Angela Wilson: Old Republic Home Protection

REE#143 AUDIO

Angela Wilson: [00:00:00] Hi, this is Angela Wilson with Old Republic Home Protection. If you are looking to improve your real estate business, you need to be listening to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast with my good friend Tracy Hayes. Hi.

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Tracy Hayes: welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast. I have a first time on the podcast. Not only is she, it's the first time she's ever been on a podcast, but this is the first time I've ever had a home warranty company, a home protection service in the studio. So we're gonna learn [00:01:00] about that and why you should be including that in your business, or if you're obviously a homeowner or a buyer, why you should have a home warranty.

She's been in the business roughly 15 years. If her LinkedIn is up, correctly, she is. Everywhere when it comes to marketing, which is something else I want to talk to her about, cuz we obviously market to the same, people. Our real estate agent referral friends, she has a mechanical engineering degree from North Carolina State University.

I look forward to learning more about the home warranties, their value and her mindset when it comes to marketing as we both market to those same resources. Let's welcome the very popular Angela Wilson to the show of Old Republic. Home protection. I didn't put that in there. 

Angela Wilson: Welcome. 

Tracy Hayes: Thank you, Angela.

Thank you, Tracy. Thank you. And actually, I'm gonna put your, so everyone puts that, see that's on there. the Old Republic Home Protection, at least for a few minutes there. Anyway, I'm glad you came on. thank you. Because I think, Yo, when it comes to the home warranty, and also you, you know, the, the marketing side, the, the stuff.

Yeah. We wanna learn about the home warranty, why agents should be putting it, you know, some agents [00:02:00] have it as part of their presentation, I guess. Yes. you'll probably gimme more details on that, but also, you know, when it comes to, you know, like I said, we're after the, the same fish, so to speak.

Mm-hmm. With two, with two for two different reasons. Yes. and, you know, on how you're doing, how you, your mindset of marketing, there might be loan officers listening to this or, you know, other support vendors as I call it, to our, to our real estate agent friends. Yes. Our referral partners. So, interested in your mindset and how, how you developed that.

So, but let's start, as I start off every show, where are you from? Oh, 

Angela Wilson: well, th first of all, thank you for having me, Tracy. Yeah. I'm from Raleigh, North Carolina. Okay. Yes. Yeah, went to, graduate high school, went on to North Carolina State University, and that's where I 

Tracy Hayes: have, I, I have to ask you, my, my wife's cousin, Uhhuh,both her two cousins, actually Brian and Kelly Uhhuh, I think Brian's a, couple years older.

Both of 'em. Mechanical engineers from North Carolina State. Bryan Kelly graduated in 95. Okay. I saw, I saw the North Carolina state and immediately went into his LinkedIn and said, when did he graduate? Actually, [00:03:00] text message. You guys have responded to me at, to see if you, you guys even crossed paths in class or something.

Angela Wilson: Yeah, well, I graduated December 94, 

Tracy Hayes: so yeah, I don't think you could have been far, far behind you. And then when it comes to engineering, they're generally, it's not like, a business major. You don't have hundreds of people in 

Angela Wilson: your class. It is not, yeah. Lots of lab hours as well. Yeah. Got lots of time and energy went into that degree.

Tracy Hayes: what, what, what was your thought at, at that age? 18, 19, 20 years old, you know, 22, 21, 22. Graduating. You know, what, what your vision, what did you want to do at that time? Well, it's, 

Angela Wilson: I think it's always difficult that age to, to really, you know, tell what you want to do. in life, I was always a strong, science and math person in high school.

So I would go to state and take some of my high school classes at, so I went on with a degree, in mechanical engineer. Mm-hmm. And I was, I also had went on scholarship. So, so once someone's paying you on an academic scholarship, I was at the point that I didn't wanna switch and I didn't [00:04:00] leave the major, but Right.

But, yeah, so just, I just was real strong in math and 

Tracy Hayes: science. So, d I mean, did you have, you know, family members that were, you know, engineers or it was just the math and 

Angela Wilson: science? No, it was just the math and math and science. Yes. And then once you get in those degrees, you get to a certain point. There's no switching when you, you know, when I found out, I was like, this is not what I wanna do.

Mm-hmm. there was no switching back after all that math and science of this lab, so. Right. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: But I, I have found through, you know, My life. Mm-hmm. I have found, you know, engineers or, you know, obviously they, there's a different, mindset. you know, we deal with them in the loan world. I mean, the agents deal with them in the sales world are typically very analytical.

Yes. But, you know, everything's in very structured and very, you know, detailed. They want that spreadsheet that's telling them every type of thing. But that also allows 'em to do a lot of other things like project management. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. because of their detail orientation and so forth. So, you know, having an engineering degree and not technically using it like you are still, show to me shows that, [00:05:00] obviously your skillset.

Angela Wilson: Yes, yes. Yeah, it was interesting. My, first job out of college was,programming insurance software. Okay. So I spent a little time programming, and I then I realized that this was not for me. What was 

Tracy Hayes: it? The, the sitting behind the computer, 

Angela Wilson: the cubicle that got awful cubicle. Yeah. yes. It was, it was, it was not something I wanted to continue, so I got out quickly.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. I, I had some of those experiences too. I, I, when I got out and found, I found an initial sales job and then, a friend of mine that I was working with, his father was actually a lobbyist. Mm-hmm. And he knew of this, it was a Taiwanese company coming into South Carolina who, wanted to, was opening up basically a polyester fiber plant.

Mm. and, and little there was it, lake City, South Carolina. I think it was just south of Florence. Anyway, I went there and you're working in this plant? Mm-hmm. So, you know, it's, it's a factory basically. Mm-hmm. And [00:06:00] I grew up on Cape Cod. My first job was sport fishing. I'm out in the air sport fishing.

Yeah. Yeah. And, they actually sent me, they sent me to Taiwan for a month. Oh wow. Cause the plant hadn't actually, at least our section of the plant hadn't actually opened yet Uhhuh, but they wanted to obviously go there and experience what it was. And it was gonna be basically a 24 hour operation, 20 24 7.

And you were running these different shifts and all hours, you know, whatever it was. Mm-hmm. And so we were actually, went over to Taiwan, actually do what we were supposed to be interesting eventually gonna be doing. And I quickly realized like, yeah, this isn't, that this is, you know, being inside Yes.

You know, working that shift, you know, God bless those people that do, do it mm-hmm. In, in areas, but Right. I just, I, I just had too much of the outside Yeah. To, you know, being able to get out and a little bit of freedom. 

Angela Wilson: Yes. Yep. I hear what you're saying. 

Tracy Hayes: That stuff, So you're, graduating though with that mechanical engineering year, but you realize some of, I imagine you guys probably did some sort of internship type things, you know, went over and saw what mechanical engineers actually are doing on a daily basis.

Is that, 

Angela Wilson: I, I [00:07:00] didn't, I didn't, and I guess that's where I went wrong. I should have done a, a few more internships or some internships. Well, you 

Tracy Hayes: must, I mean the labs and so forth. Cause I mean, I would imagine you, you're starting like you're, you're this is this what we, I don't 

Angela Wilson: really want to do? Well again, I got just, I knew like third year that this was not the degree for me.

Right. And at that point you can't, it was turning back. It was turning back and I'm like, okay, so I like marketing. Let's, let's go to marketing. But it wasn't gonna 

Tracy Hayes: happen after that point. Do you want, do you want to keep, keep put another couple years in school? Yeah, that's right. Those credits you weren't getting already and the ones that it would work.

I was 

Angela Wilson: going full-time, spring, summer, fall, and yeah, four and a half years I got out of there. I was, 

Tracy Hayes: so I'm studying your LinkedIn and I see you actually started with two 10. Yes. Initially. Yeah. So, so what led you into that And yeah. Tell us about that. Yeah, 

Angela Wilson: so when I, when I realized that, this programming insurance software wasn't for me, I, I went and got my real estate license and I said, this was in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mm-hmm. And so I sold real estate, with a builder, Don Galloway Homes. Okay. And [00:08:00] Columbia, South Carolina. And I had a, two 10 representative that would always call because two 10 offered that builder's product up in, South Carolina. Mm-hmm. he would come by and always visit me cuz they were offering the, the warranty to the builder.

Right. And, this gentleman, Charles Sinclair, everybody knew Charles, but he, he, he would come in and he's like, you know, Angela, I'm getting ready to retire. And he'd been with them 16 years and he says, I think you would be perfect for this job. You should interview. And so I interviewed and took over Charles's territory and so, 

Tracy Hayes: I, and so he took you away from selling the houses?

Yes, 

Angela Wilson: he did. But it was, it was, it was a great experience. I've worked with builders. Mm-hmm. Cause they have a, a new home construction product up there, so I always call home builders. Right. And then a resale market. And did that for about four or five years. 

Tracy Hayes: So, ex Yeah. And I imagine what you're doing today is not too much.

I mean, has, has the actual,presentation or delivery of the account representative changed really over the last 25 years? 

Angela Wilson: well, [00:09:00] it has after Covid. I mean, they're everything, like, everything has, but, 

Tracy Hayes: um Right. But, but the same thing of just getting out 

Angela Wilson: Yeah. Just building those relationships. Mm-hmm.

