Homebuyers Aren't Registering Products. It's a Problem for Builders.

When a new homeowner gets their keys, product registration is far down their task list. They’re focused on moving, settling in, and figuring out how everything works. The stack of manuals in the kitchen drawer?  Ignored. The registration cards and forms? Never submitted.

According to a University of Michigan study on consumer product registration behavior, only 6% of buyers say they "always" register products. The most common response was “seldom.” Another 15% said never.

For a builder closing hundreds of homes a year, the math adds up fast when 94% of their buyers are exposed to limited manufacturer warranty coverage.

Major Systems Are Failing Faster

New homes include more smart products. While packed with features, they are breaking down sooner. According to the J.D. Power U.S. Appliance Reliability & Service Study released in 2025, the average problem rate across major household appliances is 69 per 100 units within the first one to three years of ownership. For connected appliances with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (which are becoming popular choices in new construction) that number climbs to 87 per 100.

More complexity means more failure points. And shorter windows before something goes wrong.

Unregistered Product Blowback

Here’s where the registration gap becomes the builder's problem. When an appliance or system fails, homeowners will more than likely default to calling their builder, not the manufacturer. Industry estimates put average warranty service calls at roughly 10 per home. Many of those calls are legitimate claims the builder must handle. But a meaningful portion are related to issues they can't address.

If each inbound call takes 15 minutes to handle, and even just 25% of them are issues the builder can't fix, a builder closing 500 homes a year is absorbing somewhere around 350 hours of wasted staff time every year.

Not only is this a customer satisfaction issue, it's a hidden operational cost.

What Homeowners Actually Want

The same University of Michigan study that documented low registration rates also asked consumers what their preferred registration method would be. The top answer, by a wide margin: 78% wanted automatic registration at the time of purchase. Consumers ranked it first out of four options, ahead of email, website, and postcard.

They’re not opposed to registering. They just want it done for them.

The Problem is at the Closing Table

A new home closes with an average of 15 or more branded products installed. Most of them are not registered. The clock starts. Failures happen. Calls come in.

If every major product in every home could be registered at closing on behalf of the homeowner, the chain of accountability works the way it’s supposed to. Manufacturers handle manufacturer issues. Builders handles builder issues.

And the builder isn’t spending hours on calls that were never theirs to take.

My HomeSphere is the Solution

My HomeSphere makes homeownership more intuitive. Key features include:

One-click product registration: My HomeSphere allows your homeowners to register the installed products in their home (from HVAC to their refrigerator) all at once, with one tap, so they’re protected.

An easily accessible installed product vault: Ditch the physical binders or thumb drives that get lost in junk drawers. With My HomeSphere, buyers can access crucial home info on their phone day or night, whether they need to find the paint used in their guest bathroom or the model of their water heater. My HomeSphere catalogs all the products installed in their home.

Critical maintenance to-dos and reminders: Pre-loaded lists of common seasonal maintenance tasks plus tailored to-dos ensure homeowners know what to do and when.