Homes that come with warranties sell 11 days quicker and for an average of $2,300 more than those without, according to a recent survey by one of the country's largest warranty providers.

But Consumers' Checkbook says such warranties aren't worth the costs, which run from $400 to $600 a year.

"Instead of buying one of these policies -- or placing any value in the one provided when you buy a home -- you'll do better to place that money into a home-repair fund," says Consumers' Checkbook, an independent nonprofit that publishes local magazines in seven locations, including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Home warranties have been vilified before, but never by an organization with a solid reputation like that of Consumers' Checkbook, which has won the National Press Club's First Place Award for Excellence in Consumer Journalism. Like Consumer Reports, the D.C.-based nonprofit does not accept donations from businesses and its publications carry no advertising.

The warning about warranties does not include those comprehensive warranties provided by homebuilders on brand-new houses. Rather, it is solely about those on existing homes.

Actually, they aren't really warranties at all: They are service contracts that insure against the repair of a home's major appliances, heating and cooling systems, plumbing systems, circuit breakers and a few other things.

But while the potential breakdowns covered by home warranties might be unpleasant, Consumers' Checkbook says, they are often not catastrophic. Those bigger, more expensive repairs are what insurance is for -- to cover stuff you can't afford to fix or repair yourself.

"When you buy insurance against risks you can afford to cover on your own," the magazine says, "you end up paying for sales commissions and expenses and company profits rather than for claims paid" by the warranty company.

"Buying a home warranty is like buying a (very) limited extended service contract on a bunch of appliances," says the group.

Nevertheless, warranties have become almost universal in today's market. Not only do they appeal to would-be buyers, who believe they're covered should the air conditioner break down or the refrigerator kick out during their first year of ownership, they also appeal to sellers, because they, too, are covered during the listing period.

Buyers and sellers tend to put their faith in the warranties, but only until they are actually needed, according to the magazine, which notes that the files of consumer affairs agencies are "stuffed" with complaints about warranty companies.

Two major warranty companies were contacted for this story, but declined to comment. But Art Chartrand, counsel for the National Home Service Contract Association, which represents the largest warranty companies, called the Consumers' Checkbook report "silly" and said it was "full of extreme factual errors."

Chartrand said the policies his members write are for the repair and replacement of systems due to normal wear and tear. "If you are competent at handling repairs, you may not need a warranty," he said. "But most consumers are not."

Consumers' Checkbook found a number of other issues with these policies:

-- Coverage. Warranties do not cover the most expensive repairs you might face. Of the half-dozen policies from the major warranty firms examined by Checkbook, none covered roofs, leaky windows or skylights, basement moisture problems or chimney repairs. And some charged extra to cover plumbing and HVAC systems.

Chartrand said warranty companies are expressly forbidden by most state laws to cover structural components.

There are other exclusions, too. Icemakers, which break down often, usually are not covered. Most policies don't cover plumbing backups caused by tree roots or "foreign objects." And if your floors or walls have to be ripped out to get to the problem, the nonprofit says, "don't expect the warranty company to pay to make everything look nice again."

-- Cost. Because of the "thin coverage," plus the $75-$100 service charge per claim, the costs don't add up in your favor unless you have a particularly bad repair year.

-- Contractors. You don't choose the plumber, electrician or other contractor who comes to your home. Rather, you call the warranty company, which dispatches the next-in-line repair service with which it contracts. But although warranty companies say their contractors are pre-screened and do go work, Checkbook isn't convinced.

It found that of the 20 top-rated HVAC contractors it selected at random, not one participated in warranty programs. In fact, these contractors "overwhelmingly disdained" these types of warranties, the publication said.

Chartrand said that the only way companies can control the quality of the service offered is through their networks of local providers.

His advice: Check with your local real estate agents and ask them if a warranty is a good buy. "We will stand by what they say," he said.

Most people love pets -- until the animals are somebody else's. Which is why sellers who have critters must take extra precautions. If you don't, many potential buyers could be chased away.

We're not talking just about dogs, either, but also cats, snakes, birds and other creatures. A run-in with any one of them is a definite turnoff, as is their odor.

"Pets in the house can be a total deal-breaker for some buyers," says Darla Jobkar of Northwood Realty Services in Pittsburgh.

