New Appliances for Your Rental Home

March 04, 2023

Choosing Best Appliances for your Rental Property

Popular home improvement TV shows like Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, Flip or Flop, and Love it or List it, often focus on major renovations in home layout, flooring, windows and more.

This flood of reality TV shows focused on home improvement has encouraged homeowners to upgrade. The interiors of homes are a focus for homeowners and renters alike. Although reno budgets are down this year, rental landlords might have some good reasons to seek low cost improvements — such as new appliances.

Time to Purchase New Appliances

And renovators/owners almost never keep the old appliances. The reason: it’s a lesser price to replace appliances compared to the tens of thousands of dollars they’re spending on each part of a renovation project. That puts appliances for rentals in a different light.

While landlords want to reduce investment and costs as much as possible this year, tenant churn could become a rising issue. Churn is the number one loss factor — a big factor on rent rolls. In 2023, tenants will decide to find a house or apartment with lower rent and better amenities. And they’ll favor rentals with new appliances, because it says something about the landlord.

Lowering churn with extended lease strategies might involve finding the best appliances for your rental.

Modern Appliance Features & Benefits

The typical kitchen appliances are fridges, stoves, garbage disposal units, microwaves, and dishwashers and in the laundry room, the clothes dryer and washing machine.

It makes sense to buy durable appliances that require little maintenance and ones that can fit into the space. On top of that are smart home features, energy efficiency, and capacities that are right for a particular rental unit.

Smart Appliances that Optimize Energy, Air, Water and Space

LG’s stackable, intelligent WashTower™ system shows how far appliances manufacturers are taking convenience and cleaning. This system offers a single unit front loading 5.2 cu. ft. Washer and a 7.2 cu. ft. Heat Pump ventless dryer. Yes, heat pumps!

LG Washtower. Screenshot courtesy of LG.com.

Upgrading to New Means a Happier Tenant and Less Time Waste for You

When you’re buying a condo or apartment, the stoves, clothes washers, and dishwashers may have outlived their usefulness and are becoming a liability or perhaps hazardous.

The emphasis is on energy and water efficiency.

Unseen frayed cords, broken elements, wobbling washers, and leaking refrigerant on run down appliances that gobble up electricity don’t send a good message to a tenant. Bad appliances make them reflect on whether they’re getting good value for their money and respect from the landlord.

And in an era of high apartment rental prices, renters expect something better. With every maintenance ticket some friction that makes them think about moving out.

When you upgrade your rental appliances, it makes units rentable at a higher rate to better prospective tenants. It’s surprising that some tenants are so sensitive to the appearance, type and quality of the appliances in the kitchen and laundry room, yet that’s exactly why upgrades work so well for attracting new, better quality renters.

Plan Your Appliance Purchase

Before you start shopping, think about your tenant’s lifestyle, how many people will occupy the apartment/condo, and what features are not commonly offered in comparable rentals.

It’s all about comfort and convenience for renters. The home is a place where stressed out workers who commute want to come home to a place they like and feel good in. For instance, having a stackable washer/dryer in the apartment unit might be considered a big bonus. No one likes public laundry rooms. Help your renter avoid pain.

The Kitchen as the Heart of the Home

It’s a cultural thing today that the kitchen is the center of the home, in contrast to decades past when the living room was king. Renters too like to cook, prepare healthy meals, and cook/store a wider variety of foods, drinks, and ingredients than they used to. That means the kitchen is a well used space whether families in condos or couples in apartments.

The art of living for families and young couples

Kitchen and Laundry Appliances

So lets start with kitchen appliances and laundry appliances, and then in later posts we can talk furnaces, air conditioners, lighting, and bathroom/kitchen fixtures.

What are your main criteria to guide your selection:

appropriate style and features for the target tenant (upscale renters and older renters may expect sophisticated, modern refrigerators and washers, and they be influenced by a wine cooler)
price point (the maximum you can spend for a high quality appliance that is maintenance free)
service and parts warranty costs
cost of gas, water, and electric power in your community
sizes (size of family)
presence of young children in the unit

If you want to play it safe, you might choose stainless steel appliances as a neutral but modern style that doesn’t turn anyone off.

Washers and Dryers

Styles, capability, and energy savings are big in modern washers and dryers. New washing machines don’t use physical agitators which break and wear down clothes. Open viewing, side loading washers and dryers let you load your clothes and soap and walk away.

And there’s nothing much to break. On older units, door handles, switches, and agitators get stuck leading to costly repairs. They look impressive to renters. Matching dryers powered by gas help tenants avoid high utility bills.

You might have your own ideas about which appliance brands are best, and which ones are liable to result in repair costs. Keep in mind that appliance repairs can be expensive. It makes no sense to buy a $300 washer if it will require a $300 repair plus maintenance in 3 years.

Here’s 8 Top Appliance Features to Look at:

1. flat top electric range with a variety of cooking modes because they’re easy to clean
2. stainless steel fridge, oven and dishwashers for clean appearance and ease of cleaning
3. large 20+ cu ft refrigerators for plenty of food storage and a cold water/ice cube dispensing unit as well as a large 9 cu ft freezer for frozen pizzas and more
4. gas powered clothes dryer for cost savings
5. side-loading washing machine which lock and don’t allow manipulation of clothing or soap which reduces user caused damage to the appliance
6. ultra-quiet energy star efficiency dishwasher
7. large 1000 watt microwave oven for cooking just about anything quickly
8. quiet range hood fan that whisks away smoky odors without deafening tenants

Check out the appliances on Home Depot for selection from top name brand manufacturers including LG, Samsung, GE, Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Frigidaire, and Bosch. Prices of fridges range from $400 to $7000, and washers from a low $400 to $1200.

Check out consumer reviews of appliances just as regular home buyers would and find the right ratings for durability and maintenance free operation. Before you buy, consider how much it costs to fix and what is needed to ensure warranties aren’t voided, and educate your tenants on operation and cleaning.

We hope this post gets you thinking about the value of appliance upgrades and in taking care of the long term profitability of your properties. There’s a price point that you can live with to give your tenants the quality of life they’re looking for.

Generosity is a sign of a good character and your tenants will think highly of you when your treat them well and show that you respect their lives. What goes around comes around!

With new appliances and other delicate features in the apartment, you may want to ask renters to buy renters insurance. Today it’s increasingly desirable to cover all your insurance needs.

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