Just, it's, it's. Strictly a, a relationship business. and just making sure that, you know, you've got those relationships that your, your customer, your realtor, or your mm-hmm. affiliate has, they, they trust you and, you know, you've got the, 

Tracy Hayes: do you, and, and this is digging into a little bit of the marketing piece anyway, not to really separate it out, cuz I think it's, it's intertwined with what you do.

cause it is what you do, mar that not only you wanna stay top of mind as Angela with Old Republic. Mm-hmm. Or in this case two 10 when you first started. Mm-hmm. But also the fact that it's not a product that is. Required to close. Mm-hmm. Like they, you know, unless they're paying cash, they need a loan.

Mm-hmm. So they have to talk to a loan officer. Right. Yeah. That's, that's, that's given or an insurance company mm-hmm. To get the, your standard homeowner's insurance policy that the importance of you staying top of mind of, you know, your, [00:10:00] your referral partners consistently, regularly, is, is, I mean, like the cornerstone of what 

Angela Wilson: you do.

Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. That's, that's what I do. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: So when you're starting with two 10. You you're talking about the, the, you know, the builder account. Did they have, you actually had to go to each individual site agent, like you were working with the builder, or actually you were working with the builder itself on a, from a corporate 

Angela Wilson: office standpoint?

Yeah. To, on our larger accounts, we would visit their actual sites, we'd go to their sites, their sales sites, smaller accounts, not so much. Again, it was just being, part of, or the organizations like the builders organizations and, just having that presence top of mind. But, it, it was, I had the resale market as well.

Mm-hmm. So I still continued to visit, like my Russell and Jeff Coat. I will never forget that, my top real estate company office in Columbia. But it was just being there, educating the agents or builders on the benefits of the warranty and, 

Tracy Hayes: So I had, well actually, I, so I, this actually,[00:11:00] treads us right into, one of the things goes is warranties on new construction.

Mm-hmm. Because obviously the, you know, all the, everything's new already. Yes. The appliances, whatever they already have, there are warranties. Mm-hmm. what is the benefit? Or are all the builders doing it now? I don't, I don't know. You, you tell me. I don't know what the marketplace is, you know, for that.

as far as the, the builder's concerned, why would a new construction home builder want, old in that case two 10, but now old Republic? Wh what is that warranty adding to what is kind of already on the house already? 

Angela Wilson: workmanship materials, structural, and with the Old Republic, we don't have that builder's warranty.

Mm-hmm. We're, we're strictly a resell warranty. We do offer warranties for, new construction. as far as like, Years, two through five or one through four on systems and appliances. But that two 10 warranty was specifically for like structural defects, or workmanship. yeah, they, that's how they got their name two 10.

It was two years workmanship materials. 10 year 

Tracy Hayes: structural warranty. Oh, I see. So they actually [00:12:00] specialized, 

Angela Wilson: they specialized in the builder's market. Ah, I see. Not the resell that's all public. 

Tracy Hayes: I understand protection. Learned something today. 

Angela Wilson: Old Republic Home Protection. Yes. We're the ones, we are the, we're the ones 

Tracy Hayes: for the resell market.

Okay. So two 10 was more, more for the builder protecting themselves? Yes. Yes. Kind like title insurance. Yes. Lender's title insurance. I guess, you know, as far as protecting the title and the lender being first, you, you're actually, you know, where those builders are, you know, typically are, you know, they're coming out and making the repairs in the first year.

Yes. You know, as pretty standard. Mm-hmm. But I guess for anything. Catastrophically. Yes. outside some, you know, imagine there was, they had a deductible, like getting insurance tax. Yes, they did. But if you had some major, something bad happen or you know, that contractor did something really bad where it was gonna cost 10, $15,000 or more, you know, type of thing to That's where that insurance came in?

Angela Wilson: Yes. Yes. Okay. That is correct. Oh, okay. So it was protection for the builder am and for the homeowner. So it's so 

Tracy Hayes: [00:13:00] Well, cuz it went two years, it probably went beyond what the builder was already gonna come in and fix after the first year year anyway. Right? Yes. that's very interesting. Yeah. 

Angela Wilson: so at Old Republic we don't, we don't do the, 

Tracy Hayes: side of it just right.

No, that's, that's just that, that's just, I, I'll come up with more questions on that cause I'm, I'm gonna on a,here. But you, so you originally, you, you had your, real estate license, but then you quickly kind of led into two 10. Mm-hmm. But I noticed on your LinkedIn, so tell us a little bit, cuz there, there's a point there.

I didn't know if I, Well, I guess, I guess between 2006 and 2018, is that correct? About roughly Uhhuh, yes. You get, you get out of the, the home warranty area and you, there is some real, you go back into real estate a little bit of 

Angela Wilson: that time. So what happened after, so I was with two 10 for several years.

Mm-hmm. Up in Columbia, South Carolina in that area. I was contacted by Old Republic Home Protection and they wanted me to open up the Northeast market. Oh, for Northeast Florida? Northeast Florida. Okay. Yes. And they, there was zero warranty usage in Northeast Florida, [00:14:00] so, you know, I was a little hesitant.

 but they moved me down here. I opened up this market in 99. Oh wow. And yeah, I was very successful right off the bat. I mean, I just, you Old Republic has a great product. Just getting it out there, educating the realtors, the benefit and so business really was, it took off quick. Took off quick.

Well that's interesting. That was 

Tracy Hayes: a 99. You opened some new questions cuz obviously that's a challenge. Uhhuh, you're only what? You're not even 30 years old at this point, right? Am I correct? 

Angela Wilson: That's right, yes. 28, I think it was 

Tracy Hayes: 28. When I come down, they come down and now of course you have a, you have a, a market that's thirsting for something they don't realize they, they're thirsting for, but they needed it.

Yes. You know, cuz we're gonna talk about how to leverage it in a, in a transaction, but, you come down so. Did you have any challenges? I mean, or, I mean, I mean, imagine personally to take, well you're looking at this whole thing. How did, how, how did you, you know, while you're traveling from Columbia to Jacksonville Yeah.

Thinking about how you were gonna [00:15:00] tackle 

Angela Wilson: that. first I, yes. I mean, it was, it was a little overwhelming at first. Mm-hmm. You know, just not knowing, not knowing Northeast Florida, I'd never lived here. Didn't I have any experience here? So it, it was basically just, going after key accounts, finding out who those key accounts were.

And once you start there, you play off the, that because, the people that are influencing the market, they can. They, they'll pass your name along. Okay. 

Tracy Hayes: All right. Who were some of the people that were 

Angela Wilson: influencing Market pr? Some Prudential. Prudential, that, they're not Prudential anymore. They're Berkshire Hathaway.

Right. But Prudential Network Realty. Okay. Linda Sheer. Oh, okay. Yes. That's where we started. And I, I secured that account immediately. And they were, they're large, right? yeah, they stored today, under Berkshire Hathaway, but that's where I started. And then you just, right. Smaller companies kind of follow the lead.

Tracy Hayes: so when you're going into, you know, you know, a larger organization like that, What talk, give us kind of the, a little bit of the highlights of the sales pitch that you are giving them because they're not actually buying it. Well, maybe they [00:16:00] might be if they're buy it. Yeah. If they're buying it for a buyer or something, they may actually come out of their pocket.

But what are the added benefits of real estate agents listening to it right now? Why, what were you pitching to them that you're probably still pitching today the same way? Yeah. Of the benefits of, of, having a home warranty partner. 

Angela Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's, so yeah, my job is, is really an education process on the benefits of the warranty, because there's so many benefits.

you know, you look at your buyer, you know, you're protecting your buyer's budget, you're providing them, A lot of folks move in from out of town. They, they've got the convenience of just reaching out to us through an 800 number or going online to file their service claim. so they got the budget protection, convenience, the peace of mind knowing that they've got something there.

because statistically, you know, most folks don't have a thousand dollars sitting in their bank account should, something go wrong. So it's, You know, it's a peace of mind of having that for your seller. Uh, it's a marketing tool, for the seller advertising that, you know, the home's being provided for, you know, with the home warranty.

it [00:17:00] can also, prevent that closing from being postponed or delayed. You know, the refrigerator stops cooling the week of closing or the ACS pots working right. You know, what's the first thing that, you know, we're not closing, right? So, the warranty is, it really plays a big role, for the seller as well.

but the agent, it's their referral business. This is a referral business because we truly represent them after that transaction closes. we notify them when we go out to make service claims. Wow. So I, I tell agents that is such a great touchpoint with your customer when you see that we have gone out there and saved your customer $1,500 on their AC reach out, take credit for offering that home warranty.

Right. so 

Tracy Hayes: it's no that actually, cuz I have, I've had, you know, obviously a lot of top agents on uhhuh and I know most of them do it or want to, maybe all of them do, but a few have obviously brought it up into our conversation Yeah. Of being that concierge uhhuh, they want to be the go-to person.

Mm-hmm. You know, especially from these people who work are coming from out of town. Yes. Don't know where the best, [00:18:00] appliance. Placed, you know, by, or or best service person to, to get that. The fact that you're reaching out to them and letting 'em know, Hey, we're we went out on a service call, you know, for that house you, for the house or whatever, to, for them to, again, that's a yeah.

