Tyler:              Hello everyone. This is Tyler Ford, Tucson, Arizona with eXp Realty. And I’m with Heather Chumbler-Rich. She is the Southern Arizona account rep for 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty.

Tyler:              And today, we’re going to be talking about a subject matter that both buyer, seller, listing agent, buyer’s agent really needs to be knowledgeable about because it’s a fear-based situation where sellers and/or buyers and agents can actually be taken advantage of based on the fear behind HVA systems Freon R-22.

Tyler:              So, as of January 1, 2020, Freon, R-22 is no longer being made, but there’s still a huge supply. So, it’s not that a unit can’t be fixed, it’s not that Freon can’t be added, but people are being taken advantage of because of the expense… supply. It’s a supply and demand issue. As the supply goes down, the prices are going to go up. And companies could take advantage of people and/or a buyer could take advantage of a seller, putting the fear that it has to be replaced. And in reality, it doesn’t.

Tyler:              And that’s the value behind 2-10, a home warranty, and why a seller would want to provide it because if it’s an older unit, 210’s going to cover that. So, with that, I’m going to turn it over to Heather. And she’s going to explain the big benefit as to why a home warranty, as a seller, would want to offer it to a buyer and why a buyer would want to get it, especially if it’s got an older unit. And the majority of them do. I would say, what do you think? 90% out there probably still have… I don’t know what… I’m just throwing a number out there.

Tyler:              … but a huge percent probably still has the older unit. So, with that, I’m going to turn it over to Heather and she’s going to explain the benefits of what 2-10 can do with an older, R-22, Freon-based unit.

Heather:            Awesome. Thank you so much. And that beginning history of information is… We’re in such a pivotal time with our history right now because it’s all in an effort to protect our environment. So, the EPA put some major rules on the R-22 so it is affecting every homeowner that has R-22. And, like you said, there are some HVAC companies that are putting the fear into those homeowners, saying, “Oh my gosh, you have to replace this right now,” or, “It’s illegal. Using the R-22 is illegal.”

Heather:            And so, we really want to educate the public to let them know that you’re okay. It’s going to be okay. There are hundreds of millions of drums available still of R-22. And with the home warranty side, the good news is that we are here to protect our homeowners from the unforeseen or the unexpected costs.

Heather:            So, right now, I’ve seen the highest invoice for one pound of Freon was $195 a pound from a retail HVAC service provider. Well, it costs home warranty companies much less. North of $40 a pound or somewhere around there. It’s definitely nothing like $195 a pound.

Heather:            So, if a homeowner is working with a home warranty that actually has a dollar limit per pound reimbursement or doesn’t even cover R-22, that homeowner’s going to be pretty upset because they’re going to have quite a sticker shock when they’re told that they have to pay so much extra money for that R-22.

Heather:            So, the great news about a home warranty, or at least 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty, is that we cover unlimited refrigerant, and it says on the very front of our home service agreement. Right on the front, it says most HVAC-comprehensive HVAC coverage and unlimited refrigerants, along with SEER matching.

Heather:            So, what does that mean to the homeowner for SEER matching? That means that if the homeowner has R-22 and we need to first of all either use R-22 to make the system work, then we’re going to use our supply. If at some point we go through that supply and we do not have the R-22 readily available anymore, then we are going to be retrofitting up to two existing units to use the alternative refrigerants. So, there’s about 10 different alternative refrigerants. One, for example, MO-99, NU-22. These are EPA-approved. They have been used for years. They maybe work about 10% efficiency less, but still does a great job of cooling the home and still is very functional for the system.

Heather:            So, the good news with 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty is that we’re covering unlimited refrigerants, whether it’s R-22 or if we have to move into the alternative refrigerant. And then the other piece of it too is that we will upgrade the entire system to the current required SEER level when necessary, if affecting a covered repair. So, we are required by government, the law, to be able to put in at least a 14 SEER unit. So, if a person had an 8 SEER, we are having to be required to put in a 14 SEER. And we will be matching the compatible systems together to make sure that they’re on the same SEER rating.

