Bradford-White Water Heater vs Rheem

[Ricardo Murph II]

I am preparing my primary residence to become a rental within the next year.  This weekend I discovered that my water heater is leaking.  After searching online it seems that the Rheem at HD for $404 would be a good option.  I started digging more to see if there was a better option outside of the big box stores.  I have found better shut off valve at plumber supply stores.  Bradford-White seems be respected.  I can get a 40 Gallon around $560 online I haven't checked locally. 

I decided to look to see what I had it was a Bradford White. 

I looked up the age using the website http://www.bradfordwhite.com/find-your-model-and-s... and found this bad boy was made in 1995!!!! 

So that brings me to my question... Should I go with a Rheem for less or spend almost 50% more on a Bradford-White seeing how long my current heater lasted? I tend to over spend on my projects acting like a home owner and not an investor. That is why I am reaching out.  

About the house built 1982 1100Sqft 2/2/2 Pearland, TX suburb of Houston. 

[Ricardo Murph II]

Just to close out the thread I went with a Rheem professional series water heater. Model PROG40-38N-RH62 You have to go to a plumber supply store to get this model.

I choose this over Bradford White because of the thermostat. BW uses a Honeywell thermostat that I am sure is more efficient but is a fancy piece of electronics. Rheem uses an old fashioned thermostat with no electronics. I watched a video from the Quick Water Heater Company who has some informative videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwM2wnvZf9U and he said the he repairs the BW fancy thermostat more. Lower maintenance is my target for a rental.

The Rheem you get at Home Depot is Performance Series, has a plastic drain valve, looks like it has a honeywell thermostat in the picture and cost $425. The Professional series at the plumber supply store has a metal drain valve, a plain thermostat and cost $333. BW heater locally was  $404 at a plumber supply store since they don't sell in big box.  

They all have 6 year warranties. BW and Rheem sell a kit that gets you a 10 year warranty for around $150. 

I have found that plumbing manufactures sell better stuff at plumber supply stores.  The quarter turn valves from Brass Craft have all metal internals while the ones at the big box have plastic.   

Also my research says stay away from Whirlpool at Lowes. It has the most complaints on quality. 

I am working on changing out all my shut off valves to quarter turn so I took the opportunity to do so here for my cold water inlet.  As you can see in the picture I am sure my old one would have leaked by or from the packing if I tried to use it.  

Thanks for reading!