Touch point. The good reason to call, Hey, how did the service go? Just wanna make sure we're all go, do you guys need 'em to get a new, do you, you know, and refer somebody else possibly if they need to replace it. whatever it may be, however that may work. But it makes them the concierge. Yeah, absolutely.

Angela Wilson: Yes. I mean, they only have so many reasons to reach out to that customer during that, you know, year. Right. so I do, and I encourage them as, you know, make sure number one, you're offering the warranty because they get back for, if they're not offering the warranty and the AC does break down, who are they going to call for that replacement?

Who sold me that house? Yeah. So it's just, it's protection that you definitely, they, they wanna make sure that you're least offering it to that customer. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. When you're imagine you do, especially, you know, imagine at Berkshire Hathaway,[00:19:00] when you went in there, you then had to train those agents on how to sell it.

Yes. Or, or at least, how to present it anyway. Uhhuh, yes. What are some things that, that some, two or three things that you want them, mentioning or how, how they present it mm-hmm. When they present it, what are some tips that you give them? Well, if it's 

Angela Wilson: for the seller, during the listing period, again, just, just letting the seller know that this is added, that this is protection for you.

While the home is on the market while it's listed, it becomes effective immediately and it, it, it provides them protection until it goes to closing. So, Mr. Seller, should your, ac stop cooling or your refrigerator stop working, you've got the convenience of an 800 number. So, you know, should we have something go wrong?

The week of closing, you've got that protection. Mm-hmm. so it's just presenting it that way to the seller. I tell my agents always, you know, I, we don't expect you guys to be the home warranty expert. You've got a lot on your plate. Let me be that person on your team that's there. [00:20:00] So, should the seller have any questions after that, like details on coverages or service?

I encourage them reach out to me. So, you know, I have a direct look number to be the details to be defined. Details. Print? Yeah. Yeah. Just, just the agent letting, and whether it's for the seller during the listing period or for the buyer, you know, as the, before the transaction closes, they, again, just presenting it to let them know that this is something that they recommend to protect their budget.

should something go wrong And it's the coverage that they can upkeep for. You know, we offer, we, we let them renew at the African. I'm 

Tracy Hayes: trying, I'm trying to think of, and, and maybe this will lead us into the exact things that obviously, that is covered. So you're in the bu, you're in this selling process, they're listing the home, or maybe now it's under contract, but it hasn't closed yet.

And there's some repair issues. I'm trying to, I just came up with this question off the top of my head when you were saying that I knew where you're going with this, Tracy, go for it. Good. Good. Yeah. Lead me. Lead me. Yeah. What are some of those repairs that may show up after that? After the, you know, the home [00:21:00] inspections done mm-hmm.

Where you come, you might come into play. Okay. 

Angela Wilson: So, and then a lot of agents, or a lot of questions that I get from agents is, you know, we get that, that re that checklist back and these are the repairs that need to be made. Mm-hmm. So the warranty's not designed to do that. Okay. So the, I wouldn't, I wouldn't 

Tracy Hayes: think so.

Yeah. But 

Angela Wilson: yeah. But ahead. Yeah. So it has to be in good working order at the time that you take out the, the warranty. Okay. So, and so for the buyer, you know, coverage begins the day of closing. Should the AC stop working the same day or the next day? You know, they still can call us. We dispatch a contractor out there.

The contractor makes that determination of, you know, it's his professional opinion. When did this a failure occur? Right? Yeah. Right. so it's, so they can, if it's, if it feels like it's something that has not been working for some time, we do have the right to deny it preexisting. But with that being said, our contractors do not work for us.

They're not Old Republic home protection contractors. Right. They are, the contractors that they, realtors have recommended to us. And so what we [00:22:00] do at Old Republic, we have a contractor relations department. We work directly. Just making sure we've got quality folks out there. Of course, insured bonded good reviews.

Right? should we get a bad review how they go, but mm-hmm. Other than that, they are not working for Old Republic. Well, 

Tracy Hayes: I'm back on the seller though. The benefits of the, the seller is, is simply cause I'm, I'm thinking what, okay. What does that cost? you know, and imagine it's different, but you know, you're gonna protect it for, you know, 30, 90 days, you know, depending on how long the house is on the con on under contract.

Yeah. it goes in effect right away because you're not coming out and obviously viewing that air conditioning unit, even though it may be beyond its actual natural life, it's still working. Yep. That's, 

Angela Wilson: that's all we ask, that's all 

Tracy Hayes: we ask, from that standpoint. So you're, you're, you're protecting that from the seller standpoint.

Like I said, that that week before closing. The inspections already been done, said the AC was, well, it's old, but it's working. But all of a sudden, the week [00:23:00] before it stops working. because obviously when they come back through their, their final walkthrough, uhhuh, because that's really the next time that buyer's gonna be in the home.

Yes. goes, your ac the acs not working, call 

Angela Wilson: us. Yeah, yeah. Warranty's in a place. If they've got a warranty in place, 

they 

Tracy Hayes: call us. Come in, coming in to service that. Yeah. What does that typically. And, and then obviously we're not gonna quote, someone may be listening to this three years from now. We don't know, could be three days from now, but what kind, what kind of expense are we talking?

Ballpark area. Gimme a range. Sure. Yeah. What kind of expense to the 

Angela Wilson: seller? The seller's coverage is only $75. Oh, $75. It's not paid until it goes to closing. it's dur good during the listing period while the agent has the home on the market. so they, you know, typically do a six month, listing agreement.

Mm-hmm. should it last longer than, should it be on the market longer than that, they just notify us and we continue the coverage. But, but the plan's six months, $75 paid at closing. 

Tracy Hayes: Do you have any agents that are actually, [00:24:00] you know, putting that as part of, part of their listing agreement? I has, yeah.

Just, just you obviously a lot of it's coming out of their pocket mm-hmm. And probably amaze in a lot of cases, but obviously they're adding that debt as a benefit Yes. To, to protect and imagine and, and obviously depending on the seller's financial situation mm-hmm. Yeah. to do that. 

Angela Wilson: Well, yes. A lot of agents will use as part of their listing, presentation that they're, they provide the warranty for the seller.

Mm-hmm. So it's a great way for them to get that listing as well. Yeah, no, in a competitive market. 

Tracy Hayes: Yes. Add value. So, you do jump back into real estate mm-hmm. There for a period of time. What's going on in Angela's life at, you know, there in, it was the late 2000 because you go back to Old Republic in 18.

Okay. So, yeah. So I, so what gets you back into real estate? 

Angela Wilson: Well, so I, you know, I opened the market in 99. Mm-hmm. Left in 2009. so I had, I had a couple girls, yeah. Four girls. So, after my third one, I, I said I, I need to take some time off. So I stayed home with my [00:25:00] girls. how long was that? Nine years.

10 years? Yes. Mm-hmm. And then, I decided to go back to work. I was ready to go back to work and, old Republic wasn't hiring at the time. Mm-hmm. There'd just been two reps prior to me, mother-daughter team, and, but Old Republic wasn't hired at the time. And I, and I love the real estate industry.

I love real estate. so I went and got my real estate license in Florida. Mm-hmm. So, and sold home, with Berkshire Hathaway, for, for about a year. Okay. And, yeah. And then Old Republic became 

Tracy Hayes: calling you and then, and then are they calling you again or did you, 

Angela Wilson: and then, but then, then when older family, opened that position open, they, they realized I was back and working.

So, okay. I just slid right back, came full circle. 

Tracy Hayes: you've, you've gotten very, I want to say comfortable. Do you feel this is your wheelhouse? This is your, You enjoy what you're doing. 

Angela Wilson: I love what I do. Yeah. I love what I do. Yeah. And that's why I'm successful with it. Well, I love, I, I love what I do because of, the company I work with.

Mm-hmm. old Republic makes my job easy. You know, they, they do, they, what they say they're gonna do, they back me a hundred percent. they provide [00:26:00] us with one, a wonderful product, good service, something that I, I'm happy, and feel good about offering. 

Tracy Hayes: I, I often want, you know, obviously insurance is in general, obviously, they wanna ensure a lot of people and hopefully a few make claims.

Uhhuh Uhhuh, that's how they made their money. Because I imagine, you know, again, dabbling a little bit into what you do from a marketing standpoint, there is a lot of, You know, of course me being, you know, doing a little bit of marketing, I don't, I'm not out there. I, most of my stuff is obviously phone calls, but occasionally we do sponsor this or do event.

Mm-hmm. But you're constantly out there. Yes. You're, I imagine on Monday morning or, or you know, right now you're next week you've got, you know, of every single event that's going on. I know your friend Brit at Landmark, everything that they're doing that you can obviously tag in or show up at Yes. Or, or whatever.

And you're filling your schedule. there in that case, because when the agent actually makes the order, are they actually calling you? They're, are they calling you or are they just going online? How is that actually done to where [00:27:00] you're not, you can be out doing what you're supposed to be doing, which is the front face-to-face stuff.

Angela Wilson: I tell agents they're welcome to call me anytime. Mm-hmm. so I do have a handful of agents that will call me directly to place the order, or they'll text it to me or they'll email it to me. but they, there is an 800 number or, they have a toolbox, their agent toolbox, that they can go into and, it's a quick filling out the property address, names of buyers closing company.

