The loan closing process is over, and I am a first-time homeowner. It’s been pretty fun to get settled and move all our stuff in. But we’re finding some little things. Happily, there is a one-year home warranty on our house and everything the builder put in it. This means that little things that haven’t been taken care of (like knobs missing from my kitchen cabinets — resulting in rather bruised fingers by now) are fixed up for free. And if the furnace goes out, that’s covered in the warranty as well (plus the furnace has its own warranty for stuff that happens after the one year).

Whether you are getting a brand new home, or an older home, it can be worth asking about a home warranty. It is one of those things that you can use to protect yourself against things that might go wrong. A home warranty is something you can ask for from the seller, as right now things are equitable between buyers and sellers.