Reply #67: The other poster was wrong. They are not required in California.

[Xithras]

In California, just about all of the new homes include them though, and the builders just include it into the price of the house. Some lenders require them as well. There MIGHT be some counties that require them, but if there are, I don't live in one.

When purchasing a pre-existing home, warranties must be negotiated between the buyer and the seller. The home I live in now included a one year warranty when I bought it, because the seller was kind enough to include it. The home I sold to purchase this one didn't include a warranty, because I didn't have the cash to spare and the buyer wasn't interested in picking one up.

By the way, the average California home buyer lives in their house less than 7 years. We tend to be the most mobile state in the nation in that regard. I'm only 33 and I'm already on my third home. For some reason we like to move a lot.

Fixed mortgages have always been the standard here as well, and ARM's were only offered to people with lousy credit, or people who only planned on owning their home for a couple of years (my two previous homes were financed with ARM's because I bought them knowing that I'd only be holding them for a few years...I have a fixed on this home because I bought it knowing I'd be staying a while.)

Also, keep in mind when watching the international news that reporters tend to leave details out. There have always been tent cities and shantytowns in the LA area. The mortgage crisis, while bad, only impacts a fairly small percentage of homes nationally. Those who have owned their homes more than a few years are typically OK. Those who bought during the peak and received fixed rate mortgages are also OK. They may be complaining about lost equity, but they aren't losing their homes. People who lost their homes and ended up in these tent cities are the extreme cases, and are a minority within a minority. Virtually all homeowners who lose their homes simply end up renting.