Mm-hmm. We generate the invoice to title and send them a confirmation of the order as well. So it's quick, it's easy. but sometimes they call me direct. Mm-hmm. But I'm okay with that cuz I think any, opportunity to speak with them and, build that relationship 

Tracy Hayes: is right. No, yeah, no, a hundred percent.

Yeah. I, I was always. In the mortgage world, I always thought, well, should I, should I buy 'em the calculator and show 'em how to use it? I'm like, well, if I do that, then they're not calling me going, what's the payment's Right. Look like. Yeah. You know, that could drive you nuts when they're constantly, you got somebody who wants a payment like every 15 minutes.

Yeah. But it is a time to, to make contact and obviously,help [00:28:00] them out from that summary. So, so I went on chant, G P t, Uhhuh, and I said, give me the top 10 complaints about any home warranty company. Mm-hmm. So I imagine, you know, obviously in your presentation presenting to new real estate agents, you're giving them some mammo, imagine you probably have,sales.

Flyers documents. That probably actually covers a lot of this. Yes. But I figured I'm going to, I'm gonna drill you a little bit. Okay. Go for it. And, and see what your answers are. And I, I did not even read these. I just, I cut and pasted it onto my notes here. denials of claims. Many consumers report that their claims are denied by own warranty companies, even for issues that they believe work are covered by the policy.

Angela Wilson: Yes. That's a very common claim out there. Right. And home warranties do have a bed rep I mean, they do. but we, we are different. Mm-hmm. I, there's presentations that I do, that not all home warranty companies are created. We are not, we're not all the same.[00:29:00]  we are the only a plus rated with our Better Business Bureau, which says a lot.

So we do, we cover a lot of claims. We cover 98% of our claims. It's, it's just that some companies don't. And so, in your 

Tracy Hayes: knowledge of the industry, you know, you've been in it a while, so you probably, you probably read jargon of about other companies and so forth. Mm-hmm. I guess I don't understand the, if you're gonna go do something mm-hmm.

Right. You know, do it. Right. Right. Okay. So if you're gonna have, you know, knowing that you're going to have people make some of the, they're gonna make these claims, you know, these things are kind of come in. Mm-hmm. Now, obviously we don't ex, I don't think anyone expects any insurance company to take on every claim.

Mm-hmm. But also some of those marginal ones mm-hmm. Are the ones where you win over the cl you know, you can really gain a lot of credibility or a lot of, you know, new referral business or whatever it may be, that. The difference between Old Republic and you said you love working here cuz they [00:30:00] back you up and I imagine it because you don't get a lot of these complaints.

Yeah. They're not coming back to you. because they're doing the right thing. Uhhuh, at least the best they can. Is it the other companies or just they just don't have, well not say, all the other companies we know there's probably other good warranty. The ones that get the most of these complaints Yes.

Is because they're just not, they're just not doing the right thing. 

Angela Wilson: Well, I think it has to do with the company. I mean, we are Old Republic. Mm-hmm. We are, we're backed by Old Republic International, so we, we don't, we're not one to deny claims quickly. Mm-hmm. we, if there are gray areas, we certainly, give, you know, we step up, every time and agents know that.

So if you, we have a claim that was denied cuz, cuz of a gray area, you know, maybe the contractor said, yeah, you know, this thing hasn't been working for some time. The ACS been rusted out and you know, I get that call from the agent, Angela, you know, what are we gonna do about this? we step up, we we're able to help out.

Yeah. And and that's because Or find some 

Tracy Hayes: win-win situation. That's right. Or some, some 

Angela Wilson: mutual. So it [00:31:00] really has to do with the company and I always tell agents, you know, the warranty company does represent you when that transaction closes. Make sure you do your homework, make sure you are looking and do the research on your home warranty company cuz there's a lot of, Lot of, companies out there that don't do what 

Tracy Hayes: they said they're gonna do.

Yeah, exactly. Which leads us into the next complaint. Poor customer service. Consumers often complain about poor customer service, including long wait times on the phone, unresponsive reps, and difficulty reaching resolution for their issues. Yes. This one you should be able to 

Angela Wilson: sell. Well again, it's gonna have to do, it does.

It has to do with the company. Your representative. I'm gonna get my glass of water, but keep talking. Oh, yeah, yeah. Go for it. It has to do with your company, your representative. you know, old Republic is only based in the us We do not, you're never gonna call us and get dispatched overseas, to a, a service rep that, that you can hardly understand what's going on.

Right. And I was reading off a script 

Tracy Hayes: and they say, if they say this and you say 

Angela Wilson: that they're, they're reading a script and they're overseas. [00:32:00] We don't do that. We are only based in, in the US and so our call centers are in Charlotte, North Carolina and San Ramon, California. so it's. That, that relieves a lot of frustration.

Yeah. I think that customers have, if they have to call in and have to deal with that situation, 

Tracy Hayes: in your, in your experience, I, I think both of us experience it in life. Customer service reps that are really good mm-hmm. Are empowered. Absolutely. They're, they're given the ability to solve Yes issues. Yes.

And not read off the script and keep it away from the manager. Yeah, absolutely. Unless someone screams and yells Yes. And hand it to the manager and then they try to, you know, figure Yeah. But obviously, you know, being empowered to make some, some level of decisions Yes. And solve some of these little minor things, like you said, little gray areas.

Yeah. 

Angela Wilson: That's, that's the, I'm empowered as well as the customer service rep. Mm-hmm. So we are, we are able to, to step in and make, normally, make it happen quicker as opposed to later. Yeah. Because I, 

Tracy Hayes: well, any good company's gonna measure. Well, what are the issues that we're getting? Well, we're getting these, well, okay, well, we need to let them handle those.

Majority of them at this level. [00:33:00] If it's, if something that breaks through that, then it may be a manager needs to come in. Yes. But that, that initial frontline consumer, that, customer service rep needs to be able to handle the majority of those little things. Absolutely. Right. Yeah. Delayed repairs. Some consumers report that it takes a long time for home warranties companies to schedule repairs or replacements leaving them without necessary appliances and systems, for an extended period.

Angela Wilson: Again, it has to do with the company. I, I firmly believe in that. Is 

Tracy Hayes: there policy at, at Republic that, or like, you know, obviously you're, you have these, contractors on mm-hmm. On. An area. Mm-hmm. They're designated. Imagine you have backups, but so forth. Are they required to respond within a period of 

Angela Wilson: time?

Yes. They're, they're, they, the appointment's supposed to be made and, within the first 48 hours, the homeowner is given the contact to the contractor immediately when they place that service call, whether they're doing it online, we keep 'em posted online under their homeowners central account, or, we give them the number over the phone that they can reach out immediately or they can wait [00:34:00] for the service provider to call, to schedule the appointment.

Tracy Hayes: because you're sending a note, you're sending a message out to them, however that's sent Yes. To them saying, Hey, the Smiths over there on Main Street. If they have an AC problem and they, and of course now imagine the ticker's going that you require them to Yes. Touch them in, in 

Angela Wilson: a short period of time.

Yes. Yeah. And if it's, if it's a situation that the, the appointment can't be set, at the homeowner's request at, at that time that they want it. Mm-hmm. And we offer, we have other options. We can, we can get another contractor out there. Mm-hmm. Or we can offer them, the authorization to use their own contractor.

So, we've got options to get service, sooner as opposed to That's, that's 

Tracy Hayes: interesting. So, okay. Well maybe there's that sticker on the AC unit is oftentimes by the people installed it. So people see that in the home and they say, well, you know, this company installed it. Let's call them. They, does the customer service rep have that?

You know, I imagine these companies obviously being licensed and so forth, you're checking out to see if that company's actually. Still in business. Right. You know, type of thing. Right. [00:35:00] And they're able to do that in a fairly reasonable period of time Yes. To say Yes. We'll, we'll back them whatever they 

Angela Wilson: Well, yeah, they're, well, so you're required to call in for service first of all.

Right. And then we'll determine, you know, if they have a contractor that they wanna rec, you know, that they wanna use, then we certainly, we give them the authorization to do it. but we do make sure that they are, insured, bonded, and, you 

Tracy Hayes: know. Right, right. you don't have someone's brother-in-law going out there to imagine Right.

[00:36:00] 

Tracy Hayes: Inadequate coverage. Some consumers report that their home warranty policies do not provide the coverage they expected either due to unclear policy, language, and exclusions were not clearly disclosed. 

Angela Wilson: Well, to make warranties as affordable as they are today. Mm-hmm. And this goes across, this is for all home warranties.

I mean, we have to have limitations in there. There are limitations, there are exclusions to make them. So for a single family under 5,000 square feet, it's $570 for the year. Mm-hmm. And that's a full HVAC replacement, plan. So you can imagine there are some exclusions and some limitations in the plans.

as far as our plans go, we do offer the most coverages at the best price point. 

Tracy Hayes: all right. I'm gonna step into that. just to interrupt my process there, so someone has, they've been living in the home for, 14 years. Yeah. 14 years. AC was replaced once, you know, the current ACS working and so forth.[00:37:00] 

I want to, I want to buy, can I go buy a home warranty? Is is what I, what are, what are the, I don't wanna say pitfalls, but what are, if if I, I'm just not a sale, just I want to mm-hmm. Hey, I wanna buy a home warranty because I know I've been in there fif, you know, 14 years now. And obviously some of the appliances are, you know, reaching that age.

