SFH rentals with washer/dryer included - your experiences

[JD Martin]

Hi all,

This question is really geared towards single family home rental property owners. 

I'm curious to see the breadth of experiences when it comes to providing washers and dryers in the rental property. Historically, we have always provided good washer & dryer hookups, avoiding having to provide/maintain one extra appliance. That is also the norm for my area, so it's expected. That said, we rent to a lot of students and virtually none of them have a washer & dryer when they rent our properties, so they have to obtain one, have it hauled in and installed, and then move it away when they leave. In some of the homes the access is easy; in others, not so much. This discussion is timely for me because I have a new property we are working on that has a very tight access to the laundry room, through two long hallways and across nicely finished wood floors. I've always been a little leery of renters installing their own w/d units in the past, though I have not had any problems to date. Conversely, I've also been leery of how renters may treat included washers & dryers. I asked my daughter about this, who lived in many apartments with included washers & dryers, and she only had one break down in many years. 

So what are your experiences? If you include w/d units, how have they held up? Do you replace them with new or used if they break? What's the life expectancy? If you don't include them, what has your experience been with renters doing their own hookups?

Thanks all! 

[Ron H.]

For student rentals I provided W/D, purchasing used but almost new condition units.  Most of my students barely used them preferring to let mom do the work on weekends.  For standard rentals I do not provide.  When I have had a extra pair not being used i have offered them to tenants with a lease addendum stating landlord not responsible for maintenance.  If they die will not be replaced