A downdraft vent is almost the same as no vent at all, since heat rises and spreads and the downdraft is just fighting against that.. Many homes I see in real estate listings don’t have any vent (I wouldn’t like that but apparently many other people are not bothered by this). If the downdraft feature is what’s limiting your choice in replacement stoves, I’d let that go and choose a new one that fits the space. Hopefully you can return this stove to Sears or at worst sell it on Craigslist. Good luck!

Do you have pictures of the kitchen with the old stove and the new stove.

I know you want your problem solved with this new stove, but it may require something else. I would see if the range can be returned. No amount of alteration to the drawers will make this look like it belongs in the space. It will still look like it doesn't fit if it sticks out this far from the wall.

Old appliances can be painted, made to look better and/or an allowance can be given toward a new range. Gives the buyer the option to select their own range.

Almost all renovations have a negative return on investment - you will spend more than you get back.

Is your home pristine with the exception of the stove? If you have a completely renovated kitchen that has stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave and the only old appliance is the stove you may need to spend the money for a new stove so it doesn't look completely out of place. If this is not the situation then replacing the stove will not fix your problem and you need to fully understand why your home is not selling at the price you are asking.

Try to think like a buyer - when you purchased this home, or the home that you just purchased, what made you fall in love with the house? What kept you from purchasing the other homes that you walked away from? Would the stove in your home be so out of place that it would have made you walk away? Is your home the best home on the market at the price you are asking? Have you gone to open houses and viewed the other homes in your area online to see what they look like? Has your realtor taken you to other competitive listings and compared what they have to offer compared to what your home offers?

Can you take some pics farther back? Maybe there’s another solution. What is the spec limiting your choice of a new stove?

A cleaner way of making the drawers non opening is to put screws through the side of the drawer box from underneath into the side of the cabinet. Or come up with a bracket from underneath. You'll need to examine how your drawer and slide are mounted. And see what access you have. Wedges may be another option. As a buyer I'd want a range that fit.

The stove was not the reason the house didn’t sell. The reason the house didn’t sell is the price is too high compared to other listings based on amenities, condition, etc. People are using the stove as an excuse because when asked, they have to say something.

If the rest of the house were that wonderful, the stove would not keep them from falling in love and making an offer. My guess is you need to lower the price of the house to make it more attractive to buyers

I won't even buy clothes with fake pockets. Fake drawers in a kitchen!!! That would be enough to make me dislike the whole house. Can the drawer fronts be removed and replaced with totally different fronts that look like some kind of design decision? Or at least cut both sides of the drawer fronts and paint the with something special, so again, it looks on purpose?

All good points. I will look into just a regular stove if I can return this one. I think people were latching onto something. The stove and carpeting were the main complaints. I personally find the carpets acceptable, offered to replace my realtor said to do the stove. The old one had a crack on the cook top, didn’t make a difference in cooking. We are the cheapest house in our area for what is offered, and we’ve come down in price and am planning. At this point I don’t care what it sells for, just want it done with. Husband is set on leaving it all as is but I don’t feel that’s right.

Return the new stove and put the old stove back. Don't even think about butchering up the cabinets. That would be a huge, HUGE turn-off for resale.

I agree w/ cpartist. The stove isn't the reason the house hasn't sold. Either the house is near perfect but the asking price is too high or there are other problems and the asking price is too high.

I have purchased two houses that had stoves that I knew I would hate. Neither time did the stove give me pause about buying the house. (And, yes, I did hate the stoves but put up with them for a few years before replacing them.)

The old stove is long gone.

Old stove is gone - used stoves are a dime a dozen.

^^Used stove/ or sell house sans stove.

The carpet would be the big turnoff for me stoves are easy to replace if you don’t like one. I am finding it difficult to understand the issue without pictures of the actual place where the stove is If it was a 30” you replaced then a 30” stove should fit. What you have is a stove that doesn’t fit becasue it sticks out past where it should be . Get a stove that sits to the wall forget the venting let the next guy figure it out lots of peolple apparently live their whole life without venting.

Stove with a crack in the top would make people think that you didn't keep up with the maintenance on the home - looks non-functional even if it isn't.

Can you post a link to your listing? Very often people are too emotionally blind to presentation and staging issues with their home. It often takes an unbiased outsider to open their eyes and allow them to see it as buyers do.

Sad that your realtor didn't do the necessary work to educate you on the market and buyer reactions prior to placing the home on the market.

My guess is that it was originally listed at market average or above.

You have lowered the price a couple of times, still hasn't sold.

Now it is aged and that is a disadvantage.

If your at $1000 under market no one will care. If you are at $10,000 under market it will entice buyers to look and consider purchasing.

Replace the stove with something that does not look broken. If the carpet is stained or bare thin replace it or offer a $3000.00 carpet allowance for the new owners to replace with the carpet of their choice. Make sure that every space of the home looks clean and well maintained. Replace caulking if it looks stained or has gaps. Paint door handles, light fixtures or anything else that looks worn. Paint grout that is stained (They sell grout colorant). (Paint will come off in a year, but it is good enough to hide wear). Bushes have to be trimmed, lawn mowed, beds free of weeds.