Sure. Or some of 'em are, you know, reaching their age Uhhuh, at least you know, by manufacturer specs of what they should last someone goes by as a home warranty. You know, imagine there's a period of time, right? Is there a 30 day period? There's a 30 days to kinda like your hurricane coverage on? Yeah.

Angela Wilson: Yeah. yes. If you're not going through a closing transaction mm-hmm. we can still take the warranty we put it under. So the thing about Republic that makes this a little different from the other warranty companies, we, we don't market to the public, and that's how we're able to keep our cost lower than some companies, for our coverages.

Mm-hmm. we only market to our realtors. So, the transac, the, the orders have to go through a real estate agent. So you can still get a home warranty if you're not going through a [00:38:00] closing transaction from an agent referral. the only difference in that is that the coverage begins 30 days from the date payments received on it.

Tracy Hayes: All right. So how so now the AC unit goes down six months and after that, 30 days after you Yeah, after the 30 days, yes. It, it goes down. May, are you, you said five 70 was a full replacement, I imagine there's some sort of deductible in there. Right? There's, 

Angela Wilson: the service, like, so there is a service fee.

When the contractor goes to the home, it's $85. 

Tracy Hayes: Okay. So you're saying that technically you could replace the AC unit for that $85? Yes. Yes.

You like a home warranty? Yeah. Are they paying a year in advance, like they would their home policy or are they 

Angela Wilson: paying monthly? They do on the first year. They pay upfront. So if it's going to closing, it's paid for it closing. if you're just a homeowner looking to get the warranty, it's paid for upfront and then the coverage begins 30 days after it's paid for upfront.

Interesting. Now, after that first year, we do give options. They can do like a, a monthly payment plan or a quarterly payment 

Tracy Hayes: plan. Are they, if you [00:39:00] made a claim in that first year, Or like a homeowner's policy, you know, to your, for your fire hazard. Mm-hmm. You know, you make a claim, it's not a good thing.

Mm-hmm. How does the home warranty company do, if yo you make that claim, you paid the first year, you're actually willing to renew. Mm-hmm. you know, go into that 13th month or the whole second year, whatever it may be. Is there a policy adjustment Because you made a claim like your normal 

Angela Wilson: homeowner's policy, it doesn't have an have anything to do with whether you made the claim or not, but it does go up 50 to $60.

Yeah. The year north. Yes. For the year. For for the year. Yeah. On that second year or whatever. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. That okay. That's, that's, yeah. well, which makes so obvious cuz the longer you have the warranty, your appliances are that much older, you know? Right. So that's a, that's an, that's a reasonable Yeah.

Expectation cuz catastrophe's coming sooner, Lynn. Yeah. 

Angela Wilson: And, but I always tell, and I tell my agents, you know, like, always reach out if you, if there's any questions or anything that I can do to help and, and so with their customers, a lot of my [00:40:00] agents know that, you know, should that renewal go up, on the second year or the third year?

The fourth year they call me direct and we've been able to get them first year renewal rates. 

Tracy Hayes: Do they, do they prorate the, the, you know, if the appliance is, you know, refrigerator for example, you know, you take on the policy and it's already eight to 10 years old and maybe it lasts another couple years.

Are you prorating the replacement? No. You're actually full 

Angela Wilson: replacement. Full replacement, and we do not have any page 

Tracy Hayes: limitations. How do they, how do they determine equal value, from the standpoint of a similar Fri, you know, obviously that fridge was bought 12 years ago. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. How do you, how do they calculate what value they're gonna give it?

Angela Wilson: so we replace with the like kind. Mm-hmm. we, we look at the features, what features were on that, that, that particular appliance. Mm-hmm. Or you know, what, what. 

Tracy Hayes: I imagine they have it probably where they just put this code in now and it tell 

Angela Wilson: them Yes, that's right. Like that. That's right, that's right.

Another really great thing is like, if, if the [00:41:00] homeowner decides they wanna upgrade from what they currently have, you know, we will, we will, we'll, we'll make it happen, you know, at our price, at our cost, and they can pay the difference. Oh, okay. So, yeah. Cool. So that's a, 

Tracy Hayes: unreasonable fees. Consumers often complain of high and unexpected fees associated with their home warranty policy, including service fees, deductibles, and additional charges for uncovered repairs.

Well, I imagine there will be additional charges for repairs. this is, you know, gotta be, like we said, that the service fee, like they come out the, the, which is, you know, if you called that company and said, I need a service call, it's $85 just to show up at the door. Yes. Right. So is that, you know, with these complaints, is that some of the things, what, what are, what are they, what does this complaint really.

You know, getting inside of it, what are they really complaining about? Well, there, 

Angela Wilson: there are companies out there. Let's take Fon for example mm-hmm. That charge, a certain amount for Fon. They cap Fon amount that they're gonna cover. We don't do that. So those are unexpected fees for Fon replacement. may, there are [00:42:00] companies that will go out and, so we offer an option in our plan for,HVAC pre, preseason tuneups, where we go out twice a year, we'll clean the unit.

it's a $25 option. We clean the unit, put the free on in, change the, filters, clean the coils. so another company would go out and they wouldn't cover the repair or the replacement of the unit if it was not kept, if it had not been maintained in the service. Yeah. Ah, and they don't offer the option to do that either.

So I think that, is upsetting to a lot of homeowners because they, number one, they didn't realize, Hey, I didn't realize my unit wasn't, maybe they didn't check it, maybe. Mm-hmm. You know, so. It's a right for a denial for a company not to make a repair because they weren't maintaining it properly, it wasn't maintained properly or Right.

yeah. Or the excess fon or the, yeah, there's just, there's a, there are limitations and exclusions in there, and those are the fon is the most common popular one of them all. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: you know, being in Florida, it happens and I imagine sometimes it doesn't need much, or sometimes they go out in there and do that [00:43:00] service call or or maintenance call uhhuh and they're like, oh, it's not a hundred percent they can, but they go and top it off or whatever.

You know, they, whatever they, they do there where obviously other times, It's like, yeah, the acs not really working a hundred percent because Uhhuh, it only has 10% of what it really should have. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. As far as the friend. Yeah. And I think maybe 

Angela Wilson: sometimes homeowners are not. so it's an education process again with my agents that they, you know, when they present it that you know it, they are aware that there is a service fee on there.

So maybe if the customer was not aware that there is the service fee payable to the contractor at the time of service, that could be a, a reason maybe that completely generated. Yeah. I imagine people, so just educational business. 

Tracy Hayes: Yes. Yeah. the reality is if you did not have a little blood in the game as far as paying that service fee Yeah.

They would be more apt to call for some of the, the minor things. Exactly. And yes, there's an expense to that. Yes. Difficulty canceling policy. Some consumers reported [00:44:00] difficulty in canceling their own warranty bonds, either due to unclear cancellation policies and unresponsive customer service representatives.

what is the cancel? What did someone, did you, we have a sale. Mm-hmm. Today, whoever bought the home warranty. well, I guess, I guess a lot of times if the home, if the seller is providing the home warranty, they generally are paying the first year. Yes. Typically. That's correct. Yeah. So that second year, I imagine as you start getting near the 12 month anniversary period mm-hmm.

You're sending out saying, Hey. We need to, you need to renew it and this is what it's gonna cost. Yes. Is there an automatic re I can't believe it's an automatic renew cuz a seller paid for it. Right. Okay. There's an automatic cancellation. 

Angela Wilson: Yeah. Basically if you, if you don't pay, if they don't pay for the warranty, they don't have it.

Right. So that's just, it's just, just yeah. That's 

Tracy Hayes: how that works. Right. And obviously it's in your best interest, old public's best interest uhhuh to be reaching out to them and saying, yes, hey, let's keep you going. Yes. And we 

Angela Wilson: do, we resend out, an emails and,and snail mill, we opened the sixties, 45 and 15 days Right.

Prior to, the [00:45:00] policy expiring. But you're right, typically the seller's paying for it. so maybe on the cancellation side, maybe let's say the buyer paid for it. Mm-hmm. Maybe the buyer for some reason, no longer wants the coverage. how we would handle that is they, they need to put it in writing.

So we do verify who paid for it. 

Tracy Hayes: Because you'll give 'em a prorated portion back. yes, 

Angela Wilson: yes. That's exactly right. Yeah, that's exactly right. Just a right for what 

Tracy Hayes: you request. You're paying, you know, you said roughly $50 a month, you know, it's not even $50 a month. You're prorating it back for the, the something you've already paid to get back a a hundred bucks.

Maybe I mm-hmm. I wouldn't, it doesn't 

Angela Wilson: make any sense. Yeah. It's rare that we see it. Yeah. It's rare that we get a request for cancellation. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Just let the policy run out, if that's what Yeah. Limited contractor opt in. Some consumers are, say they're limited choice of contractors, which you've obviously covered here today.

Yeah. That they have the ability to use a,a company that obviously is verifiable that they're, they've got, their stuff in order. So that, that's an easy one. Yeah. 

Angela Wilson: Having that contractor, relations department within our company is huge. Mm. I mean that's, [00:46:00] that's everything with the customer. 

