Home warranties can help brokers close the deal.

Smart real estate professionals are warming to the idea that home warranties represent an effective strategy for helping keep deals together, close sales and help reduce post-sale issues.

The statistics underscore this growing trend. In fact, nearly 72 percent of real-estate professionals recommend home warranties to their clients, and approximately 30 percent of all U.S. closings now feature warranties.

Home warranties provide a client with protection and peace of mind. They also eliminate a common ingredient in post-sale dissatisfaction--the expenses associated with failed home systems or appliances. No real estate agent wants to receive a call post-sale from a homebuyer, complaining of a problem with home systems or appliances. But, if problems do arise, buyers don't call the seller they call the real estate agent.

This situation can quickly transform a homebuyer's euphoria with their new home into dissatisfaction with their agent, who was likely held in the highest esteem just days before.

Home warranties can turn an upset homeowner into an appreciative client.

According to recent research, a homeowner has a 68 percent chance of one of his major systems failing in a given year, and if one does break it could cost an average of $1,100 to replace it. Too often, these situations are budget-busters. With a home warranty, which typically costs less than $500, a real estate professional can help a homeowner protect himself against the surprise costs associated with these inevitable repairs--and ensure that a qualified contractor will perform repair/replacement work in a timely manner.

Over the long-term, home warranties contribute to forging stronger real-estate agent/homebuyer relationships. Suggesting that a homeowner renew a warranty as each one-year warranty is about to expire, provides an agent a terrific, built-in opportunity to maintain regular contact with clients and nurture his role as a client's trusted long-term partner. The refinance boom also offers agents an opportunity to recommend home warranties at a time when homeowners are likely to be amenable to the idea. The savings from new, more favorable mortgage terms easily offset the relatively small cost of the typical home warranty.

In a competitive marketplace, real estate professionals need to find new ways of providing value to their clients to stand out from other agents. Introducing a home warranty into the process is increasingly becoming a catalyst to "smooth" the sales process and establish a life-long rapport with clients.