If I were 90% selling I would put whatever was expected for the neighborhood and nothing more. If you want a decent pro-look gas range that you can leave there, someone on these boards bought a Chinese brand (the name escapes me) that she was happy with and didn't break the bank.

Here's the thing.. If a buyer is very particular, then they will likely replace whatever was there. We just bought a new house and we went into it assuming we'd replace at least the range since I'm pretty picky about the cooktop and my wife is picky about the oven. We have some really good friends who is also our real estate agent(s).. it's a family business. They always tell us that nobody walks away from a deal because they don't like the brand of the appliances. It can certainly affect purchase price but it's typically not a deal breaker. For resale, you want something that looks nice at a decent price. Now, if you plan to "take it with you" and leave a gaping hole in the kitchen, that might pose a problem.

I think you have two choices. Buy a cheaper range and fridge you wouldn't mind walking away from and live with it for however long it takes for you to sell. Then just buy new appliances when you move. The second option is to buy the range and fridge that you love and plan to take them with you. Then when it comes time to sell, put them in storage and buy something cheap that looks decent.

Which way you go depends on what stage you are at. Are you actively looking for a new place and plan to sell when you find a new home? Is your house already on the market or going to go on the market soon? Is the 90% selling and 10% staying because you don't know if you can sell your house or is it because you haven't made the decision to move yet? If you don't sell now, how long (minimum) are you going to wait before trying again?

My wife and I planned to move 2 years ago and when it didn't work out, we decided to do some work on the house including new cooktop. At that point, we decided it'd be at least two years before we tried again. We put some money into the house that would both improve our resale value and make living there more enjoyable. The most frivolous item, from a resale value perspective, was probably the cooktop since we replaced a 6 burner Viking with a 5 burner Bluestar. I just couldn't take the old cooktop anymore and we decided it was worth the money to make those two (or more) years easier. Forward two years to today. Old house sold in 4 days partially do to the upgrades we did. I'm sure if we'd kept the viking that wouldn't have changed but I avoided two years of frustration with the old cooktop.

Unless you've already found a new place, I'd nix the idea of taking your appliances with you. There's just no way for you to know if they will work or if it's what you want. If you find a place that has a kitchen big enough to accommodate a 36" range, what will you do with the old one. I'd say live with what you've got or buy something that you can leave behind.

Also, let us know what you've got now. It may not be worth buying anything at all if you are almost certain to sell.

I agree not to buy stuff now that you plan to take with you, but if you do that, make sure you remove it BEFORE you start showing the house. Buyers assume that what they see in the house will stay there. I know someone who got into a big fight at the closing because they were planning to take their chandelier with them and the buyers were expecting it to stay!

Weissman is absolutely right. Even if you stipulate it in the contract so it's clear, people think they are being short changed. Only show what you want to leave. Buyers won't miss what they never see.

If you can't replace something that doesn't convey before showing, you can also cover it with opened out green garbage bags. I say green because the eye picks it up as garbage bags, whereas drop cloths, and other color bags, don't have as much specific meaning. Cover the item in question completely (use packing tape to make a shaped cover) and put a sign on it that says "not for sale" in big words. It's not pretty, but neither is a hole. Weird cheap ceiling lighting fixtures look weirder than covered chandeliers in assessing the potential of a room. And, "that's the space for the range" is easier to understand than the range you're looking at doesn't convey. The agent can say it, a sign can say it, the contract can say it, but the visual of the range is part of the impression of the house. Especially a fancy range.

As for the rest, down market from the Culinarian, there does still seem to be a preference for stainless, so a stainless clad range and fridge might be worth the money, depending on your market and neighborhood, in making the kitchen look spiffy to buyers, even if the appliances themselves are nothing special. People tend to choose houses from emotion. It's odd to me. I look at closet space, flow, fenestration, art space, etc., beyond the basics of location and lot. People will buy for the "homey feeling" or great tree or cat on the porch (not that the cat conveys, but the mood it puts them in). It's hard to tell what will make someone buy. As Amcook said, it's rarely the appliances.

What people really want from appliances is that they look current or cool, and that they're clean clean clean clean, in a clean clean clean clean kitchen. No spots or scratches. That will make them feel like they're getting a nice kitchen they can live with for awhile while working on other updates, rather than a project because they don't want to live with someone else's dirt.

Re the Culinarian, if you think you'll be able to move it, you can go for it. It might be smarter, however, if you'll be making the go or stay decision as an absolute when you make it, to buy something that will fit the same space and is inexpensive now, and if you decide to stay, buy the Culinarian then. It's not even shipping yet, is it? You'll probably lose less reselling a basic range than a fancy one. Then if you decide to move, get the Culinarian for the new house.

you all make good points, thanks!!!!

If I had bought appliances that I thought I would have brought into this house before we moved, I would have really screwed things up and limited myself on my options. They would not be what I have now, not because I wouldn't have wanted these but because they wouldn't have fit in my last house and they wouldn't have fit in this house when I moved in even though, except for the built in fridge, they are not that much different from what we had before. We wound up changing things more than I expected and I am thankful everyday that I lived with dying appliances for a while rather than replacing them right away and preventing myself from doing better after we'd lived with things and thought about them. Plus, I felt like I'd really earned them by then. ;-)

It seems to me that you are likely to lose more on the sale if you have a whole, cover the range, or exclude it unless. Even if your buyer would be happy with a $100 range, there is a good chance they will start thinking about what else they would want to change and you get to pay for their while we're at it list when they make an offer. You say now you wouldn't take it, but it's always different when the offer comes in and the pressure is on. If you leave it behind, you get to pay for the upgrade plus whatever you want for the new house -- if it is something you even want to change out. Maybe the new house will already have a fabulous range?

If you buy a stainless, nice-looking average function range you will give a buyer at least as much as any builder would and you can sell or donate if you find you are staying. Taking a hit on a less expensive appliance will be less painful than taking a hit on a more expensive one -- the 50% or whatever will just be that much bigger. And keeping it is a gamble.

Is it an option to wait a short time and figure out whether or not you will be staying a while before you replace?

I meant $1000 range, but if you can find a $100 one, I think that seals the deal. :-D