Inside cabinets should be clean - add shelf liner if stained or worn, inside bathroom cabinets should be rust free and freshly painted. Holes in walls repaired, fresh paint, clean trim, clean outlet covers and light switches.

These are all little things that cover up normal wear and tear and makes a home look perfectly maintained.

Jennifer, all that has been done.

Can you save and post the pics here if you don’t want to post the whole listing?

A downdraft and a bunch of angles in a kitchen would be more of a turnoff than even a new stove could overcome. I’d MUCH rather have the broken stove in place and get a renovation allowance. Because the first thing I’d do would be to gut any kitchen with a downdraft and a bunch of angles. That pretty well describes most people’s reaction to the glimose the kitchen that you show.

Your lack of selling cannot be blamed on an old stove. Broken or not, it’s not going to be the hill that people die on over making an offer. If you have had no offers, you are overpriced for location and condition. Considering the trend towards tear downs of older urban homes and properties being bought for the lots alone, poor condition or “datedness” is no obstacle to sales if the location is good.

If the location isn’t prime, the price has to be low enough to counter that incurable defect. Or the house needs to be in perfect move in condition, and just not be in a bad location.

Just for reference we did the kitchen cabinets, granite, new appliances and all in late 2016.

Show the rest. Show the listing. What are your sold comps? How long are they on the market. There’s a lot more to this than a stove issue.

I don’t feel comfortable showing the listing. Main issue is just the oven /cabinet issue. I’ve got some solid advice, calling Sears tomorrow to see if they can take it back. Will replace with a nondowndraft one.

Show pics without listing

You’re getting a far harsher review from your potential buyers not putting in an offer than you will here. There may be simple things that you can do that increase your appeal. Or you may just be overpriced compared to your comps. It’s better to find things like that out now before the listing lingers on the market and becomes stale. Selling a house involves becoming emotionally detached from that house.

After viewing the pics, it’s not “just” the range. I’m going to leave it at that, and suggest a substantial price reduction. Unless you’re willing to spend quite a bit more to fix some of the issues, a price reduction is your best bet to get it sold. Good luck.

We were very attached (got married on the deck, birthed 3 babies in the master), was our first home etc etc. We listed it 10k over our realtors suggestion just because we had just got a new roof and other upgrades done. It’s been on the market 3 weeks. We lowered it 10k after the first open house and tomorrow it will he dropped another 10k. At this point, I feel no attachment. More annoyance and want to move on. We are now in our dream home, in a wonderful little village and it’s getting old driving the hour there to do stuff. We are motivated and willing to negotiate and offer allowances. Our house is priced lower than the 1 comp in our area (which has been on the market 65 days). It’s a very popular good area. Only issue is Allen Edwin came in and put in a new neighborhood so people are choosing that. Our neighbhood is very unique, wooded and private. All the homes are custom made with pride of ownership present.

Maybe you should just remove and sell the new stove, and sell the house without one. The buyer could then choose his own stove.

I like that idea cruise. My husband is at the point saying whatever they can deal with stove and cabinet issue. i Feel I should at least take this up with our realtor?

We listed it 10k over our realtors suggestion just because we had just got a new roof and other upgrades done.

That's your first mistake. It doesn't matter one whit whether or not you put in upgrades if the houses around you are selling for less.

You will not get a dime more for the house with upgrades. The only advantage to upgrades is if all else is good, you'll sell faster. Price it right and it will sell quickly. Period!

Our house is priced lower than the 1 comp in our area (which has been on the market 65 days).

Your comp should not be a house that is on the market. Comps are what other, similar houses in your neighborhood sold for. Period. This is your second mistake.

It’s a very popular good area. Only issue is Allen Edwin came in and put in a new neighborhood so people are choosing that. Our neighbhood is very unique, wooded and private. All the homes are custom made with pride of ownership present.

And there's the third problem. Most people want brand new where they can immediately put their own stamp on the house. Your house will NEVER sell for the same price as a new built house.

Your kitchen doesn’t look bad, but it may not say “dream kitchen” to buyers in your area. I wonder if, when they mention the stove, they are not referring to the particular stove, but to the location of the stove and to not having a vent hood.

You can’t fix that except by adjusting your asking price.

The kitchen has 7 drawers. Blocking off two to accommodate the range doesn't seem like a big loss in exchange for keeping the range (Jenn-air JES-9800CAS, it appears).

HU-657633375

I like that idea cruise. My husband is at the point saying whatever they can deal with stove and cabinet issue. i Feel I should at least take this up with our realtor?

I hate to say it, but your husband is wrong. Having that new stove jut out, and the problems with the cabinets on either side, combine to create an immediate, gut-level "he** no" reaction.

I know the old stove is gone, but once again, what is different about the new stove that it juts out so far? Was the original stove unusually shallow, or the replacement unusually deep? There must be some stove out there with the same depth dimensions. And agree with above, if it's the downdraft vent or some such that causes the problem, get rid of it if possible.

