A home warranty is a service contract, separate from homeowners insurance, that covers the repair or replacement of major home systems and appliances — things like HVAC, water heaters, plumbing, and kitchen appliances — for a set period, typically one year, in exchange for an annual premium and a service call fee per claim. Sellers sometimes purchase a home warranty for the buyer as an incentive included in the sale, generally costing a few hundred dollars for a year of coverage. Offering a home warranty can help reassure buyers, particularly for an older home where systems and appliances may be approaching the end of their expected lifespan, since it reduces the buyer's perceived risk of facing a large, unexpected repair cost shortly after moving in. This can be a relatively low-cost way to make an offer more attractive, especially in a competitive listing situation or for a home with some age to its major systems. It's not a substitute for proper disclosure of known issues — a home warranty covers future breakdowns of systems that were working at the time of sale, not pre-existing known problems, which still need to be disclosed regardless of whether a warranty is offered. Sellers shouldn't view a warranty as a way to avoid addressing known issues; it's a supplemental buyer incentive, not a disclosure workaround. Whether offering a warranty makes sense depends on the home's age, condition, and how competitive the listing market is. For a newer home with systems well within their expected lifespan, a warranty may add less perceived value to a buyer than it would for an older home. Discussing this with your agent as part of overall listing strategy can help determine whether the cost is likely to translate into a meaningfully more attractive offer or faster sale.