Owning a condominium or townhouse varies slightly from owning a single-family home. However, just like with single-family houses, condo home insurance only covers certain types of catastrophic damage, which means your condo’s systems and appliances won’t be protected from wear and tear that occurs from a lifetime of use.
To protect your budget from repair costs associated with wear-and-tear damage, consider a home warranty. When covered appliances or systems break down, your home warranty provider will send a licensed technician to diagnose and repair the problem in exchange for a service fee. To learn how to get this type of protection, read our review below on our top picks for the best home warranties for condo coverage.
Top 4 Home Warranty Companies for Condos
Here are our top picks for home warranty providers that cover condominiums and townhouses:
- Liberty Home Guard: Best Customer Ratings
- American Home Shield: Best Coverage Caps
- Select Home Warranty: Best Value
- First American Home Warranty: Best Appliance Coverage
Liberty Home Guard
Liberty Home Guard’s reasonable prices, 60-day workmanship guarantee, and high customer ratings make it our top recommended provider on our list despite it being new to the industry. The company has a basic Appliance Guard plan that covers a variety of major appliances and one of the lowest service call fees out of the providers in this review.
Liberty Home Guard Plans and Prices
| Plan | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Appliance Guard | $39.99 |
| System Guard | $44.99 |
| Total Guard | $49.99 |
Liberty Home Guard has a 60-day workmanship guarantee, placing it slightly above the industry average of 30 days. The company also has a long list of add-on options to customize your plan and availability in 48 states, excluding Washington and Wisconsin.
To find out how much a Liberty Home Guard plan will cost you, call 866-452-9107 or fill out this easy form.
Learn more: Liberty Home Guard Review
American Home Shield
American Home Shield provides extensive home warranty coverage for condo owners. Since the company’s sample contract clearly states that it doesn’t cover shared systems, the ShieldGold plan that covers items like your dishwasher, refrigerator, and built-in microwave might be your best bet.
American Home Shield Plans and Prices
| Plan | $75 Service Fee | $100 Service Fee | $125 Service Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShieldSilver™ | $39.99 | $29.99 | $24.99 |
| ShieldGold™ | $49.99 | $39.99 | $34.99 |
| ShieldPlatinum™ | $64.99 | $54.99 | $49.99 |
American Home Shield offers a choose-your-own service fee policy that allows you to choose a higher service fee in exchange for a lower monthly premium and vice versa. American Home Shield is also available to condo owners in every state except Alaska and Hawaii, making it one of the most accessible options on our list.
To get a free quote from American Home Shield, fill out this quick form or call 844-529-9298.
Learn more: American Home Shield Review
Select Home Warranty
Select Home Warranty is available across the country with coverage in 46 states. Its Bronze Care Plan offers coverage for appliances, including refrigerators, washers, and dryers, at a rate that’s lower than similar plans from competitors. You also get a low deductible between $60 and $75.
Select Home Warranty Plans and Prices
| Plan | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Bronze Care | $41.00 |
| Gold Care | $41.00 |
| Platinum Care | $47.00 |
Select Home Warranty plans come with two months of free coverage for a total of 14 months of protection. You can also get a discount for purchasing several years of coverage at once instead of just a single year.
Select Home Warranty’s prices vary by location, so call 888-370-3956 or fill out this easy form to get a quote for your area.
Learn more: Select Home Warranty Review
First American Home Warranty
First American Home Warranty has been in business for 37 years and provides clear documentation of the coverage you will receive from each of its plans. Additionally, its premiums for condos tend to be $50-$70 cheaper per year than those for single-family homes in the same area.
First American Home Warranty Plans and Prices
| Plan | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Basic Plan | $25.00 |
| Premier Plan | $39.50 |
First American’s Basic Plan is the cheapest policy in our review, making it a good option for condo owners on a budget. The company also offers the First Class Upgrade as an option add-on, which covers unique areas of your home like improperly installed or maintained appliances and permit fees.
First American’s coverage and prices vary by region, so fill out this quick form or call 800-891-9778 to find out what’s available in your area.
Learn more: First American Home Warranty Review
Our Conclusion
The process for purchasing a condo home warranty is similar to the process for purchasing coverage for a single-family home. However, since condo estimates aren’t as readily available, we recommend contacting each company directly to see how much your unit would cost to cover. You can start this process with our tool below.
Does Your Condo Need a Home Warranty?
Condos tend to have slightly different repair needs than most single-family houses. For one, some of a building’s amenities and systems may be shared with other units. The condo association’s master insurance policy will cover shared spaces and the overall structure of a building, but you’re responsible for coverage inside your unit.
In a single-family home, a home warranty plan is fairly simple. If, for example, your water heater breaks down, a technician sent by your provider can diagnose and repair it for you. However, if an appliance or system in your condo is shared by two or more units, it becomes more difficult for a technician to assess fault for the damage. Simply put, unless a multi-unit dwelling has a single home warranty for the entire building, damage to shared systems nearly always falls outside of coverage.
That doesn’t mean that condo or townhouse owners don’t need a home warranty. In fact, some providers offer lower prices for covering condos as opposed to single-family homes because there are fewer systems and appliances to cover. Any system or appliance that is not shared like a refrigerator or stove gets protected just like it would in a single-family home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team backs up our home warranty ratings and recommendations with a detailed rating methodology to objectively score each provider. We conduct research by speaking with company representatives, requesting quotes, analyzing sample contracts from each company, and conducting focus groups and consumer surveys. We then score each provider against our review standards for coverage, value, trustworthiness and transparency, availability, and customer service to arrive at a final score out of 100.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.