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It is definitely a new trend in my area. I think it is partly because so many people have lost their homes in the last few years, and they have their own fridges they can move in, so more LLs are figuring they shouldn't bother putting one in. But it is also in part because fridges seem to be an expensive rental expense. They are always having problems, usually because the tenant sets them on the wrong temperature, or doesn't vacuum off the coils and it ices up, or the water line for the icemaker leaks. And when the fridge goes out, it is ALWAYS "I just went shopping yesterday and I lost over $500 worth of food". By making the tenant have their own fridge, all that responsibility shifts to the tenant.
Up until a few years ago, I owned a number of rental houses. I never ever offered a refrigerator. Stove and oven - yes, but no fridge or washer/dryer. Not once did I have an objection to not providing one and didn't feel any rent was lost because of it.
I think some of it has to do with the type of premise. For most houses, its pretty much what you want to offer. For multi-unit housing I usually see that there are regulations that cover appliances. I am required to provide basic kitchen apliances (cooking & ref) as outlined in our permits. For me, I think the cut off is 6 or less continuious unit in the same complex. Over 6 units, we have all sorts of regulations for what must be provided including a laundry room if over 42 units.
It is definitely a new trend in my area. I think it is partly because so many people have lost their homes in the last few years, and they have their own fridges they can move in, so more LLs are figuring they shouldn't bother putting one in. But it is also in part because fridges seem to be an expensive rental expense. They are always having problems, usually because the tenant sets them on the wrong temperature, or doesn't vacuum off the coils and it ices up, or the water line for the icemaker leaks. And when the fridge goes out, it is ALWAYS "I just went shopping yesterday and I lost over $500 worth of food". By making the tenant have their own fridge, all that responsibility shifts to the tenant.
My landlord life became much easier when I eliminated 50% of my service calls simply be no longer providing free standing appliances...
HUD guidelines offer $2 a month for a refrigerator where I am... for $24 a year it is not even worth considering...
My service truck gets 11 mpg... so even a short 25 mile round trip is about $10 at Bay Area gas prices...
The 4 problems with refrigerators are:
They will break at the most inopportune time... 3 day weekend or the day before Thanksgiving. Too many claims of hundreds of dollars of food spoilage.
Parts are expensive... some of the glass shelves cost $140
Tenants will switch to energy saver mode and wonder why water builds up...
Just something else to clean...
By the way... never ever put an ice maker equipped unit in a rental... you are asking for problems...
Had a tenant kink the line when cleaning and it started leaking... did $1800 damage to the new floor...
Here in Brooklyn NY, apartment's must have a fridge and a stove. I have never heard of renters buying a fridge. Here in NY, renters would never do that.....
LL's are lucky they even clean the apartment.....(not all, but a lot)
no cancel that, since it's very very common to find places that come with fridges - most places do. It's not a matter of market value as it is with hassle
I'd say you should expect to lower your price by $50-$100 month. It's all about the hassle of dealing with a fridge. Cost of buying it. Moving it around is hard/expensive. Then if he wants to move into a place later that already has a fridge, it's time consuming to sell. As a customer I'd demand at least like $50/month less. I don't want to deal with all that crap
I'd say you should expect to lower your price by $50-$100 month. It's all about the hassle of dealing with a fridge. Cost of buying it. Moving it around is hard/expensive. Then if he wants to move into a place later that already has a fridge, it's time consuming to sell. As a customer I'd demand at least like $50/month less. I don't want to deal with all that crap
Just to play Devil's Advocate, there are obviously some jurisdictions where some rental units have to include such as stove and refrigerator but when you're dealing with an unfurnished/partially furnished unit in an area where there aren't such requirements, it's just as much of a hassle to remove your own furnishings upon quit with a refrigerator being just another item on the list. As a prospective tenant, your "demanding" a rent reduction on a place which clearly doesn't supply one probably wouldn't meet with much of a favorable response in general. The asking price of a rental is obviously contingent upon whether or not certain furnishings are provided, with a fully furnished unit obviously commanding a higher price than one which is unfurnished. If you want a 'fridge supplied then don't look at a place which doesn't supply one. Simple.
Here in Brooklyn NY, apartment's must have a fridge and a stove. I have never heard of renters buying a fridge. Here in NY, renters would never do that.....
LL's are lucky they even clean the apartment.....(not all, but a lot)
Normal for apartments. Not for a HOUSE, which is what the OP is referring to.
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