Tyler:              That’s pretty cool. So, I’m actually also looking at your 2-10 information.

Heather:            Yeah, thank you.

Tyler:              So, the standard, the policy that somebody would get… Where is it? Right here. The Supreme, correct? Is it an add-on? Or is it part of the Supreme standard policy package that covers what you just talked about?

Heather:            Yeah, it is included in our Supreme plan. We have one plan, one price. And we absolutely cover the unlimited refrigerant, the retrofitting, the SEER matching. That’s all included in our base-plan price of the Supreme.

Tyler:              And it’s up to two units on a home, correct? Is that what I heard?

Heather:            Yeah, yeah.

Tyler:              Okay.

Heather:            Yeah. Now, we can’t-

Tyler:              Question for you. You said you know people are charging over $100 per pound. On average, how many pounds… Let’s say they have a leak in there in something, and they’ve got to fix that leak and put the Freon in. How many pounds on average does a system hold?

Heather:            That’s actually a great question. And since I’m not an HVAC person, I wouldn’t be able to fully answer because I don’t know from each system to the other. But I do know let’s say that it was a leak and it needed three pounds. And so, if the service provider is charging $100 per pound, or in the story that I saw, $195 a pound is the highest, I mean that is so much money. A big sticker shock.

Tyler:              It could end up to be close to 1,000 bucks, depending on the size of the unit.

Heather:            And then the unfortunate part is who’s the person that they’re upset about? They’re upset either at the home warranty company, they don’t have really robust coverage. And then their second person that they’re upset with is their realtor, if their realtor shared with them a limited type home warranty for the refrigerant category.

Tyler:              Cool. So, the biggest kind of takeaways in what I’m hearing is there’s a lot of fear-based. People need not to be pushed into either replacing or spending more money because it’s an older unit. I mean, if it’s an older unit and it’s the end of its life cycle, I get that. But there’s a lot of units out there that are in great shape but they’re Freon. So, if you’re on the-

Heather:            Yeah. Like changing the tire in a car. You got to just change out the tire and then it’s going to run smoothly.

Tyler:              Exactly. So, if they’re on the sell side, they need not to be thinking that they’ve got to replace. Providing a home warranty is always the best and least expensive option. And if they do that, it’s covered.

Heather:            Definitely can help. Definitely. When we say it’s covered, we just want to make sure… Home warranty companies work really well when there’s nothing of an existing issue, a preexisting issue, that can be determined either through mechanical test or visual inspection. So, if the breakdown to the HVAC system is of true normal wear and tear after the effective date, whether it was seller coverage that was enrolled for first or buyer coverage that was enrolled, as long as that failure is due to normal wear and tear after that effective date, then yes there is coverage to apply that is eligible.

Tyler:              So, we’re going to be doing a follow-up video to this and it’s the importance… And this is important. So, watching the next video that we’re going to be doing, it’s doing an HVAC certification and that is… We’re going to talk about getting it certified upfront so if there is a breakdown, you’re covered. And agents, so many times, miss this step and then something happens and the home warranty might not kick in. So, we’re going to be going in depth and talking about the importance of an HVAC certification on our next video. So, with that, I mean, did we cover everything

Heather:            I think so. I think so. Just the main key point is it’s going to be okay. It’s not illegal to use R-22, as some of these really big air conditioning companies advertise on the radio. Homeowners have options. And we’re okay. It’s going to be fine.

Tyler:              Well, thanks for sharing. And we’re going to be doing a followup on the HVAC certification. So, appreciate it, Heather. And if anybody has any questions, how can they reach out to you?

Heather:            They can call me at (520) 444-2600. My contact information is on the front of the home service agreement. 

Tyler:              Cool. And then on this blog post that we’re going to doing at the bottom, we’re going to put the link to the flyer, specific to R-22, Freon, and what 2-10 will cover. Correct?

Heather:            Absolutely. And I thank you very much for the opportunity.

Tyler:              Awesome. Have a great day. Thank you.