Also agree with latifolia on this:

I wonder if, when they mention the stove, they are not referring to the particular stove, but to the location of the stove and to not having a vent hood.

I love that you two got married on the deck and had your babies there! I know once you get this behind you, you'll be able to remember it fondly.

The door of the range could have been disassembled to clean the glass. (Why manufacturers design so this seems to always happen...)

The basic problem is a design issue. A better design would have made this less likely to happen. Unfortunately, dishwashers are about the only appliance that hasn’t seemed to get deeper in the last 10 or 15 years.

I had 3 realtors come and look at my property. I listed at the lowest of their suggestions because I wanted a quick sale. 12-14 viewings in 4 days, 8 offers. The 2 highest was 12k over list. We feel we listed at the right price and that listing higher would not have garnered as much interest. And possibly not as high a sales price.

You should take help from experts. Ask your suppliers to come at your hose and get a solution.

Do you have a record of what brand and model the old stove was? And do you have measurements of the old and new stoves?

That’s the old stove.

Sears is is going to call me back regarding return.

is it legal to not have a vent for your stove? I don’t want to go against code?

A kitchen without a functional cooking appliance in it can run into appraisal issues, and even potential CO issues in some areas. A kitchen is expected to contain functional appliances. They need not be perfect, and can be ugly, but they need to be there.

A 20-30K price drop would be the more appropriate price cut here. You can’t compete with new construction ever. You have to be priced well under it to compete.

What falls under functional? A brand new stove that doesn’t have a vent? If I return this my only option is a very expensive jennair downdraft. Otherwose I can buy a $900 normal slide in oven that’s has the same dimensions as the old one.

Or just no stove at all?

A vent may or may not be necessary for Code depending on the jurisdiction. It is required for Code where I am but would also depend on whether something is grandfathered in.

I don't think most people know enough about cooking to even think about down draft hoods. If people cared about appropriate venting for their cooking needs, there would be no over the range microwave hoods which are about as effectual as a down draft.

Also the need for a vent really depends on cooking style. I lived for years without a functional hood but I never deep fried so I never experienced all the horrors people warn about in terms of inadequate hood vents.

I think a broken stove is just a complete turn off even for someone who isn't much of a cook. People can recognize a broken cracked appliance whereas they can't recognize differences in qualities for the most part as long as the appliances are stainless steel. I just remodeled and almost no one has a clue as to why my kitchen cost as much as it did in terms of just appliances - let alone other behind the scene stuff.

I would imagine that most homeowners would spot a wonky cut off drawer as well and I would be mad as hell if I bought a house and found out that the top drawers next to the stove were non-functional. I would assume (or hope) that most prospective serious buyers would at least open all the drawers in cabinets to inspect interiors.

Housing represents almost a pure expression of capitalism. Fair market value is determined by what a specific seller and a specific buyer agree upon at a specific point in time. I have always lived in urban areas where people will put up with less than stellar housing because they want to live in the specific location. However, you seem to live in an area where there is no particular benefit to the location so there is no reason to purchase a "used" home unless there is an economic advantage. I am sure your house is a nice house but at least from the pictures you posted it doesn't seem to be a knock your socks off type of home.

I don't know if there is a solution as probably the best solution would have been to leave the original stove in place and have a very generous credit stated up front in terms of a replacement. But that ship has sailed. Like others I don't understand what is causing the new stove to protrude so much - is it because the new down draft makes the stove that much deeper?

I live in NYC and have never had a vented stove. If my kitchen gets smokey, I open a window and (temporarily) disable the smoke alarm :-) As far as age vs new, where I live a pre-war apartment is considered very desirable. So I'm learning a lot on Gardenweb!

Sears is picking it up Friday. Full refund, woohoo!

now to decided, no stove or just a normal one? Worst case it won’t be code and it would come up at inspection?

That’s awesome that you can get a full refund! Get a basic stainless stove that will fit there and call it a day. I wish you all the best selling the house!

What kind of stoves do the new builds have? You don’t want something that looks markedly less good. That said, we recently went to look at a fairly expensive condo. I couldn’t believe how downmarket the appliances were (brand and features). Maybe buyers don’t cook and don’t care.

Get any stove that will fit there properly. You cannot afford not to. And make sure it has proper venting.

To make it have full venting, it would be a full renovation project which I will not do.

I wouldn't remove the new-old range until you're sure you have a replacement. A quick search on ajmadison.com shows the Electrolux IQ-Touch Series EI30EF45QS may be the shallowest electric range from a non-weird manufacturer. No downdraft, of course.

Glad you found a solution! Good luck on a quick sale now.

Good luck on a quick sale

Get better pics than the ones you have now. A pet peeve of mine is how terrible a lot of realtor.com photos are. Yours were fair, but not really good. My realtor took some excellent photos. He was able to get the bathroom in one shot, even. They really emphasized the advantages of the kitchen (even though are pine site built from the 70’s). He brought a tripod and the camera talked to his tablet so we could instantly see the pics. He had a fairly wide angle lense, but it didn’t create that curve you sometimes see in realtor photos.