To upgrade tenant property or not

[Aiden Harris]

Good Morning All,

I landed a great new tenant. They dont move in for 2 more weeks. As a first time landlord, I am trying to decide what to do next. He didn't make any comments about the appliances, etc. I think they are a bit dated, especially the formica counter tops...

I've got a friend of a friend who bought a condo and wants to get rid of the brand-new unused stainless steel GE appliances. He said he will take $1500 for the fridge, microwave, dish-wash, and stove. Currently, all appliances in-unit work flawlessly without issue. I could potentially see selling the current fridge/microwave/dish-wash/stove to offset the cost of the new appliances.

I have about $10k in cash reserves for the property for emergencies, etc. So, I don't want to break the bank and leave myself with my pants around the ankles in case of an emergency.

Additionally, the new tenant has requested that I remove the current W/D so they may bring their own. Which I have no issue with, and will likely sell the older W/D setup.

Does anyone have any advice?

[Pat L.]

I'd buy the stainless from your friend & store them until something goes & trust me something will fail. We put in a new (scratch & dent) Samsung stove in a complete unit rehab & the same tenants have used it for 5 years & it's still spotless. It started to fail & new parts were a 3 week ETA. So we moved in a new previously bought scratch & dent LG (dent in left side didn't show once installed). The repaired Samsung is now the spare. 

I just picked up a new $900 stainless LG dishwasher with a dent in the rear panel (that I already popped out) for $300 but my wife wouldn't let me get the NEW display model bright red front load Samsung washer they had out for $325. Apparently red is NOT a big seller.