Um...A couple of rentals I lived in did have gas, but it's rare. In the property management biz, one generally shies away from appliances that make it easier to burn down the building. :) If it's a house, rather than an apartment building, gas is more common, but still unusual. Not that one can't start a fire in an electric range, but it takes longer and is easier to stop at the beginning.

I think Ikea's ovens are made by AEG or Whirlpool (depends on where you live, I think). They're supposed to be decent for what you get. I wouldn't do separate appliances though, if you have the ability to do a range. Ranges are much easier to replace. No matter what the income level, tenants can destroy appliances like you wouldn't believe. Some even steal them. Sometimes the more money they have the more entitled they feel, or the less sympathy they have for the landlord they're stealing from. And some bad tenants do it from spite.

If you were going with induction for the safety value (especially with automatic shutoff), I could see it, because you can probably get separate induction cooktop and cheap oven for less than an induction range. That creates other problems, especially where tenants aren't familiar with induction cooking, and they can still fracture the glass if they're not careful about crystals (salt and sugar spills), as was discussed in another thread.

The things that will attract tenants the most are overall appearance of the house, how good the sunlight is, and how cozy it seems empty, neutral colored walls and floors, nice landscaping (that the tenants don't have to maintain themselves), parking, and location, location, location. After that, it's closet/storage space, easy of furnishing the rooms (i.e., bed goes here, couch goes there with the TV here), and cleanliness/smell on the day they see it. If the range is spotless, it'll be most appealing to tenants, no matter what the fuel.

I'll disagree with pillog. There are many of us who like gas appliances for cooking and while it may not be a deal breaker, it is definitely a plus over an electric range. Induction would be good too but many people are not familiar with it and it requires special cookware. I personally would not bother with a separate cooktop and oven - aside from being more expensive initially, there is no standard size for a cooktop which could make it somewhat difficult to replace down the road, requiring countertop modification.

I own a few rental houses. I don't know where plllog lives but in my area the vast majority of houses have gas in the kitchen. When I buy a house to rent out I am going to work with the fuel I have and not spend time and money messing with it. I don't think gas is any more dangerous than electric. They each have their own set of dangers.

Anyway, to answer the OP's question I don't think it's worth switching to a separate wall oven and cooktop. Most of the time when I need appliances for a rental I just ask for the cheapest package possible with stainless steel and a self cleaning oven. I don't think the cheapo cooktop and wall oven you're looking at would be any better from the tenant's perspective than a plain old gas range.

However I understand the want to go more upscale and I did exactly that with one property. In my opinion a better idea than a separate cooktop and oven would be to as I did and buy a higher end range. Maybe get a pro-style range. Those start at about $2K (look at NXR). Or a slide in range ($1.5K and up). The main advantages to staying with a range are that you'll get a higher end look for less money, and you won't have to bother modifying cabinets.

To clarify, I didn't say that the renters wouldn't like gas. I said that cooking fuel is not on the list of what most renters are looking for. You can get extra rent for better closets, where there's a lot of inventory, but I've never heard of getting more rent for better than a basic kitchen, except at the ultra high end. But then, where I live, most rentals, including houses, do have electric. Most of them were built during a time when the developers got consideration for putting in all electric kitchens. :) If most similar properties to yours, in your location, have gas, then, yes, it's worth having gas.

If you go for a pro-style range, as Hvtech42 did, that might give your place a goose. I'd say that's for looks, however, rather than cooking fuel.

Well, I'm 50-50 as far as rentals having gas.

One townhouse I sold last year was "All Electric", but the other one I still have has always had a gas stove, gas water heater and gas forced air heating, as well as a gas log lighter in the fireplace.

It is more "Upscale" than the one I sold, and the tenants seem to like the gas range~~~not an expensive one, I bought it at Best Buy maybe 6 or 7 years ago. Strange thing too, never had "Ignitor problems with it, like we read about some of the "Fancy Stuff" here.

If the range ever goes kerplop, induction "might" sound like a good replacement, but On second thought, unless my tenants read Garden Web, more than likely they would not know what induction is~~~sooo~~~~I think I'll stick with the gas, but that range could "Outlast Me"!!!!

AS far as renting them, I don't ever recall a tenant turning down the rental due to appliances, gas or electric.

I think as far as being "upscale", (and while I, myself) prefer separates, a lot of Garden Webbers like the ranges.
I've never heard a tenant or even a "prospective tenant" remark that they wished the kitchen had "separates".

Gary

This post was edited by dodge59 on Thu, Jul 31, 14 at 18:16

I am in SoCal. You pretty much have to make in your range to rent here

It is location location location..,.oh and gas cooking.

I have a mix of wall oven/cook top combos and ranges. I would never by self cleaning because they tenants are more likely to burn something down. I also am not a fan of rental stainless because it is easy to scratch the finish and you will be stuck with a damaged range you might think you can charge but it is more likely they will "live out their deposit" and leave you lucky to cover costs. As far as break downs. Cook top a we usually replace rather than fix but don't have a lot if troubles other than people soaking them to clean and having to dry out igniters. Ranges the same. But it is pretty easy to replace the oven igniter. I always look for least electronics too. Wall ovens are expensive to repair if it is not the igniter and we end up replacing

To be honest, most of my tenants could care less how dirty the oven is. Ovens can be pretty darn dirty and still fine to cook in, it's all about aesthetics. The self clean function is mainly for me because I'm the one who ends up cleaning the oven between tenants and I don't want to sit in there scrubbing for hours. I also clean the stainless steel between tenants and when I'm done and it looks almost brand new. I find that it does look pretty smudged up before I clean it but I've never had it get permanently scratched in a very obvious/visible. I figure stainless is worth the relatively small price premium to make it look slightly higher end.

With you on electronics. That is another advantage to sticking with a freestanding range. If there are electronics they rarely fail due to their location on the back panel, are usually pretty cheap and easy to replace. That's important to me because I repair the appliances myself. Wallovens, the electronics tend to be more expensive and usually require pulling out the oven. This usually needs 2 people and is a pain.

For a rental, slick black and stainless accent appliances with a nice, generic back granite and white, painted cabs. Gas yes, for folks who have a higher income level... it matters to me, and we are in a rental right now. Induction in a rental- overkill. Range yes- takes up less mid/upper cab and counter space. This...