Tracy Hayes: unsatisfactory repairs.

Some consumers report the repairs made by the contractors, arranged by the home. Warranty companies are unsatisfactory or incomplete. you know, obviously I'm sure this comes up all the time, because you know they're humans out there. 

Angela Wilson: Yeah, 

that's right. Yeah, that's right. It's, and it's, it's not a perfect, sometimes it's not the perfect, scene, perfect process.

Mm-hmm. but what's important and why I'm out there so much in front of my agents is that I want them to know that should they ever have a complaint or something, not go, in the way it should go, you're gonna make I want to know about it. Yeah. Because if I know about it, I can do something about it.

Right. So, again, I tell my agents, you know, always reach out to me. Let me know if there's an issue or a hiccup in the service. 

Tracy Hayes: I would imagine the way it's. Sold. Cuz oftentimes, you know, people just say, oh, well we're including a home warranty. Okay, well they didn't get the details. Yeah. You got have the details.

Just knew there was a home warranty and maybe, probably got some brochure or closing maybe Yes. that, that, but who they know this process well. Yeah. Well I just, [00:47:00] I mean, it's just human nature, uhhuh, you know, we just immediately, my wife loves this word, assume Yes. certain things. Mm-hmm. And when, if they really sat back and said, oh yeah, I do have to pay that service fee.

Right. Even though I never read it, but it actually makes business sense. Mm-hmm. Why would they, why would they not have you contribute something towards it? Right. Yes. Right. you know, especially for such an inexpensive number to go out and replace an air conditioning today. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Oh my god. You know, the, the cost of that right now mm-hmm.

And getting parts or whatever mm-hmm. Is, is crazy. Confusing policy language. Oh, this, this is where the assumption comes in. I, yes. Some consumers, I should say, some consumers report that the language in the home warranty policies is confusing or difficult to understand, leading to misunderstandings about coverage in exclusions.

I imagine there is a frequently confused list. What are, what are some of the top two or three things that most people get confused about a [00:48:00] home warranty? 

Angela Wilson: that it covers everything. They, they think that, let's say they have a dishwasher leak. Okay. It's, it's damaged the floor. We don't cover the floor, right.

We don't a broken windows. We don't cover the windows, we only cover the mechanical components of the homes, systems and appliances. We don't do secondary damage. We don't do, 

Tracy Hayes: you're not the two 10 warranty for the builder who's the builder who's specifically about structural. 

Angela Wilson: Yeah. Two separate warranties.

Yeah. but, but yes, we, that's, that's what the home warranty is designed to do, to repair, replace those mechanical components. Mm-hmm. And not like secondary damage or, cracked glass or, you know, cracked. Right. 

Tracy Hayes: I can imagine. Yeah. I mean, 

Angela Wilson: The, the more expensive the price here things. Mm-hmm. I'm 

Tracy Hayes: trying to, I'm trying to think, but I'm sure people, yeah.

What else do they get to 

Angela Wilson: about, that's the biggest one. Yeah. Cause they think we cover everything in the 

Tracy Hayes: home. Like it's a blanket warranty over. Yeah. Yeah. it's not, and stain on the carpet, I would imagine probably comes out. Yes. 

Angela Wilson: I get calls like that. Or, [00:49:00] I mean, I even get some calls bug infestations.

No, we don't cover that. We don't, there's companies that Interesting. You know, but, that is the number one misconception. What 

Tracy Hayes: so, alright. Because there's, when they are given that home warranty, they're not, it's not like they bought it, so it's not, they often are not reading about it. Mm-hmm. They probably actually don't start reading about it until something actually does happen.

Then they're pulling that up going, what do, what do I do? What would be if, if you could get every real estate agent that sold sells Old Republic, get them to say, say something to the, to the homeowner, to,I don't, how wanna say sell it better, but that's not really the word, but to inform them a little bit what it, it, you know, I You could, I imagine you're in front of real estate agents all the time, every week.

You're, you're, you're telling 'em every, everything that you're telling me here now. maybe, maybe we could, they, you could give 'em this link and they can listen to our conversation here. Yeah. Yeah. But obviously, They just hear home warranty, they may pick up on a couple of things, [00:50:00] you know, maybe, maybe, and it's one of their customers, one of their buyers or sellers asked them a question and they either knew it or called you to get the answer.

They'll remember that one, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But they, they're not ready to just go off and start going on home warranty. Mm-hmm. They're just not that, it's not their, they don't want us, they're not gonna spend any time. No, it's not their session. But if there was something that you could plug into every single real estate agent, like a chip, that they would remember something, what would, what would you have them say?

What, what is it that would like really hammer down on a lot of customer animosity, I guess. Mm-hmm. You know what I'm saying? To 

Angela Wilson: the, to the, to the agent, I would say protect your customer. Mm-hmm. And protect your referral business. Mm-hmm. Because it, it truly is their referral business. When something comes, something breaks down after closing that you just sold them.

So I always tell them for the bo, if they're, if they're. Giving it to the buyer. It's just, it's budget protection. Mm-hmm. I mean, this is, you know, we're in Florida. This the hvac, it might have like good on [00:51:00] inspection. I had a couple issues on there. But protect yourself, protect your expenses. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I'm, I'm, unless you know, you put 'em through that training class mm-hmm.

You know, I mean, typically when you go into a, a, a group of realtors mm-hmm. May, you know, just like you did at Berkshire Hathaway years ago, and they're going to, you know, I see a lot of real estate office. They'll have their little things, you know, home warranty companies that they endorse or they refer uhhuh.

But you, so you do a little training. Yes. What is the one thing that you would want every real estate agent to 

Angela Wilson: protection Budget? Protection? Vitality is budget, 

Tracy Hayes: protection. Budget. So you want, you want them to sell that angle to it. Absolutely. 

Angela Wilson: Protect yourselves because you don't know, which, you know, this is, it's their largest investment.

You know? You think that's the 

Tracy Hayes: biggest, like, it's a, 

Angela Wilson: it's a buyer's largest investment. Absolutely. Protect it. Protect your investment. 

Tracy Hayes: I will. I and I I, well obviously we'll go there cuz when air conditioning right now is outta control. Yes. yes. You know, due to our, our, our circumstances and, you can go a cold night in Florida, cannot, a [00:52:00] hot night.

No, you cannot. No, you I remember ours went out, this is like 10 years. I remember my son was only obvious if he was a year or two old at the time. So obviously we, you know, if the house is large enough in Florida for you guys, not a lot of times you'll have two air conditionings and the smaller one for the upstairs area.

And you know, we went up and we slept upstairs because that was the only camp out. Yeah. Camp out exactly what we did. I still have a picture of him holding him, his tropical smoothie. And you 

Angela Wilson: don't forget it. You never forget when that AC goes out. So, That's why I tell you to, I mean, make sure you're offering it mm-hmm.

To the buyer. Mm-hmm. That is, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah. Well, and I, and I, I heard our horror story, you know, recently prior, in the last six months, my wife was telling me, I think it was my sister-in-law, you know, had AC unit go and they were like blown away by the cost right now. Yes. to replace them. So for $600 a year, $570 a year, it's, mm-hmm.

It's, you know, that's, that's no-brainer. it's the last, yeah. The last, last complaint here that we know, non-renewable renewal of policy. [00:53:00] Some consumers report their home warranty policies are not renewed by the company either due to cost or frequency of claims. 

Angela Wilson: And that is true there. There are there. I've, I might have had four or five come through this year.

Mm-hmm. but we've, we've spent in excess of 15,000 on the policy. So they will send out a do not renewal, to the homeowner. if the homeowner steps up or if they reach out to their agent and the agent's upset, you know, why are you renewing my client? we, we take a second look at the plan and we, you know, we do offer renewal ultimately, but, if we're, if we don't hear back, then we don't renew them.

Tracy Hayes: All right. So let's talk about the actual homeowner here in their position. You're advising them because obviously you don't want their policy to renew. Imagine there's some people that they're going to abuse it. Yes. there's some people that probably had legitimate claims. Mm-hmm. you know, they, the warranty came with that older house Uhhuh, where the ac ac unit went, which could have been $15,000 right there.

but the, you know, washer and dryer or the dishwasher [00:54:00] or, or refrige went anyway, they, they, they hit this point. Mm-hmm. But they were legit claims. Mm-hmm. And you g you, you probably are, are on a case by case basis, obviously. Yes. Seeing that the homeowner, that is a little, I'm not, I'm slacking from using a word abuse, but that's technically what, as the, I'm sure the language that's used in the home office mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Type of thing. Mm-hmm. What are, what are some things that you're seeing people make claims on that maybe they should think twice about? Is that really a legitimate claim? You know what I'm saying? They're making claims on something and then they're getting canceled and they're complaining about, well, well cuz you're making claims on stuff that really Shouldn't be making a claim on. What do you, what do you see? What's, 

Angela Wilson: well, I think, I think what you're getting at maybe is, a situation where there was a lot of items in the home that was, was not working, properly to begin with. Oh yes. And so we will get flooded with that, with those calls quickly, you know, for those things that we're never working to begin with.

