Rental apartment appliance decisions

[Jake Van]

We are building a rental property in a limited space. We don't have enough room to put in standard 2 foot deep counter tops, and a standard 30" range. We have to choose between putting a 3" cut-out in the counter top to make room for the range, or installing a 24" range to allow for normal sized counter tops.

Which will likely be a greater hindrance to renting out the apartment, a smaller range, or an odd shaped counter top?

[JD Martin]

Adjust the counter, not the range. You want standard sizes in case you ever need to replace the appliances. If it were my space, I would make sure my cabinets + range = 52", and then I wouldn't have to alter the counter. What are the dimensions of the existing cabinets? It is an odd size - 30" range leaves 22 inches left over. Can you remove a cabinet fill piece and shift the cabinets? Unless they're old school, built-on-site, the cabinet is probably 15 or 18 inches with a fill strip.