Investor · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2013 · 277 posts · 78 votes
Hello experienced BP'ers,
When you purchase a property, is it possible to transfer the warranty for appliances/HVAC/security systems etc. over to your name?
I just recently found out that the air conditioning condenser unit may need to be replaced at one of the properties I bought a few months ago. Unfortunately, I never thought to ask the seller about any warranties at the time...which was probably pretty dumb on my part.
Any advice for future purchases? Should it be something that I include in the contract?
I recently went through something similar and found out that major appliance warranties actually work in 2 ways as far as I was told. If you are the original purchaser of the unit (HVAC/water heater etc) and you have registered the unit, labor warranty usually lasts for 2 years and parts warranty usually lasts for 10 years. If after installation the home was sold to the next owner, labor warranty immediately expires and parts warranty gets reduced down to 5 years.
If the unit was never registered, I think you get no labor warranty and parts warranty defaults to 5 years ...? This part I am not too sure on, but the warranties are tied to the original purchaser so it's not transferable, as far as I know.
If anyone else had a difference experience I would like to know as well.
Thank you very much @Account Closed I'm happy to know that there may be some wiggle room. I'll be contacting the previous owner as well as the appliance company in order to see what I can work out. Thanks!
Additionally if you read in the Carrier HVAC warranty it talks about systems being installed in rental properties and the warranty Not being transferable.
If you are a professional landlord, then you are performing the regular recommended HVAC and Heat system maintenance items. So we would a rental HVAC automatically have a non-transferable warranty? This should be a case by case basis depending on the condition of the system and if the failure to perform regular maintenance was a contributing factor.
Note: For HVAC the Trane warranty states that they can request documentation of proper preventive maintenance.
The other option is to buy an extended warranty through a third party reputable, financially sound, reseller like "Squaretrade"
The last option is to buy the house and Not the appliances and HVAC\Heat System and rent the appliances from the original owner. A pain with additional paperwork, contracts, payments, and terms but still in option. The warranties I read said nothing about excluding warranty repair for HVAC owned by original owner, at the original installation location.