And Emmy, [00:55:00] we are very good about taking care of our co paying those claims. Mm-hmm. We are, we pay, we pay our claims. And so, 

Tracy Hayes: well you, cuz you wanna make the real estate agent happy. That's right. And that's your go-to person. That's right. And you, you kind of got in the situ, you got in a situation where you did warranty a house that had 

Angela Wilson: mm-hmm.

A lot of older, had a lot, lot of issues that were, they probably were even caught on the expense or the inspection report. Mm-hmm. we don't request inspection reports. cuz there are companies out there, warranty companies that they, they live by the inspection report, you know, if it was noted on the inspection report, it's not working Right.

We aren't even coming out to cover it. we don't do that. We still go out and look at the claim and a lot of times we'll have a, just a lot of. Dishwasher the refrigerator. A all at was is something else. Oh, well. Or just even in the same week after close, we, we get that. We truly get that. Ah, so that's where you see the abuse of the warranty coming into play.

I 

Tracy Hayes: imagine you do get something like that. We're literally, we a lot really within the first 30 days they want all their appliances 

Angela Wilson: replaced. Yeah. And statistically, the claims occur within those first 30 to 60 days is when we get the most of the calls is within that first 30 [00:56:00] to 60 days. Oh, that's 

Tracy Hayes: interesting.

Mm-hmm. And yeah, imagine that is that, that's a very touchy situation. It is. You want to, Keith, her was a legit claim. You're sending your guy out and he's giving you, you know, as probably any doctor or lawyer, they kind of actually really don't tell you. Yes. They hint towards it, but don't actually say, you don't, you should not pay for this claim cause that's not their decision to make.

Right. Okay. Yes. Wow. Yeah, I imagine that that can be stressful on your customer service reps and it is at those Yes. things cuz you know, oh, the seller paid for it, so let's go get all new 

Angela Wilson: appliances. Yes. And then think about the situation. So. They, they then if, if, if for some reason we're, we're not covering, they reach out to the agent.

So now you got the agent involved that, oh, you're supposed to cover this and this, and we thought you covered everything. You know, I do get involved if that's, that's the case and, you know, step up and do what we can within the terms and conditions of the, home warranty. Okay. But that's where you see the abuse.

Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: How do you handle that? How does Angela 

Angela Wilson: handle that? [00:57:00] Well, I, I do, we do have terms and conditions in our, in our warranty, but we are truly people that are helping people and what to do the right thing. So, you know, we, we certainly give everyone the benefit of the doubt. If it's an agent that has used me for some time, that gives us a lot of business and we don't, cuz there are, there are some folks that will abuse, and just use the warranty on property that they know that needs the warranty and they don't offer to on all properties.

So you know who those people are. So that is, that is a factor in determining whether, you know, let's just, let's move forward, take care of done. 

Tracy Hayes: Do we need this one because of our referral partner? Yes. Or we got the, the one-off Yes. The one off that's trying to get the That's right, that's right. Yeah.

That's interesting. Well, that any business person would do that. Yeah. That's logical sense. Sure. so I mean, I, I would imagine, you've done this long enough. Mm-hmm. You know, I would think that you win more than you lose, cuz you're still here and doing it. but I imagine you guys, there's probably been some agents who,[00:58:00] you know, this situation has come up and obviously they, they immediately, you know, want throw you under the bus.

Yes. 

Angela Wilson: So, to, to speak. That could 

Tracy Hayes: happen. Yeah. That could happen. I mean, I mean, I imagine you have lost, well, you probably lo you obviously lost a referral partner that you really long-term didn't want anyway. That's right. That's 

Angela Wilson: right. That's the summary of it. That's exactly how we look at it. Yeah. Yes, yes.

Tracy Hayes: you know, that's, that's very, that's very interesting. Yeah. but it makes sense. Mm-hmm. You know, you really think about it in a way, way people think and, and so forth. let, let's talk about your, your, those, they're your best referral partners mm-hmm. That are doing it ideally for you. Mm-hmm.

Are they just simply as a gesture. As the, the buyer's representative. Mm-hmm. is this something they're just including with every one of their deals? Are they selected, they blankly like, Hey, you're getting an old Republic Home warranty from me. Mm-hmm. On your new home period, no matter they're selling one or 10 homes a 

Angela Wilson: month, every brokerage general realtor does it differently.

Mm-hmm. when I, when I'm in the office, I, you know, I, I encourage them, make [00:59:00] sure it's in your contract, you know, and that you're presenting it to buyers that, Hey, we're offering a home warranty, or you've got the option to buy a home warranty. Or maybe the agent's providing the home warranty, but it should be documented somewhere that, that if they don't want the home warranty and it's not being provided, that they decline the coverage, you know, cover your yourself.

Mm-hmm. But, but it either way. So just as long as it's being offered, to the buyer. 

Tracy Hayes: Are you, maybe you can't disclose this or not, I don't know. If if this agent's buying it, Uhhuh versus the homeowner, are they getting a little 10% discount or anything like that? It's, they would pay the same, it's the 

Angela Wilson: same price?

Yeah. Same price. It's the same price. Okay. 

Tracy Hayes: some of the sellers are doing it. Some of the, the, the, the, buyer's agent. Give us some, give us, gimme a, I know you have some success stories we haven't told. Do you have any off the top of your head? Cause I, I'm just, I'm just throwing this out there cuz we talked about stories. You must have a, a couple really s good success stories, in your head that agents have come back to you and said, thank God we [01:00:00] got that warranty.

Angela Wilson: yeah. Just like last weekend I had, a broker call me, let's see the, lemme get the facts straight. So they closed on Friday. Okay. It was a new agent. they closed, they had, requested a home warranty. It was not collected or paid for or ordered. It was not ordered. And here it is Saturday and there is a plumbing pipe leak Step, step back, close Friday, 

Tracy Hayes: close Friday, plumbing.

They walk in the house Friday afternoon after their closing, they're in there one night, 

Angela Wilson: Saturday rolls around, there's a plumbing pipe leak. and new agent's like, oh my goodness, reaches out to his broker and which I have a good relationship with their brokerage. Have a good relationship with that broker.

We've done business for years. Mm-hmm. Angela, is there anything you can do? I was able to, because it was requested that the home warranty be provided, it just. Nobody ordered it. Nobody, nobody, nobody followed through on it. Yeah, nobody followed through. And this, this is really common though, Tracy. We get this a lot.

We get this a lot. but yeah, the warranty is never order. Angela only has 

Tracy Hayes: so many, [01:01:00] so many, call corporate office to say, cover me. Yeah. 

Angela Wilson: call's left. So that we do, we, we will re if we see that the warranty was requested that, you know, they agreed that they were gonna take out the home warranty, we honor it, we still will provide the coverage, send out the contractor.

and that's what we did. We were able to get an emergency contractor out there over the weekend. And that was the biggest, the most recent success story then 

Tracy Hayes: right now, obviously. Yeah. We don't, that's, that one, it's, that's a good success story. Win-win. well, old Republican, imagine, of course, they paid for the whole year, first year policy mm-hmm.

At that moment in time. Mm-hmm. Yeah. From that standpoint. But you, you know, the integrity to cover the agent. Mm-hmm. And I think that, that, I'm. When just by telling that story, what I'm getting after it, I think the agents that might be listening, that you are agent centered, like you said, the mm-hmm.

You don't sell direct to the public. I can't go on there as a consumer with an existing home right now and go on over a public site and say, I want a home warranty today. Right. you, you are agent centered and you know, you know, talk about, you know, I [01:02:00] know some great movers, obviously know Pete and Brenda, two men in a truck.

I'm sure you've run into 'em at different events. Yes. and they are agent centered. They get referred by an agent. They, that's our bread and butter. Put that they put that customer up, you know, up front even though they, they do show up when they're supposed to show up a time, but they make sure their best guys mm-hmm.

Are on it. Mm-hmm. And that's, that's business. And that's, but that's, you know, what you're focused on and you, you. I mean, if that agent who was involved directly, I know the broker. The broker appreciates you. Yes. That agent should be paying for that warranty now for every single, for the rest of the year.

Yeah. I 

Angela Wilson: mean, and that was like, that was a, that was a messy scene with a plumbing pipe. Like, but a lot of times it's a quick fix. Like just, you know, when you move into a new home, like there's things that go 

Tracy Hayes: wrong that I think it's like driving a car. People go in, they change, they change the ac the acs used to running at this level for the That's right.

Homeowner. That's right. We go in and change it now Yeah. To this level. That's right. And a week later it, something goes wrong. Yeah. Because it's not used to running 

Angela Wilson: at that level. Yes. [01:03:00] And, and we know that, so what happens is when, when a homeowner calls in, we actually have, and if it's within like the, the first, is it two week, 14 days?

I don't remember, but we have a quick fix department. Mm-hmm. So they call in and if we think it's something that's just a quick fix, we send them over there and they, we walk them through it. And a lot of times it is 

Tracy Hayes: so, oh, so you have some people who have,I don't say technology experience, but the experience in Yes.

In walking through, you know, whether it's reset the service that, or something of that nature. Yes. Yeah. Just a break before having a call. Yes. That is, that's an awesome little, ad right there in the quick fix department. 

Angela Wilson: Yeah, that's, it's a, it's awesome. It's a good, great department. We have a lot of success with it.

