first thought when I came home from walking my just-adopted dog Junee and noticed that all of the food in my refrigerator was warm. Less than a week after spending $400 on the pet adoption application plus at least $100 on dog food, dog toys and other general dog supplies that I didn’t already have as a dog walker, buying a refrigerator was not on my budget. And I had zero interest in returning my Hound mix, so I called my parents and asked for a loan. I put all of my refrigerated food into a container filled with ice and ate it first.
For almost two weeks, I stuck to only eating dry food. Why did it take so long? My refrigerator died in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only was it hard to find a refrigerator within my price range, but it also became a task for delivery people to be available to drop it off and discard my old fridge.
One woman can only eat so many seasonless-Ramen noodles (vegetarian-turned-vegan so I don’t eat the meat stock seasoning) and sodium-rich canned food before she loses her mind. Canned peaches and small servings of beans became my best friend. When my new refrigerator arrived, I breathed a sigh of relief.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Wave
This was worse than the time my built-in microwave died a year or so before. I shrugged and decided to get a countertop microwave after removing the built-in version. The problem? The wall behind the built-in microwave was unfinished. When I paid a former handyman to take it down, both of us gasped at the spooky, unpainted hole in the wall behind that microwave.
I had another expensive decision to make:
Have one tacky kitchen with a broken microwave for decoration and another one on the counter, bringing back childhood memories of people who have two TVs with bunny ears.
Pony up the money to replace and install the built-in microwave to continue to hide the hole.
Pay someone to fill in and fix the hole to avoid this incident happening again, and then buy a countertop microwave.
I chose option two but ditched professional repairmen. Instead, me, my struggling biceps and the former handyman hammered, drilled and balanced the microwave to put it in place of the old one. The handyman’s “assistant” (who admitted he was an unemployed college professor) almost started a fire by accidentally turning on the stove while leaning over the cabinets, but he survived. I also kicked the professor out to avoid medical bills. Fire scare aside, I saved at least $100 off the replacement process and got an involuntary “arm day” workout too.
Recommended Read: “Homegrown podcast: Meet Christopher Meeks, trainer for the First Time Home Buyer Education program ~ Step 1 to homeownership: Speak the same language as your mortgage loan officer”
Still, I kept thinking of co-workers, family and friends who told me I should’ve bought the condo that came with new appliances in a freshly painted condo unit. That condominium had no parking, and I refused to buy any unit that required street parking. (Years later, I ended up in Small Claims Court over my parking spot, which makes me question my stance on this add-on anyway.) I wanted parking more than I wanted new appliances.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
(As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn a percentage for every purchase with my referral links.)
But there was one other thought I should’ve considered. In all the time I was worried about rodents and a home inspection and mandatory parking spots, why did I never ask the sellers about appliance home warranties? Could I have avoided paying for replacements if their old appliances were still covered?