"Sellers should take every step possible to maximize the number of showings and then make buyers feel as comfortable as possible while they inspect the property," agrees Charles Sullivan of RE/MAX Metropolitan Realty in Gaithersburg, Md. "When the presence of a pet affects either one of these objectives, the seller may lose money as a result."

Some people don't see it that way. They tend to believe that buyers should overlook their animals. Their attitude is such that if you don't want to buy a house where pets reside, go buy something else.

When Elizabeth Weintraub of Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento wrote a blog post sometime back about the pitfalls of selling a house with pets, she was inundated with negative emails from her readers.

The post "struck a raw nerve" with some pet owners, she recalls. "It was their way or the highway when it came to their pets. A few were angry that I would even suggest they remove pets during showings."

But that's the first piece of advice for sellers who have pets -- and perhaps the most important: Remove them during showings.

Weintraub says that ideally, you should relocate your animals to another location while your house is on the market. But other agents don't think you have to go that far. They say removing them during showings is about the best they can hope for.

But even before showings, says Jobkar, the Pittsburgh agent, "the first line of business" is to note in your listing that an animal is on the premises. Also note the pet's name. Next, place a reminder on the door or near the lock box that a pet is inside. Now visitors are twice-cautioned.

"It's only fair to warn them before stepping inside a property," she says. "It's always up to them if they want to proceed or not, so it's a shame when sellers don't take precautions and totally ruin the chance of a sale with a buyer who hasn't been fully informed beforehand."

Most people lock their pets up in a little-used room during showings or relegate them to the backyard or basement. But that's not good enough for Kerry Thornhill of Virginia Cook Realtors in Dallas, who suggests putting them in a cage and making sure showing instructions indicate where the cage will be.

"This is the best way for you to ensure the safety of your pet, and to ensure the comfort of your buyers," Thornhill advises.

Beware of putting your pets in unexpected places, even when they are caged. One of Patti Martinez's clients once pulled back the curtain on a bathtub and found herself staring into a cage with some type of reptile in it. "Scared us both," the Duluth, Ga., agent recalls.

Better to put the cage against the back wall in whatever room you choose so the visitor will be able to at least enter and look around. Another way to accomplish the same thing is to put the animal in a back room where you know the visitor won't be spending much time and set up a baby gate at the doorway.

Dogs are sometimes friendly, sometimes not, but always distracting. "The buyer tends to focus on petting the dog or cat, or being afraid rather than focusing on the house," explains Susan Metcalf of Avery Hess Realtors in Springfield, Va.

That's why she often walks a client's dog while the house is being shown. She also acquaints herself with the animal and gives it a treat every time she enters the house so the dog is already familiar with her when the house is being shown.

Barkers are the worst. "There's no good way to describe the neighborhood or point out the great aspects on the home if you can't hear yourself think," says Patty Everitt of Coldwell Banker Collins-Maury in Memphis.

Most of Noreen Parrell's clients in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., have small children "who are easily frightened by a barking dog."

Birds are not usually a problem, as long as they are caged. But if your dog starts yowling, it's a safe bet your parrot will begin honking, too.

If you have fish, keep the tank covered so curious kids won't be able to put their hands inside. The same holds true for rabbits, snakes and guinea pigs. "The biggest challenge with these animals is to keep buyers from putting their fingers in the cages," says Karen Mistrot of Karen & Co. Realty in Parker, Colo.

Cats, on the other hand, present their own problems and, says Mistrot, are often more of a turnoff than other animals. "I have had more buyers that dislike the thought of a cat even being in a house than those who don't like a dog living there," she says.

Once, when Weintraub, the Northern California agent, was selling her own house, the buyer's agent began banging on an upstairs window. "I thought he was showing the buyer the dual pane windows," she says. "Turns out my cat had cornered the agent and the buyer and was growling at them."

Besides removing your pet, it's also a good idea to remove everything in your house that says animal. The telltale signs are litter boxes, beds, bowls, cat trees and toys. Photos and refrigerator magnets, too. "You don't need to advertise that pets live there," advises Weintraub.

Once you get rid of those things, you need to get rid of your pet's odors. Nothing turns people off like a bad smell. And if you don't think your animals are odorous, think again.

"My biggest gripe is the smell," says Everitt, the Memphis agent. "Living with pets makes you immune."

"A bad pet odor will run anyone off," agrees Parrell in New York.