I get a lot of feedback on that. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: A hundred percent. Yeah. No, that, that's very interesting. let's finish up just the, this, you know, we talked about, everyone knows the basic appliances. Mm-hmm. Your, you know, your dishwasher, your ovens, your, washer and dryers, refrigerators, air conditionings.

What else am I missing? 

Angela Wilson: Hot water heater. Your garbage. Oh, water [01:04:00] heater disposals. Your garage door openers. 

Tracy Hayes: you forget about the, yeah, you forget about the, the garbage disposal underneath the, 

Angela Wilson: yeah. Mm-hmm. another, we call it ceiling vans, toilets, toilet rings. One of the big things though that a lot of folks don't realize that we covered is our rekey service.

We go out there, as soon as a homeowner closes, they can call us. We dispatch a locksmith, go out there and we rekey up the six of the locks in the home and provide four copies of the key per lock included in all of our plans. So what? Yes, it's our rekey cover coverage. Yep. There's only one other company out there that provides it, but they ask for the customer to pay out of pocket and file for reimbursement.

We cover it in the plan. So, 

Tracy Hayes: so that homeowner that has up to 5,000 square feet is paid 570 bucks? Yes. Yes. Is going to get R Rekeyed rekeyed. That right there is a couple hundred dollars right there. Absolutely. 

Angela Wilson: That's right. And agents forget about, they, they again. So my job is to go into the, the home warranty is a [01:05:00] fabulous thing.

Tool for, for, for all parties involved. but a lot of folks, cuz they have these common complaints that you've seen, you've pulled up online, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. They don't not apply to Don Republic, but, it's important that agents do, are, are educated on the warranty. Mm-hmm. so that they can pass that to their buyers.

Mm-hmm. And it's a win-win for everyone. No, I, I 

Tracy Hayes: brought that up because I, because they're common complaints Yeah. That cross across the board and they want a bunch all warranty companies in, in the same Yes. So how you answered separates you from threats. Yes. You know, addressing this. But man, that right there just, you know, that's easily a couple hundred bucks.

It makes sense to rekey the house. That's what a what a great, that's a great 

Angela Wilson: closing gift. If that's a great closing gift. You're giving them something of value. Yeah. You know, I tell your, I tell my agents, reach out to that customer after they close. Remind them they've got that, 

Tracy Hayes: you know, that guy, the schedule, the rekey guy's gonna come over and rekey.

Yeah, yeah, 

Angela Wilson: a hundred percent. Yeah. But that doesn't normally happen cuz they forget the services in there or they don't know about it because they didn't let me in their office to explain the benefits of the homework team.[01:06:00] oh my God. That, so 

Tracy Hayes: I would, I would almost like resell. I imagine you probably do in some way, shape or form.

Hey, if your customer buys the, you know, the one year thing we're gonna come over and re-key them for Yeah, totally do that in your name. Yeah. That is like a Noor 

Angela Wilson: I guess. Oh my God. Yeah. The warranty in these so many different ways, but yes, it's, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah, well most customers aren't, you know, although they, they think of some people will do it like

Like, before they even actually move in with Uhhuh, some will just forget. Yes. But, but the ones that forget or, you know, just, or just, you know, whatever, you know, you know, don't, you know, have that security sense of mind, the fact that you're doing it for them. Mm-hmm. I mean that's, that's huge. 

Angela Wilson: That's, it's in all of our buyer's plans.

Tracy Hayes: That's better than going out and giving 'em a hundred dollars. Home Depot gift certificate. Uhhuh. That's right. Oh my. Wow. That's, that's a no brainer. Angel. what is your, let's finish up, finish up with this here for just a couple minutes. we, we market to [01:07:00] the same people. what are some things that you're doing on a daily basis?

You know, obviously you're trying to acquire new business mm-hmm. But also stay top of mind. Yes. And keep reminding the agents. Yes. because we have some agents that are obviously doing several transactions a month that have some, maybe several transactions a year mm-hmm. out there, but obviously you're going around and touching 'em.

What is, what is your, what's your kind of 30,000 foot, level game plan of how you plan or, you know, I, if it all comes from, old Republic or. A mixture of you, old Republic or it's all you, cuz you've been doing it for a while. Mm-hmm. So I imagine they take a lot of your input mm-hmm. on what's working mm-hmm.

And what's not. But how do, how do you plan out your month really? Cause I imagine that's what you're doing that every mm-hmm. You're, you're working at a month events cause make sure you're hitting those events. Mm-hmm. Tell us, tell us what you're doing behind the scenes as a sales rep, account rep 

Angela Wilson: for older public.

Sure. Well, I think, new agent training, for larger brokerages is, something that I do every month. Mm-hmm. get 'em when they're fresh. They're new, they're learning the business. they need to understand the importance of the home warranty, the value of the home [01:08:00] warranty. So I do a lot of new agent trainings.

they're on the calendar, and they're, you know, most larger brokerages have them, so, mm-hmm. That's, I do that. and then for my existing agents, you know, I get that application report. I see who's sending business my way. I'll shoot 'em a quick, quick text saying Thank you. I'm here if I can be of assistance to you or your customers.

you know, cuz we don't. We wanna take the monkey off their back should there be an issue. However, we wanna also, I, I want the, I want the agent to know that, we're here for their customer to answer the questions. That they don't have to do that, that, you know, it's send them my way. So I just remind them of that.

I go to a lot, I think Covid changed, the way we used to do business. Mm-hmm. I used to walk into eight to offices. I had a route, I had a 

Tracy Hayes: route I would walk in. Women have that ability. They don't like guys, they don't like ugly. 

Angela Wilson: I walk in, I say, hi, I'll walk through the office and, you know, how are you doing?

Thank you for your post list. we also used to do, postcards that claim updates that, that I get delivered like every week. So I would go through these offices and my top brokerages and deliver claim guards [01:09:00] personally saying, Hey, look what we save the Joneses. You know, we just did an AC repair. we don't, we don't do that anymore.

So that's, we, we still keep them posted, but it's an email. They're getting an email. 

Tracy Hayes: I, I just had a. So marketing idea. Go ahead. And 

Angela Wilson: so with that being said, so that, that's when, you know, the social events come into play. Cuz that's where I'm gonna see most of the agents at the social events, so mm-hmm. I'm very active with the Board of Realtors and all of the councils.

Our beaches council, our Mandarin Council, Southwest. I attend all the events. I, it's, they're fun and it's just good one-on-one time with agents and they know that I'm there to support them 

Tracy Hayes: and their organization. Right. Well, you must love, I mean, obviously not everyone can do that. Yes. I mean, everyone would like to be able to do that, but no, not everyone always has the, personality or the comfortable, some people are uncomfortable, you know, especially initially meeting people.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm generally fairly shy. Mm-hmm. Initially. And then after, you know, we shake hands, we, we could just start talking. Mm-hmm. And I'll just talk. Mm-hmm. But it's, it's actually saying hi or something initially that's, you know, they, but [01:10:00] you obviously. You know, you're approachable and that's, you're in your zone.

Thank you. That's what you love. You love, love doing. I came up with an interesting, you know, what would be a great, as the agents are doing their, they, you know, well, they're. Recommended and some of the top agents are doing are marketing reports. Mm-hmm. Is actually sit down each, you know, month. I would love to do it, just go live.

Mm-hmm. Like we are right now. Mm-hmm. And talk about, tell some stories of the previous months, some claims that were made. Mm-hmm. Oh, absolutely. And the success stories. Yes. I think that would be really cool. I think that would be really cool too. Yeah. We can, could stream, stream it and then share it and Yeah.

Angela Wilson: I would love to do that, Tracy. That's a great idea. Yeah. Because we do, I get weekly, cards that, that show the, the claims that are paid out. And specifically, 

Tracy Hayes: you know, in in your zone. Yeah. Or to your, to the agents. Listen over you. That is awesome. Yes. So, like I said, as I said, facts tell, stories sell.

They do. And they, and the agents have to hear these stories of, you know, like I said, someone has, I imagine you probably have one [01:11:00] right now, you're probably thinking about it. Something, something re recent where literally was a truly legit claim. The AC went and there was thousands of dollars. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. But because they had the warranty, it was taken care of. 

Angela Wilson: Yes. Yeah. We do, we do that daily. Yeah. That's, that's how we roll daily. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. yeah. And, and then the homeowner's like, oh my God, I wanna pay for my, my warranty for the next five years. Yeah. What 

Angela Wilson: what's so important is like, and I would just, I just can't stress enough to, to our realtors, is that you take credit for offering cuz you are the one that saved them the money.

Mm-hmm. You know, you offered that home warranty. we went out and, and took care of it. So stay in touch with that customer. Take credit for it. 

Tracy Hayes: Angela, I'm glad you came on. Oh, enjoyed conversation and getting to know you a little bit. Yes, and I think we dug into home warranties really well. I think we did.

People can listen to this and really get some inside, inside ball what's going on and why it's important. It is very important. You could stand up in front of a classroom for 30 minutes and go on and you're like, yeah, whatever. But when you start digging into these things, and especially, you know, you went through the [01:12:00] drill.

I had the 10 complaints on there. You didn't flinch and just tells you what kind of representative you got behind Old Republic here in northeast 

Angela Wilson: Florida. Proud to represent Old Republic. Excellent. I appreciate, thank you. Yes, ma'am. 

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