Adds Jobkar in Pittsburgh: "If someone walks into a house that smells like a dirty kennel, they're going to think that the smell will never go away. So it's best to not even let it get to that point."

The window may be closing on some of the greatest bargains ever in vacation real estate, according to the latest research into the shared-ownership real estate business.

After years of declining sales and prices, developers of fractional interest properties, private residence clubs and destination clubs are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, a study by Ragatz Associates found.

The vacation home and second home sectors are always the last to recover from a recession, and the same holds true this time around. But even though the business is still mired in a downturn, developers are starting to raise their prices.

"It seems like the bleeding has stopped," said researcher Richard Ragatz, who found that the average price per share rose 4 percent over last 12 months, from $159,000 to $166,000. But that's still way below the peak of $237,000 per share in 2007, when the resort market went belly-up.

So even at the slightly higher price, shares in these highly amenitized shared-ownership vacation properties are 32 percent cheaper now than they were seven years ago.

On an average price per week, prices are up 22 percent from last year, from $28,000 to $34,500. But they are still 26 percent less expensive than in 2007.

Ragatz also found that there are no shared-ownership properties in presale mode, meaning that nothing new is on the market or being contemplated by developers at this time. Thus, when what's available now is finally snapped up, there will be no new supply to meet demand and prices should shoot back up.

Shared ownership "is still a great concept," and there are "some recent signs of a turnaround," the Eugene, Ore., researcher said. "But we're not fully back yet, and I expect no major breakthroughs in 2014 or 2015."

Ragatz's research covers the upper echelons of the shared-ownership business.

Fractionals and private clubs are similar in that they both typically sell deeded ownership in shares of vacation homes, ranging from 1/15th share -- three weeks of annual use -- to quarter shares, with three months of annual use.

But the two components vary in terms of price, quality and the degree of services and amenities. For his annual report, now in its 14th year, Ragatz arbitrarily assumes that shares selling for more than $1,000 per square foot fall into the fractional interest category, while those selling above that benchmark are private residence clubs.

A destination club, on the other hand, typically sells 30-year memberships on a non-equity basis. While some clubs are equity-based, they all are part of wider networks of holiday properties in multiple locations. The right-to-use concept also is characterized by a refund policy that gives members their money back when they leave the club.

Time-shares, which generally market less expensive units in increments as short as a single week, have seen their sales improve slightly on a year-over-year basis since 2009. And the American Resort Developers Association is "cautiously optimistic" that the trend will continue.

For his latest report, Ragatz found far fewer active projects than in previous years. There are currently 75 fractional and private clubs in an active sales mode, compared to 153 in 2007. And there are only seven destination clubs now selling, vs. 21 seven years ago.

Only two private clubs came to market last year, while one sold out, seven stopped selling, seven others converted to time-share, six re-started and one converted to full ownership. In addition, several lowered their prices to the point where, by the researcher's definition, they became fractionals.

Overall, the resort properties covered in the report garnered $517 million in sales last year. That's up from $497 million in 2012. But in 2007, sales totaled $2.3 billion. (The study covers the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, but not Europe.)

By segment, sales of fractionals are down 83 percent from their peak, sales of private clubs are off 85 percent and sales of destination clubs are down 58 percent.

The factors holding back the business are some of the very same ones that squeeze the residential market -- economic uncertainty, lack of equity in peoples' homes, the glut of inventory on the market, increasing competition from rentals, excessive pricing and high maintenance fees.

But Ragatz found that the economic climate is improving, home equity is rising once again, inventories are declining and developers are becoming more realistic when it comes to their prices and maintenance fees.

At the same time, there is still a lack of financing. There's also "serious" competition from rentals and rental clubs, and would-be buyers are concerned what people will think of them when they splurge on any form of shared ownership.

On that last point, the size of shares -- read, weeks -- has "decreased significantly" to broaden the market and sell just enough weeks that people can actually use. In other words, there is less conspicuous consumption. "There is a continued and significant trends toward smaller shares," he said.

As in previous studies, Ragatz found at least nine different sizes of shares being sold. But to lower prices in accord with declining sales, there was a tendancy toward smaller shares, fewer bedrooms and smaller units.

On the positive side, the researcher also found an increased willingness on the part of developers to help owners rent their unused weeks, exchange their weeks for time in other properties, and offer an in-house resale program should the owner decide he wants out.